Marvel: Devour to Evolve From Naruto

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"What do you think of this guy?"

Tony's face was dead serious.

Ron shrugged. "I'm looking at him standing up."

Tony's forehead twitched. "I'm not joking!"

Ron nodded. "I know."

"You guys have the Avengers."

"He's just a small-time terrorist."

"Give it some time, and you'll take him down easily."

Tony shook his head gravely. "No, I don't think it's that simple."

"If this were before the Battle of New York, you'd have a point."

"But now... he's definitely got something up his sleeve that I don't know about."

Ron's eyes twinkled with amusement. He had said that on purpose.

Of course, he knew the Mandarin's trump card—

A bunch of enhanced soldiers injected with some kind of virus.

Especially that guy, Killian.

Even Tony's Iron Man suits could melt under his power.

A hard counter.

Though, Adamantium? That, he probably couldn't melt.

Wolverine already tested that theory.

Survived a nuclear blast and everything.

So Ron wasn't particularly worried.

"Whatever his trump card is," Ron said, "Iron Man, the superhero, will definitely find a way to beat

him."

Tony took a sip of coffee. His furrowed brows relaxed—just a little.

"This Mandarin is deep in hiding."

"We still don't have a shred of real intel on him."

"The longer we wait, the bigger the threat he becomes."

Ron stared at him for a few seconds.

Something was off about Tony's mental state.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., how long has Tony gone without sleep?"

J.A.R.V.I.S.: "Sir, 72 hours."

Tony snapped. "J.A.R.V.I.S.!"

Ron grabbed Tony's arm. "Tony!"

"You need to rest!"

Tony sighed. "I know. But this world—"

Ron cut him off. "This world doesn't rest on your shoulders alone!"

"Other people are fighting too!"

"Do you really want to burn yourself out before the real battle even starts?"

Back in his past life, Ron had seen discussions about this.

Tony Stark had severe anxiety and PTSD.

The Battle of New York had left him with deep psychological scars.

It was a big reason Ultron got created.

Why J.A.R.V.I.S. ended up 'killed' by Ultron.

But he hadn't expected Tony to be this bad in daily life.

Three days without sleep.

Running on caffeine.

How was he not dead yet?

Was this just dumb luck, or did he really have main-character plot armor?

Tony lowered his gaze, his whole body radiating exhaustion and negativity.

When he looked up again, there was a flash of despair and fear in his eyes.

Subtle, but unmistakable.

He pointed upward.

"Ron, what if another hole opens in the sky?"

"What if an army of aliens comes through again?"

"How do we stop them?"

"Last time, it was me..."

"Yeah, you carried the nuke and blew up the Chitauri mothership, I know!"

Ron grabbed Tony by the shoulders.

"You did a hell of a job, but everyone else bought you the time to do it."

"You're a team. You should be figuring this out together."

"Not carrying the whole damn burden by yourself."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Together? Please."

"Steve, that idiot, just keeps saying 'We'll fight as one!'"

"Like that's an actual plan."

Ron twitched. "Okay, fine, not him."

"But what about Banner?"

"Or Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Tony paused, considering. "Banner..."

"Hulk is strong."

Ron sighed. "I meant his brain!"

"The guy has seven PhDs."

"Oh~" Tony dragged out the sound, unimpressed.

"I have more."

Alright…

Arrogant bastard.

Time to knock him down a peg.

Ron smirked. "Yeah, but he created the Hulk."

"You can't beat the Hulk."

"Your suits are just toys to him."

"So, in some ways, you're not as good as Banner."

Tony was silent.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed Ron's shoulders and shook him.

"Ron! I'm your brother!"

"I'm the older one here!"

"Why are you siding with an outsider?!"

Ron shrugged. "I'm just stating facts."

Tony huffed and shoved him. "Hmph!"

"Just you wait, I've already figured out how to deal with him!"

"It's just the Hulk, right?"

"You think I can't build something to match him?"

Ron smiled. "I believe in you."

Tony looked pleased—

Until Ron added:

"But I don't think you'll live long enough to do it."

"If you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll drop dead before you even finish."

Tony twitched. "Fine! I'll go to sleep!"

He turned to leave.

Then, as if something struck him, he glanced back at Ron, catching the amused curve of his lips.

"Ron, you're not cute anymore!"

"You used to never talk back to me!"

"Now that you're stronger, you're growing wings and bullying your older brother?!"

"Just wait till I wake up! I'll remind you who's really the big brother here!"

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