A Different Tony Stark

Tony Stark sat in the back on his office chair, staring out the window. As he expected, Obadiah did not immediately look for him. Unlike in the movie, Obadiah was busy putting out the fires that he caused, not to mention, there's no Mini Arc Reactor to stroke Obadiah's greed. Tony was planning to store it in a glass box and put in display back in his mansion.

Earlier. he saw Obadiah thrashing his office earlier through his enhanced vision.

'What a riot.' Tony thought, totally amused. He could hear the chaos unfolding behind him—executives whispering, board members scrambling to control the damage, reporters rushing to break the news. Let them panic. He wasn't interested in damage control. He was only interested in the future.

Pepper sat across his desk, arms crossed. "Tony, are you listening to me? You've been ignoring me, aren't you?"

"Sorry. What was it, Pep?" Tony turned his chair to face her.

"Pep? Nevermind that, you know you just blew up your own company. You need to fix this."

Tony smirked. "That's exactly what I'm doing."

"Tony, the stock is already dropping. You just shut down our most profitable division. Investors will want answers soon, real answers."

"They'll get them, but not today."

Pepper looked at him, looking for any clue if he's lying. Something she's never been able to do. "So what's the plan?"

Tony leaned back, adjusting his cufflinks. "Simple. Stark Industries isn't a weapons company anymore. It's a technology company."

She frowned. "We already make technology."

"Not like this," Tony said. "We've spent years building weapons that governments pay billions for. What if we built better things—things the whole world could use?"

Pepper folded her arms. "Like what?"

Tony smirked. "Clean energy. Medical tech. Advanced materials. And, of course, defense systems that don't need to explode to keep people safe."

Pepper gave him a skeptical look. "You really think you can turn a weapons company into that overnight?"

Tony chuckled. "It won't be overnight. But I've already started."

She narrowed her eyes. "Started what?"

Tony turned to her, his expression serious. "A new product line. I've been working on it since I got back." He brought out his mini arc reactor from a small box. "Miniaturized energy sources. This thing right here? It's the future."

Pepper's eyes widened slightly. "Is that an arc reactor?"

"A scalable version. One that can power homes, hospitals, entire cities. No pollution, no fuel dependency. Pure, clean energy."

Pepper stared at him. "You want to replace our weapons division with batteries?"

Tony grinned. "Not just batteries and not to mention, you're oversimplifying it. It is a revolutionary power sources. And that's just step one."

She sighed. "And step two?"

Tony looked out the window as the car sped toward his home. "Fixing what we've already done. Recovering our tech from the wrong hands. Making sure Stark Industries isn't just profitable—it's necessary."

Pepper was quiet for a moment. Then she exhaled. "You really believe this will work?"

Tony turned back to her, confidence unwavering. "I know it will."

Silence permeated for a while before Pepper decided to just trust his boss. As she was leaving she remembered something. "By the way, you look a lot younger. What's your skincare?"

"Eh?"

…..

...

Earlier on a nearby office at Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane stormed into his own office, slamming the door shut so hard that the glass rattled.

"That arrogant little—"

He didn't finish. He didn't need to. His rage spoke for itself.

The moment Tony stepped away from the podium, Obadiah Stane could feel the walls closing in.

Cameras flashed. Reporters shouted over one another. The stock market was already reacting. Tony Stark just shut down weapons manufacturing, the department that gives him most of his income.

The door to his office slammed shut behind him.

"Dammit, Tony!"

Obadiah grabbed the nearest thing, his heavy glass paperweight, and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a solid thud, leaving a dent before shattering onto the floor.

He paced back and forth, his chest rising and falling with barely contained fury. 'Years! Years of work, negotiations, military contracts, all gone in a single press conference!'

'Tony had always been reckless, but this? This was something else. He hadn't just gone off-script. He had rewritten the entire damn playbook.' Obadiah reached for the bottle of scotch on his desk, pouring himself a drink with hands that shook slightly. He downed it in one gulp and slammed the glass down harder than necessary.

Think.

He knew that Tony was impulsive, but he wasn't stupid. He had looked too confident up there. That meant he had a plan, something he hadn't shared with anyone, not the board, not Pepper, not him.

And that was the problem.

Obadiah had spent years keeping Tony in check, making sure he stayed distracted with parties, women, and his own ego while real decisions were made behind the scenes. That balance was gone now.

The military would call soon, demanding answers. The board was also panicking, scampering.

Obadiah exhaled slowly, regaining control of his breathing.

'Tony is thinking this is a game. He had no idea what kind of war he had just started.' He smirked as the gears in his head started to churn some nefarious ideas.

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