Tony recovered on the couch for a while. Only then did his breathing slowly settle from bellows-like gasps, the old reactor in his chest emitting a steady, dim blue-white glow. He tried to sit upright, bracing a palm against the coffee table. His arms were still shaking, but compared with his earlier gray face and trembling lips, he had practically come back to life.
He stood up.
Lynn was still sitting on the floor beside the coffee table, his faintly trembling hands pressed against his knees. He looked up at him. "You almost died just now. Can't you rest for a bit first?"
"Pepper," Tony said, his voice hoarse but his words coming extremely fast. "Pepper's in danger. I sent her to Obadiah's office to find records of his illegal deals. Obadiah already has my new reactor..."
"He built something big." Lynn finished for him, getting up from the floor himself.
"Right." Tony didn't ask how he knew, nor did he ask why he hadn't warned him about it earlier. All his attention was on one thing now. "That reactor Stane stole-if he installed it in something, do you know what that means?"
"It means if you go after him in your armor now, you might not reach his knees even if you jump," Lynn answered.
Tony ignored Lynn's wisecrack. He was already heading toward the lab, his steps still somewhat unsteady, but accelerating with every stride. Lynn followed him down the stairs, watching him walk onto the circular platform in the center of the lab and stop.
"JARVIS, initiate the assembly sequence."
"Sir, your current heart rate and blood pressure have not yet returned to safe levels. I recommend..."
"Now."
The overhead mechanical arms began moving. Pieces of silver gold-titanium alloy armor sprang from the storage compartments surrounding the platform, fitting onto Tony in a sequence precise to the millimeter. Lower legs, thighs, torso, chest plate, and finally the faceplate, which descended from above to cover his still-bruised, cold-sweat-covered face. Deep blue lights lit up over his eyes.
The entire process took less than thirty seconds. The Mark II stood in the center of the lab once more, its back thrusters deploying with a low hum.
"Stane should be at the Stark Industries plant now." Tony's voice came from behind the faceplate, already regaining its Stark-like iciness. "I'll go find Obadiah. You..."
"Leave Pepper to me." Lynn raised a hand to interrupt him. "You take down Stane. I'll keep Pepper safe."
Tony tilted his helmet slightly, as though reassessing the person before him. Then he nodded without a word. His boot thrusters erupted with a deafening roar, and he became a silver streak of light, shooting out of the lab and disappearing into the night above the sea.
Lynn stood where he was, watching the silver streak recede, and couldn't help rolling his eyes. All that flying wastes energy, and he still isn't as fast as my teleportation... Whatever. The rich boy needs his little ritual.
Orange sparks bloomed, and he stepped through.
Outside Arc Reactor Building 16, at the Stark Industries plant.
By the time Pepper Potts rushed out of the building's side door, she had already broken the heels off her shoes running. Agent Coulson and several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. followed behind her, all holding guns as their wary eyes scanned their surroundings.
"The vehicles are standing by at exit three."
The ground shook.
The tremor came from deep underground, accompanied by the piercing scrape of steel grinding against rebar. Pepper Potts stopped warily, and Coulson's hand went to his holster. The asphalt ahead suddenly bulged upward, cracks spreading outward from its center with a deafening metallic roar.
An enormous steel hand burst out of the ground.
Then came another. Both hands gripped the asphalt on either side of the fissure and tore it apart like paper. A behemoth fully six meters tall climbed out from underground. Its torso was covered in unpainted dark gray armor, rough and heavy, and the Arc Reactor in its chest radiated a blinding white-blue light. Every inch its hydraulic joints moved brought the dull sound of industrial machinery crushing the air.
Obadiah Stane's big creation.
Iron Monger.
"Pepper!" Coulson grabbed Pepper Potts by the arm and pulled her behind a forklift. Several agents opened fire at once. Bullets struck Iron Monger's shell, throwing up a few sprays of sparks without leaving so much as a scratch.
"Pepper Potts." Obadiah's voice came from inside Iron Monger, deep and distorted. "You think Tony can protect you? He can't even protect himself. I watched him lie paralyzed on the couch, his chest empty, like a beached fish."
Iron Monger raised his right arm, his hydraulic joints groaning under pressure as his enormous mechanical hand reached for Pepper.
Orange fire burst between Iron Monger and Pepper Potts.
A portal opened, and Lynn stepped out. His left hand grabbed Pepper Potts's shoulder while his right had already opened a second portal. Iron Monger's steel fingers brushed past his hair and crushed the forks of the forklift behind him, the shriek of twisting metal making their eardrums ache.
"Go." Lynn wasted no words. The second portal opened right at Coulson's feet. "Everyone inside, now."
Coulson didn't hesitate, jumping through the portal with the other agents. Lynn pulled Pepper Potts through last. Sparks closed behind them, and Iron Monger's second punch missed, crashing into the asphalt.
In an alley three blocks away, the portal opened. Lynn pushed everyone out, then closed it.
Pepper Potts leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, the document envelope in her hand crumpled in her grip. She looked up at Lynn, her eyes full of lingering shock and questions.
"Did Tony send you?"
"Yes," Lynn said. "He's on his way here. Stane stole his reactor and built something big. Oh, you probably already saw it."
"Tony's still alive?" Pepper Potts said, her voice trembling. "Thank goodness."
"Of course he's still alive, and he's about to fight that big guy." Lynn looked at Coulson. "Are those documents you've got enough to put Stane away?"
Coulson nodded. "More than enough."
"Good. Wait here, and stay away from the plant." Lynn turned and raised a hand to open another portal. "I'm going to watch the show. And while I'm at it..."
He paused and took out his phone.
"Get some firsthand footage."
A silver streak cut across the night sky. Tony, clad in his armor, landed in an open space twenty meters in front of Iron Monger. Tony Stark stood on the battered, cratered asphalt, his faceplate lifting to reveal a face paler than usual but as arrogant as ever.
"Stane!" His voice echoed through the empty plant. "Where's that fake smile of yours? Did you lose it while stealing?"
A low, cold chuckle came from the loudspeakers on Iron Monger's shell.
"Tony. I spent forty years building this company. Did you think I'd stand by and watch you destroy it?"
"A business empire built over forty years," Obadiah's voice deepened, "and you nearly destroyed it in a single day."
The light shining through the gaps in Iron Monger's outer armor suddenly brightened, signaling that his weapons systems were charging. Tony struck first. A repulsor blast hit Iron Monger's chest and bounced straight off, leaving only a shallow scorch mark on the armor.
Iron Monger merely swung a hand, sending Tony flying into the cargo compartment of a parked truck nearby.
By the time he climbed out of the wreckage, his suit's shoulder armor had been dented.
"You're nothing but a spoiled child." Iron Monger strode toward him, each step shaking the ground. "You were born with everything. A genius mind, a vast empire left by your father. And what did you do?"
Tony knelt on one knee and raised his hand, charging his repulsor again. Iron Monger brought a fist down. Tony dodged sideways, and the punch smashed a crater into the ground.
"You shut down the weapons division." Obadiah's voice was filled with hatred. "You turned Stark Industries into a joke. You think building a suit of armor makes you a hero?"
Tony flew into the air with his thrusters at full power, sweeping over Iron Monger's head and firing a backhanded repulsor blast into the rear of his shoulder. Iron Monger staggered a step, then turned, his shoulder-mounted machine gun beginning to spin.
Tony couldn't dodge in time. A barrage of bullets struck his chest plate, the force knocking him out of the air and slamming him hard into the ground. A row of red warnings appeared on the HUD inside his faceplate.
"You don't get to be a hero just because you want to." Iron Monger walked up to him, his enormous shadow engulfing Tony completely. "Being a hero takes sacrifice. It takes responsibility. But you?"
Obadiah Stane's voice came through the loudspeakers, every word carrying a cold certainty.
"You're just a genius clown in armor."
"How ironic, Tony! You wanted a world without weapons, yet you built the most powerful one in history with your own hands."
The reactor in his chest suddenly blazed brighter, the low-frequency hum of charging energy making even the asphalt tremble.
"Now, I'll use it to finish you!" Iron Monger raised his right foot and stomped toward Tony's chest.
Tony rolled out of the way, and another crater appeared in the ground.
In the shadows of a factory building nearby, Lynn crouched behind a concrete pillar, holding up his phone. The image on its screen remained steadily fixed on the center of the battlefield.
On the screen, Tony knelt on one knee, the reactor in his chest already beginning to flicker. Iron Monger stood before him, seemingly savoring those final seconds of silence.
Lynn stopped recording and slipped his phone into his pocket.
He rose from behind the concrete pillar, pale white light already gathering at his fingertips.