Chapter 12: R
What do you know! My second update in two days! WOW! It's a miracle! A NEW RECORD! It's fairly impossible… but I'm doing it anyway so yeah!
I FINISHED ALL MY COLLEGE APPLICATIONS! 1. HALLELUJAH! The amount of relief is ecstatic! 2. It's dreadful to wait for the status… But hey… I'm done and I'm happy!
Just saying the next chapter may be the last chapter! You'll see by the ending… So—oh yeah the ending… never mind. Just read and review like normal! And—IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS THEME TIME!
On with the story (which I'm worried for you guys to read).
Disclaimer: Never owned it, never will.
Janice yelped and took a hurried step backwards. In her momentary confusion, her wrist struck the computer dashboard and sent her gun spiraling out of her hands. "NO!" She cried venomously.
"Pepper stay behind me." Tony warned. He stepped in front of her, shielding her with his armored body. He had an arm outstretched facing Janice's chest, and another holding Pepper back.
Janice's confusion wore off immediately, because her face calmed back to her death glare. "Ah, the very famous Iron Man. Or should I say… Tony Stark."
Silence filled the room, and not even the smallest hum of Tony's arc rector core interrupted it. Pepper stifled a gasp and stared in wonder at her mother's accusation. Tony remained in his position, except now his repulsor ray was getting fired up.
"What are you talking about?" Pepper questioned angrily. She was going to hope that her mother just said that as a distraction and didn't really know Tony was Iron Man.
Janice flicked her wrist. "Oh please, Patricia. It was obvious with the suit's complex blueprints. It couldn't have been made by anyone else but a Stark." She crossed her arms across her chest, showing that she meant every word she said.
Tony's palm curled into a fist. He was not worried but outraged that Janice figured out that he was Iron Man, Manhattan's very own protector. He was a little confused now. He wasn't sure how to approach the situation. If Janice knew that he was Iron Man, did that mean she took certain measures in her security system to take him down? Or maybe it was all concentrated in this room just to kill him now.
He gulped.
"Come on Tony." Janice taunted. "Take off that helmet. I know it's you. I can tell by just looking at the suit. No one can create something so complex."
Tony took a chance. "Miss, I don't know what you're talking about."
Anger flared through her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Why else would you come directly here? For Pepper? There are three burglaries happening right now, and yet—you chose to come here, where Pepper was."
"I got a distress call."
"Distress call? Do you mean the beacon in her ring?" Janice laughed at Tony's sudden gasp. "Yes, I know about that too, boy. I canceled the beacon just before it could broadcast its direct location, but I can see that I didn't do it fast enough."
Tony's faceplate lifted, revealing his most gruesome face yet. His eyes were red, both from rage and his tears shed in the armory. His face was set in a scowl, and stray sweat and water droplets fell from his hair down the side of his face. "Yes, I am Tony Stark and Iron Man! I'm the one who you want to kill! Right? Kill me then, you piece of crap! I've done nothing, yet it's a grudge isn't it? You were married to Virgil for 25 years but your grudge still held strong! And now… you wanted to kill your daughter! Your own flesh and blood."
Janice remained silent, but Tony saw the smallest hint of guilt and shame. "I did what I needed to do. I did what I did to protect my legacy! To protect Patricia's future."
"There wouldn't have been a future for her if I didn't come when I did." Tony snarled. Janice frowned and spread her legs in a fighting stance.
"Fine then, Tony. How about this? You fight me, without your armor. If you win, you and Patricia can walk out of here alive, and I'll even call my men off. If you lose, however, I get to rip out your reactor and leave you to die with a bullet in your heart."
Tony and Pepper stared at her, wide eyed. They looked at each other, exchanging shocked glances. "Mother, you would do that? To him?" Pepper choked out. Her eyes were red again, threatening to leak tears. "You are a monster, mom. Truly, you are a sick, sick monster. I'm ashamed to be your daughter! Add this, mother! If Tony loses, you kill me with him. If you don't—I'll kill myself after telling the cops about this." Pepper hissed.
Janice remained stone-faced and said, "Well Tony? What's your decision?" Tony looked from Pepper to Janice, his heart aching as he knew what he had to do.
Pepper seemed to have sensed it because she grasped her small hands on metal forearm. "No, Tony! Please—Don't do this!" She sobbed. Her tears streaked down her grimy face. "No, Tony… No." But even her head sank, as she knew Tony would do the exact opposite.
Tony's armor came off, slowly. He pulled it to the side and turned to face Janice. "There won't be any weapons involved. Only our hands." He declared. When Janice nodded in agreement he turned to face Pepper. He took her head in his hands and wiped away to continuing tears on her cheek with his thumb.
"Pepper, I have to do this." He whispered softly. Pepper lifted a hand and took a hold on one of his wrists. She nodded into his hand. "I love you, Pepper." Tony choked out.
Pepper looked up at him, shocked and desperate. "I love you too, Tony. More than anyone else in the world. Take her down, Tony. Take that monster down." Then she closed her eyes and leaned up to kiss him. His warm lips penetrated her heart, filling her with dread, but also some hope. Tony wasn't going to stop without a fight. He would take Janice down, and Pepper knew it too.
Their lips remained locked, and Tony's hands gently caressed her soft face. Pepper opened an eye and noticed Janice's mouth open in absolute disgust. Taking in her mother's anger, Pepper quickly slipped her hands around Tony's waist and pulled him closer.
Tony pulled away, after realizing what Pepper did, and why she did it. It was best to fight Janice when she wasn't so irked. "Be careful, Pepper. Go inside my suit if you have too." Then he leaned in to her ear. "Get in that suit. I'll give you a signal, and you take Janice down with a repulsor blast."
"I may hit you, Tony." Pepper whimpered. This was something Tony never did unless it meant life or death; he trusted her.
"Never mind me. Take that monster down."
…
After another kiss, Tony turned slowly and faced his opponent. He heard Pepper run over to his suit and lock herself in. "I want her to be safe." Tony explained when he saw Janice's accusing look. "She doesn't know how to operate it, so it won't be used against us." He lied.
"You know, I am trained in maiming my enemies with nothing but a finger. This isn't going to be a fair fight. Plus, it would be easier for you if you took the gun to the head other than getting beat by me."
Tony paused for two seconds before launching himself at her. Janice looked momentarily shocked before her arms lashed out and grabbed his wrists. Tony pulled back, hoping that she would fall, but instead Janice followed through pushing him back as he fell. She fell along with him, but as Tony hit the ground, she vaulted over him and landed behind his head.
Oh crap. Tony thought as he stood. His wrists felt like they were on fire. But he got to his feet just in time to dodge a blow to legs. Prancing out of the way, Tony lifted his own leg and attempted to kick Janice in the stomach. It caught her arm instead, and that was enough to swing her around.
There was a loud grunt as she fell to her knees. Janice flicked her hair out of her eyes and grinned. "Maybe I was wrong."
Tony remained out of her reach and waited. But he didn't even catch her legs swinging around and catching his own legs. "Ah!" Tony yelled out as his balance was lost and the ground approached his face. He caught himself with his hands and grunted, rolling to the side before Janice's foot came down where his head was a moment before.
"Come on Tony!" Pepper shouted from within the suit. "Take her down! You can do it!" Her words surged through Tony's body and lifted him to his feet.
He glanced at his arms and saw Janice's nail marks from where she grabbed his wrist. He didn't want to look inside his shirt, for he was sure there were bruises under there.
Janice threw herself to her feet and lashed out with her fingers. Tony howled when her fingernails cut his skin on his neck. He ducked and pushed his shoulder into her stomach, flipping her behind him.
There was a strangled gasp as Janice's air flew out of her lungs. Tony rose to his feet and turned on his heels. "Are you done, Janice?" He asked to the crumpled body on the floor.
Janice shook her head, her red hair clamped against her sweaty skin. "I—will never—fall to—you, Stark." She rolled to her side and pushed herself up. "I would rather die before admitting that I fell to you!" Tony didn't have time to react as Janice launched herself into his stomach. Tony held her waist, hoping to push her off, but instead her momentum shoved his back into the computer table. His head snapped back, and vertigo overtook him. He slumped to the ground, dazed.
"No! Tony, get up! GET UP!" He heard Pepper's desperate cries. His eyes rose to see Janice's agile body looking down at him. Her hands were on her hip, and her eyes glowed with victory.
She came down on her knee and put her hand delicately on his chest, right on his arc reactor. "Looks like you lose." She said, wiping some blood from her split lip. Tony squeezed his eyes shut as he felt pain radiate from his chest as his reactor was slowly coming out.
"Dang, how tight is this?" Janice grunted with effort. Tony's mind exploded as the faintest idea rose inside. He knew that his arc reactor had a small fail safe that only initiated when he wanted it to.
His eyes shot open, throwing Janice off. He gripped her wrist and pushed it against his chest. Janice yelped as a spark flashed out of the arc reactor and over her skin. "What are you doing?" She screamed. Fear flashed over her eyes as Tony continued to push her hand into his chest.
"I won't let you ruin another family, you piece of crap. You're going to pay for everything." He said before shoving her hand into his arc reactor.
Tony vaguely heard Pepper's voice cry out as his arc reactor exploded, enveloping him and Janice in a fatal electrical surge.
No one hate me? Deal? I mean come on this is my second update! It was a quick update! Right? No? Well on the bright side… This chapter was fairly long? Oh… and it's another chapter closer to the ending? Yeah? Uh—I'm just going to let the review do its thing…
Oh and today I would like to see a review that has your favorite Christmas song!
I'm quite afraid for what I'll be reading but—REVIEW!