Pluto was having a barbeque party on his lawn with his neighbours. The smell of meat and grilled things permeated around the house and the area, and it was a peaceful day.

He was sitting with the dads, drinking beer, talking to one another casually.

“And then I said, stay out of my daughter you junk filled cunt!” laughed a dad, but the other dads didn’t laugh at all. The dad who noticed that no one laughed grumbled. “What? It’s funny.”

“No it’s not Eugene.” Pluto chuckled as he drank his beer. “Honestly, let your daughter date people, by restricting her, you’re just baiting for something bad to happen.”

“But he’s a stoner!” Eugene exclaimed.

Another dad, named Nate, snorted. “Aren’t we all at some point?”

The dads laughed at the words, and Pluto just chuckled. Suddenly, Thena came by the dads’ corner, tapping Pluto’s shoulder.

“Hey John, someone’s at the door.” she said softly.

Pluto raised his eyebrow. “Who?”

“Stane.” she said, making Pluto sigh. He stood up, and said to the dads. “Sorry lads, duty calls.”

The dads just hummed and continued to talk to one another, and Pluto walked to the house, opening the front door to greet the baldman.

As Pluto opened the door, Stane smiled widely with his arms on his back, being polite as possible.

“What do you want?” questioned Pluto roughly.

“Good afternoon, John–”

“Call me Smith,” said Pluto. “Just get it over with, what do you want?”

Stane gulped a bit as he looked at what's behind Pluto. “This is going to be a long talk Mr. Smith, could I…”

“No, the terrace’s fine.” Pluto answered straightforwardly, making Stane frown.

“Okay, fine.” he said, walking to the railing of the terrace, leaning against it. “I want to talk to you about the future of Stark Industries.”

Pluto hummed as he leaned against the door. “What about it?”

“It’s dying, Smith,” he said sadly. “Tony’s missing, and the public’s view of the company is at an all time low because of our inability to protect our own CEO.”

“You know the stock’s fine right?” Pluto raised his eyebrow. “I’m not blind, it’s just a small drop, nothing too serious. Even with Anthony’s absence, the company’s still going.”

“The stocks will drop more in the future.” Obadiah smiled. “So I’m offering you a deal, Smith.”

“Deal?” Pluto raised his brow.

“Give your stocks to me for 1 billion dollars.” said Obadiah. “How about that? That’s a good deal right?”

“Do you even have the money?” Pluto scoffed, and Obadiah took offence in that.

“You’re not the only one who’s rich, Smith,” said Obadiah. “So do you accept it or not?”

Pluto thought about it a little. “You know, I never really interfered with Anthony’s company even though I have the highest shares… why are you asking it now?”

“I’m just trying to lift a burden from you.” Stane smiled. 

“The Stock’s been there since my father Stane,” said Pluto calmly. “Stark Industries exists because of my family. You want to buy my stocks? Sure, I’ll sell it for 69 Billion.” he continued, smirking a bit.

Stane frowned. “Are you mocking me, Smith?”

“I’m dead serious, Stane.”

Stane clenched his fist. “You know, I thought your policy was to never support wars? Then why invest in a weapons manufacturing company?”

“You’re not only doing weapons,” said Pluto. “Energy, medicine, and many more too.”

“But our main thing is weapons.”

“Eh, not for long.” Pluto shrugged.

Stand frowned. “What?”

“Nothing.” Pluto hummed. “If you don’t have anything else to say, you can go now, Stane.“

“No, if you only invest because of Energy and Medicine, why us? You already have your company for that. Smith Medicals, Smith Energies, Smith Technologies, that’s all a part of your Smith Enterprises, you could just develop there.”

“Like I said, the stock’s been with my family since my father, I’m not going to just give up on that.” said Pluto, sighing. “Unless you have 69 Billion at your disposal, you should go.”

Stane frowned. “I’ll be back.”

“Please don’t, you’re just annoying me at this point.”

Stane then walked off towards his care, before bolting away from Pluto’s home.

Pluto’s phone suddenly rang, and he picked it up.

“Yeah?”

“We have eyes on the target father.” said the voice. “Permission to engage.”

“Nah don’t do it.” Pluto said. “Not yet at least, it’s Tony’s job to do it, not yours.”

“He’s not even back yet…”

“Just do as I say Cleo…” Pluto sighed. “The world needs Iron man playing the hero, I’m not going to play the hero anymore…”