Rhodey Is Captured

'Ring ring~!~!'

A phone call interrupted Killian's maniacal laughter.

"Boss, I've got it all sorted out here. The Iron Patriot is in hand, but..." came the voice of his top henchman, Eric Seven, over the phone.

"Just what?" Killian was a little annoyed; he disliked his subordinates' stammering.

"But Colonel Rhodes absolutely refuses to come out. We've tried everything, but we can't open the armor for now. The Mandarin's video went smoothly, and the President will be boarding Air Force One soon. I'm afraid we won't have enough time."

"You wouldn't... Never mind, I'll go there myself. You guys keep an eye on him."

A secret ranch in Miami, one of the places where Killian kept the imposter the Mandarin. Killian has many such places in the United States, and Miami is the largest.

Colonel Rhodes was brought to this place. Last night, the Mandarin filmed a video threatening the United States president, but the White House found that the video originated from a small country in Asia. Colonel Rhodes quickly drove his Iron Patriot there.

As expected, it turned out to be a trap, and Rhodey was captured by two armored men under Killian's command.

When Killian arrived, his men were using a cutting machine to cut into the seams of the Armor, but it was clearly ineffective.

Killian couldn't help but feel a little regretful. It was their company that had taken on the job of changing the War Machine Armor from the War Machine to the current three-colored Iron Patriot. At the time, they never thought they would have to use it themselves. If they had known, they would have tampered with the Armor's system a little.

Of course, Killian was just thinking about it. During the modification process, the military monitored him the whole time. Unless he exposed himself and turned against them, he wouldn't have any chance at all.

The cutting machine only managed to scratch the paint a little after half a day. Killian was getting anxious and stepped forward to stop his men's futile efforts, taking off his own coat.

With a thought, Killian's right forearm turned orange-red, and in some of the hottest spots, a lava-like liquid appeared.

He not only injected himself with the Extremis Virus, but also became one of the most powerful Extremis Soldier thanks to his unwavering belief in power.

Without hesitation, Killian placed his hand on the abdomen of the Iron Patriot Armor. Within seconds, the extreme heat turned the abdomen of the Armor a faint red. Inside the Armor, a warning appeared on Colonel Rhodes's facial display screen that the Armor's outer shell was overheating.

The temperature change of the outer shell also affected the internal temperature. Colonel Rhodes was sweating profusely, and the temperature inside the Armor was rising rapidly. As part of the Armor's protection system for the user, Armor system had begun an automatic countdown alarm.

"Don't open it! Don't open it! Don't open it!"

Colonel Rhodes began frantically and futilely praying in front of the display screen. He knew very well that once he lost his Armor, not only would his own life be in danger, but the other Armor could also quickly infiltrate the president's inner circle. If the president were to be controlled, it would be a disaster for the country.

Clearly, Colonel Rhodes's incessant prayers were of no use. The countdown to the Armor opening had reached its final three seconds, and the temperature inside was almost enough to send Rhodey into shock. Since it was bound to open anyway, he might as well go out and catch the enemy off guard and take a gamble.

"Open the Armor!" Rhodey shouted, issuing the order.

As soon as the words were spoken, the alloy outer shell at the front of the Armor retracted to the sides, revealing the internal space of the Armor.

As soon as he opened his Armor, Rhodey stood up and delivered a powerful jumping punch to Eric Seven, who was directly opposite him, startling the opponent. He then followed up with a front kick.

Caught completely off guard, Eric Seven was knocked back several steps by Rhodey's two blows, almost falling flat on his backside.

Before Eric Seven could react, Colonel Rhodes attempted to seize the opportunity to launch another attack.

Suddenly, Killian's upper body skin turned transparent, and the area beneath it seemed to turn into a magma-like orange-red. He opened his mouth and spat out a ball of extremely hot flame at Colonel Rhodes.

Rhodey nearly crashed into the flames, barely managing to stop in his tracks and sidestep the blaze. He stared in disbelief, pointing a finger at Killian and exclaiming, "You... you can breathe fire!"

Rhodey has already given up resisting; it's completely pointless now.

Eric Seven stood up and shoved Colonel Rhodes against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

Rhodey launched a sneak attack while the enemy wasn't paying attention. These few blows were nothing to the Extremis Soldier; even if he lost an arm or a leg, he could recover in just a few seconds.

Killian slowly put on his clothes and said to Eric Seven:

"By this time tomorrow, the most powerful leaders and the most dangerous terrorists in the entire Western world will be under our control. We will control the war on terror, create supply and demand for the world, for you and your brothers and sisters, for those who lost their hands and feet for the government and were left without care after their service."

"I need to keep an eye on Pepper Potts' progress. She's using Tony Stark as a key bargaining chip, and Rhodey is also a good friend of his, so I'll keep him around just in case."

A few months ago, the Avengers stormed the White House, exposing a scandal that forced the president to resign. The vice president, a lucky man, ascended to the presidency, a position that was not originally his, and temporarily held the greatest power in the entire Western world.

This gave Killian a lot of inspiration. I don't know if it's due to plot inertia, but the timeline of Iron Man 3 is much earlier than in the movie. However, after this vice president took office, he appointed a woman from his think tank as his vice president.

Coincidentally, the vice president's brother lost both hands in an accident. This vice president is a complete brother-supporting demon, willing to do anything for her brother. Killian's Extremis Virus is her brother's hope for regaining his hands.

So the cooperation was reached smoothly. Killian created a terrorist to cover up the explosion of his failed experiment, which conveniently posed a strong threat to the public. As long as the president was eliminated, the vice president could take over the presidency. Then, the terrorist would be eliminated by the female president, who would have a great chance of participating in and winning the next election.

In Killian's plan, controlling the entire United States, or rather the entire Western world, is just the beginning. Once he has enough power, he will inevitably move from behind the scenes to the forefront, and even rule the entire world.

If the Extremis Virus in his possession can be stabilized, he will create an invincible army that is immune to injury and ordinary firearms, and can heal indefinitely.

In Killian's view, the strength the Avengers displayed during the Battle of New York was not scary at all. Even Thor seemed to be the strongest in the Avengers, was only so-so. He wasn't afraid of Hammer and Flash at all.

Last time, his female warriors and Eric Seven encountered Hawkeye and Thor. The female warrior was struck down by Thor Flash then shot dead by Hawkeye with his Slingshot. If a few more Extremis Soldier came, they could definitely kill Thor on Earth.