[Edward POV]
"Mom, you can't believe who I met at the company– working on them' movies!" Missy told her mother Mary as we were eating spaghetti together on the 3-seater couch.
Sitting between the Cooper ladies, with Missy on my right, I listened to the conversation intently. Mary leaned on the side of the single-seat couch and excitedly pointed at Missy with her fork, "You know what? We all should have dinner together, just to catch up."
Missy turned to Sheldon and asked, "Aren't you going to say something? Paige is your friend too. Aren't you glad to see her again?"
Leonard was intrigued and Penny joked, "Sheldon has a childhood girlfriend?"
"She's not my… Well, I guess since she is someone I knew as a child, and she is a girl, but she's not a friend. She's my rival," Sheldon corrected before continuing pouting and glaring at me from behind.
Sheldon remained standing, refusing to take another seat and wanting to wait for me to slip up and get up so he could take his spot back. Penny was excited and interjected, "Wait wait wait. You have a rival? So she must be a genius too? What is she doing making movies?"
"Um." Missy hesitated and glanced at me, also curious about the same question. "I don't know. I guess the pay is good."
"The pay is great. My company isn't like the other production companies that paid their screenwriter dimes and nickels." I chimed in. "By the way, this is delicious Nana." I swirled the spaghetti with the fork.
Mary smiled softly and said, "Glad you like it. It's Sheldon's favorite."
"Yet, you don't seem to care if I eat it or not." Sheldon retorted, but Mary ignored his complaint, "When you have lunch with the President, I'll even spoon feed you if that's what you want. In the meantime, grab a plate."
"I won't." Sheldon said whiningly.
Missy turned to Penny, "I guess he pays her really well. Because no matter how many times he pissed her off before, she kept seated and didn't storm off."
"Edward, you pissed her off?" Leonard asked laughingly, "Why?"
I shrugged and said, "Oh, I didn't do it on purpose. She just has a short fuse."
Sheldon agreed with me, "I have to agree with that. That is accurate." Both of us nodded in acknowledgement to one another, making Mary fall in disbelief.
"I thought y'all are fighting." Mary retorted. Then, she smiled at me and said, "You have to tell me what it's like."
"To be me? It's pretty awesome." I replied jokingly. Mary laughed and replied, "You know what I'm talking about."
"Then, I'll tell it all to you once you visit all the places you want to visit in LA. If I do it now, it'll eclipse your other experiences."
Missy smiled coyly and said, "Mom, don't listen to him. He already told me about it on the drive—"
"Missy. Stop talking." I cupped my hand on her mouth, startling her. Sheldon grimaced and said, "Great. Now you need hand sanitizer or you'll contaminate my spot."
Missy laughed and turned to Sheldon again, "I still haven't heard your answer."
Sheldon was taken aback before he agreed, "You're right. I still haven't answered your question. If I have to, I'd say– I'm not happy about meeting with Paige, I never do. But I'm quite looking forward to it."
"Hmm? Why?" I asked. "And if you answered it honestly, with some details for the story, I'll give you back your spot."
Sheldon was excited and said, "Deal! Alright." He took his time and shared, "Paige, despite her intelligence rivaling mine, although she's a bit inferior–"
"That's not how I remember it." Missy retorted.
Sheldon was taken aback, and continued, "Paige came to my dorm when I was studying at East Texas Tech, asking me if she could stay there for a while. College deemed too much for her, and she couldn't handle the loneliness. She wasn't a social butterfly like me."
"It was disturbing her mental health so much that she dropped out of the sciences entirely. Needing a place to stay, she came for me to help her."
"Why is my heart fluttering?" Penny whispered as she held Leonard's hand strongly, invested in Sheldon's story. Sheldon saw it and he asked with concern, "Are you having a heart attack?"
Penny rolled her eyes and urged, "Continue with the story."
"My mom, Missy and I went to check up on her that night because we were worried, only to find out that she had left. Inside the empty room was a note. She wrote to me that she was thankful for letting her stay, but unfortunately she had to go. I guess the reason I'm curious about the prospect of meeting her is because of the last part of the letter."
"WHAT IS IT WHAT IS IT?!" Penny was thoroughly invested in the story. Me too to be honest, but I didn't show it. In my previous life, I only watched Young Sheldon till season 5 after all. I didn't know the ending of the story, except for the fact that it will end with Sheldon's father's death.
Sheldon crossed his arms together, "In that letter, she mentioned that she's happy for me for doing well, and she needs to find that for herself somewhere. So if I am to meet her tomorrow, I'm curious to see if she does find it."
I asked, "Is that your last meeting with her?" Everyone held their breath as they waited for his answer.
Sheldon shook his head and replied nonchalantly, "No. I met her again a month later at the same college. She dragged me to a party where we bumped into Missy there. Pagie was inebriated and Missy made me let her sleep in my dorm room."
"Wait. Sheldon, so, while you're 14 and in college, you brought a girl back to your room after going to a party?" Leonard asked with disbelief.
Missy laughed and said, "I remembered that now. We went to that college party–"
Missy realized that she had misspoke, and Mary looked at her with disbelief and anger. "Missy Cooper are you kidding me?!" She yelled angrily.
"Mom, that was 15 years ago. The statue of limitation on that had long expired." Missy replied casually, which made Mary fall into disbelief.
Before Mary could say anything, Penny asked Sheldon, "Wait. So… Um, was that what you were thinking all these years? Is she finally happy?" Her eyes carried anticipation, and she held her breath as she waited for the answer.
"No, I didn't even think about her until Missy mentioned her to me today." Sheldon replied, pouring cold water to Penny's fiery fantasy. I chuckled at the interaction, while Missy was excited about something else.
"Rather than focusing on my brother's non-existence love story, I'd rather hear about you two."
Leonard and Penny exchanged glances with each other, both were uncomfortable about the topic.
"I'mma change the topic to how in the world did Edward know about it in just a few seconds of interactions with Penny." Leonard said quickly.
Before I could answer, Sheldon reminded me, "Well, I told you the story."
"Oh, right." I stood up, letting him sit down at his spot. His face beamed up with excitement, and his sister rolled her eyes at him.
"You should've just sat here, Ed." Missy voiced out. I smiled and said, "I'm the type to keep my word. Besides, I have already finished eating." Turning to Leonard, I chuckled and said, "Well it was elementary my dear Watson. Let me deal with the dishes first before I answer your question."
"Just put it in the sink." Leonard said loudly. "Can't really make the guy who had dinner with the President wash his own dish at my place." He chuckled. Then he said with awe to Sheldon, "Now, I'm feeling the disbelief of getting to eat with someone who just ate with the president."
"Who said I was going to wash it?" I joked about the plate. In reality, I was going to wash that. It surprised me when he managed to catch that. I didn't argue and placed my plate inside the sink before returning to the living room.
Turning to Sheldon, I asked casually, "Aren't you going to eat?"
Sheldon realized that he hadn't had dinner yet, smiled smugly as he stood up from his spot and said, "Yes, finally I can eat. The alluring smell of the spaghetti with hot dog cut up in it has been killing me." He walked to the kitchen to grab a plate for himself.
And as he went away, I sat back on the couch. Sheldon returned with his plate, and was dumbfounded "Um…"
"What? I kept my word didn't I? I said that I'll give back your spot. I just didn't tell you for how long."
Flabbergasted, Sheldon became frantic, "Get out of my spot."
"No." I replied casually.
Helpless, he tried to reason, "Why do you want to sit here anyway? Other than to mess with me? Are you really that petty that you're going to fly my mother and sister over a few states just to do this?"
Leonard laughed at his misery and then spoke for Sheldon, "He won't stop complaining, Edward. If the spot wasn't as important to you as it was to him, then maybe, you should let him eat. Otherwise he'll get more cranky, stomping his feet everywhere like a giant baby.. Sorry Mrs Cooper."
Mary chuckled and said, "It's fine. I can't get mad at someone for telling the truth."
"Alright I'll stop messing with him. Scooch over a little bit." I dragged my butt to the right, getting closer to Missy and Penny. The three of us shared 2 of the remaining seats by squishing together.
Sheldon finally sat down, and scoffed smugly at me. His eyes shook a bit as he settled into the cushion. "Somehow… it doesn't feel as innocent as it used to be."
Missy rolled her eyes while Mary admonished him, "I can't believe he's more mature than you are. Nice going Sheldon."
"But everyone knows this is my spot!" Sheldon defended himself.
"Back to the topic." Penny stopped the situation from getting out of hand by interrupting Sheldon and his mother. "How did you know?"
"Well, for starters, you guys can't look properly at each other without pulling your gaze away." I said jokingly. Leonard and Penny glanced at each other, felt shy, and quickly turned towards me again. "We don't do that." Penny said defensively.
Missy chuckled and joked, "You literally did it just now."
"It's more of a lucky guess. I just thought that it's time for that to happen. And it did." I said jokingly. Then I turned to Sheldon and said, "They even made out on your spot. So I guess that's why it doesn't feel as innocent anymore."
"WHAT?!" Sheldon was in disbelief. Leonard panicked and said, "NO! We didn't– Wait. Y-Yeah no. We didn't. Not on your spot."
Shy, Penny changed the subject, "So, are you studying to be a detective because of your Batman thing?"
Leonard, Sheldon and I looked at Penny with amazement. Taken aback, she said, "What?"
Sheldon replied, "I guess we're just surprised you know Batman is a detective. Fun fact! The term World Greatest Detective wasn't only anointed to Batman initially. It originally came from the 1949 Detective Comic issue 146, where Batman and Robin were called the World Greatest Detective Team–"
"Bla bla bla! No one cares!" Missy interjected as she couldn't listen to Sheldon's rant anymore. Missy turned to me and said, "I guess the biggest mystery you should solve is why Sheldon is like this."
"Asperger's Syndrome." I replied casually. Sheldon was baffled, then he thought about it. Leonard whispered to himself, "That actually made so much sense."
"What's that? Is this another one of the Californian made up diseases?" Mary asked with concern and some contempt.
"It-"
Sheldon interrupted me, "Asperger's syndrome is a type of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) characterized by challenges with social interaction and communication, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. He is referring to this syndrome. But I don't have it. I excel with communications and social interactions."
Mary looked at her son with disbelief. "After all these years. I finally got the answer." She mumbled to herself.
Leonard thought about it and said, "Well, even if he has it, it wasn't that bad. Especially at the repetitive behavior part. The only thing that shows he has that is his knock on the door."
I nodded, my mouth opened slightly, but I went quiet. Missy caught it and tempted me, "You seemed like you wanted to say something, but you stopped yourself."
"Nothing. I just think it wasn't an inappropriate thing to say." I replied to her. I had to stop myself from getting into the topic. Sheldon's act of repetitive knocking came from his pre-adolescent trauma where he caught his dad cheating on his mother.
Despite messing with him, I couldn't expose his trauma just to get a few laughs. There are some lines in life that shouldn't be crossed.
Sheldon didn't realize it and muttered with disbelief, "I don't have Asperger's Syndrome." But no one believed him.
…
After having dinner with everyone, I left as I had another person waiting for my presence today. Mary and Missy went back to their beach house using the company driver's car.
It seemed that Missy would finally get to experience the fun LA life tomorrow. Penny and Missy made plans to hang out, in which they'll hit the clubs together. Missy told Sheldon that it was the first time ever she was glad to know him, despite being twins.
Growing up, Missy was consistently overlooked because Sheldon needed constant attention. Being a child genius also has its perks, in which Missy always felt it was unfair for him to get everything he wanted, but she had to make do with the leftovers. The free trip to LA to do everything she wants healed that little girl in her a little.
I drove to a Mansion in Malibu, which took me nearly 35 minutes to get there. Luckily there was no traffic, otherwise it would take me more than an hour. Robin tweaking the traffic light also helped me get there faster.
Ringing the doorbell at the gate, I was buzzed into the house without even needing to confirm my identity.
"Hey! You made it!" RDJ greeted me with open arms as I entered the house. I laughed and asked, "You're here too?"
"Why? You think you're too good to spend time with me now you had lunch with the President?" He scoffed. Falling into disbelief, I said, "I won't live that down for a while huh."
"That's the peak of your life. Of course people are going to talk about it." Jon Favreau walked in with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Seemingly drunk, he sat down on the couch while wearing a robe.
RDJ and I glanced at each other before he asked Jon, "What happened? You were really excited just a few minutes ago."
"I was just on a call with Feige." Jon mumbled with a depressed tone.
I sat on the seat in front of him and asked, "What happened with Feige? Also, can I get a drink too–"
"No!" RDJ replied haughtily as he grabbed a glass of whiskey for himself. "Believe me, you shouldn't drink. You don't want to end up like the paaaast me."
I shrugged and said, "Then I'll become Iron Man 20 years later. It doesn't seem like a bad trade off. Besides, your issues were not about alcohol."
"And don't you dare start that too." He scolded me from out of nowhere.
Jon chuckled for a bit before he sighed and shared why he was depressed.
"Well, I floated the idea of reshooting the ending scene of the movie to Feige." Jon said. "You know, the one which ends up with Whiplash getting arrested by SHIELD after a standoff with Tony."
Nodding in agreement, I pondered the new scene he and the producers had devised after our discussion. Jon was excited about the revised ending because it catered to everything Feige wanted to accomplish - it would showcase the buildup for an interconnected cinematic universe, while also allowing for a more satisfying, less messy conclusion.
In the original story, they had shown Justin Hammer being arrested by SHIELD, which was the wrong move. Hammer had been working with the government, so SHIELD apprehending him would not effectively demonstrate their might.
Instead, in the revised ending, Whiplash would send a drone armor to distract Tony. This would set up an explosive, climactic fight scene that the producers desired - a sequence meant to push Tony to the edge before the final confrontation.
However, when Tony returned to the venue, Whiplash would be standing there alone, waiting to be captured by the authorities. It is then that he would provoke Tony, warning him that even after his arrest, people would continue utilizing services like those Justin Hammer provided. The mass-produced Iron Armor would fuel wars on a nightmarish scale, rendering Tony Stark inconsequential.
Whiplash's true revenge on Stark would be to completely destroy his legacy, mirroring how Howard Stark had done to Whiplash's own father. This would leave Tony in a moral dilemma - should he kill the unarmed, surrendering Whiplash, forfeiting his claim to heroism?
Ultimately, Tony would choose to lower his weapon, surprising Whiplash. He would then quip about the customer satisfaction survey Justin Hammer would give after the day's events, knowing no one would trust Whiplash to build their armor given his attempted takeover. With no bargaining chips left, Whiplash would have no choice but to be locked up again.
This revised ending was intended to showcase SHIELD's expanded role in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe. By containing Whiplash (Ivan Vanko), they would demonstrate their capability to handle elevated global threats - while also leaving the door open to potentially bring the character back in the future, perhaps in a Thunderbolts film.
It also connected itself to the legacy theme that was played all over the movie, showing that Tony was a different man from his father, and maybe to build redemption for Ivan Vanko later in the future. In the movie, one could argue that his main target was Tony Stark from the start. Even the armors in the final fight scene were only programmed to attack Tony, not to mindlessly massacre civilians.
This revised ending would have allowed the film to more deeply explore the themes of legacy, responsibility, and Stark's evolution as a hero - while also setting up future interconnected storylines within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After that brief thought, Jon continued telling his story, "Feige loves it. But there were a few problems. First, in order to show the final fight, we need to reshoot the entire last scene. That'll mean more CGI works, bigger budget, and more work that needs to be done for a movie that was essentially finished."
"The problem with the remote controlled suit idea is that Ivan Vanko doesn't have an AI. Even Tony, who has the AI, hasn't done that yet. The fight scene at the end is only possible because he was in it." Jon sighed. "I have the idea of Ivan wearing partial armor when he was confronting Tony. Maybe fight him a little before he surrenders."
RDJ added, "Scarlett also has a scheduling problem with her needing to shoot for her new movie, 'He's Just Not That Into You'."
"The one where she swims naked?" I asked.
"Yea– Wait, what?" In disbelief, RDJ shook it off and continued his words, "Anyway, since we only have 6 months left before the release, we cannot reshoot the last scene anymore."
Not because they couldn't, but the CGI department needed time to handle the effects he wanted. The final scene was already created a year ago, and it was only completed ahead of schedule because of my software.
"I mean, we can try." Jon corrected. "It's just the studio won't approve the extra expenditure. It'll take at least 5…no 10 more million I think.. To reshoot the entire last scene."
Jon turned to me and said, "Just to be clear, I'm not asking for money. Your software already cuts down the money we need to use. It's down to 155 million compared to the initial projection of 170 million."
RDJ was confused, "Then, can't they just use what they saved up to reshoot the entire thing?"
"The money has already been moved to fund another project, am I right?" I asked Jon knowingly. He nodded and said, "Well, the Avengers project needs a lot of money. Well, not that I have any part in that."
"He quit directing any future projects. Can you believe that?" RDJ teased Jon.
Helpless, Jon replied, "I'm not quitting directing. I just want to avoid the studio for a bit. Well, back to my original intention."
RDJ scoffed, but he understood what his friend was feeling. Jon had worked so hard to bring his creative vision to life, but the studio kept interfering and adding more ridiculous requests in order to bring the cinematic universe to life.
We had been conversing for over an hour when I floated an idea to Jon. "Hey, do you know about Percy Jackson novels?"
Jon, despite already drinking a few glasses, still kept his mind, "Yeah. I just heard about it this afternoon. For the life of me, I have no idea what could've happened for a studio to drop a story like that."
Well I have an idea. But I wasn't going to tell him that.
Jon rambled on, "I know the creator's mad about the adaptation and even wrote some letters to stop the movie, never once did I think that I could do anything. I mean, even JK Rowling can't do anything when the movie studio changed her story."
"Not so much though," RDJ asked. "Right?"
Jon shrugged and said, "I don't know. Never read the books." He turned to me and said, "Why did you ask?"
"Well, I'm trying to get the movie rights." I said, surprising the both of them.
"Really– Ah, I forgot you already bought a couple of movie studios." Jon exclaimed in wonder. I grinned and asked, "When I get it, Jon, are you interested in directing it?"
"Directing what?" Jon asked, confused.
I sipped my pomegranate juice and replied, "The Percy Jackson movie."