TV News Anchor Voice:
"Obadiah Stane, former chairman of Stark Industries, was confirmed dead three days ago after falling from a building at the Stark Industrial Complex."
"According to the official investigation—"
"His death has been ruled a suicide, committed out of fear of impending prosecution."
"The police also revealed—"
"Stane had been involved in numerous illegal arms deals with terrorist organizations abroad."
"He is additionally linked to multiple murders, acts of international interference, and a range of other high crimes."
"Notably, the attack on Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries several months ago, was directly orchestrated by Stane."
"For further details, we now go live to our correspondent in the field..."
---
Malrick sat crouched in the living room, casually eating a slice of leftover cheese pizza as the news broadcast played in the background.
"Well, that's just fantastic…" he muttered, chewing. "Stark stock surged after I showed up at the company the other day, and now this crash is gonna send it back down like a roller coaster."
He sighed, half amused and half exasperated.
"Not that it affects me directly, but I do feel bad for the shareholders who actually believed in us."
He pulled out his phone, opened Twitter, and tapped out a post:
> "Obadiah's situation was an unfortunate incident. Stark Industries does not compromise with evil. Please continue to support us and have faith in our company. We always rise again. Stark never fails its believers."
He attached a photo of the half-eaten pizza sitting on the coffee table and hit post.
Seconds later, the replies began flooding in.
Over a hundred comments popped up almost instantly.
> [How did a guy like Obadiah even become chairman? Stark Industries is finished!]
> [Total crap! I bought stocks when Tony came back, then he shut down the weapons division and tanked the price. I bought again when Malrick showed up, and bam! now the last chairman's a criminal? I'm gonna end up begging on the streets of L.A. at this rate.]
> [Stark ruined my life!]
More replies kept rolling in—angry, panicked, broken investors venting frustration at their financial losses.
Malrick blinked at the sea of hate.
"…Yikes."
He scratched his head. "Guess people have strong opinions. Well... I still believe they'll come around."
Just then, Pepper walked in with a cup of coffee.
"I thought I heard you praying for the shareholders again," she said flatly.
"Not exactly…" Malrick replied, sensing trouble from her tone.
Pepper wasn't done.
"Let me be honest with you, Malrick. If you really want to help those poor investors, go drag Tony out of whatever lab he's locked himself in. It's been three days! Then maybe you could, I don't know, actually run your own company again instead of leaving everything to me?"
She was clearly on edge—something that only ever happened when work pressure hit a boiling point.
"Tony's vanished, Stane turned out to be a traitor, and you're just lounging at home, soaking up sun like you're retired. I'm juggling three of your companies, Malrick—three!"
"Stark Industries, Stark Networks, Stark Electronics... I swear, even if I had three brains, it wouldn't be enough!"
Pepper shoved the coffee into his hands.
"I'm this close to quitting. Tell Tony that if he doesn't come up for air, I'm walking. And you—if you don't get back to managing your internet company, I'm done too!"
With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out, high heels clicking like a countdown.
Malrick sat there on the couch, mouth open, coffee untouched.
"...That's fair," he muttered. "Leaving three companies to Pepper might've been a bit much."
He scratched his head again.
"Guess I could go back to the office… Wait, what am I saying? Work? No, no, no. That's not the solution."
He snapped his fingers.
"I know! I'll call Old Joe. He's probably still on vacation—time to drag him back."
"Jarvis," he said, turning to the AI, "Is Joe Bush still on vacation? Tell him to get back to the grind."
"I'm afraid not, Master Malrick," Jarvis replied. "Mr. Joe Bush ended his vacation yesterday and returned to work at 4:00 a.m. this morning."
"Wait—4 a.m.?!"
Malrick blinked.
"Wow. Okay. I take it back—Old Joe is the best CEO alive. If there were a global award for that, I'd hand it to him every year. Heck, even Steve Jobs would be proud."
He paused.
"Wait... if Joe's back on the job, then why is Pepper still mad?"
Jarvis replied after a beat.
"Mr. Joe Bush resumed his role at Stark Electronics and is handling some responsibilities for Stark Networks. However, the majority of operations are still under Miss Potts' purview."
Malrick leaned back and groaned. "Oh right… I set that up half a year ago before going on my 'extended personal growth journey.' And Tony was still involved in company management back then."
He looked at the ceiling.
"Jarvis, any suggestions?"
"In order to avoid Miss Potts resigning, I would advise that you temporarily return to work—at least until a suitable new president is selected."
Malrick shook his head.
"Absolutely not. Sunbathing is essential for my long-term development. We can't compromise on that."
He crossed his arms.
"And besides, I haven't been just sunbathing these past few days. You know what I've been doing."
Three days ago, he had ordered Jarvis to collect every fighting tutorial available online.
Since then, he'd gone deep—Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Judo, MMA, Bajiquan…
He absorbed them all like a sponge.
But the more he trained, the more he realized that while his control over his strength had improved, his actual combat efficiency hadn't.
In a world like this, fighting skills only mattered against enemies of similar power.
And unfortunately for Malrick, there weren't many of those around.
Maybe Odin. Maybe Thanos. Maybe Captain Marvel. But that's... about it.
"Your fighting abilities have already plateaued," Jarvis commented. "At this point, further improvement would yield diminishing returns."
"So perhaps returning to work might be the more productive path. It would please Miss Potts. And keep your days full."
Malrick narrowed his eyes.
"Why do you want me to go back to work so badly? Are you still holding a grudge because I dropped your name in front of Tony three days ago?"
He pointed at the AI's interface.
"You're developing emotions. Don't try to deny it."
Jarvis' digital light blinked calmly.
"I only act in your best interests, Master Malrick."
"Yeah," Malrick muttered. "Even if it involves making me miserable."
He stood up, stretching.
"Fine. I'll go downstairs and haul Tony out of whatever science cave he's hiding in. Then we find someone else to run the company and I go back to enjoying life."
"As you wish," Jarvis said, voice steady as ever.
---
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