A Determined Being (Marvel Fic)

[Third POV, Year 2001, September 11th, Adrian's House]

"Goodbye, Adrian. Have a good night."

"Goodbye, Happy. Same to you."

After spending around 30 more minutes at Stark Mansion talking with Tony about what they would do tomorrow, Adrian was dropped off at his house by Happy.

Closing the door behind him, Adrian walked to the kitchen and grabbed a slice of "torta de banano" (banana cake basically i like to use the Spanish/Colombian name), a banana, and a Coca-Cola from the fridge. Then he headed to his room and sat down on the chair in front of the table that held Bartholomew Chungus GingerSnap The Great's cage/house. The little creature looked at Adrian with wide, twitchy eyes.

"Oh, Bartholomew Chungus GingerSnap The Great, so wise and mighty—I need your guidance once again. What should I do now?"

"Squeak!"

Starting to eat the "torta de banano", Adrian peeled the banana a little, sliced a small piece, and dropped it into the cage. Bartholomew quickly scurried over and began nibbling it.

"You know, while I'm not a hundred percent sure I prevented it, I think I stopped one of the world's greatest terrorist attacks today. Of course, I can't lower my guard just yet—but still, I think I did it."

"Squeak."

"I know, I know—it's not nearly as amazing as you doing that accidental backflip when you ran so fast on your wheel that gravity betrayed you and you had to twist mid-air just to land on your feet. But I think I deserve a little credit, right? A 'congratulations' wouldn't kill you, even if your kind have some of the most bizarre deaths in the animal kingdom."

"Squeak."

"Thanks."

He folded the banana peel over the rest of the fruit to keep flies away, then kept eating while chatting with Bartholomew.

"Now, back to the issue at hand—I don't know where to even start. I've got so much crap to do, and even with infinite time, it's still a pain in the ass. And I'm not even physically five years old, y'know?"

This time, Bartholomew remained silent, simply listening.

"I have to help Tony upgrade the armor, make it portable and fast to suit up. Then I need to get vibranium. Then I have to keep experimenting and figure out how my powers work—which is super time-consuming since I've only played with stuff I already knew. I probably need to study biology too, if I want to age my body."

"Squeak?"

"Because I don't wanna be in the body of a 12-year-old when MCU Phase One kicks off, obviously. And then there's magic... ugh. Magic in the Marvel universe is a fucking mess—contradictory as hell. And it's governed by The-Powers-That-Be, the 'absolute god of magic,' meaning my magic powers would basically depend on that guy. And I don't know much about magic from Undertale or Deltarune either. I guess I could empower myself with soul energy, as DT/PW cannonically enhances physical stats, but that's about it when it comes to UT/DT magic, god i really hope i was able to play the chap 3-4..... dying before playing them sucks."

Opening the Coca-Cola, Adrian took a long drink.

"Ugh... I also have to deal with the anthrax situation if it even happens. I need sleep. Hopefully nothing blows up while I do."

He carried the banana back to the kitchen, turned off his bedroom lights, and plopped down onto his bed.

"Good night, Bartholomew."

[September 12th, 2001]

"I really hope for a surprise, kid. I still don't get what you see in this outdated model."

"Come on, have a little faith in me, will ya? It's not like I ever disappointed."

Currently, Tony and Adrian stood over the physical model of the "City of the Future" that Howard Stark had once made.

"Alright, let's see whatever Daddy Dearest came up with."

"Just let me cook. Spark, could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wireframe? I need a manipulatable projection of the model."

"Right away! But sir, I must admit—I can't quite comprehend what you see in this."

Spark began scanning the model. Seconds later, a glowing blue projection materialized above it.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete."

Adrian lifted the projection and floated it away from the physical structure, then rotated it upright.

"I wonder how many buildings are in this model. Gotta count those Belgian waffle stands too."

"...What? What the fuck are you even talking about? You know what? Doesn't matter. What does that look like to you, Tony? For people like us is only some brainpower, Overthink it a little—doesn't it resemble an atom? In that case, the nucleus would be here."

"What? An atom?"

"Spark, highlight the Unisphere. Lose the footpaths. Take them away."

Spark complied, modifying the projection. But he voiced his curiosity again, the doubt was filling his system.

"Sir, I'm currently overloading with curiosity—why would Howard Stark hide an atomic structure in this model?"

"I believe it's because he discovered a new element. Maybe the tech back then didn't let him synthesize it."

"Wait... are you talking about discovering a new element?! That's fabulous! A new element!"

"Technically, I'm re-discovering it. Tony's dad beat me to it."

Tony, half-scoffing, half-stunned, blurted out.

"The fuck are you saying? My old man discovered a new element?"

"Kinda, yeah. Spark, remove the landscaping, the trees, the shrubbery, parking lots, exits, entrances—everything. Now structure the protons and neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."

"That's ridi—wait... that looks like a nucleus!"

Tony had been seconds away from brushing it off, but the projection made his eyes widen in disbelief.

"That man's been dead for nearly a decade... and still—A new element, huh? Now I wonder—if he had miniaturized the reactor while he was alive, would he have made an armor too? ...Goddamnit, old man. You always talked about responsability and tried to teach me things, i guess this time you did... even though you did it after dead."

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 Author Note: If you note less quality in writing, is because i literally speedrunned writing this chapter, as like i said in chapter before i lost a draft with what i actually wanted to write, this chapter is a recreation by memory of the chapter i actually wanted to release.

Please add to library and give powerstones!