Its been a year since the fight between Captain Marvel and Iron Man took place...And since then the world has been in chaos. Well, chaos as in internal chaos between heroes. First, the Avengers were disbanded, then the Uncanny Avengers, then the Guardians and finally... The Ultimates, and in the shadows, a war between the Inhumans and Mutants rages on. And the world mourned as the last human hero, Iron Man, died. Human hero as in, someone with no powers at all. No super serum, no radioactive spider bite and no mutant genes, just a homegrown billionaire with a brain wearing a supersuit trying to right his wrongs. Even though he had Extremis, but that didn't matter since he was Iron Man before that.
For the longest time people thought that he was invincible, the best if not strongest a human can become, but he was still human. A mortal, vulnerable human with flaws and weaknesses, not some perfect alien with no weak point.
After the death of the Man of Iron, terrorism skyrocketed. The previously volatile nations of Middle East were in ruins as ultra-nationalists and terror groups overthrew the fragile governments, and the Mandarin had taken control of North Eastern China and no hero was able to do anything. This was because only two heroes were allowed to intervene due to some accords, and both of them were dead. Criminals began calling heroes out on their actions, especially the battle outside of the White House, demoralising the heroes even further. Riri Williams tried her best to wear the big shoes left by Stark, but she was just a teen and soon left the hero society due to its lack of trust. Its been a full year since the fight between Captain Marvel and Iron Man took place... and since then, the human world is trying to adjust. Trying to adjust to a world without Iron Man.
But unknown to them, in a top secret hidden basement, in a life support system under cobwebs and dust, a man lies in deep sleep... his body slowly recovering. He was visited by his friends... Miles, Hank, Carol and others, although Carol wasn't welcomed that much. They had faith that he would somehow comeback, but after the seventh month and no change in his condition, they lost hope. Shield decided to seal the facility from the outside, much to the protests of Hank and the others. The last person to come to the man's lair was Dr. Doom.
Tony Stark was sleeping. Sleeping as in being in a dreamless coma. Everything was black, then all of a sudden, his eyes shot open, and Tony went into a system overload. He was able to see and hear every single computer around him, and after seven minutes of concentration, he was finally able to control the inflow of information.
"Friday? Are you there?" He called out from inside the high tech casket.
"Yes, Mr. Stark. I see that you're awake" A female robot voice answered.
"Glad that you're here...Now please get me out of this... what ever this is." He said.
"I'm running diagnostics on your body and health, this should only take a few minutes" The AI replied.
"Then do it quickly...There's only one tight space I'm comfortable being in" Then the light within the casket became red.
"I'm going to ask you some questions to check if you are suffering any form of memory loss."
"K"
"What is your full name?"
"Anthony Howard Stark"
"Where are you from ?"
"New York"
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"The last thing I remember was a 'friend' of mine punching the hell out of me"
"Sounds accurate. Why did the conflict take place?"
"Future seeing Inhuman, who turns out cannot actually see the future at all, but rather has a very powerful mind which is connected to every living thing... And Spiderman"
"Alright, you don't seem to have any memory loss"
"Of course I don't, I'm Tony Stark. All though, when I woke up, I was able to see and hear every electronic device around me. Any clue as to why that happened?"
"Yes, that was due to Extremis7"
"Oh, right... Extremis7...
WAIT, WHAT?! EXTREMIS7?! SHOULDN'T THE SERUM BE ACTIVATED ONCE IT HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE BODY?! AND ACCORDING TO OUR PREVIOUS CALCULATIONS, THAT WOULD TAKE 13 MONTH-wait, how long was I out?" Tony asked, a little jumpy.
"You've been in a coma 14 months, 17 days, 3hours and 4 minutes after getting hit"
Friday said as the casket became vertical and cover door opened up.
"I would advice caution while walking... Your legs haven't used been for a long time"
"I know..." He said as he began taking baby steps. He then noticed that the floor was very dirty and dusty, with spiderwebs and insect droppings. He then looked around and saw that he was inside an Avengers base.
"Friday, I guess the other members are happy that I was in a coma..." Tony said as he sat down in a chair.
"Quite the contrary actually..."
"Uh huh?"
"Many of them came to visit you from time to time, even Captain Marvel. Until Shield decided to permanently seal this base"
"Seal this place? Why? Didn't they know that I was in a Coma?"
"No, they thought that you were dying. And since Extremis7 was in your body, your scans were very unusual. Due to the unusual readings, Hank did not treat you, being afraid of the consequences. By the seventh month, the readings showed them that yiu were dying due to severe brain damage. After which, Shield decided to seal this place, despite of the other heros saying that you deserve a proper burial.
To the outside world Tony Stark, THE Iron Man is dead"
This was a lot for Tony to take in. Not only was gone for more than a year, he was also dead to the world. One thing that was confusing him was, why did Shield decide to seal him in instead of burying him.
"Do you know why they locked me in?" Tony asked.
"Yes, it was due to the older versions of Extremis running through your body. Hill said that if anyone gets a sample of your DNA, they'll be able to replicate Extremis"
Friday answered, pissing off Tony as it takes a lot more than DNA to replicate Extremis.
"What the hell kind of logic is that?!
Plus, why were thinking that I was dying?"
"Your friends weren't just thinking that you were dying... Mr. Stark, you were actually dying. If Extremis7 and its passive healing didn't activate when it did, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
'Just how hard did she hit me?" Tony thought.
"Hard enough to kill you" Friday replied, surprising Tony.
"You can hear my thoughts?"
"Yes, As you described it yourself before 'Extremis7 is the best and most versatile Extremis serum till date'"
"I know what I said... But I didn't expect the Serum to do this... I guess it somehow Evolved question mark..."
"That is a possibility..."
"Enough about Extremis7... What's the state of the world, I hope I didn't miss any giant parties..." Tony said as he laid back in the chair as he turned on the giant monitor in front of him with his thought.
"Mr. Stark... You're not gonna like the current state of the world." Friday said as she began describing everything that had happened... From the disbandment of all the superhero teams, to the rise in crime and terrorism, not to mention all the threats from space. Right now, the only person Tony thinks is doing his job is Dr. Strange.
"The Hero society is falling... everyone is divided."
Tony was in deep thought. He didn't know what to do after what he had just heard and seen on the monitor. He was desperately searching for a plan. He had to become the hero the world thought was dead. And seeing how all the teams turned out, he decided that he would do what he had to do alone... for now. But how? He is just a powerless human... His strongest armour was singlehandedly destroyed by the Cosmic force that is Captain Marvel. And if he wanted to protect the earth from outer space threats, he had to be invincible. And again that question rose up... How? One of his best armors, the armour with the ability to transform was promptly disabled by a couple of other heroes.
Then he remembered something... Something that he had put on the back burner and had completely forgotten about, which was extremely rare for Tony Stark. It was an armour. An armour so technologically advanced, it would take two years to make it. And with the help of a small gift he got from a certain god, he finally had a way to become powerful enough to protect his planet.
"Friday, how far along is Project Paladin?"
"77%, It just began liquid alloy stage. It will take three months to be completed"
"Pause it, I think we can add a a few more metals to the mix... Does this base have a suit or two? We're taking a trip to Norway, and then the North Pole"
"All the suits were taken by Shield for safe storage, leaving out one suit, which they didn't take as they it was inside a cardboard box in the deepest part of the storeroom in the lower basement"
"Which armour are you talking about?"
"I don't think you're gonna like it"
"Right now, I'm like a desperate 13 year old, anything will do"
"Mark 42...Prodigal Son..."
"Oh God... Not that butt fumbled nightmare again" Tony said as he began having Vietnam flashbacks of his time with that armour.
(A/n And done... Btw I think I'll make the story a TonyXCarol... because why the fuck not)