Four months later.

Damian was celebrating the second birthday of his three little girls with his family.

This time, it wasn't a lavish affair; only close family and friends were present at the mansion in New York.

Damian and Tony were lounging on beach chairs, sipping on beers. Damian barely took a few sips, while Tony had already emptied several bottles.

"It's a kids' birthday party, stop drinking," Damian said, looking at Tony speechless.

"This is the last one," Tony joked before laughing.

"So, how's it been being a superhero?" Damian asked, laughing.

"It sucks. I thought it would be all laughs and gratitude, but instead, the government has been breathing down my neck, trying to take away my armor," Tony said, annoyed.

"What are you going to do about it?" Damian asked.

"I'll just keep dragging it out. They can't take it away from me," Tony said, laughing.

"Just be careful," Damian said.

"Most likely, they'll summon you before the Senate to resolve it," Damian shook his head.

"Your options are to compromise a bit or go against the state completely."

"I guess I need a lawyer, although it's really hard to find one that the United States government can't bribe," Tony said, mocking. He figured he would have to defend himself.

"You can ask Ana, she's a lawyer," Damian said.

"Ana?" Tony muttered as he focused his gaze on the dark-haired woman standing with her arms crossed in the distance.

"She's a bit intimidating," Tony said in a low voice to Damian.

Damian chuckled lightly as he saw Ana turn and look at Tony coldly.

"But that's a good thing," Tony quickly said upon seeing her gaze.

"By the way, how's your training with Monica going?" Damian asked, containing his laughter.

Tony was silent before looking at Damian.

"Is your daughter human?" Tony asked, grimacing as he remembered the punches.

"How did it go?" Damian asked, laughing.

"At first, it was pretty normal, but when she saw my armor, she told me to use it so I could get used to fighting with it."

"In the end, it was just an excuse to hit me harder. I had to replace many dented parts of my armor," Tony said regretfully.

"And was it worth it?" Damian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I admit, I improved a lot in combat," Tony said, making a face.

"By the way, Monica said she's going to explore the sea. She told me you made her a submarine," Tony said, looking at Damian in disbelief. He truly was a father who couldn't say no.

"When you become a father, you'll understand," Damian shrugged.

"Hm, speaking of being a father, how are things going with Pepper?" Damian asked, giving him a suggestive smile.

"We're doing well. We're in a semi-formal relationship now," Tony said, satisfied, as he looked at Pepper in the distance.

"That's good," Damian nodded as he took a sip of his drink.

The children had fun playing until it was time to open the gifts.

The little ones joyfully unwrapped their presents, thanking everyone with a smile.

Finally, the three little girls looked at Damian expectantly; their father's gift was still missing.

Damian smiled as he stood up and quickly sent a message on his phone.

"Their gift will arrive any moment now," Damian said, smiling.

At that moment, a helicopter approached in the distance, carrying a tank.

The helicopter generated a strong wind that would have knocked everything over if Damian hadn't kept everything in place.

The helicopter descended until the tank was on the ground before releasing it and flying away.

"The water tank I promised them," Damian said, smiling at his daughters.

"It works just like a real tank, except it shoots water, and the ammunition never runs out."

All the adults were speechless as they looked at Damian's gift.

"You really know how to go all out," Tony said, laughing and breaking the sudden silence.

The girls quickly ran and climbed onto the tank, inspecting all its parts.

Their three friends also ran after them with curiosity.

Monica pulled Jane towards the tank, curious about it. She had been given a submarine, and her little sisters got a tank. She wondered who would receive an airplane or a helicopter.

"When you said you would give them a water tank, this is not what I expected," Sophia said, laughing a little.

"I promised it to them a while ago," Damian said, smiling as he saw the joyful expressions on his daughters' faces.

"How does it shoot water?" Carol asked, assuming the answer.

"Magic," Damian said, smiling.

The three little girls ran back to Damian, hugging him and giving him several thankful kisses.

Damian happily received the affection from his daughters before letting them go back to try out the tank.

The scientist who was also at the party couldn't help but mutter dejectedly that he was the one who had designed everything, but Damian had simply used a bit of magic.

The rest of the day quickly passed with everyone having a good time.

When it was already nighttime and all the guests had left, Damian took his three daughters in his arms and bathed them.

As he carefully bathed them, he couldn't help but think that two years had already passed since his princesses were born.

"Daddy, I think you've washed my hair enough," Emma pouted.

"Sorry, sweetheart, I was a bit distracted," Damian said, chuckling slightly at the shampoo mess in Emma's hair.

"Did you enjoy today?" Damian asked, smiling.

"Yes, I really liked the tank. Can we take it to school?" Alice asked.

"I'm afraid not, darling," Damian said, smiling slightly, imagining the chaos his little one would cause.

"Is it still a long time until we go to school?" Ivy asked.

"There are still three more years," Damian said, with a slight smile as he finished drying his daughters.

Ivy nodded thoughtfully as she hugged Damian.

Damian smiled and took the three little girls, leading them to their room and dressing them.

At that moment, their mothers also arrived and showered them with affection before putting them to bed.

Damian also went to his room, took a quick shower, and went to bed.

"They're already two years old," Ana said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I remember when they were little things kicking around," Natasha said, nostalgically.

"By the way, Tony has really caught SHIELD's attention with his recent superhero acts," Natasha said as she hugged Damian and clung to him like an octopus.

"Why did you offer Tony that I should be his lawyer?" Ana asked.

"I told him to ask you; clearly, you can say no," Damian said, smiling as he played with Natasha's hair.

"I thought it would be fun for you to mess with all those politicians and also reach a favorable agreement for Tony."

"We'll see," Ana said thoughtfully.

As they talked, they gradually fell asleep until only soft breathing could be heard.

...

Tony returned home with Pepper from the birthday party of the three little girls.

"You know, I thought I was used to displays of wealth, but Damian opened my eyes," Pepper said, joking with Tony.

Tony just smiled as he looked at her.

"Damian's daughters are really cute," Pepper said with a gentle smile as several thoughts ran through her mind.

Tony couldn't help but panic inside at Pepper's almost dreamy expression when she mentioned the topic.

"If you want, we can have one," Tony said jokingly as he pinched Pepper's waist.

"Do you see my empty hand?" Pepper asked, showing him the back of her hand and laughing as she playfully hit Tony's arm.

"I'll go to bed, it's late, and unlike you, I actually have to try to run a company," Pepper said, smiling.

"Goodnight," Tony said before kissing Pepper.

"Don't stay up too late," Pepper said, almost flirtatiously, before going to her room in Tony's house.

Tony silently watched with a smile as Pepper went to her room before heading down to the garage.

"Jarvis, how is the armor and tomorrow's target?" Tony asked as he sat down with a sigh.

"The armor is ready for deployment, and I obtained a possible base of the Ten Rings. The data we gathered last time was useful," Jarvis replied.

"Good, I hope we can find something tomorrow. These long trips in the armor are really exhausting."

"I'm going to bed, remember to wake me up," Tony said before heading to his room and lying down next to Pepper.

The hours passed quickly, and the sun shone through Tony's window.

Tony, who was sleeping, was awakened by an alarm and the sun shining on his face.

"Sir, it's time to work. Miss Potts left breakfast for you before she left," Jarvis said, noticing that Tony was still trying to sleep.

"Alright," Tony said with a sigh as he sat on the bed, touching the floor with his feet.

Tony couldn't help but scratch his head as he stared into space, feeling really tired.

With one last sigh, Tony got up and went to wash his face to try to wake up.

After leaving the bathroom, Tony quickly had breakfast before getting ready and putting on the armor.

Tony swiftly flew to Asia, where the Ten Rings operated.

After hours of flight, Tony finally arrived at the location marked by Jarvis.

Among the mountains, a small walled fortress could be seen.

Tony flew directly towards the main building before dropping onto the roof, breaking through it, and falling into the room.

Not knowing what kind of weapons these people might have, it's better to fight in confined spaces.

Tony quickly shot down everyone in the room before starting to search for anything important around.

At that moment, one of the men he had taken down stood up and aimed his fists at Tony, shooting two energy projectiles.

Tony was taken by surprise before being knocked down, breaking through the wall, and falling into the next room.

Getting up, Tony looked at the man in front of him, who was in the other room.

An Asian man of middle age with ten rings on his wrists that glowed blue.

"Who are you?" Tony asked as he prepared to fight, wondering inwardly if he was a magician or something like that.

"You come to my house, attack me out of nowhere, and ask who I am?" the man asked, with an irritated expression.

"Well, you're part of a criminal and terrorist organization, don't complain," Tony said before raising his palms and shooting at the man.

The man blocked the attacks with his rings before propelling them towards Tony, engulfing him and repeatedly hitting him against the floor.

Tony had one arm restrained by the rings, so with his other arm, he began shooting at the man. All his attacks were stopped by the rings while they continued to pummel him.

The building was already quite damaged, and Tony fell to the floor below after the floor broke.

Taking advantage of being out of his sight, Tony quickly freed himself before propelling himself to the upper floor where his opponent was.

Tony broke through the floor, coming face to face with the man. He grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall, leaving a large crater before shooting him in the stomach.

The man coughed before hurriedly breaking the floor with his rings, causing them both to fall.

Tony quickly got up before shooting at the man, only to miss.

"Who are you?" Tony asked again, the man proving to be tougher than he appeared.

"My name is Xu Wenwu. I am the leader of the Ten Rings," he said as he wiped the blood dripping from his brow. It had been a long time since he uttered his name, but it was a form of respect in front of the man who made him see his own blood again.

In the end, the two were not so different; they relied on tools to gain power.

"Tony Stark," Tony said simply.

The two new enemies clashed once again.

Their attacks destroyed the entire building until they ended up fighting amidst the ruins.

Wenwu had torn clothes and a bruised face and his opponent also looked pretty bad. The armor had several dents, and some areas revealed the black suit underneath.

"Sir, at this rate, the armor will soon stop functioning," Jarvis warned, urging them to retreat once again.

"I know, but he hasn't backed down, and I don't want to either," Tony said, annoyed. He had wanted to stop a while ago, but his pride wouldn't let him.

Tony and Wenwu looked at each other, their breathing accelerated, both wanting to end the fight but with too much pride to say it.

They lunged at each other once again. Wenwu threw the five rings from one of his arms at Tony, who twisted his body before landing a punch to Wenwu's stomach.

Wenwu's body rose several centimeters off the ground upon receiving the blow, but he also smiled slightly as the rings he had thrown returned quickly to his other wrist.

Wenwu had left one of his rings protecting his stomach.

Suddenly, Tony saw Wenwu deliver a punch to his chest with nine rings on his wrist. With no time to do anything else, he activated the repulsor in his chest at maximum power.

At that moment, there was a massive explosion, and the debris of the building flew, creating a large cloud of dust.

There was silence before several coughs were heard.

Wenwu limped to his feet, with one of his arms hanging loosely, looking at his arm, he couldn't help but think that it would have disappeared if it weren't for the protection of his rings.

looking around but seeing no trace of Tony. Nevertheless, he didn't think he had died.

Wenwu couldn't help but let out a slight laugh at the thrilling battle. He hadn't felt alive since his wife's death. He couldn't help but smile sadly, thinking that she was also the only one who could fight against him and defeat him.

----

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