So, I am so sorry. I thought I posted this...but then I actually didn't. Good news though two chapters today!
When I woke up I was falling. I landed face-down on the cheap, dark carpeted floor in an ungraceful heap.
"Why the hell can't you ever just wake me up like a normal person?" I groaned as I rolled over, still tangled in the blanket, to look up at Tony. He was wearing his black ball cap, sweatshirt, pants, boots, and a pair of dark sunglasses. I immediately woke up, remembering that today was the day we took down the Mandarin.
"Because you look so ugly in the morning that I can't help myself." Tony calmly replied.
"I still don't understand why women flock to you." I jokingly scowled as I untangled myself from the pale green blanket.
"Usually they don't stay more than one night." He smirked and winked at me.
"You're disgusting." I replied, scrunching my nose.
"Get some clothes on and get in the car." Tony dismissively replied as he carried an armful of homemade weapons out the door. I scowled at him and held up my middle finger to his back as he walked out to the car.
"Hurry up, I don't have all day." Tony called back over his shoulder. I glared at him as I quickly grabbed my sweatshirt and combat boots and ran out the room after him. I reached the car just as Tony had finished loading the last of his weapons into the back. I climbed into the passenger seat.
"Stay here. I have to go turn the keys in." Tony ordered.
"Why did you yell at me to hurry up and then tell me to sit in the car?" I asked, running my hand through my hand through my hair in frustration. Tony shrugged as he walked towards the motel. He walked back out a few minutes later with a big grin on his face. As soon as he climbed into the car though, the smile settled into a smirk and he handed me a piece of paper.
"What is that?" I asked, not taking the paper from his outstretched hand.
"If I told you that would ruin the surprise." Tony teased.
"Tell me or I'll throw it out the window." I threatened. Tony rolled his eyes,
"Apparently the motel owner saw you the other night and just thought you were absolutely stunning…"
"That's ridiculous." I interrupted.
"You're ridiculous. Don't interrupt me." Tony retorted, "Now like I was saying, he decided that you were the one and this morning when I walked up to the counter to turn in the keys he started asking me some questions…"
"About what?" I interrupted again.
"God dammit, Blaise. Let me finish my story. Questions about you, me, us and of course I informed him that there was and never will be any us. That's when he got this excited look on his face. It was like I had given him his Christmas present a day early. He quickly got out this piece of paper, wrote a note on it, and handed it to me. Then I came out here and gave it to you. If you're interested, I can drive you back to visit after we save the world." Tony offered a huge smirk plastered on his face.
"Screw you, Tony." I scowled as I snatched the paper from his hand.
"Not thank you, but I'm sure the man from the hotel would be up for that. Just call the number and give him a time and place." Tony quickly retorted. I glared at Tony as I unfolded the paper and read the note:
I saw you the other night and you took my breath away. When I saw you again this morning, I knew I had to make my move. I was so happy to hear that you weren't in a relationship. There is no one else who makes me feel this way besides you, Tony. Love, Veronica.
At that point I burst out laughing. Obviously Tony had misinterpreted the situation.
"Tony," I gasped between fits of laughter, "this note isn't for me, it's for you. Besides it's from some girl named Veronica."
"I never talked to a girl." Tony quickly replied, snatching the paper back out of my hand.
"The guy was probably a wingman." I explained, "She was probably nearby listening in."
"Huh, That makes a lot more sense. I thought the guy at the desk seemed a little old for you." Tony mused.
"How old was he?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Like fifty." Tony casually replied. My jaw dropped, my eyes widened, and I slapped Tony's arm.
"Fifty?!" I exclaimed.
"Well, I mean you seemed interested in Capsicle and he's ninety something." Tony shrugged.
"That's different," I scowled, "You're an asshole."
"Why can't you just appreciate what I do for you?" Tony sighed in exasperation.
"Whatever." I muttered, running my hair through my hair in frustration and staring out the window.
We didn't talk the rest of the trip. He blared music and I'm fairly certain I fell asleep. It wasn't because we were angry at each other. I think we were both just preparing for what we were about to do. Before this point it hadn't seemed real, but when we crossed a bridge and saw the skyline of Miami it made the whole situation breathtakingly real. We reached the estate easily and parked a mile away in the woods that surrounded the large white walled-in mansion. It had an ugly red roof, but besides that the mansion was beautiful. It sat right on the ocean, had its own dock laden with ships and within the mansion's walls were extensive flower gardens.
We had silently stalked our way through the forest and had reached the back gate leading into the mansion. Tony was perched in a nearby tree memorizing the guard's rotation. I sat a few trees away trying to memorize the guard's rotation. After a few minutes I heard a noise,
"Pssssttttt." Tony whispered to get my attention. I sent him a withering glare, but it didn't deter him. He starting motioning to me with elaborate hand signals that I assumed meant climb down from the tree. I started my descent and looked over at Tony. He grinned and started to descend down his tree. As soon as I hit the ground I snuck over to his tree.
"Follow me." Tony ordered as he took off running along the wall. I rolled my eyes, but quickly sprinted after him. Suddenly, Tony veered left and jumped up the wall, grabbing onto the ledge and pulling himself up and over. I gritted my teeth and flew over the wall after him. Thankfully, the pain in my wings was surprisingly small.
We landed in one of the gardens and began to sneak towards a winding staircase that lead up to the house's porch. We flattened ourselves against the wall and began to sneak up the stairs. Suddenly, Tony held up his hand, motioning for me to stop and pointed to the top of the staircase. I leaned out around him and spotted a security guard at the top of the steps with his back to us. Tony motioned for me to back up a little bit and I quickly complied. He pulled a yo-yo looking thing out of his bag and began to spin it around so quickly that it began to whir. With a flick of his wrist his hook one end of the yo-yo around the guard's leg and dragged him down the stairs.
As soon as the guard hit the ground Tony and I launched ourselves into action. Tony pulled out a gun and shot one of the guards in the head while I sent an ice shard through another one's chest. The one Tony had dragged down the steps was now charging back up at us, but Tony incapacitated him with a kick in the balls that sent him flying down the steps.
"Nice shot." I smirked.
"Thank you," He smirked back, but then his face turned serious, "Duck." I hit the ground and a security man stumbled forward, off balance. Tony grabbed the man's out stretched fist, slammed him to the ground, and shoved a taser right into his chest.
"I could've taken him." I muttered, looking slightly astonished at the man now lying lifeless on the ground in front of me.
"I took less time." Tony flippantly replied as he started walking down the path, looking for our next targets. He tossed a purple Christmas ornament down the path in between a pair of guards standing near a fountain. One picked up the ornament and it exploded in his hand, blinding him. He partner whirled around to face us, but before Tony could do anything I sent an ice shard through his chest and he fell backwards into the fountain.
"I had that under control." Tony glared at me.
"Well, you should've gotten it under control faster." I retorted.
"Touché." He grinned as we walked past the man in the fountain and dropped an ornament in.
"Tony!" I exclaimed as the ornament exploded, "Was that really necessary?"
"I don't like when people touch my stuff." Tony calmly replied as we snuck into the back down of the house. Tony entered first to scope out the area,
"Clear." He motioned for me to follow him in. We looked around the empty room. It was a pig-sty. There were papers on the tiled floor, a girl unconscious on a table in the middle of the room, and a fish tank that was so dirty you couldn't even tell if there were fish in it.
"Okay while we have a break can we discuss our cover story if we get caught?" I whispered.
"Obviously I'm Tony Stark. How do you plan on covering that up?" Tony scoffed.
"No. Not that part. Why I'm here with you." I explained.
"Oh, continue." Tony nodded and he walked around inspecting the room.
"I am a spy who has been following you for the past however many months." I told him laying out a plan.
"Yeah, whatever. Follow me." Tony dismissively whispered as he flattened himself against a wall next to a doorway in the back right of the room that had it's curtains open.
"Why is it so hot in here? I told you to put it at sixty-eight." A sleepy female voice drifted out from the room. Tony and I peered inside. There was a guard with his back to us talking to a blonde slutty-looking girl in a messy room..
"My fault again." The guard replied, obviously annoyed, "Let me tell you something sweetheart, I am not your personal..." The guard was cut off by Tony placing his gloved hand on top of his head and electrocuted him. The girl didn't bat an eye at the violence and if her lethargic movements were anything to go by, she was obviously drunk. Tony slowly reached forward for the gun lying in front of the guard and held a finger up to his lips, signaling for the girl to be quiet. The drunk girl held up her fingers in the shape of a gun, made soft "pew pew" noises, and chuckled to herself as if she had made the funniest joke in the world as Tony quietly walked through a set of white doors into the next room. I rolled my eyes at the intoxicated girl, ran my hand through my hair, and quietly followed him.
The room was full of movie making equipment and creepy posters. This was obviously the place where the Mandarin recorded his messages. After weaving through many large, disturbing, posters we came upon a large wooden bed that was occupied. We couldn't see who was in the bed because they were completely covered by maroon bed sheets. Tony snapped off his sunglasses and approached the bed while I backed him up, ready to blast anything that moved. Tony pulled the gun and stalked up to the bed. He looked at me as if to see if I was ready and I gave him a firm nod as I pointed my hands at the bed. With one fluid motion he pulled the covers back and raised the gun. Two scantily dressed girls gasped and sat up in the bed. Tony quickly hushed them before they could scream and was about to ask them where the Mandarin was when I heard the sound of a toilet flush. Tony spun around and pointed his gun towards the door that the sound had come from and quickly backed up so that he was hidden behind the headboard of the bed. I scrambled over to hide behind the headboard, but Tony waved me away,
"Find your own hiding spot!" He hissed. I scowled at him and took off running the other direction. As the door slammed open, I managed to slide in-between some crates and the girls quickly readjusted themselves to appear like nothing had happened.
"Well, I wouldn't go in there for twenty minutes!" A British voice announced, laughing. I held my breath as I anxiously waited for him to come into view so that I could see the infamous Mandarin. He walked into view were bright red pants and waving his cardigan around as if to get rid of a bad smell. His head was entirely shaved, excluding a small top knot and he had a bushy beard covering most of his face.
"Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" He asked as he walked over to a night table laden with fortune cookies and alcohol.
"That's me." The one girl said, timidly raising her hand.
"Ah, Nessie!" The Mandarin exclaimed as he tossed her a fortune cookie, "Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?" Tony peeked out from behind at bed and looked at the Mandarin with a confused expression on his face.
"There's some guy over here..." The one girl sleepily tried to tell the Madarin, but he was too caught up in the fortune cookies,
"They're made by Americans, based on...based on the Japanese recipes." He continued.
"Hey!" Tony yelled as he stepped out from behind the bed and pointed the gun at the Mandarin.
"Bloody hell. Bloody hell." The Mandarin muttered as he quickly put his hands in the air and whirled to face Tony. He started looked side to side for an escape, but I stepped out from between the crates so that there was none.
"Don't move." Tony ordered. The Mandarin immediately started to talk Tony down so that he would lower the gun,
"I'm not moving. I'm not moving. If you want something, take it, although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones…"
"What?" Tony interrupted.
"Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?" The Mandarin asked, referencing the girls in the bed.
"Heard enough." Tony snapped, cutting him off, "You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy,"
The Mandarin started to shake a little and Tony started to yell at him,
"Where?! Where's the Mandarin?! Where is he?!"
"Woah! Woah!" The Mandarin exclaimed as Tony led him at gun point over to a chair, "He's here. He's here." He said pointing to himself and continuing. "But he's not here. He's here, but he's not here."
"What do you mean?" Tony yelled, cocking the gun.
"It's complicated. Hey, it's complicated, alright?" The Mandarin replied.
"It is?" Tony harshly asked.
"Tony calm down." I ordered scared that he was going to pull the trigger before we got any answers.
"Listen to the girl. It's complicated." The Mandarin repeated.
"Uncomplicate it." Tony ordered the Mandarin. Then he turned to the girls,
"Ladies out. Get out of the bed, get in the bathroom." The girls quickly complied and took off running towards the bathroom. While Tony was turned around locking the bathroom door, the Mandarin tried to crawl away. Tony sighed and shot the ground in front of the Mandarin causing the man to scramble back to his seat. Tony glared at me,
"Were you planning on just letting him crawl away?"
"No, you're a big boy and I prefer to let you handle your own problems without my intervention." I snarkily replied.
"Then why are you still here?" Tony sneered at me.
"It's my job." I coolly replied.
"Are you two…? Can I leave?" The Mandarin asked as he started to scoot his chair away from us.
"NO!" We simultaneously yelled at him.
"Speak." Tony growled.
"My name is Trevor, Trevor Slattery." The man began,
"What are you? What're you a decoy? You're a double, right?" Tony rapidly asked, not waiting for an answer in between questions.
"What? Like an understudy? No, absolutely not." The Mandarin scoffed. Tony rolled his eyes and raised his gun again.
"Don't hurt the face!" The Mandarin cringed, "I'm an actor."
"Tony maybe if you only ask one question at a time instead of five, you will actually get an acceptable answer." I drily suggested. Tony paused for a moment, considering my advice, before he spoke,
"You got a minute to live, fill it with words."
"Just a role. 'The Mandarin', see, it's not real." The Mandarin shrugged.
"Then how did you get here, Trevor?" Tony snapped.
"Um...well, I um...I have a little problem with, um...substances, and I ended up, um...doing things, no two ways about it. In the street that a man shouldn't do."
"Gross." I muttered, boredly running my hand though my hair and finding a comfortable place to sit on the floor.
"Next!" Tony ordered.
"And then, they approached me about the role and they knew about the drugs."
"What did they say they'd get you off them?" Tony asked, confusion etched onto his face.
"Said they'd give me more." The Mandarin happily replied, "They gave me things, they gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things." The Mandarin leaned back in his seat and started to snore.
"Did he just nod off?" Tony incredulously looked at me. I shrugged.
"Hey!" Tony yelked as he kicked the Mandarin to wake him up.
"No! And a lovely speedboat! And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some 'accidental explosions'." The Mandarin continued, picking up right where he had left off.
"He?" Tony snapped, obviously holding back frustration, "Killian?"
"Killian." The Mandarin confirmed.
"He created you?" Tony asked.
"He created me." The Mandarin repeated.
"Custom-made terror threat." Tony disbelievingly replied.
"Yes! Yes!" The Mandarin happily exclaimed as he stood up out of the seat. Tony sat down in the recently emptied seat, trying to wrap his head around what just happened.
"His think tank thinked it up," The Mandarin exclaimed as he slipped into the voice he used on screen, "The pathology of the serial killer, the manipulation of Western iconography, ready for another lesson? Blah blah blah. Of course, it was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life." He proudly finished, offering Tony a drink. Tony declined and continued his interrogation,
"Your performance? Where people die?"
"No, they didn't. Look around you, costumes, green screen. Oh, honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. When I was, it was movie magic, love." The Mandarin exclaimed, waving his arms around. I closed my eyes, hoping to take a quick nap while the pair yelled back and forth.
"I'm sorry, but I got a best friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up. So you're going to have to answer for that. You're still going down, pal. You under..." Suddenly Tony stopped threatening the Mandarin. My eyes snapped open just in time to see Tony fall unconscious to the floor. The blonde man from Rose Hill stepped into view and pointed a gun at me.
"Okay, Trevor, what'd you tell him?" The blonde asked the Mandarin.
"I didn't tell him anything." The Mandarin quickly replied.
"Nothing?" The blonde snapped. The Mandarin paused for a second before confidently replying,
"No."
"You should've pressed the panic button." The blonde scolded him.
"Well I panicked, but then I handled it." The Mandarin replied causing me to chuckle to myself. The blonde's focus snapped back onto me.
"Stand up, slowly." He ordered. I immediately complied and decided to lie my way out of this situation. I slowly stood up and gave him my most charming smile and spoke in a high, bubbly, voice,
"Oh my gosh, don't shoot! I'm, like, one of the Mandarin's whores and I, like, totally got lost."
"Nice try." He scowled at me as he pointed the gun at my head. We stared off at one another for a few seconds before I slumped my shoulders in defeat,
"What do you want from me?" I sighed.
"I don't want anything, but I have a feeling that Killian might." The blonde cryptically answered.
"Clever." I mockingly smirked as I held out my arms to be tied knowing that the next few hours were going to be rough for Tony.
So I had an idea the other night. What would you all think of me possibly bring Loki into this story later on? And if he did make an appearance do you think he and Blaise would make a good pairing?
