"Next ability... well, that's it. We're done, Tony." Leon spread his hands.
"Done?" Tony perked up like a child hearing an ice cream truck. He zoomed in on holographic charts floating above the rain-streaked console. "I expected at least a dozen more entries. Where's your time-reversal trick? Heat vision surgery like in Superman: The Movie?"
Leon landed with a thud that cracked the patio stones. "Don't be absurd. Those are comic book fantasies."
"You said 'all of Superman's powers'!" Tony jabbed a finger, wine sloshing over his Rolex. "Complete with the smug face you made in the garage last week!"
Leon massaged his temples. "Fine. Let me rephrase—I have standard Kryptonian abilities, no reality-bending nonsense." He gestured at the solar radiation metrics pulsing in the air. "This growth spurt? It'll plateau. My biology isn't meant for infinite escalation."
"Finally, something logical." Tony's engineer side overrode his dramatics. "A species with unlimited power growth would destabilize entire ecosystems. We should model your—"
"—biological limits? Already on it." Leon tapped the console, summoning equations that made Tony's eyes glaze. "But first..." He nodded toward the mansion where construction noises echoed. "...we've got a basement to rebuild before Pepper uses us for target practice."
Midnight - Reconstructed Basement
Leon exhaled frost across fresh concrete, his heat vision welding steel reinforcements. Bio-field manipulation smoothed surfaces to museum-grade perfection. "Done."
The once battle-scarged garage now gleamed like a Tesla showroom. Even Tony's "borrowed" vintage Corvette sat polished under new ambient lighting.
"Home renovation via demigod." Tony whistled, running fingers along flawlessly repaired walls. "We should market this. Stark & Son Divine Remodeling."
Leon cannonballed into the moonlit pool. "One-time service. Next time you blow up the house..." Water droplets froze midair as he surfaced. "...you're explaining the insurance claims."
Tony stripped off his soaked dress shirt, joining with less grace. They floated in silence, the pool filter humming counterpoint to distant waves.
"Lee..." Tony rarely used the childhood nickname. "...what now?"
"Same as always." Leon backstroked through reflected constellations. "Breakfast at seven. Mock your tech obsolescence by eight. Just..." He clenched a fist, water vaporizing around his knuckles. "...better equipped to protect this."
Tony's StarkPad floated over via drone, displaying headlines: UN Debates Malibu "Meteor Strike". "This power level changes everything."
Leon stilled. Ripples faded to glassy calm. "Think I'll go full supervillain?"
"Please. You lack the eyeliner for world domination." Tony tossed him a fresh wineglass. "But SHIELD's already drafting contingency plans."
"Let them." Leon's whisper boiled the Cabernet. "I didn't survive cosmic rays to play global babysitter."
Tony's laugh echoed off the cliffs. "There's the Stark spirit!" He sobered. "But seriously. What do you want?"
Moonlight carved Leon's face into marble severity. "To never feel powerless again. To guard..." His gaze flicked to Pepper's dark bedroom window. "...this."