The Furious Rhodey

The echoes of the sonic boom were still rolling over the ocean when the glass curtain walls of the Malibu mansion began to tremble.

The empty Coke bottles on the table shook with them, tapping against the edge of the workbench. Without even turning around, Chen Xiao casually flicked a finger through the air—an arc of electricity spread across the glass, as though an invisible layer of soundproofing cotton had been pasted over the entire wall. The resonance that had nearly torn their eardrums apart was immediately suppressed.

"Sir." JARVIS's voice cut in from the ceiling. "An unauthorized flying object is rapidly approaching. Confirmed—Mark Two."

Tony's fingers hovered over the keyboard and paused. The blue glow of the holographic display fell across his face, dark circles claiming the territory beneath his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling, his lips moving, but no words came out.

Outside on the terrace, gale-force wind rushed in. Jet exhaust scorched the expensive plants in the corner into charcoal. The silver-white armor slammed heavily onto the wooden floor, leaving two glaring dents beneath its feet. A layer of white frost from high altitude clung to the armor's shell, quickly melting into droplets under the California afternoon sun and running down the seams of the metal.

Hydraulic pistons hummed as the faceplate sprang open.

Rhodey's face was revealed. He was not wearing a flight suit, only a military-green short-sleeved shirt beneath the armor. Sweat had plastered his hair to his forehead. He stared at Tony through the glass, his chest heaving so violently that even Chen Xiao could clearly hear his ragged breathing through the wall.

Tony stood before the workbench with both hands in his pockets, chin slightly raised, putting on that posture he thought looked casual.

Leaning against the wall, Chen Xiao picked up the half-full bottle of Coke left on the table and took a gulp. The will had been sent too early, and now the real subject had come knocking. The awkwardness of the situation was no less than the deceased suddenly sitting up in his coffin to hand out cigarettes at his own funeral.

Rhodey strode inside. His military boots struck the floor, every step carrying the force of someone ready to tear the house apart. He ignored JARVIS's warning and did not spare a glance for Chen Xiao, who was leaning against the wall enjoying the show. He walked straight up to Tony until their noses nearly collided.

"You're still breathing."

"Obviously." Tony swallowed and glanced aside. "JARVIS helped me recalibrate the vital-sign monitor. The margin of error is less than zero point one percent."

Rhodey did not buy the lousy joke. He stared fixedly at the dark marks that had yet to fade from Tony's neck, then swept his gaze over the mess covering the floor—scattered parts, empty liquor bottles, and the brand-new holographic model glowing nearby. Finally, his eyes settled on Tony's haggard, ghostlike face, which definitely did not belong to a man on the verge of death.

"The will." Rhodey gritted his molars, each word squeezed through his teeth. "That video you sent me. You said you were leaving the armor to me. You said you were dying."

"Oh, that." Tony coughed awkwardly. "There was a minor bug in the system settings. I'd set it to send automatically forty-eight hours after my heart stopped. Maybe the time zone was wrong—"

Rhodey suddenly reached out and grabbed Tony by the collar.

Mark Two's armguard weighed dozens of pounds. The yank pulled Tony stumbling forward. Tony did not struggle and simply let Rhodey hold him.

"You bastard." Rhodey's voice was a little hoarse, his eyes bloodshot. "I flew all the way here with nothing in my head but the image of you stuffed in a box. I even thought up how I'd handle the eulogy from those old military bureaucrats."

"Don't." Tony looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitching as though he wanted to smile but could not. "Whatever they wrote would've sucked. Thanks, Rhodey."

Rhodey stared at him for a full five seconds.

The fingers gripping Tony's collar slowly loosened. The metal gauntlet dropped and struck the thigh armor with a dull thud. He took a step back and wiped his face.

"If you'd really died, I'd have carved a line on your tombstone—'Here lies an idiot who sent an email to the wrong person.'"

A snort came from the side. Chen Xiao could not hold it in.

Only then did Rhodey turn to look at him. "Long time no see. You're still alive too?"

"Thanks for the blessing. I'll stay alive and kicking until you die."

Chen Xiao casually tossed away the empty bottle in his hand. It traced an arc and landed neatly in the trash can in the corner. "And I extended his life by a few months while I was at it. But judging by things now, he'll make it to retirement."

Tony turned and pointed at the complex triangular structure on the holographic display. "A new element. The last thing my father left me. It can replace palladium—non-toxic, and its energy output is several times higher than before."

Rhodey looked at the screen, then at the old reactor in Tony's chest, still flickering with a faint blue light.

"How can I help?"

"Clear the area." Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and walked toward the equipment cabinet. "Things are about to get a little loud. I'm building a particle accelerator in here."

Rhodey did not waste words. His faceplate closed again. "I need to file a report with the military. Have JARVIS handle it for me. Also, Hammer's people tried to stop me before I got here. I can't stay long, so let's make this quick."

Tony nodded, pulled out a pile of thick cables and prism generators from the cabinet, and pointed at the straight line running from the center of the lab to the wall. "JARVIS, calculate the trajectory."

A blue beam marked a perfectly straight path across the floor, passing directly through the load-bearing wall and extending into the storage room next door.

"We need to tear down this wall." Tony picked up a heavy-duty wrench and gestured at the wall. "Probably need some high-energy—"

"Move."

Chen Xiao walked over. He did not even raise a hand, merely stared at the wall. Suddenly, a piercing sound of electromagnetic friction erupted in the air. Blue-white arcs surged from nowhere, like dozens of invisible high-frequency cutting blades, driving viciously into the concrete along the red line JARVIS had marked.

There was no explosion and no scattering rubble. Only a cutting sound that made their scalps crawl.

Three seconds. A section of wall two meters high, one meter wide, and thick enough to stop artillery shells toppled straight backward, crashing onto the storage room floor and kicking up a cloud of dust. The cut was as smooth as if it had been polished, with dark red traces left along the edges where the heat had melted it.

Rhodey swallowed inside his armor. It was not his first time seeing Chen Xiao act, but no matter how many times he watched it, that casual, effortless feeling of someone changing the laws of physics still seemed absurd to a man accustomed to flying fighter jets.

Tony, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. He whistled. "Saved me fifty thousand dollars in demolition costs."

Rhodey began helping install the pipes. Thick metal tubing was secured piece by piece, while the prism generators were aimed at the empty reactor casing in the center of the workbench. Chen Xiao found a dust-free sofa and sat down, crossing one leg over the other as he watched Tony lie on the floor tightening screws like a plumber—if that plumber happened to be working on a particle accelerator worth several million dollars.

More than half an hour passed.

"Ready to start." Tony put on protective goggles and gripped a specially made insulated wrench. "JARVIS, connect the main power."

The lights throughout the entire mansion dimmed at once. Massive current surged into the accelerator, and the metal pipes let out a strained hum. A blinding beam shot from the front of the generator and struck the first prism, refracting—then refracting again—then again.

The beam grew brighter and brighter, its color burning from pure white into a dazzling blue.

Tony clenched his teeth and twisted the wrench with all his strength, adjusting the angle of the final prism. The beam sliced straight through the air and struck the exact center of the empty reactor casing.

A visible ripple of energy spread outward. Papers on the table were instantly blown into the air, and glass containers shattered across the floor.

The light contracted.

A perfect triangular crystal floated in the center of the reactor, giving off a steady, pure white glow.

Tony tossed aside the wrench and walked over, reaching out to pick up the brand-new triangular reactor. His hand was trembling.

Without hesitation, he tore open his shirt, hooked his fingers around the old palladium reactor in his chest, and yanked.

Several wires came out with streaks of blood. He let out a muffled groan, his face instantly turning pale. His whole body swayed as he braced himself against the edge of the table, gasping for breath. He casually threw the old reactor onto the floor. It flickered twice, then went completely dark.

Rhodey took a step forward, but Tony stopped him with a raised hand.

He aligned the new triangular reactor with the hollow in his chest and slammed it in.

Click.

The mechanical clasps locked together. Crisp and clear.

Then came a long, rapid breath. The dark markings remaining on Tony's neck faded at a visible speed—from his jaw to the sides of his neck, from there to his collarbones, until they vanished entirely. Color quickly returned to his previously ashen face. The triangular blue light shone through his shirt, brighter and steadier than any reactor before it.

"How does it feel?" Rhodey asked.

"It feels..." Tony lowered his head, touched his chest, and forced out a smile. "Like I downed three shots of espresso and someone stuffed a sun into my lungs."

He had survived.

Chen Xiao sat on the sofa, watching the light return to Tony's eyes. It looked like surviving a disaster—or like discovering you did not have to repay a loan shark after all.

He took another gulp of Coke.

Just then, JARVIS's voice abruptly cut in.

"Sir. There is a visitor outside the front gate."