Tony's Call for Help

Tony Stark sat on the laboratory floor, his back against the metal paneling of the workbench.

"JARVIS..."

"JARVIS!"

There was no response. He looked up at the motion sensor on the ceiling. Its green working light should have been blinking, but now it was nothing but dull gray-white.

Struggling to his feet, he leaned over the workbench and caught his breath before reaching for one of its drawers. His fingers trembled, and it took two pulls before he managed to open it.

He pulled out his phone and called Pepper. As the ringing continued, Stark's heart sank to rock bottom. No one answered...

For some reason, he thought of Ethan. Holding the phone in both hands, he shakily dialed Chen Xiao's number. Fortunately, it was answered after a single ring, and his whole body immediately relaxed.

"Hello?" Chen Xiao's voice was calm. To Tony, it sounded like music from heaven.

"Chen Xiao." Tony spoke, his voice as rough as sandpaper scraping iron, his throat feeling as though something were lodged in it. "I need you."

"Where are you?"

"At home. In the lab."

"I'll be right there."

The call ended.

Tony clenched his phone and collapsed weakly over the tabletop, staring at the open space where Chen Xiao usually opened his portals.

Sure enough, less than five seconds later—

A faint crackle came from the corner of the laboratory. It sounded like a pinprick-sized spark exploding in the air, quiet but especially clear in the silent lab.

A blue spark flashed in the air, no bigger than a needlepoint, then rapidly expanded. Arcs danced around the edge of a doorway with a faint hiss, like some kind of torn rift. The point of light became a ring, and the ring became a portal. Blue arcs leaped across the frame, illuminating the entire laboratory.

Chen Xiao stepped out of the portal.

He wore a dark gray hoodie, zipped to his chest, with a white T-shirt underneath. He had on dark sweatpants and slippers, and several strands of hair stuck up as though he had just climbed out of bed.

"Why do you look so miserable?"

Chen Xiao looked at the old Arc Reactor in Tony's chest, then swept his gaze over the chaotic laboratory. Bloodstains marked the shattered glass scattered across the floor.

"Obadiah?" he asked.

Tony nodded. "He took my reactor. He might have destroyed my server room. JARVIS isn't responding, and I can't activate the armor."

Chen Xiao did not ask why. He simply nodded and headed toward the stairs. "Where's the server room?"

"Southeast corner of the first floor." Tony pointed toward the stairs. "The server room. The lock shouldn't stop you."

Chen Xiao hurried up the stairs. Tony heard his footsteps grow more distant, followed by several seconds of silence. Then the footsteps came back.

Chen Xiao returned and stood at the stairway entrance, looking a little more serious than before.

"I don't understand," he said.

Tony was somewhat speechless. With frustration building in his chest, he found Rhodey's number and dialed it.

It rang twice. The call was answered quickly.

"Tony? Do you know what time it is?" Rhodey's voice carried the hoarseness of someone abruptly woken up and not fully alert yet, though there was already a trace of vigilance. Tony rarely called at this hour.

"Rhodey, I need you. Now."

Rhodey immediately woke up, his tone turning serious. He had known Tony for too many years; he knew when Tony was joking and when he meant business.

"What do you need me to do? Where are you? I'll come right over."

"I'll be there in forty minutes—"

"No." Tony cut him off. "Chen Xiao is coming to get you. Stay at the base."

"What?"

Tony did not explain. He hung up and looked at Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao nodded, leaning back slightly. Then—

Crackle—

A bolt of blue lightning exploded inside the laboratory.

Arcs burst from Chen Xiao's body and instantly enveloped him. His outline blurred in the electric light, turning into a streak of deep blue lightning that shot through the open window and vanished into the night sky.

The arcs danced twice across the window frame, then faded. A faint scent of ozone lingered in the air.

Colonel James Rhodes stood beneath the dormitory building at Edwards Air Force Base, hugging his arms against the night wind.

He wore an army-green T-shirt and matching shorts, clearly having just gotten out of bed. He had not even had time to grab a jacket. After receiving Tony's call, he had thrown on sneakers and rushed downstairs.

He stood in the open space before the building, looking around without knowing what exactly he was waiting for.

He waited for a few seconds.

Then he heard a crackle.

It was not gunfire or an engine. It was the sharp, piercing sound of a high-voltage wire shorting out, especially abrupt in the quiet night.

A bolt of blue lightning exploded in front of him.

Arcs danced in the air like countless glowing snakes twisting through the darkness. The light grew brighter and brighter, forcing him to squint. Then the arcs began to converge, gradually gathering from a chaotic mass of electricity into a vague human form.

Chen Xiao walked out of the electric light.

He stood before Rhodey with a calm expression, his hair still sticking up on top of his head.

Rhodey's eyes widened.

He stared at Chen Xiao for two seconds, unable to understand how lightning could turn into a person. His mouth hung open, but no words came out.

"You?" Rhodey's voice drifted. "You...?"

"I'll explain later," Chen Xiao said.

He swiped his right hand. A blue portal silently unfolded before Rhodey. Arcs danced around the edge of the frame, letting out a faint hiss. On the other side was Tony's brightly lit laboratory.

Rhodey took a deep breath as though preparing himself, then stepped through.

Chen Xiao followed behind him, and the portal closed.

"What happened here?"

Rhodey stood in Tony's laboratory and looked around. His expression shifted from shock to seriousness.

"Obadiah," Tony said. "He took my things, smashed up my server room, and Pepper may have been taken by him too."

Rhodey walked up to Tony and looked at him with concern, his brow tightly furrowed and his lips pressed into a line as he stared at the white glow in Tony's chest. He reached out, as if wanting to touch the core, but stopped several inches away and withdrew his hand.

"How long can this last?" he asked.

"If I don't wear the armor, it can last a long time," Tony said.

Rhodey did not ask any more questions. He stood and turned to Chen Xiao. "Where's the server room?"

"Upstairs. I'll take you there." Tony struggled to his feet and looked at Chen Xiao. "What about Pepper?"

Chen Xiao shrugged and vanished once again.

The two quickly arrived at the server room. Its heavy metal door had its card reader smashed apart.

Rhodey pushed the door open. Inside stood rows upon rows of server racks, their black metal casings arranged in neat lines. Every indicator light was out, and the entire room lay buried in a dead, silent darkness. The air carried the faint burnt smell of shorted circuitry.

Tony walked up to the main server and inspected the damage. "Obadiah's men smashed the server modules."

Rhodey opened a toolbox and set it on the floor. "Can it be fixed?"

Tony nodded and stepped aside. "Yes. It'll take time."

"How do we do it?"

"The third module in the upper-right corner. Pull it out."

Rhodey reached over, found the module, and pulled it free.

"The spare beside it. Replace it."

Rhodey inserted the backup module. The slot locked into place with a click.

"Second row from the bottom, the blue wire. Pull it out and plug it into the port next to it."

Rhodey found the blue wire, pulled it free, and connected it to the port Tony indicated.

"The square box at the bottom. Open the cover. There are three jumpers inside. Pull out the one on the left and put it in the one on the right."

Rhodey opened the box, pinched the jumper between his fingers, pulled it out, and inserted it on the right.

Tony kept giving instructions. His voice was hoarse, but every order was clear, precise, and without hesitation. Rhodey did not need to think; he only needed to act. He moved quickly, his fingers thick but nimble, every operation completed perfectly in one go.

"Who the hell is he?" Rhodey suddenly asked, without stopping his work.

Tony paused. "I don't know."

Rhodey looked up at him. "You called him to save you, and you don't know who he is?"

"He's already saved me before," Tony said. "That's enough."

Rhodey fell silent for a second, then lowered his head and continued working. "Fine. This world is getting weirder and weirder."

"Done," Tony said. "Restart it."

Rhodey pressed the power switch. The server indicator lights came on one by one—green, yellow, blue—like a starry sky awakening.

"The reboot will take a few minutes." Tony braced himself on his knees as he stood. His legs shook, and Rhodey reached out to steady him.

The two left the server room one after the other. Rhodey walked ahead, Tony followed behind, his steps slow.