"You're an idiot." Tony can't escape the voice in the back of his head. "How fucking stupid can you be?"
"Get out of my head." He shouts desperately, the action sends his limbs sprawling, temporarily forgetting he needs to operate the suit. JARVIS quickly takes over, piloting the suit when he notices Tony can't pull himself out of his own head.
"They've always said your smart. But how smart could you really be? I can't get out of your head, Tony, I'm you. You and I are one and the same. For me to go, you'd have to go. And we both know how well that worked the last time you tried."
"Stop it." He whimpers aloud.
"Then you stop it." The voice, which appropriately sounds like Howard, thunders. "Pull yourself together, or at least hide yourself from other people. I mean really, you've held it together for so long. Yet the words of one man are pulling you apart at the seams."
"I'm fine." Tony says, trying to push the voice out of his head.
"You're not, Tony. You might have been able to lie to people for years, but you can't lie to me." The voice sneers. "I mean come on, why would you want too? You've lied to everyone else, pushed them away. They don't want you around anymore. You're a liability. That's all you've ever been. Why do you think SHIELD only wanted you to be a consultant. Your father made them, they should have wanted you. But they saw the truth, you're no Howard Stark."
"I don't want to be him."
"Oh, but you do. You want it every single day. How could he disapprove of you then?"
"I don't care what he thinks of me."
"You and I both know that you do, Tony. I thought we agreed you'd stop lying to me."
"Get out of my head."
"I can't, you piece of shit. You think I want to be in here, trapped with your thoughts. There is no way you can be the son of Maria and Howard. A nurse must have made a mistake at the hospital, you're not half as smart as Howard."
"You're wrong."
"Am I? Howard would never forget he's flying through the air."
Tony's eyes snap open, the suit was falling. He must have ordered JARVIS to shut down, because all of his screens are black. He's free falling over the Atlantic ocean. A scream leaves his lungs as he struggles to remember how to operate the suit. Seconds before he hits the water he's able to regain flight power. He turns his music up loud, to the point where it's deafening to drown out the voice at least until he reaches his destination.