A few days later.
It was a rainy day.
The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and the drizzle outside Stark's mansion made the sea look like a swirling honeycomb.
Underground garage.
Leon wore a tight-fitting induction suit. Round iron plates were attached to various parts of his body, each connected by induction wires to a massive machine.
"Are you sure this iron lump can test my strength?" Leon rotated his wrist skeptically.
Today was the day he and Tony had scheduled to test Leon's strength and new abilities.
So, at dawn—when the sun barely pierced through the gaps in the roiling clouds—Tony had dragged Leon out of bed with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
After a quick wash and breakfast, they descended into the underground garage.
On the wall facing the ocean, a circular iron platform with a radius of three meters was anchored securely. This was the strength-testing apparatus.
"Why do you always phrase facts as questions?" Tony asked, sounding amused but confident.
He explained, "After you went into space six months ago, I had a feeling this day would come. So, I built this strength tester in advance."
"Most of its materials are derived from a tungsten alloy I specially synthesized. High melting point, high density, extreme wear resistance. It can withstand a million tons without deformation, and tens of thousands of tons of impact force won't damage it."
Tony stood confidently at his computer desk.
"The alloy used to build this would be revolutionary even for shipbuilding. So, rest assured—it won't be damaged by you."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Tony, you sound just like you did the other day when we had that little competition."
Tony choked for a second. "That was different. This is science. Just stand in front of the tester, hit it with everything you've got, and leave the rest to me."
"No, that's not safe," Leon said flatly. "At least put on your armor."
Tony slapped his forehead in mock exasperation. "I'm more than ten meters away! Since when did you become so cautious?"
"Put. On. The armor," Leon repeated firmly.
"Fine, fine!" Tony raised his hands in surrender. "As long as our little princess is happy, I'll suit up."
He activated the bracelets on his wrists. Red lights blinked, and moments later, a red-and-gold pod flew into the garage, unfolding into armor and snapping onto Tony's body.
It was the Mark 3—armor built by Tony over the past few days using Leon's data as a foundation. While it didn't use the new element for power, it was nearly equivalent in function to the Mark 7 from the Avengers era.
(Parenthetical note: Leon helped quite a bit in finishing it so quickly.)
(Another note: Tony had secretly left out the liquid circulation system just to tease Leon later. Presumably, he'll regret that.)
"Happy now?" Tony asked, stretching his limbs. "I'm ready to witness your grand performance."
Leon rolled his eyes. "You even stole my line. I hope your tester is as tough as your ego."
He stepped in front of the jet-black tester. Taking a deep breath, the air in the basement began to stir unnaturally.
Tony had never seen anything like it. Around him, papers fluttered wildly as the wind began to rise.
He watched as Leon crouched, his muscles bulging like carved marble statues.
"Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?" Tony muttered, a hint of anxiety creeping in.
Leon let out a low growl and suddenly punched forward.
BOOM!
The sound was like a missile exploding in Tony's ears.
In an instant, the entire underground garage turned into chaos.
The deafening roar filled the space, and everything around was swallowed in rubble and dust.
A hurricane-force shockwave knocked Tony off his feet. Chairs and tables went flying.
If Jarvis hadn't activated the thrusters on his suit, Tony might have been blown straight out of the garage.
Luckily, the chaos only lasted around ten seconds.
The trembling earth calmed, and the roaring wind died down. The garage, however, was unrecognizable.
Visibility was close to zero in the dust-filled space.
Cough, cough.
Tony cut the thrusters and stumbled to the ground. "What... what just happened?"
He heard Leon exhale.
"Hoo!"
A gentler breeze rose this time, enough to clear some of the debris and dust in the air.
As the scene became visible, Tony stood in stunned silence.
The previously minimalist and futuristic garage was now a disaster zone.
Walls pockmarked with holes. Glass, machinery, and lighting—all gone.
Even the row of high-end sports cars parked inside had vanished.
As for the supposedly indestructible strength tester?
A gaping hole had replaced it, with only the misty sea visible on the other side.
Tony muttered under his breath, "Oh my god..."
Later that afternoon.
The location had shifted to a grassy field on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
It was still raining lightly.
Leon, now wearing only a shirt, repeatedly pounded on the now-distorted iron testing platform.
"You said this thing could handle my strength!"
He was clearly annoyed. "I didn't even use half my strength, and the thing morphed into a convex disc!"
"Then it fell into the sea! I had to dive to the ocean floor to retrieve it!"
"Okay, okay, Leon!" Tony stood fifty meters away, still in his armor, recalibrating the system through his onboard computer.
"No one—not even God—could've predicted your strength would grow so absurdly."
He added, "Six months ago, during your sunbathing in LA, your strength only increased by about 400 tons over 90 days. Jarvis and I built a simulation model based on that."
"We estimated you'd return with a strength between 1,000 to 5,000 tons, and a max speed under Mach 5."
"But you've blown those numbers out of the water."
"And look at that show Smallville. Clark Kent couldn't even fly in high school. He soaked up the sun for over a decade!"
Leon paused and pressed his headset. "Wait—you watched Smallville? I actually liked that series. Showed Superman's emotional and moral growth pretty well."
"But I bet you never finished it. His powers in the later episodes were completely broken."
Tony replied, "Still didn't get stronger as fast as you!"
"Maybe it's because I'm already an adult," Leon mused, "Or maybe... sunbathing in space is just more efficient?"
He turned back to the circular tester and gave it another punch.
"Okay! It's reshaped. How do we test it now?"