Chapter 26: Goodbye, Tony
In the evening, a streak of light passed through the skies of New York. It was Tohka, wearing her iron armor. After saying goodbye to Harry and the others, she hurried toward Tony's villa. New York at night wasn't as safe as back home, and walking alone here could be dangerous, but for Tohka, it wasn't much of a problem.
"Are you alright, Tony?" As soon as Tohka returned to the villa, she saw Tony, whose face looked worse than before. His symptoms seemed to have worsened since their last meeting.
"What's going on, our princess suddenly returns?" Seeing Tohka, Tony teasingly remarked. No matter what, Tony still hid it well. At least, Tohka didn't notice anything unusual on the surface, so she hesitated to mention anything. Instead, she cautiously asked, "Is your health alright?"
"Of course! Look, I can still punch a cow to death!" After hearing Tohka's words, Tony raised an eyebrow and even flexed his muscles. To be honest, Tony had been working out recently, and he looked much better than before, at least less fat.
"..." Rolling her eyes, Tohka couldn't be bothered to argue with him and went straight to the point. "By the way, Tony, did you see the newspaper the other day?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember." After hearing Tohka, Tony recalled that when he saw the news, he had asked J.A.R.V.I.S. and the conclusion was a short circuit. Although Tony had found it a bit odd at the time, he hadn't thought much of it since such things were inevitable.
"It seems that my powers conflict with your armor. Whenever I use them, the armor stops functioning. I wanted to ask if you could help me check it." Tohka had secretly experimented with this when no one was around. What frustrated her was that once her spiritual power was released, the armor would inevitably short-circuit, but after she stopped supplying magic, it would return to normal after a few seconds.
"Oh, really?" After hearing Tohka, Tony became interested. As a scientist, he was quite curious about Tohka's powers. However, due to various matters, he hadn't had the chance to study it. "In that case, follow me, and I'll help you redesign your armor."
"Okay."
In Tony's courtyard, Tony was fiddling with various instruments while Tohka stood wearing her iron armor.
"Alright, I'll count to three, and you activate both your armor and your powers simultaneously." After placing instruments around Tohka, Tony spoke to her.
"Got it, leave it to me. This time, I'll unleash my full power."
"Okay, no problem. Just wait for J.A.R.V.I.S." After hearing Tohka, Tony nodded in satisfaction. Then, he noticed something wrong. The readings on the instruments immediately hit their maximum and then exceeded the limit. He didn't hesitate for a second and immediately called for J.A.R.V.I.S.
"Boom!" At that moment, a loud explosion echoed through the silent coastline.
"Ahem, what a surprise." Then, Tony, wearing a jet-black iron armor, emerged from his own wall. He looked at the messy courtyard and the shattered instruments beneath him with a face full of despair. "I know your energy is strong, young lady, but could you please be a little gentler next time?"
"Ah?" After hearing Tony, Tohka tilted her head, looking at him in confusion. Then she replied, "Didn't you ask me to unleash everything?"
"..." Tony stared at Tohka, speechless. He just wanted to slap himself. In the end, it's my fault? Couldn't you use your brain? Is it you who's foolish or me? Alright, I guess I was the fool...
No matter how much he wanted to complain inside, Tony's actions were quick. He took off his iron armor and started reviewing his records. Although the explosion had destroyed all the instruments, the data had still been recorded.
"Tsk, tsk, your powers are really strange. I've never heard of such a power, let alone seen it." Looking at the data in amazement, Tony sighed. "Looks like you've provided me with new ideas. Well, I'll go back and check it out. Since your armor is already broken, would you like to stay here overnight? I still have your room reserved."
"No, I'll head back first. I still need to go to school tomorrow." After hearing Tony's offer, Tohka shook her head. However, she suddenly remembered the news from before. "Tony, what happened to that guy you met who had an iron suit?"
"That guy? He's been detained. He couldn't even make a name for himself." Tony didn't care at all about the encounter with the wannabe villain. First of all, like Tony, the guy had the technology for an arc reactor but kept it secret. Otherwise, if he sold it to other countries, he'd earn a huge reward. He wouldn't be stuck wearing that ragged suit like he was. After all, iron armor isn't something just anyone can afford to play around with.
"Okay, I'll head out now." After hearing Tony, Tohka nodded. It seemed that Hammer Industries hadn't acted yet, otherwise Tony would have suspected him. The reason Tony didn't care at first in the original story was that he was about to die, so thinking about it didn't matter much.
Then, Tohka levitated into the air, using her spiritual power to simulate the appearance of the armor. She then accelerated to her maximum speed and vanished in an instant from Tony's sight.
"This girl has that kind of ability too? Never mind, I'll start researching. I'll give her the armor in a couple of days." Staring at the departing Tohka, Tony realized that her powers were too strange. However, he didn't dwell on it too much. As Iron Man, Tony could immediately tell that Tohka wasn't wearing an iron suit at all. He was more interested in the data he had collected than anything else.
"Oh, it looks like that guy already has a plan." Sure enough, Tohka received a message from Tony halfway, telling her to come pick up the armor in a couple of days and also informing her that he had come up with a new idea.
Tohka was still very interested in this. After all, in the dating world, there were devices specifically designed to counter spirits. She was curious if Tony could develop something similar.