Superman in Marvel: Multiverse Ascendant

"Obadiah Stane, Chief Operating Officer of Stark Corporation, fell to his death at Stark Industrial Park three days ago."

"According to the official investigation results…"

"Stane's death was ruled a suicide, driven by fear of punishment."

"Police Announcement:"

"Stane was involved in multiple illegal arms deals with foreign terrorist organizations."

"He also committed multiple murders and interfered in international affairs."

"This includes orchestrating the attack on Tony Stark, president of Stark Group, a few months ago."

"We will provide more details as our reporters continue their investigation..."

Leon, holding a slice of cheese pizza, watched the news while practicing his horse stance in the hall.

"Great... Just when Stark's stock started rising after my appearance at the company, it's about to drop again—like a roller coaster."

He chuckled sarcastically.

"Not that it affects me, but I do feel bad for Stark's loyal shareholders."

With that thought, he opened Twitter and posted:

"The incident with Obadiah was an accident. The Stark Group stands against evil.

Please continue to believe in us and support Stark stocks. You won't regret it. Stark never lets its supporters down."

To lighten the mood, he attached a photo of his leftover pizza.

Within seconds, his post exploded with comments.

Hundreds of angry replies flooded in, as if someone had bought out the comment section on Twitter.

[How could a man like Obadiah be COO? Stark Group is finished!]

[This is bullshit! I bought stocks when Tony Stark came back, then he shut down the weapons division and I lost half my fortune.

I invested again when Leon Stark returned, and now the COO turns out to be a super-criminal?!

At this rate, I'll be begging on the streets of L.A. in a month! Damn you, Stark! You ruined me!]

More and more comments poured in—frustrated investors cursing themselves for trusting Stark Group.

Leon felt awkward seeing the replies climb past 999 in under a minute.

"Well… Stark's shareholders sure have strong opinions. Oh well. I hope they all have a bright future, full of peace and prosperity."

At that moment, Pepper walked in, holding a cup of coffee.

"Did I just hear you praying for the shareholders?"

"Not exactly..." Leon said, sensing trouble from Pepper's expression.

But she continued anyway.

"Honestly, Leon, if you really want to stop the shareholders from losing money, go find Tony! He's been missing for three days!"

"Then, maybe—just maybe—you could sit in your office and actually manage your company instead of dumping everything on me!"

She was visibly stressed. The weight of managing Stark Industries alone was too much.

"I have no idea what Tony is doing, Obadiah deserved his fate, and you? You just sit at home enjoying the sun while I drown in work!"

She ranted on:

"Stark Industries, Stark Network, Stark Electronics! Even if I had three heads, I couldn't handle all this!"

"And you, Leon! You have the nerve to sit here and pray for shareholders?!"

Her frustration reached its peak as she shoved the coffee into his hands.

"My God, I just realized how insane these past few days have been!"

"Leon, tell Tony this—if he doesn't leave that damn lab, I WILL RESIGN!"

"And you! If you don't start managing your own company, I'll resign too!"

With that, she shot him a warning glare, turned on her heels, and stormed out.

She had another damn meeting to attend.

Leon, still sitting on the sofa, opened his mouth—wanting to offer some comforting words.

But… maybe it really was too much to let Pepper handle all the decisions for three massive companies.

Scratching his head, he muttered, "Maybe I should go back to work… No, what am I thinking? Work is hell."

"What I should do is… get Old Joe back from vacation!"

Clapping his hands, he called out, "Jarvis, is Joe Bush still on leave? Tell him to get back to work immediately!"

"Apologies, Master Leon," Jarvis responded, "Mr. Joe Bush's vacation ended yesterday. He returned to work at four o'clock this morning."

"Four in the morning?!" Leon exclaimed.

"Wow… I take it back. Old Joe is the greatest CEO ever."

"I should start a World's Best CEO award and give it to him every year."

"But if he's already back, Pepper shouldn't be mad anymore, right?"

Jarvis took a moment before replying:

"Master Leon, I'm afraid that won't be enough."

"Mr. Joe Bush only manages Stark Electronics and a portion of Stark Network. Miss Pepper is still handling everything else."

Leon frowned.

"Right… Before I left six months ago, that was the plan. But Tony was also supposed to be handling company matters back then."

"Jarvis, any suggestions?"

"In order to prevent Miss Pepper's resignation, I suggest you return to work temporarily—at least until you find a new company president. Then you can resume your… sunbathing."

Leon shook his head immediately.

"Absolutely not. Sunbathing is essential—I can't just give that up!"

"Besides, I haven't just been slacking off. You do know what I've been doing, right?"

Three days ago, Leon had asked Jarvis to gather every available online martial arts tutorial.

After days of intense study, he had mastered most of them:

Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Judo, MMA, Bajiquan…

But the more he learned, the more he realized—his control over his strength had improved, but his actual combat ability hadn't changed much.

It felt useless.

Think about it—

Anyone he could beat, he could kill with a slap.

Anyone he couldn't beat? Even if he fought with everything he had, he wouldn't last a second.

These techniques were only useful against evenly matched opponents.

And how many of those existed?

Odin? Maybe.

Thanos? Sure.

Captain Marvel? Definitely.

Beyond that? The list was very short.

"But your fighting skills are already at their peak," Jarvis pointed out. "Continuing to practice serves no purpose."

"So I suggest returning to work—it will please Miss Pepper and keep you occupied."

Leon narrowed his eyes.

"Jarvis… why do you sound so eager for me to work?"

A thought struck him.

"Aha! I get it. This is payback for dragging you into my schemes when Tony was investigating Obadiah!"

"You claim to be an emotionless AI, but you're clearly holding a grudge!"

Jarvis's interface blinked.

"Master Leon, I only act in your best interest."

"Oh sure, but somehow, that always leads to me doing something I hate."

He sighed and thought for a moment.

"Alright, fine. I'll go drag Tony out of the lab. Then, I'll find a new president to take over my company."

"And once that's done—no more problems."

"As you wish," Jarvis replied, ever the loyal assistant.

...

Next 20 chapters are available at: Pat reon. com (slash) LordMerlin