[Christine Everhart lay in bed, eyes still heavy with sleep. The next second, a crisp and mechanical voice broke the silence.]
["Good morning! It is now 7:00 AM," Jarvis announced.]
[As the AI's voice filled the room, the glass panels on the side of the villa slowly turned transparent, revealing the vast blue ocean outside the window.]
[This was Tony Stark's Malibu mansion.]
[Christine got up and wandered into the living room, expecting to hear Tony's voice. When she called out twice and received no response, curiosity got the better of her. She started exploring the villa.]
[When she noticed a smart lock embedded in the wall, she instinctively reached for the switch. However, before she could touch it—]
["You are not authorized to enter this area, Miss," Jarvis warned, startling her.]
["That's Jarvis! The AI butler of this place," a voice suddenly spoke up behind her.]
[Christine turned to see Pepper Potts, standing there with a set of neatly folded clothes in her hands.]
[Pepper handed Christine her clothes and, without much warmth, informed her, "There's a car waiting outside. You can go wherever you like."]
[Christine gave her a once-over before stepping forward with a smirk. "You must be the famous Pepper Potts."]
["You guessed right," Pepper replied with a polite but firm nod.]
["After all these years, Tony still has you running around handling his errands?" Christine remarked, her tone laced with intentional provocation.]
[But Pepper didn't even flinch. She merely blinked before responding with a perfectly calm yet biting remark—]
["I'm happy to assist Mr. Stark with whatever he needs… including cleaning up his leftovers."]
["Is there anything else?" she added with a polite smile.]
—
"A war between two women—no smoke, no gunpowder, yet just as deadly!" Second-Gen Uncle Ben took a sip of tea and chuckled.
"Yeah, and from the way she handled it, this definitely wasn't the first time," George nodded in agreement.
"Why didn't I realize before how good she was at stirring up trouble?" Tony frowned. Fortunately, Pepper had fired back immediately, or else he would have been on the receiving end of her wrath when he got back.
"Well, you're on your own with that one!" Rhodes shrugged.
"Angry women are the most dangerous," Natasha added lightly. "Try not to test them, Tony."
Tony groaned, rubbing his face. He needed to figure out how to make it up to Pepper later.
—
[Intense music played as the scene shifted—Tony was in his garage, dismantling an engine with precision. The sound of machinery filled the air as he focused on his work.]
["Jarvis, show me the decomposition diagram!"] Tony instructed.
["There is a problem with the third cylinder, insufficient pressure detected," Jarvis quickly responded.]
[At that moment, the garage door opened, and Pepper Potts stepped in. She had just finished a phone call and turned down the blaring music.]
["Don't turn down the music!" Tony protested without even looking up.]
[Pepper folded her arms. "You should be on the other side of the planet right now."]
[Before she could finish, Tony abruptly asked, "How was her attitude?"]
[Pepper smirked. "Arrogant."]
["Why are you so eager to get rid of me?" Tony asked, inspecting a cylinder gasket.]
["Because your plane was supposed to take off an hour and a half ago," Pepper reminded him.]
["That's weird… I own that private plane. Shouldn't it wait for me?" Tony said, confused.]
[Pepper ignored him. "Tony, before you leave, I have something to tell you."]
["I said—what's the point of having a private jet if it won't wait for its owner?!"] Tony continued complaining.]
[Pepper, still unfazed, carried on. "Larry called. The Jackson Pollock painting has a new buyer. Do you still want it?"]
[Tony, momentarily confused, mistook Jackson Pollock for a person rather than an artist. Pepper had to correct him, explaining that Springs referred to an artistic movement and not the season.]
["I think the painting is representative, but the asking price is a bit outrageous," Pepper admitted.]
[Upon hearing that Pepper liked it, Tony made a snap decision—"Buy it."]
[A small smile crossed Pepper's face. She really liked that painting.]
—
["Okay, moving on… the MIT commencement speech." Pepper flipped through her clipboard.]
["That's in June! Irrelevant! Don't bother me with unimportant things!" Tony dismissed her.]
["You're the one who's annoying!" Pepper shot back. "Anyway, I need you to sign this before you leave."]
["If there's a problem, fix it yourself! Why do you keep trying to send me away?" Tony signed the papers without reading them. "Do you have plans or something?"]
["Actually, I do," Pepper responded casually.]
["I don't like it when you have plans," Tony muttered.]
["Well, I should have plans. It's my birthday."]
["…Your birthday?" Tony froze. He had completely forgotten.]
[Realizing his mistake, Tony quickly tried to cover it up. "Of course, I knew that! I mean, it's today, right?"]
[Pepper folded her arms. "Yes, Tony. Just like last year."]
["Of course! Is there something wrong with that?" Tony deflected, trying to sound casual.]
["Buy me a nice gift."]
["I already bought one! It's beautiful, it's tasteful—thank you, Mr. Stark!"] Pepper said, knowing full well Tony had forgotten and had just saved himself at the last second.]
["You're welcome, Miss Potts."]
[Pepper tapped his coffee cup, reminding him that it was getting cold. Tony took the hint, downed the rest, and handed her the empty cup.]
—
"Peter, do you remember my birthday?" Second-Gen Gwen suddenly turned to Second-Gen Spider-Man with a sly look.
"(⊙o⊙)..." Second-Gen Spider-Man instantly felt his brain short-circuit—he couldn't remember.
"…I don't think I ever told you when my birthday was," Gwen finally admitted, stopping Helen, who had been trying to hint at the answer.
Second-Gen Spider-Man sighed in relief but quickly grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry, Gwen! But I promise, I'll never forget it once you tell me!"
Harry groaned, covering his face. "Ugh, too much PDA! Guys, there's a single person here!"
"Oh! Sorry, Harry!" Both Spider-Man and Gwen turned and apologized at the same time.
—
"So this is why you were three hours late that day?!" Rhodes suddenly stood up, staring at Tony. "You told me it was because of a natural disaster! A man-made disaster! You said your car broke down!"
Tony laughed awkwardly. "Ahaha… yeah, about that…"
Rhodes rolled his eyes and sat down angrily.
"Oh, come on, man! I'll treat you to a drink when we get back!" Tony offered.
"If we're only inviting Rhodes, what about the rest of us?" Barton asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Fine! Let's make it a party!" Tony waved his hand. "Everyone's invited!"
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