Tony was airlifted back by helicopter.
He had been buried beneath the rocks. After painstakingly digging his way out, he had collapsed from exhaustion. Fortunately, JARVIS had called for backup.
As a successful man, Tony had enjoyed the privilege of dangling beneath a helicopter, and now he was too ashamed to face anyone.
Fortunately, Ivan had left because his Armor was running low on power and had been pushed beyond its load limits.
But all this had left Pepper Potts unable to stand Tony's arrogant attitude any longer.
The two entered a brief cold war. Well, perhaps a prolonged one.
Tony woke up in a hospital, surrounded by concerned faces.
Happy let out a huge sigh of relief. Tony's good friend Rhodey was there too.
"You said you went to New Jersey to test performance?"
Rhodey folded his arms, his expression clearly saying, Are you kidding me?
"Yes, to test the new Armor. There was just a minor accident."
Tony was still making things up to save face.
"By 'minor' accident, do you mean getting trapped under hundreds of tons of rock and nearly being turned into meat paste?" Rhodey simply watched Tony bluff.
"Tony, you couldn't have caused that with the amount of ammunition you carry." Rhodey patted Tony's shoulder with a knowing look. "You lost the fight, didn't you?"
"Lost? What a joke," Tony said, stubbornly clinging to his pride. "If he hadn't run away-how did you know?"
"Your computer screen was still on," Rhodey replied matter-of-factly.
With unrestricted access to Stark's laboratory, Rhodey had seen it all without any trouble.
And not just him. Steve, Banner, Natasha, and Barton had too.
Almost everyone except Thor knew Tony had gone off to fight someone.
Speaking of Thor, after dealing with the Dark Elves, he had arranged for the