Chapter 11 – Iron Man versus War Machine

The war in Afghanistan was tiring out the soldiers from Rhodey's old unit. They were advancing through a small village that was putting up a lot of resistance against them. John Walker was now the leader, giving commands the instant they were needed. The insurgents were yelling to each other and at the American group.
"Get up there!" Walker yelled to two of the soldiers, and they nodded in agreement, creeping up the street taking cover behind cars.
"We're pinned down, sir!" one of them yelled back.
Walker yelled in frustration and grabbed the radio from his belt.
"This is John Walker of the Invaders," he yelled into the radio, "We need backup! Now! We're pinned down and running low on ammunition!" he said.

The radio only crackled. With a growl of frustration, the Walker looked around for something they could do, but he looked up when he heard a sonic boom and saw a familiar shape streaking across the sky.
"Heads up, boys!" he yelled over his shoulder, "Back up's arrived; War Machine is here!" he cheered.


Klaxons started shrieking on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier, causing the shocked heads of everyone aboard to look around in confusion when the automated voice rang out;
"WARNING. FUGITIVE CODENAME: WAR MACHINE, LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES RHODES ON RADAR IN AFGHANISTAN. EXTREME CAUTION."
Nobody had been told about what had happened, though many had formulated their own opinions about what happened, at the Triskelion, and the information hadn't yet been disclosed to the public. But Nick Fury was the only person who didn't seem in the slightest shocked about Rhodes' name being announced like this.
He looked down at the radar, showing a fast-moving blip; War Machine, moving across the black void. He glanced at a female Agent standing beside him, "Get the Elite Agents ready, Hill." He said, and the girl nodded, then as an afterthought; saluted, and left, quickly issuing orders into a radio set.
Fury clenched his fists behind his back and glared at the radar.


Tony was enjoying a relaxing day with Pepper, no commitments to work, nothing going on around the house; Maria was at her friend's for a dinner party, some birthday, Tony figured, but she'd been so excited to see her friends he hadn't understood their screams. He was laying on the huge white leather sofa in the main living room, with the TV on low in the background as he and Pepper talked. She was laying with her head on his chest, and his arm was snaked around her shoulders, his hand resting on her stomach.
"Maybe we could go out for a nice quiet dinner?" she suggested.
This caused Tony to burst out laughing, and Pepper hit him, "Come on, Pep, me? Out on a quiet dinner date with my wife?" he asked, and Pepper silently conceded that he was right. She didn't like that grin he gave when he proved her wrong, which she hated to admit was slightly more often than she would like.

Tony's attention was grabbed by the TV as a news report interrupted the film they were half paying attention to, the volume was automatically raised courtesy of J.A.R.V.I.S;
"We can confirm that War Machine has resurfaced in Afghanistan, he is circling around the village of Bagram, where a team of U.S. soldiers called the Invaders are making their way back to Kabul..." the voice trailed off as Tony sat up, "We have had no comment from S.H.I.E.L.D. or the DOD on whether the appearance of War Machine has anything to do with the incident at the Triskelion in New York and the death's of Bethany Cabe..."
"Mute." Tony said. He looked at Pepper, almost mournfully. He looked at Pepper and sighed, "I'm sorry..." he said.

"It's okay," Pepper said quickly, brushing off his half-assed apology by cupping his face and kissing him, "Do what you have to...just...come back to us," she said, "I don't want to have to explain this to Maria."
Tony smiled weakly, but it felt hollow. He then jumped up and ran towards the stairs down to the workshop, "J.A.R.V.I.S.?" he asked, "Give me the Mark II chest piece," he said and as soon as the doors to the workshop slid open, the chest piece was sliding out of the small safe in the wall.
Tony lifted his shirt, carefully took out the Mark I chest piece and gasped, he swore his skin turned paper-white straight away. He quickly lifted the lighter device out of its support and clicked it into his chest. He closed his eyes and leant against the wall. "Now there's a kick..." he said weakly.
There was a mechanical grinding; J.A.R.V.I.S. clearing his virtual-throat. Tony looked up, though he wasn't expecting to see anything, "Sir, might I suggest, for lack of a better term; suiting up?" he asked, and Tony grinned at the obvious reference to a TV show he knew Maria liked.
"You spend too much time with my daughter," Tony said, "Let's do it."


War Machine touched down in the sand with a loud metallic thunk. Slowly he straightened, the red eyes and ARC Reactor glowed ominously in the silence. The guns had stopped firing; Afghani insurgents staring in fear and awe, the Invaders grinning from ear-to-ear.
Behind the mask, Rhodey was all business.
He brought his gauntlets up, and waved, "Gentlemen." He said, before turning and firing...straight towards his former team.
"Everyone, scatter!" the Walker yelled and the Invaders began to dive out of the way of the shots.
Rhodey laughed darkly and deeply, switching to thermal-vision and identifying his targets. The missile launcher popped up on his left shoulder, but suddenly there was an explosion and War Machine was sent reeling. He crashed into the burning wreckage of a car and looked up.

Walker was standing with a smoking RPG-launcher. He lowered the eyesight from his eye and looked over at War Machine.
"What the hell, Rhodes!"
War Machine straightened up and aimed the minigun at the cover for the rest of the Invaders and bullets began tearing through walls and burning metal, into the Invader's bodies.
Suddenly War Machine was sent flying once more, crashing into a house, bringing the roof down on top of him.
Walker looked up and saw a red and gold man hovering in the air, arm out stretched and the palm smoking slightly. The metal man appeared to be panting, as if he'd been in a hurry to get there.
"You're welcome." Said a mechanical voice from the man, who then dropped down to the sand with the same dull metallic thunk as War Machine had done.
War Machine burst out of the rubble. "Let me guess..." he said, looking over the armoured suit before him, "Tony?" he laughed.

Behind the gold faceplate, Tony's eyes narrowed.
"I should have guessed it would've been you who would try and stop me. I should have killed you after you came to the Triskelion." Rhodey spat, "Then I could have killed Fury, hell...maybe even the President. No one would've been there to stop me." He said.
"Sorry to disappoint." Tony replied, and used the HUD to study the VTR Unit before him. There were modifications; someone had cannibalized the suit, adding extra sensors, even thicker armour in some places.
Tony took a surprised step back when he saw how ready Rhodey was to fight when the missile launcher popped up again. He turned off the speakers and addressed J.A.R.V.I.S. directly.
"J.A.R.V.I.S...the suit, can you get in to Y.A.R.V.I.S.' files?" he said quickly.

"No, sir, someone has over-written the programming, the scripting has changed and firewalls have been introduced. The operating system is too different from the original." Tony was promptly informed.
"What's the matter, Tony?" Rhodey asked, and though Tony couldn't see it, he knew Rhodey would be grinning sickly behind that faceplate. "Can't take control of my suit? I've got new friends now."
Tony quickly kicked off into the air, knocking War Machine back slightly before the worn-silver man followed him high into the sky.
Walker looked down at his radio when it crackled into life.
"This is General Fury, is anybody out there?" the voice asked.
"This is the Invaders...or...what's left of them, sir. We're done, we need medical assistance...It's War Machine...Rhodes...he's...turned sir," Walker said, confused. "There's something else, there's another armoured man."

In the command centre of the Hellicarrier, Fury blinked.
"What?"
"That's right, sir," Walker continued, "War Machine and another armour...I didn't know Stark made another suit?" he inquired.
Fury was fuming. He picked up the phone on the counter and demanded Tony Stark's personal cell phone number. "I don't care if it's his day off, Reynolds. I need to speak to him right now." He barked at Sophia Reynolds down the phone.
"Sir, I have an incoming call from Nicholas Fury, via Sophie Reynold's office phone." J.A.R.V.I.S. said, the AI's voice was smooth, calm, as if he was totally oblivious to Tony's current peril.

"What!" Tony asked incredulously as he barrel-rolled through the air, closing his eyes tightly as his stomach rolled over and he almost threw up. Might want to think about a gyro-system for the suit, he thought, then added; not now! You're being shot at by your best friend! He yelled out slightly as he heard tracer-bullets buzzing around him from War Machine's minigun.
"Stark!" Fury's unmistakable tone yelled through the small speakers in the helmet. Tony rolled his eyes. "What's the hell's goin' on, Stark? I'm getting reports of Rhodes appearing in Afghanistan,"
"Really?" Tony asked as if this was new news, "Well, after he disappeared he was bound to show up somewhere," he added sarcastically.
"Shut up, Stark. He's fighting someone dressed in what looks suspiciously like a Stark-Global VRT Unit, care to explain?"
"Well...I don't know what to tell ya, Fury." Tony replied quickly as he turned in the air and fired off several shots at War Machine, the line terminating.
Fury yelled angrily as the connection was cut and glared at the monitor, showing a hazy video image from Walker's cellphone.

The repulsor blasts bounced off Rhodey's armour as he grew nearer. War Machine thudded into Iron Man and carried him through the air, the minigun began whirring again and Tony gasped, reached out, almost scared to grip it before he remembered he was wearing a near-indestructible suit of armour, and gripped the gun, pushing it away whilst landing a heavy punch to the War Machine faceplate.
He could hear Rhodey's laughter over the roar of the wind around them. Rhodey slapped Tony's arm away and the minigun began to fire at Iron Man's face.
Tony looked away from the bright flashes of the gun and then grunted, "J.A.R.V.I.S., route all power to thrusters..."
"Sir, we are down to 75% power." J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him, it was accompanied by a bright flashing of the power percentage.

The boot thrusters powered up and tilted the two of them upwards towards the upper reaches of the sky. Tony managed to push the minigun away, and it ripped away from its connection, hanging limply from War Machine's shoulder.
Rhodey roared and punched Tony away. Now they were in the far upper reaches of the atmosphere and Tony could see space beyond them. Movements were slow for him; the armour around him was combating against the icing factor from the coldness of space.
War Machine was having worse luck; he was icing over, unable to move already and he could hear Rhodey yelling obscenities at him from behind the faceplate.
Tony activated the thrusters again and floated across to Rhodey, "What are you doing, Rhodey?" he asked, not noticing how War Machine was floating back to Earth, or how the minigun was slowly beginning to turn as it hang loosely, twirling in the vacuum around them. A bullet hit Tony's faceplate and he turned away, as War Machine was pulled back to Earth.

Iron Man controlled himself and looked back, seeing a flaming ball coming towards him. Rhodey must have figured out how to break the ice, and launched a missile.
Tony punched the missile away and watched it fly off into space. He noticed the old Richards' Corporation space-station in the far distance, only now a ripped-up husk of its former glory. He looked back down and took off down towards Rhodey, who was quickly flying away.
"RHODEY!" Tony yelled and tackled Rhodey out of the air.
The two of them crashed into the desert, creating a medium-sized crater around them, Tony rained punches down on War Machine mercilessly. The metal of the War Machine armour began to buckle under the weight of the punches, when War Machine kicked Iron Man off.
They both quickly stood up and raised their hands out to each other.
"You took the only girl I could ever love," Rhodey said angrily.

Tony frowned, "I..."
"You're a bastard, Tony, you've only ever thought about yourself." Rhodey said, not giving Tony a chance to respond before he ran at Iron Man, tackled him over and slammed his foot down on the golden faceplate. Tony gasped as the HUD in front of his eyes crackled and cracked.
"Sir, I'm registering heat traces from Rhodey's boots." J.A.R.V.I.S. said in Tony's ear.
"Yeah, I know, he's about to take off." Tony said before his helmet was engulfed in flame.
War machine took off into the air and flew away.
"J.A.R.V.I.S...any luck in hacking into the VRT Unit's systems?" Tony asked, panting for breath through the heat surrounding his head as he sat up.
"Nothing, I'm afraid, sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "Though I have been pondering the subject, and I believe you may be able to track the repulsor track from his boot jets."

Tony thought about it, "You might be right..." he said, "It's definitely possible. Using the out-dated Stark-Global satellites. If I could get up to them, I could recalibrate them." He said, then nodded, "Right. It's time to go home." He said and stood up, taking off into the air towards the East. "J.A.R.V.I.S. scramble the playlists, just put one on at random." Tony ordered and frowned as a song began playing. "What is this?"
"It is called Fight As One, by Bad City, it is one of Miss Stark's favourite songs." J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him. *
Tony rolled his eyes but continued to let it play.


Once Tony was back at their Malibu home, he began working on replacement parts for the decommissioned Stark Global satellites. He worked over the night, ignoring J.A.R.V.I.S.' prompts to eat something after the fight with Rhodey.
As soon as the new circuit boards were created, Tony began researching ways for space-travel in the armour. He would need something to carry the pieces that had to be replaced, as well as an appropriate breathing apparatus that would survive the cold of space as well as the re-entry.
He sighed deeply and sat back, rubbing his eyes. He was aware he needed rest, but Rhodey had to be stopped. This was the only way to track him, and it had to be implemented as soon as possible.
"Daddy?" asked a tired voice from the doors. Tony looked up and saw Maria standing there wearing one of his old shirts and a pair of loose-fitting jeans, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing? Mom said you went out on a business meeting..."

Tony sighed and turned to face her, "I'm not doing anything, sweetheart," he said, smiling at her.
Maria put a look on her face that blatantly said she didn't believe him. She padded across the black floor towards him, and Tony stood up, taking her hand, "Come on," he said and led her back towards the elevator.
After they were in the kitchen, Tony sat Maria down, "What would you like, just don't tell your mother."
Maria frowned, "That's blackmail, it's wrong."
Tony looked over at his daughter from the fridge, "Who taught you to be so smart?" he asked.

"You did, dad," Maria said, her big eyes looking over at him.
Tony smirked, "Warm milk and chocolate biscuits." He said, grabbing a the milk from the door of the fridge and filling a metal beaker to about half-way. He went to a cupboard and grabbed a tin of chocolate biscuits and laid some out on a plate for her. He sat beside her while the milk heated and they chatted.
"So J.A.R.V.I.S. showed me this song of yours...Fight As One," he said, as he stole a biscuit from the plate.
"It's good, isn't it?" she asked, "My friend said she can get tickets to see them for next year," she said, glancing over at her father suggestively.
Tony looked at Maria with a grin on his face. She was very cheeky. "Ask your mother." He said and Maria's shoulders slumped.
Once the milk was heated properly, he pouted it into a mug for her and ordered her back up to bed before Pepper overheard their voices.

Tony headed back down to the workshop and activated the holographic projections for the Iron Man armour and began designing a system to help him breathe perfectly in space. He voiced allowed to J.A.R.V.I.S. his observations of how the suit functioned in near-space conditions; and he noted that breathing had been rather difficult. He felt that the suit was fine, only space travel could be proved useful for NASA.
In only a few hours the parts were made, and fitted to the Iron Man armour. The circuit boards were loaded into a make-shift backpack attached to the back of the Iron Man suit, which would shoot a circuit board into Tony's hand, and also contained self-replicating oxygen packs.
He activated the armour and took off towards the stars. A smile came across his face as he closed his eyes and broke through the atmosphere.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., bring up a 3-D map and locate each Stark Global satellite location." He ordered, and a slowly rotating map appeared, showing the tracking locations of each Stark satellite. It then focused on Tony's location and he swiftly began recalibrating the broadcast to track repulsor signals.


**DISCLAIMER 5**

Bad City wrote the song "Fight As One" for the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon TV show...if you haven't already, you should definitely check that out...