One hour later.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
Opening the door, a middle-aged handsome man in a suit appeared at the entrance.
"Hello, Mr. Parker," Tony Stark greeted with a smile first, looking friendly and not as arrogant as imagined, nor as intimidating and sinister as the capitalist portrayed by the Shadow Spider-Man.
"Hello, Mr. Stark," Peter was slightly taken aback before nodding, stepping aside to let Tony Stark in.
Tony Stark gave Peter a puzzled look.
He had been paying attention to Peter for more than just a day or two. Probably since Peter gained his powers and started donning his homemade baby suit to be the street hero Spider-Boy, he had noticed his existence.
Then he easily found the real identity behind the Spider-Boy mask.
After collecting Peter's identity information and determining that Peter's actions were just those of a teenager idolizing superheroes and wanting to become a superhero himself, he no longer paid much attention.
He even helped Peter erase some traces to prevent him from being targeted by some people and causing unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, although he did not pay special attention, he had always been keeping an eye on and collecting information about Peter.
However, the information gave him an impression of Peter as "immature" rather than "calm."
In fact, Tony Stark's description of Peter was: childish.
Not even naive.
"How have you been lately?" Tony Stark asked abruptly after carefully examining Peter.
"Uh, I'm good, Mr. Stark," Peter said, "My name is Peter Parker, you can call me by my first name."
"Okay, Peter, I'm Tony," Tony Stark patted Peter's shoulder, "Wow, what a sturdy young man."
"Mr. Stark, please come in and have a seat," Aunt May invited in a timely manner.
Peter also made a gesture inviting him in.
Tony Stark entered the house, glanced around the living room, and sat on the couch.
Aunt May went to brew tea, and Peter sat next to Tony Stark.
"Mr. Stark..."
"Call me Tony."
"Okay, Tony, so, may I ask what brings you here to see me?" Peter asked in a low voice.
Tony carefully examined Peter: "It seems you've already made a guess."
Peter nodded slightly: "The Sokovia Accords?"
He didn't bother asking why this accord would be related to him or why Iron Man knew his identity, those silly questions.
In his previous guesses, as long as Iron Man came in person, everything was already based on the fact that he knew his identity.
"Yes, but not entirely," Tony said in a low voice, looking at Peter with some surprise, "I hope you'll sign the accords, but the main reason for my visit is that I need your help."
"Need my help?" Peter was astonished. Could it be true that he had guessed correctly? Because of Captain America's rebellion, Iron Man needed help to deal with them?
"Ahem," Peter's next words hadn't come out yet when Tony cleared his throat, raising his voice, "The September Foundation has been approved, so, Peter, when can you be ready? We can talk about our collaboration."
"The September Foundation? Collaboration?" Aunt May came out of the kitchen carrying tea and snacks she had prepared earlier.
"Uh, sorry, Aunt May, I actually..." Peter knew this was Iron Man's cover-up excuse, so he stammered.
Tony turned to Aunt May, stood up to take some things from her hands, and smiled, "Peter is a very outstanding young man, and I'm looking forward to working with him."
"Actually, I'm also looking forward to working with you, Mr. Stark," Peter said in a solemn tone, even changing the way he addressed Tony.
From Aunt May's perspective, it was about the September Foundation and sponsorship. Her nephew Peter probably applied for a grant, and the funding provider was Stark Industries or something.
But in reality, between Peter and Tony, Peter's statement meant that he agreed to sign the Sokovia Accords.
"Mr. Stark, can we discuss the details of our collaboration?" Peter asked.
Tony smiled slightly: "Of course, Mr. Parker."
"Aunt May..." Peter looked at Aunt May.
Aunt May gave him an encouraging fist pump and mouthed, "Go for it!"
"Mmm!"
Peter and Tony got up and headed towards Peter's room.
"What's this, retro technology?" As soon as they entered the room, Tony was drawn to the big-ass desktop computer on the table.
Peter glanced at it. It was indeed a computer he had assembled himself from components he had scavenged from the junkyard, mainly used for debugging his web-shooters. So he had made a lot of interfaces at the back, making it look somewhat bloated.
"Well, it is kind of retro," Peter felt a little embarrassed to have these things seen by his idol.
Tony chuckled to himself, finally finding a glimpse of the expression a kid his age should have on this pretentiously solemn little brat.
That's right; he had just carefully thought about it and realized that Peter was just trying to act mature.
After all, according to his intel before coming today, Peter was still that immature kid.
People don't just grow up overnight, do they?
Even if they do, there must have been some major life-changing event.
But there was nothing out of the ordinary in Peter's life, no different from before. Where would the "forcing" conditions come from?
"Although you seem to have admitted it, I still want to confirm, this guy wearing a baby pajama and roaming the streets, is that you, Peter?" Tony took out his phone and pulled up a video.
"...Yes, it's me, but that's not a baby pajama, it's my...battle suit, just like your Iron Man armor!"
"You call that thing a battle suit? Hahaha!" Tony burst out laughing, slapping his thigh.
Peter looked at him somewhat annoyed.
"Ahem, I didn't mean to laugh at you," Tony composed himself and apologized, "Haha, but I couldn't help it."
"..." Peter said helplessly, "Tony, I think we should probably forget about the baby pajama, ahem, battle suit, and talk about the Sokovia Accords and the help you need from me, because I think that's the real reason you're here."
"Hmm, yes, the Sokovia Accords are..." Tony explained the general content of the Sokovia Accords to Peter since it was the premise for him to join.
Peter also wanted to understand the full scope of this accord.
Although he also believed that these individuals with superpowers needed to be regulated to some extent, he would find it hard to accept if the regulation became too strict.
Moreover, influenced by his experience with the Shadow Spider-Man, he didn't have much faith in the integrity of those in power.
He didn't want to become someone else's profit tool by mistake.
(End of chapter)