[Third Person Pov]
"Talk about being a party pooper, am I right everyone?" Tony said jokingly as he turned back to look at the group walking behind him.
Each of them wore a different expression in response. Some looked amused, entertained by his shameless attitude even after everything that had just happened. Others looked visibly exasperated, already tired of his nonstop commentary. A few simply looked drained from the long day. And at least one of them looked hungry, though that one was mostly Tony himself, who had not stopped thinking about food since the exam ended.
When they stepped past the school gates, they were immediately greeted by the same swarm of reporters who had been lingering outside, clearly unwilling to leave without getting some kind of statement. The moment they spotted Tony and the others, the crowd surged forward, microphones raised, cameras flashing.
Fortunately, bodyguards were already positioned nearby and quickly moved into formation, creating a path through the chaos so they could move forward without being completely overwhelmed.
"How was your examination? Did you pass?!"
"Did the school meet your standards?!"
"Was that the Hero known as Brainwave that flew in just now?!"
Tony's eye twitched. "Okay, who was the idiot that asked if I passed?!" he shouted as Momo and Melissa both began pushing him forward, clearly intent on getting him out of there before he escalated things further. "Show yourself, you coward! Don't hide now!" he continued, wagging his fist dramatically in the air as if he expected the culprit to step forward in shame.
Howard immediately grabbed Tony's raised hand and forced it back down. "No more questions. We're in a bit of a rush, so that'll be all for today. Thank you," he said smoothly, offering a polite but firm smile to the press as the bodyguards kept them moving.
After some effort, they managed to push through the restless crowd and finally reached the limousine that had dropped them off earlier. The doors shut behind them with a heavy thud, cutting off the noise from outside almost instantly.
"Is this something you have to deal with every time you go outside?" Kane asked, leaning back in his seat with visible exasperation. Just watching the scene unfold had been exhausting. Situations like that were one of the many reasons he had never pursued the path of becoming a hero.
"Not necessarily," Howard replied calmly. "We have a couple of precautionary measures set in place before going out in public. However, thanks to a certain someone—" his stern gaze shifted directly to Tony, "—we were pretty much ambushed today."
Tony wore a completely shameless smile, as though he were not being directly called out. He even had the audacity to look pleased with himself.
The limousine pulled away from the curb and merged into traffic. For a brief moment, there was silence.
"So where are we going to eat?" Tony suddenly asked, turning toward Maria.
"Huh? You're asking me?" Maria responded, sounding genuinely surprised.
"No, I'm asking the other pregnant woman in the car with us," Tony replied dryly.
"Really?" Maria asked, startled. She turned to Melissa and Momo with a horrified expression. "Which one of you two is pregnant?"
"Huh?!" Momo nearly choked.
"Wha—" Melissa sputtered, staring at her in disbelief.
Maria burst into giggles, clearly unable to hold back the mischievous streak that had overtaken her. Tony started cackling loudly, thoroughly entertained, and even Howard had to suppress a chuckle behind his fist.
After a few seconds, Maria grew slightly embarrassed at her own joke and cleared her throat. She inwardly blamed Tony for being a terrible influence on her behavior.
She coughed softly to change the subject. "Anyways, I don't have any specific cravings at the moment," she said, finally answering Tony's original question.
The group began discussing possible restaurants, tossing out suggestions back and forth. After some debate, they eventually settled on an Italian restaurant that wasn't too far from their current location.
"I have to say, Mom," Tony said after a while, turning to Maria with a look of approval and mild wonder, "I honestly wasn't expecting you to intervene between me and your brother earlier." He deliberately avoided referring to the man as his uncle.
Maria let out a small huff. "What do you take me for? I may believe in pacifism, but that changes very quickly when it involves one of my children. I don't want any of you getting into fights or unnecessary trouble, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and allow someone to hurt you because of it."
As she spoke, her gaze moved not only to Tony but also to Melissa, Momo, and even Eric.
Momo and Melissa both felt a warmth in their chests at being included so naturally as her children. Eric, on the other hand, only scratched his cheek awkwardly, unsure how to react to being lumped into that category.
"Woah, Mom. Consider me impressed," Tony said, looking at her as though he had just discovered an entirely new side to her.
"Seriously, what did you think of me before?" Maria asked with a wry smile.
"A total pushover," Tony answered without hesitation.
"What?" Maria blinked in surprise. "No, I'm not."
"Ehhh…" Kane and Howard both tilted their hands side to side in a noncommittal gesture.
"Ouch…" Maria muttered softly, clearly wounded to realize that might be how everyone saw her.
"Is she? That's not how it seemed, at least not to me," Momo said as she looked around at everyone in genuine confusion, clearly not understanding how they had all reached that conclusion about Maria.
"Momo!" Maria cried out dramatically, stretching her arms wide. "Come here, my favorite child!"
"Wow," Tony and Melissa said at the exact same time, both staring at Momo as she instantly became flustered by the sudden declaration.
Tony, however, quickly noticed that beneath the playful exchange, his mother still seemed slightly despondent. There was a faint heaviness in her expression after hearing that both her husband and her son viewed her as a pushover.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Tony suddenly shifted from his seat and dropped down onto one knee in front of her in the middle of the limousine, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
He gently took Maria's hand in his and looked up at her, meeting her eyes with an uncharacteristic seriousness. "Mother, I love you. You are by far the kindest and most loving person in the entire world. I wholeheartedly believe that if there were more people like you, then the world would be a much better place to live in."
Maria's face began to turn red as she grew flustered from the sincerity in his voice and the unwavering way he looked at her. There was no teasing, no sarcasm, just honest affection.
"However," Tony continued, giving her hand a light squeeze, "I think you can be too kind sometimes. And too much of any one thing is never good. People will take advantage of that kindness. You'll let them walk all over you if it means not escalating a situation or causing trouble for someone else. So when I call you a pushover, I don't mean someone who's pathetic. I mean someone who's too kind for her own good."
By the time he finished, Maria's eyes were filled with tears. She let out a soft sob before suddenly pulling him up into a tight embrace. "Oh, come here you! You really know what to say to your mama, don't you!" she cried affectionately, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close.
"Wow, I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed," Kane commented with an approving nod.
"Don't be," Howard said with a heavy sigh. "That kid is a huge mama's boy. You should have seen him the other day. He was ready to nuke your entire family home the moment he heard Maria was treated poorly."
"Tsk. Go die alone in a ditch, old man," Tony shot back, his face reddening in embarrassment, especially since Maria refused to let him go. She continued clinging to him, smothering him with affection and planting multiple kisses on his face while he endured it with visible discomfort.
"You see the difference in how he treats his mother versus how he treats me?" Howard said, gesturing with both thumbs toward himself. "And he'll die on that hill claiming he's not a mama's boy."
The limousine erupted with laughter. Even Eric found himself laughing quietly behind his fist, unable to suppress his amusement.
His perception of Tony had shifted significantly. At first, Eric had seen him as nothing more than an arrogant prodigy with the power to justify his attitude, someone who thrived on attention and enjoyed showing off whenever possible. But after witnessing this moment, he realized he had formed that judgment on far too little information.
Beneath the confident persona Tony displayed publicly was someone who cared deeply for his family and was not ashamed to show it when it mattered. Watching him speak so earnestly to Maria had revealed a different side, one that was grounded in loyalty and genuine affection.
And being close to someone like that, Eric thought to himself, might not be such a bad thing after all.
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