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"Tony started it!"
"Pepper, don't listen to Luca's nonsense! Look at me!"
"Tony snatched my watch! And tried to grab my camera!"
"You brat! You..."
"Shut up! Both of you, stand still and behave!!"
"Hmph!" x2
In the corner of the laboratory, two "Little Rascals" stood against the wall, one on the left and one on the right. They turned their heads away from each other, neither willing to back down.
Seeing this scene, the anger in Pepper's heart instantly deflated.
The corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably. After forcing down the urge to laugh out loud, she kept a straight face and stared at the two silently.
However.
Just because Pepper could hold it in didn't mean others could.
Gwen, who was hiding half behind her, burst out laughing instantly upon seeing these two "Little Tykes" throwing tantrums.
Pfft.
But her laugh immediately drew the "Death Stare" from two pairs of big, blinking eyes.
Unfortunately...
"Hahaha~ So cute!"
As she spoke, a beaming Gwen extended her "evil hands."
Although Tony had also turned into a child, he was technically an elder.
So Gwen's "evil hands" naturally landed on Luca's face.
"Sthap! Gweh! Let go!" (Stop! Gwen! Let go!)
Seeing Luca getting his cheeks furiously kneaded by Gwen, even Tony stopped sulking and laughed gloatingly.
"Heh, you were pretty tender when you were young, weren't you?"
But just as he finished speaking, he saw Pepper reaching her hand toward him as well.
"Pep... Pepper... Don't..."
Tony backed away in panic, terrified of losing face in front of that brat Luca.
However, once his back hit the wall, the nervous Tony noticed that his girlfriend's expression was clearly different.
Pepper's expression wasn't anger or annoyance, nor was it the playful teasing on Gwen's face.
Instead, it looked like... excitement? Joy? Disbelief? A complex mix of emotions.
Pepper's trembling hand reached toward Tony's small chest. She gently pulled down the oversized tank top neckline, revealing a patch of smooth skin.
Then, she quickly covered her mouth with her other hand. Warm tears welled up in her eyes, swirling until she could no longer hold them back.
Like pearls from a broken string, they rolled down her cheeks to her fingertips.
"Tony... you're finally..."
By now, Pepper's voice was trembling uncontrollably. Her lips curled into a smile, but a sharp sob rose in her throat, choking back all sound.
Her tear-filled eyes were full of a joy that had been suppressed for a long time.
"It's healed... It's really healed..."
Hearing Pepper's words, Tony realized something in an instant.
He instinctively looked down at the chest Pepper's fingers had brushed.
The Arc Reactor that had been embedded in his body was gone. Even the hole in his chest had completely healed without a trace.
It was precisely because the healed chest felt so natural that Tony hadn't noticed it all this time.
At this moment, while the two were still immersed in shock and joy, Luca's voice drifted into their ears.
"Hmph~ I told you it was good stuff, but Little Tony didn't appreciate it!"
As he spoke, Luca pouted and put his hands on his hips, putting on an arrogant "I am number one in the world" pose.
However, with his cheeks still being pinched into deformed shapes by the equally stunned Gwen, his words carried zero intimidation factor.
"This?"
Tony wanted to ask, but seeing Luca's state, the words stuck in his throat.
But Luca wasn't the type to do good deeds anonymously.
He slapped Gwen's hand away from his left cheek and explained triumphantly.
"APTX4869 reverts the human body to around seven years old, but it also expels foreign objects from the body through muscle contractions—plus, the burger I gave you had extra ingredients. Fixing that tiny hole in your chest? Piece of cake!"
Luca lifted his chin proudly, practically begging for praise.
Unexpectedly, instead of bowing down in gratitude, Tony's gaze instinctively swept toward Luca's right hand, which was fitted with a child-sized mechanical arm.
"What are you looking at? I told you yours had extra ingredients! Besides, APTX4869 expels foreign objects; I don't have shrapnel in my arm!"
Seeing this, Tony awkwardly averted his gaze.
Only then did he notice that on the pile of messy clothes in the center of the lab lay his Arc Reactor, along with some faintly visible bloody metal shards.
"Luca... thank you..."
Although Tony was proud, he wasn't ungrateful.
Now that Luca had solved this problem that had plagued him for so long, he was genuinely thankful.
Beside him, the teary-eyed Pepper was also endlessly grateful to Luca.
Except, watching her hold Little Tony's head down to bow in thanks...
It looked exactly like a mother taking her elementary schooler to apologize for causing trouble.
"Alright, alright. No need for that. It's weirdly awkward."
Although he said "no need," Luca was secretly enjoying watching Pepper force Tony to bow to him.
However, just then, Gwen spoke up again.
"So, Luca, why did you take this 4869 drug yourself? And why haven't you changed back?"
As soon as Gwen said this, the room fell into a weird silence again.
Seeing Luca's frozen smile and dumbfounded expression, Tony's heart skipped a beat.
He instinctively reached for his baggy, slightly empty crotch, asking with a face full of horror.
"Y-y-you... Don't tell me you can't change back?!!"
After Tony said this, Luca stiffly turned his head away, staring at the ceiling, looking like he was about to start whistling awkwardly.
Fortunately, just as Tony was on the verge of a breakdown, thinking he'd have to go back to elementary school, Luca finally spoke.
"Ah-le-le~ Just scaring you. Of course, there's a way to restore it~"
Tony, and even Pepper, breathed a sigh of relief.
But Luca's next sentence suspended their hearts in their throats again.
"It's just the antidote... hasn't been made yet..."
Tony grabbed him, looking ready to fight for his life again, so Pepper quickly asked on his behalf.
"Luca, how long will it take to make this antidote you mentioned?"
Hearing this, Luca rolled his eyes.
Without speaking, he just held out his hand to Tony.
"Give me back my watch!"
Seeing this, although reluctant, Tony sulkily placed the [Transformation Watch] into Luca's hand.
Who would have thought that as soon as Luca got the watch, he would immediately bolt out of the room.
At the same time, he didn't forget to shout back.
"Haha! Pepper, I'll secretly tell you the time later, and I'll give the antidote directly to you! How you handle it is up to you~"
After saying that, Luca ran out of the Stark villa without looking back.
Leaving behind a dumbfounded Tony and a Pepper Potts with an inexplicable smile rising on her face.
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