Chapter 176: Iron Man as a Part-Time Teacher

Morning

The next morning, George greeted Professor X and then apparated to the entrance of Tony Stark's mansion.

"Good morning, Mr. George. Sir is waiting for you in the lab," Jarvis's voice came from the intercom as the camera scanned George's face. The iron gates swung open.

George nodded and stepped into Tony's mansion once again.

After the incident where Obadiah led mercenaries to storm the mansion and killed many of the security guards, Tony had stopped hiring any new ones. Even Happy, his driver-cum-bodyguard, was stationed at Stark Tower as head of security, mainly to protect Pepper.

In Tony's view, if a threat was capable of taking him down, security guards wouldn't make much of a difference.

Passing through the grand hall and descending into the underground lab, George found Tony engrossed in designing a new suit of armor.

Despite Tony's reputation as a playboy and his occasional eccentricity, George had to admit that Tony never slacked off when it came to his work. Even if he had just spent a night with a Hollywood star, he'd still rush to the lab if inspiration struck.

"George, you're here. I stayed up last night and finished five sets of what you asked for," Tony said, putting down his designs and pointing to a large box nearby.

George walked over, packed the various alloyed wands from the box into his magical storage container, and then, after a moment of thought, asked Tony, "Now that you've handed the company over to Pepper, you must have a lot of free time, right?"

"Quite a bit, actually. And I like it this way. Gives me more time to focus on developing new energy solutions and upgrading my suits," Tony replied, signaling Dum-E to pour him a glass of wine. He was glad to finally ditch the awful chlorophyll smoothies.

Since confirming his relationship with Pepper, Tony had stopped his womanizing ways. With no corporate responsibilities and the occasional outing to deal with terrorists, he often found himself feeling a bit… bored.

"How about becoming a part-time teacher at our school? You can give the kids some classes. Logan has been pestering me about wanting to drink with you," George proposed with a knowing smirk.

Recently, George had been giving a lot of thought to future threats—particularly Thanos. The Mad Titan would undoubtedly bring his cosmic army to Earth in his quest for the Infinity Stones. Preparing in advance wouldn't hurt.

Nick Fury's initiative to form the Avengers wasn't a bad idea. A united front would be crucial to defend Earth.

But George didn't want Fury or the government to take the lead. If they controlled the Avengers, there was a high chance that they'd treat George and others like him as threats before they even got to Thanos.

Instead, George decided to rally these heroes around himself.

Truth be told, during the Battle of Earth, neither the government nor Fury had much of a role to play. Other than paging Captain Marvel, who arrived late, they were essentially useless.

With mutants already joining his school as teachers—Captain America and the Hulk among them—George figured he could also rope in Tony, especially given their existing rapport.

"Logan wants to drink with me? Sure! But teaching kids? Isn't that a bit…" Tony trailed off, looking intrigued but hesitant.

George decided to nudge him a bit. "What's the matter? You don't think you can handle it?"

Tony, never one to back down from a challenge, puffed up his chest. "Handle it? I'm Tony Stark! I graduated from MIT at 17 with top honors. I've given lectures at the most prestigious universities. Teaching a bunch of kids? Piece of cake!"

"Great. Want to come see the school now?" George asked, shrugging.

Tony nodded eagerly. "Let's go."

George grabbed Tony's arm, and with a quick pop, they apparated to the mutant school.

"I think I'd prefer flying over here next time," Tony muttered, suppressing the urge to retch.

"Sure, I'll give you the coordinates. But you'll need to carry this," George said, tossing Tony a small glass orb.

Tony caught it and inspected it curiously. "What is it?"

"It contains my energy. There's a special barrier around the school. Only those carrying one of these can see the school or enter it," George explained.

Leading Tony through the school grounds, they soon bumped into Bruce Banner and Betty Ross.

"Morning, Bruce, Betty. How was your first night here?" George asked with a smile.

"Good morning, Principal. It's the best sleep I've had in ages—no worrying about transformations," Bruce replied, visibly more relaxed.

"Tony, meet Bruce and Betty, our new teachers," George said, introducing them. "Bruce, you met Tony yesterday."

Tony stepped forward and patted Bruce on the shoulder. "Dr. Banner, it's a pleasure. I've read your papers on positron fields. Impressive work."

"Thank you," Bruce replied with an awkward but polite smile.