"It's encrypted, Sir," Jarvis responded, starting a quick decryption and geo-location. "It's from the White House."
Tony hovered midair and picked up the call. "Boss?"
"Haha, is there anyone who can be Tony Stark's boss?" The calm yet relaxed voice came from the other side. The current President, and the one who was hoping to get re-elected.
"So the bureaucrats do know their boundaries. Seeing what's happened in the last few days, I thought you guys forgot about it." Tony took a straightforward jibe at the recent retaliations he had faced. "What can I do for you? Kinda busy, on my way to Japan."
"Ah, yes. You helped them a lot this time. I spoke with their Prime Minister and he couldn't stop thanking you. It seems your political campaign is going very well." The President replied and went straight to the business. "I'll ask this once, Tony. Are you fully committed to the election?"
"Definitely more committed than Senator Stern to Hammer Industries," Tony replied.
There was silence for a moment on the other side. Tony didn't say anything either and waited for a reply. He knew what the man on the other side was thinking—Whether to go with the re-election attempt or not.
"You'll make a decent President, Tony." The voice replied. "I'm pretty young, enough time for a second chance. The stage is yours—welcome to the club."
That's it? He's quitting?
Tony was not someone to deny such opportunities.
"You sure I'm welcome in that club?"
"As an Independent? Absolutely not. But I guess you don't care about that. Good luck, Tony Stark."
Tony appreciated that at least the man had enough mind to not try and ask him to join his party. "Enjoy your half retirement, buddy."
"Will do."
The call got cut after that, and Tony resumed flying. But he still surfed the internet to find who his likely opponents were going to be in the coming election. Even if the current President was going to skip it, there was still going to be someone from both parties and a few other ambitious independents.
One less hurdle to cross, I guess.
####
As the weeks went by, a great many events across the world were reported. The return of Captain Steven Rogers; Tony's international Iron Guardians; and the appearance of enhanced humans across the globe that tried to cause a scene secretly.
In America, as time went by, the number of states with Iron Guardians kept increasing. From thirteen to twenty-four—Arizona, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Alabama.
Tony Stark as a brand was more household than any other name in the country's history. From old men on their deathbeds to kids learning to speak, they all knew about Iron Man. That fame was well calculated and nurtured by the money fed to the media.
But half of it was natural. Tony's livestreams went on forever through the cameras on the Iron Guardians. News channels created whole segments to show the day's most badass moments from Iron Guardians. Likewise, reaction Youtube channels arose that reacted to the live streams.
It was all free publicity. Also, Jarvis was one heck of an AI lad as it controlled all of Tony's social media to maintain high visibility with comedic posts and thought-provoking ideas. World thought it was all Tony, but seriously, he had no time for that.
The election was now mere months away, and the first debate was soon to be held with Matthew Ellis and Edward Nomm. The first was a known name in politics, while the second was a new guy who had grown popular while being Illinois Governor. But both belonged to a party, while Tony was alone.
However, Tony was being lazy after months of working non-stop. That morning, he stayed in his bed, staring at the ceiling as if there was something written on it. The bright top-floor windows of the Stark Tower were drowning the entire room in light.
But, he didn't even move.
It being a rare night in the bedroom, he was alone. No naked woman beside him. No spilled bottles of drinks on the floor.
"Jarvis, did it happen?"
It was a special day. No, a monumental day for Stark Industries. A day that Jarvis had predicted in advance, but that didn't lessen its effect on Tony.
"The market opened three minutes ago, Sir. Stark Industries has officially crossed a one trillion market cap."
Tony lets out a low whistle, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "So, what you're telling me is... we're roughly six point two five percent of America's GDP?"
"Stark Industries is an international enterprise, Sir. Drawing that parallel would be inaccurate. However, purely by the numbers, you are indeed correct."
Tony still felt proud of himself. "You think Dad would've approved of what I've done with Stark Industries? Or, I don't know, maybe the whole upcoming White House gig?"
After a short silence, Jarvis spoke. "Based on my historic eval—"
"Ah, leave it. He never cared about anything I did. Anyway, what's on my schedule today? Something exciting, I hope." Tony finally slid off the bed and stretched his arms. "Don't I have a meeting with Capsicle?"
"You'll have breakfast with Captain America at a cafe. Ms. Potts will pick you up from there and take you to the first Presidential Debate. Afterward, you'll be meeting Director Fury in the evening." Jarvis read through the entire schedule. "You have no plans for dinner."
Tony's shoulders slumped, a sigh escaping. "Oh great, another day full of nothing. Fury better have something shiny to show me, or I might poke his other eye too."
Complaining and dragging himself around. He took a quick shower and got nicely wrapped in a new suit. Then, he placed a pin of the American flag on his suit since it was debate day. After that, he slapped some hair spray on his head and left the building.
"I'm taking the Ferrari today," Tony said, a signal for Jarvis to control the automated garage to clean up the car and bring it over to the driveway at the ground level. By now, Tony had made all his cars self-driving because it gave him more privacy. Happy was always busy with Pepper, after all.
Then finally, he picked up the small suitcase which was actually the newly updated Mark 5 Iron Man suit. It was annoying that the nanotech research was going so slow, but he had no other options.
In no time, he stepped on the gas and became yet another insect in Manhattan's morning traffic. But he didn't have any issues since Jarvis took the wheel so he could start reading the debate material.
At his request, the debate was going to be held in a stadium of all places. It was almost like a concert at that point, and he wanted to not just win but end the political career of the other two.
"Alright, give me the rundown on their past policies—both as Senator and then Governor," Tony said, tapping furiously at the touchpad. "I want their bank accounts, family trees, the whole income rollercoaster. What's their family business? Did anyone get rich on the sidelines? Nepotism, corruption, and which lobbyist group has been most actively kissing their asses. All of it—don't leave me hanging."
It was intense. It was the first trial of how an AI could help one win elections. A terrifying thing in itself, but Tony saw it all as fair game. The others had their own advantages, so he had to use his own.
"Sir, we have arrived at your destination. Mr. Rogers is sitting outside the cafe."
Tony stopped reading and got out of the car quickly. All eyes were on him as soon as he appeared, but there were cops too who had been notified earlier. They stopped anyone from approaching Tony as he went over and took a seat in front of Steve outside the cafe.
"Captain."
"Mr. Stark." Steve nodded like a good, stiff military man.
Tony chuckled and relaxed in the chair, looking at the menu. "You know, I'll have you saluting me in a few months. By the way, call me Tony."
Steve looked around. He could see how famous Tony was. Over the past few months, he had read all about the famous Tony Stark. "Tony… You won't win."
Tony raised a brow. "Oh? We got ourselves a Nostradamus?"
"They never allow outsiders into the office," Steve muttered seriously.
Tony shrugged. He felt the same, but he was betting on his odds. Ignoring the comment, he instead took out a folded sheet of paper from his suit's pocket and placed it on the table.
"What's this?" Steve asked.
"Dad would have done this if he was alive to see you," Tony replied, a calculated string of words based on Jarvis' calculated probability. "Congratulations, now you own a nice building in Brooklyn."
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