Midtown Manhattan, Stark Industries Headquarters
The lights in the top-floor executive office had been on since early morning. Pepper Potts sat behind her mahogany desk, fingers flying across the keyboard as she handled one crisis after another.
Financial reports, breach-of-contract notices, and furious emails from partners filled her screens. The latte beside her had gone cold hours ago. Ever since Tony shut down the weapons division and sent Obadiah Stane to prison, the entire company had fallen on her shoulders.
The board demanded answers daily. International partners were terminating contracts left and right. Pentagon generals flooded her phone with threats. anwhile, Tony had retreated to his Malibu workshop, obsessing over his Iron Man armor and barely showing up at the office.
Yesterday, he had flown an unstable prototype all the way to Afghanistan to destroy Ten Rings strongholds. When he returned, the armor was battered and Pepper nearly had a heart attack.
"Miss Potts," her assistant entered with another thick stack of docunts, "the board has called an ergency shareholder eting for tomorrow morning. They want you to explain the third-quarter losses. Also, the Departnt of Defense legal team called again about contract termination and compensation."
Pepper rubbed her aching temples. "Leave the eting notice on the desk. Patch the DoD call through to my secure line."
As the assistant turned to leave, Pepper's private cell phone rang. She glanced at the screen and froze.
000-000-0000
That number.
The sa untraceable line that had sent her the evidence exposing Obadiah Stane's treason months ago.
She quickly waved her assistant out and waited until the door clicked shut before answering. Her voice was tight.
"Hello?"
A voice-processed synthetic female voice spoke without greeting. "Cut the corporate talk, Potts. Check your encrypted private email. Now."
Pepper straightened in her chair. "Who are you? What do you want this ti?"
"Your backyard is on fire and neither you nor Tony have noticed. Check the email."
The call ended abruptly.
Pepper's fingers flew across the keyboard. A new encrypted email waited in her private inbox. No sender, no text — only four high-resolution images.
The first showed Obadiah Stane walking out of Rikers Island.
The second showed him entering a military SUV.
The third showed him walking into Stark Industries headquarters.
The fourth, taken just thirty minutes ago, showed his SUV entering Tony's Malibu mansion.
Pepper's face drained of color. She grabbed her car keys and sprinted out of the office, dialing Phil Coulson as she ran.
"Agent Coulson, I need your help! Obadiah Stane has been paroled. He's inside Tony's mansion right now! I think he's going to kill him!"
Coulson's voice turned grave. "We're mobilizing a team imdiately. Do not go in alone. Wait for us."
"I'm already on my way!" Pepper hung up and ran for the elevator, heart pounding.
She knew Obadiah's ruthlessness too well. This ti, he wasn't just after power — he was out for blood.
Malibu, California — Tony Stark's Underground Workshop
The roar of repulsors filled the workshop. The silver-and-red Mark III armor hovered steadily three ters above the ground, thrusters glowing bright blue.
Tony, wearing only the upper half of the suit, executed a sharp mid-air turn and landed cleanly. The faceplate flipped open, revealing his excited, flushed face.
"Did you see that, J.A.R.V.I.S.? The new aerodynamic layout completely solved the high-altitude icing issue!"
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied calmly, "the Mark III's weapons systems are not yet fully debugged. Additionally, the Palladium Arc Reactor cannot safely sustain prolonged high-intensity combat. Dr. Yinsen has reminded you for the third ti that you have been working for twenty-two consecutive hours. You need rest."
"Just one more adjustnt," Tony waved him off, turning toward the holographic workbench.
A firm hand gripped his armored shoulder. Dr. Yinsen stood behind him, holding a glass of water, his expression serious.
"Tony. No more negotiations. Shut everything down and go rest. Your body is at its limit. The Palladium poisoning will only get worse if you keep pushing."
Tony sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. Two hours. Then I'm coming back down."
He reached up to remove the glowing Arc Reactor from his chest when the reinforced workshop door suddenly beeped. The biotric lock had been overridden.
Tony and Yinsen froze.
The door slid open. Obadiah Stane walked in, flanked by two ard paramilitary bodyguards. A cold, predatory smile spread across his face.
"Obadiah?!" Tony's eyes widened in shock. "How the hell are you here? You're supposed to be in prison!"
"Prison?" Obadiah sneered, stepping closer. "Did you really think your little evidence package would keep locked away forever? You're so naive, Tony."
He stopped a few feet away, voice dripping with mockery. "You shut down the weapons division and cut off the military's supply. There are a lot of powerful people in Washington who want you gone… and back in charge."
Obadiah's smile turned vicious. "The Pentagon gave everything I need. Parole, unlimited resources, and the chance to take back Stark Industries."
Yinsen stepped protectively in front of Tony. "Leave this facility imdiately, Stane."
Obadiah chuckled. "This doesn't concern you, Doctor. Stay out of it… unless you want today to be your last."
The two bodyguards drew high-voltage stun batons and advanced. Yinsen tried to resist but was quickly overpowered and slamd against the wall.
Tony lunged forward, but Obadiah raised a compact black device and fired. A powerful low-frequency sonic wave hit Tony, instantly paralyzing his nervous system. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move, though his mind remained fully conscious.
Obadiah crouched beside him and reached for the glowing Arc Reactor in Tony's chest.
"What a beautiful invention," he whispered greedily. "You never understood its true potential."
"You're insane!" Tony growled through gritted teeth. "If you remove it, the shrapnel will kill !"
"So what?" Obadiah replied coldly. "If you die, Stark Industries returns to . The military gets its Iron Legion. And the world will rember as the man who created the greatest weapon of this era."
With a brutal yank, he ripped the Arc Reactor out.
Tony's body convulsed in agony. His breathing turned wet and ragged as the shrapnel began moving toward his heart. His vision blurred.
Obadiah stood, casually tossing the stolen reactor in his hand. "Clean this up. No traces."
He glanced at the struggling Yinsen and the dying Tony one last ti before striding out of the workshop.
The mont the bodyguards released him, Yinsen rushed to Tony's side. "Tony! Stay with !"
Tony weakly lifted a trembling finger and pointed toward a glass display cabinet in the corner.
"The… first-generation… cave reactor…"
Yinsen smashed the cabinet with a wrench, grabbed the bulky old reactor, and slamd it into the empty socket in Tony's chest. He connected the wires with desperate precision.
The faint blue light flickered, then stabilized. Tony gasped, drawing in ragged breaths as color slowly returned to his face.
"Tony! Talk to !" Yinsen supported him.
Tony leaned heavily on Yinsen's arm and forced himself upright. His eyes burned with cold fury as he stared at the Mark III armor on the holographic display.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., activate the Mark III combat protocol. Preheat all systems."
"Sir, the first-generation reactor cannot safely support sustained combat operations."
"I know," Tony growled. "But I have to go. Obadiah has my reactor. If I don't stop him, he'll destroy everything."
He turned to Yinsen, voice deadly serious.
"Help suit up."
Yinsen looked into Tony's eyes and nodded.
At Midtown High School
The final bell rang. Students poured into the hallways. Peter packed his bag anxiously, still talking about heading to Columbia to find Dr. Connors. Gwen agreed, equally worried.
I remained seated by the window, gripping my pen so tightly the plastic cracked. My face was ice-cold.
My consciousness was fully synced with the Builder's surveillance system. I had watched everything — Obadiah breaking in, stealing the reactor, and leaving Tony to die.
Rage and helplessness burned inside . I had done everything right. I had sent Obadiah to prison. I had warned Pepper. Yet the tiline's inertia had dragged everything back on course.
[Builder. Priority update?]
[Obadiah Stane has left the mansion and is heading to Sector 16. Tony Stark has activated the Mark III and will launch in approximately ten minutes.]
I took a deep breath and stood up abruptly.
"Mira? Where are you going?" Peter asked, confused. "Weren't we going to Columbia together?"
"Sothing urgent ca up. Go without . I'll catch up later."
I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the classroom before they could ask more questions. I slipped into a quiet stairwell at the back of the school.
My consciousness connected to the deep blue data sea.
If a walking hunk of military iron is rampaging… I need to call in a professional for demolition.
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