63

Soon, the gym door opened again.

A woman strolled in, dressed in a crisp white blouse—top two buttons undone—a pair of black dress pants, and carrying a file folder in her left hand. Long, reddish-brown wavy hair spilled over one shoulder and down her back. Her smile was just the right blend of charming and mysterious.

**It's her, all right…**
Pichu recognized the newcomer instantly.

**Natasha Romanoff.** Codename: "Black Widow," S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top spy, and one of the founding members of the Avengers. Her stunning beauty and allure hid a lethality that was legendary.

It had been close to two weeks since Tony's palladium poisoning became apparent. In the meantime, Nick Fury had arranged for Natasha—just returned from a mission—to join Stark Industries' legal department undercover.

As Natasha entered the gym, her gaze flicked across the room, taking it all in without missing a thing. When she noticed Pichu standing on the sofa, she was momentarily surprised—though she hid it well.

But sharp-eyed Pichu still caught it. Although Natasha concealed her prowess, she couldn't fool the senses of a 3-Star Pichu.

After lingering a fraction of a second on Pichu, she turned to Pepper, opened the folder, and passed over the paperwork for Pepper to review and sign.

Meanwhile, Tony and Happy—still in the boxing ring—turned to watch.

Tony, slightly taken aback, quickly calculated that this must be his future personal assistant.

He couldn't deny it—Natasha absolutely fit his, and most Westerners', standard for "stunning." Even Pichu, once upon a time, had found her beauty a bit dazzling.

After that, the scene unfolded almost exactly as it had in the movies.

Tony invited Natasha into the ring, instructing Happy to give her some basic fight lessons. As for Tony himself—he joined Pepper at the table, busying himself with a holographic search for "Natalie Rushman's" records (her legal cover).

"Wow, she's amazing…" Tony muttered, scanning the profile that appeared.

Pepper, seeing his distraction, sighed. "Please. That's just childish."

Tony kept scrolling, eyebrows rising. "Fluent in French, Italian, and Latin… Wait, who even speaks Latin?"

He shot Pepper a look.

"No one. It's a dead language," Pepper replied, sounding exhausted.

Tony zoomed in on one of Natasha's ID photos. "Did you model in Tokyo at some point?"

"No!" Pepper's tone got a bit frosty.

"She did," Tony grinned. "I need her. She's an expert at everything."

Pepper's smile turned a little forced.

Meanwhile, Tony was definitely more interested in Natasha's pictures than her resume. Pichu, lounging on the sofa, rolled his eyes inwardly.
*Is Tony genuinely oblivious, or just pretending? Can't he see Pepper getting jealous? Maybe there's something to the whole 'bystander effect.'*

Pichu's attention drifted back to the ring.

Just then, Happy—emboldened—reminded Natasha, "Iron rule number one: keep your eyes on your opponent." He threw a mild jab her way.

Big mistake.

With a blur of movement, Natasha caught Happy's punch, twisted his wrist, and sent him reeling. In a split-second, she swung around, locked her legs around his neck, threw him to the mat in a perfect judo takedown, then pinned his arm in a joint lock—all before anyone could blink.

"Oh!!"

"My god!!"

Tony and Pepper both shouted in shock—Pepper especially. She'd never expected Happy, an ex-boxer and Tony's go-to bodyguard/driver, to get so effortlessly demolished.

Of course, they only knew her as "Natalie Rushman."

Pichu could barely hold back a snicker. The first time he'd seen this in the movie, he'd laughed out loud—and even now, he was impressed by Natasha's skills.

***

A little bit later—

Tony had placed his thumbprint on the transfer paperwork.

Natasha smiled. "Is there anything else, Mr. Stark?"

Before Tony could answer, Pepper chimed in, smiling sweetly. "No, Miss Rushman. That'll be all."

"Alright." Natasha nodded, then left with the documents.

After she was gone, Tony turned to Pepper. "I want to hire her as my assistant—"

"No." Pepper cut him off, still smiling.

"…." Tony was speechless.

"Tsk, tsk…"
Watching, Pichu couldn't stop himself from grinning and went back to his movie.

***

Now, all that was left was to wait out the rest of the week: The Monaco Grand Prix was coming up soon, Ivan Vanko (Whiplash) would make his appearance, and Nick Fury would finally hand Tony the clues Howard Stark had left behind.

This time, Pichu was ready to drop an extra hint—maybe Tony would finally understand his father's true intentions in advance.

He'd also decided: there was no need to let things escalate like they had in the movie. Rhodes stealing Mark II and Tony fighting with Pepper out of self-destruction? Maybe not this time.

In fact, Pichu had already bluntly told Tony days earlier: the key to the new element was in his father's model of the City of the Future.

***

A day before the Monaco Grand Prix, Pichu, Tony, Pepper, and Happy took a private jet from California to Monaco in southern France.

Monaco—a tiny city-state in Europe, one of the few remaining monarchies, and the second smallest country in the world (after the famous Vatican City).