AN: Okay folks, here we go! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed so far, and I hope you'll be forgiving if you review this one too.
Jarvis had pinpointed the address of the Mandarin's Broadcasts. They were coming from Malibu California, not that far from where Stark's own home had used to be.
"I could have walked here!" Tony raged when he saw the Manor. It was a large turn of the century mansion. A European style courtyard with a fountain. Large ornate gates, a stone wall around the whole estate, and guards within. The guards were all in uniform, not concerned with staying hidden.
Tony drove straight past it, not daring a second pass. "Jarvis, talk to me."
"Eight minutes, thirty five seconds of charge, sir." Jarvis reported. "Did you expect more from a car battery? May I suggest The House Party Protocol?"
Tony chewed his lip. "No. Pepper might not be in there. If they're keeping her alive for some reason after I've been declared dead, then..." He squeezed his eyes shut against that image. "No. Can't think like that. And there may be nothing in there. Can you access the property deeds?"
"Yes sir, I still have a functional uplink. However, the deeds of ownership are signed over to a private trust, after the death of the previous owner eleven years ago."
"So is this place an evil fortress or not?" Tony mused. "Satellite uploads say yes, the name on the door says no. Jarvis, this place could be a relay post. They may not even know the signal is coming from here... and I have only eight minutes to find out, if I want to go in there as Iron Man and get away with it. Less, if Pepper's in there. Even less if there's an Extremis-Enhancement around."
His suit had enough charge for eight minutes. If Pepper was there, he didn't dare waste those precious minutes getting in and searching every room.
Frustrated, Tony slammed his fist into the dashboard.
The glove-box popped open.
There was a flash-light, a drivers manual... and a wallet.
Tony saw the wallet, and froze. After a moment he pulled it out and checked. It belonged to Barnes.
Three months in a cave to make the Mark One. He told himself. How long to do it with a credit card and a supermarket?
Some of the big chain stores were open on Christmas Day. In response to the Mandarin situation, there had been a rush of panic buying. Generators, canned goods, bottled water, first aid kits... Nobody knew what was coming, so they covered the basics. Tony had two trolleys full by the time he was done. There were people beating each other over the last can of tinned pineapple chunks, but Tony didn't care. He was after less obvious items.
Rubber gloves. Lots of them. The kid behind the cash register had given him a weird look. A man in clothes that didn't fit, looking like he'd been through a Fight Club, buying four pairs of rubber gloves in assorted sizes. He also took the opportunity to collect a set of clothes that fit, some sneakers, and a hoodie that was close enough to his size.
The Supermarket had a hardware section, including tools, fuses, electrical wiring for all voltages, bolt cutters, detergent, binoculars... The kitchen supply section had turkey basters, egg timers, hot pepper grounds... The home and lifestyle section had swimming goggles, bubble bath, cigar cutters, glass Christmas baubles, zip-ties, mousetraps, string...
Why couldn't I have one of these places in Afghanistan? Tony browsed the shelves. Duct Tape! I love Duct Tape!
The often-overlooked miracle of convenience also had a drug store, and an aisle for personal defense. Thank god for the decay of society. Pepper Spray in all the colors of the rainbow!
A distant part of him wondered how high Barnes credit rating was. "Can I get a credit check?" He asked the young woman behind the sales counter.
She ran the card through her computer and checked the limit, and the name. "Well Mister Barnes, it looks like you've still got eleven dollars left. Is there anything else you need?"
Tony ran the checklist in his head. "Know where I can get an eleven dollar watch? Something with a timer?"
The young woman cast about the inventory for a moment on her screen, and led him to the tray of impulse items. "There's a Dora the Explorer watch here that's in your price range."
Tony stared at it. "It's pink." He observed.
"It's limited edition." The salesgirl ventured bravely.
Tony calculated the price again and took the watch. "Ring it up."
In Afghanistan, they had given him a cave with a stone shelf. In Miami, he settled for a closed school. He'd taken apart the alarm and let himself into shop class. He'd needed the soldering irons, grips, welding tools, glass drills...
The gloves took the most work. He'd threaded the fuses over the fingers of a pair of solid work gloves, and then patch-worked the rubber gloves three different ways to keep the charge on the outside. A taser didn't have the range of a repulsor, but the voltage stayed high enough through fuse wires that at close range it would do.
Keeping the pepper spray under pressure while transferred it into the glass Christmas globes was another good trick, but there were ways to create carbonation in glass bottles that would increase the internal psi without shattering the container. Such things were available commercially, to keep fizz in opened soda bottles.
By the time Tony was done, he looked ridiculous. He had Christmas decorations strung across his chest like a bandoleer, turkey basters full of detergent stuck into his belt, an air pistol in one hand, and a single work glove that looked like Freddy Kruger without the claws.
With the hoodie pulled tight around his face and the scuba goggles at the ready, he was faintly ridiculous, like a ten year old kid's Halloween version of what Rambo would look like.
But with the Mark-45 parked up the street as backup, he was willing to risk going into the Manor of the Mandarin.
Tony hoisted himself over the fence once he'd cut the feed to the cameras on the wall, and rigged the water pipes leading to the Manor. He'd been given the grand tour of enough forward areas and hot-zones to spot concealed cameras, and stepped quickly to avoid them.
The manor was laid out to be more impressive than secure. It was opulence, instead of an armed camp. The primary security was the guards.
First line. Tony told himself. Perimeter patrols.
Tony drew the jar of ground hot peppers and shook it out in front of him, not breaking stride. The flakes settled into the gravel paths invisibly, and Tony withdrew back to the bushes.
It only took a few minutes for the first guard and his K-9 to arrive on the scene. The dog noticed his scent immediately and quickly alerted his master. The dog put his nose down and started tracking, following the path precisely... until he hit the hot pepper flakes. A deep whiff of hot peppers made the poor dog start to whimper and whine, pawing at his pained muzzle.
The guard bent down to take a closer look at what was bothering his friend... And Tony took that opportunity to walk up behind him and lay a gloved hand against his neck. The shock came from the taser battery at his wrist, along the fuse wires over the glove, and gave a much higher jolt. The guard was flat on the ground before he heard Stark coming.
The dog almost had time to bark before he got zapped too. "Sorry!" Tony hissed to the animal. "I swear, I didn't want to do that! Fate of the planet! Pepper loves dogs, I'll adopt you later, you'll like it!"
He took off running quickly.
Second Line. Tony told himself. The courtyard.
In the water pipes outside, beneath the street, the Egg Timer buzzed, and the mousetrap snapped the cigar cutter shut on the nozzle of the bottle of bubble bath. The liquid poured into the fountain's feed quickly, washing into the pumps that sprayed water up ornately into the air within the Manor grounds.
Within a few seconds, the water feature was covered in a layer of suds. The froth grew thick enough to spill over the fountain into the courtyard.
It wasn't an attack, so the guards didn't go on alert, but it got their attention. Tony quickly scanned upward, and saw the guards on the balcony were looking too.
He pulled the binoculars and looked closer. The guards at the fountain were smiling, and the ones on the balcony were yapping into their wrist mikes... before going into the house.
Tony watched carefully. The guards in the courtyard didn't have wrist mikes. They were tossing suds around like kids would in the bath.
The guards in the house were the real deal. The ones in the courtyard were rent-a-goons; like any security firm would employ. They were camouflage.
With the balcony guards inside, Stark started moving. The fountain was the centerpiece of the courtyard, on the path between the front gate and the front door. The courtyard guards were all keeping to their posts, but trying to get close enough to get a good look at the spectacle.
When they were all fairly close by, Tony struck. The Christmas ornaments came in like grenades and shattered when they hit the pave stones. Within them, the pepper spray exploded out and struck the guards all at once.
Tony grinned. Pepper spray at work.
"Happy, what kept you? I pushed the little button like three minutes ago."
"Sorry boss."
"I'm not a threat, Mister Stark. I'm telling you that you made a mistake on these invoices-"
"I don't make mistakes with numbers."
"Come with me, Miss."
"Don't you touch me! I have Pepper Spray!"
"HAHAHA! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day. All right, tell you what. I'll double check the numbers, and if you're right, you get a promotion. Happy, take Pepper here somewhere and get her a decaf."
"Um... actually, Mister Stark, my name is 'Virginia', not 'Pepper'."
"Yeah. Pepper is better. Shoo, I have proofreading to do."
"Nice to meet you, Pepper. I'm Happy."
"Nice to meet you. And my name is 'Virginia', not 'Pepper'."
"I heard. Don't worry, you'll be used to it before you know it."
God, Potts... where are you? Stark shook it off bleakly. He had enough flashbacks fighting for control in his head.
Tony moved forward as they all yelled in shock, clutching at their eyes. Tony pulled the scuba goggles down and struck again. His shock glove smacked left and right. Within seconds, he had gathered up a 9mm, and an earwig for himself.
Third line. Tony told himself, bypassing the door and heading for the windows. The Manor.
The cameras were harder to spot, but easier to evade once he got inside. There were endless corridors and rooms to dart in and out of, and the stolen earwig gave him an inside scoop on where the guards were, and what path they were taking.
Tony was fighting nostalgia again. Armed with kitchen supplies, knickknacks and garden tools, he was storming a fortress. It was like Afghanistan again, rigging his own cell door.
All the effort he'd put into rebranding himself as a superhero, and he was still a weaponeer, making tools of destruction at a whim.
It's what I do.
Tony saw a set of guards standing by the stairwell, looking bored. As Tony crept towards them, one of them pressed a hand to his ear, and suddenly jumped to attention. Tony heard the warning too. "Breach! Breach at the Auxiliary hallway!"
Tony cursed silently. They knew they were under attack.
The guards came running down the hallway, and Tony drew the vials of detergent, squirting them on the floor behind him as he cat-walked away. On the dark paneled hardwood, the liquid became less obvious.
The guards came around the corner and saw him, rushing to catch up... when they hit the detergent and went skidding into each other, the walls and the floor, out of control. Tony tossed a Pepper Spray Grenade over his shoulder to keep them down.
His earwig warned him that another team was coming and he took position in a doorway. The second they saw him, he ducked into the room, squirting the doorknob and the floor with detergent from his second vial. Weapons drawn, they tried to follow him in, but couldn't get a grip on the doorknob. The second they broke the door open forcibly, he was waiting with his shock glove and knocked them down as they slipped and skidded all over each other. The zip-ties came out and bound them quickly. These guards were armed with .45 pistols, stronger than the 9mm, and he traded up.
The earpiece in his ear was squawking. "We've lost him on camera. Can't tell who it is from this angle, Level Two Guards, on alert. Level One guards are searching."
A voice that Stark recognized but couldn't place was coming from around the corner. "This is Level One, I'll track the Intruder. Send someone up here to cover the Studio."
His earpiece responded. "Level Two-Baker on the way."
Tony heard footsteps and drew back, ready to ambush the next set of guards...
But the next one to come around the corner wasn't a team of armed men.
It was Brandt.
She hadn't seen him, moving at a quicksilver run for the last group he'd knocked down. Tony felt a thrill of horror go through him, and he ducked back in the doorway, looking for another path. "Not that way."
He wasn't sure where he was going, but figured out the layout of the building. The guards around the outside of the Manor had no idea what was going on. The ones inside had two way communication and stronger weapons... And the upper level had Brandt. If the Extremis powered guard was standing at that door, then it meant this was the Castle Keep.
For a moment, he hesitated, and checked his pink cartoon watch. He had another twenty five minutes. He'd set the time, expecting to be captured and taken alive... but if Brandt was here, he might not have that kind of luck.
Another voice broke in through the earpiece. "Level One guards who are searching, stay on point. The rest of you to the loading bay. The Package is arriving soon; and we'll need you there." It said with authority. "Switch to next Channel."
The earpiece went dead, and Tony swore. He was suddenly blind to the movements of the guards.
He was more than halfway to the heart of the fortress now, and that meant that backing out would be as difficult as going further in. He looked back to the door where Brandt had been when he'd heard her speak. If that's the heart of the place, then that's probably where they're transmitting from.
The appearance of Brandt had shaken him. It meant he had the right place, but it also meant he was out of his depth. If The Mandarin himself was in that room...
You shouldn't be doing this. Back out now, go find a cop, tell them who you are, and get everyone from the Boy Scouts to the National Guard to surround this place. Brandt is here; you don't need a shock glove, you need an artillery strike. He told himself. But on the other hand... nah.
He had expected a bedroom, and he supposed that was what it was. It was the size of three rooms. Over to one side was a full TV Studio set up. Three cameras, post-production computers, proper lighting for the set. The center of the set was the Throne, and the Banner of the Ten Rings behind it. Large television screens showed over a dozen channels at once. CNN, BBC...
Beside the TV set, was the cache. Guns, gold bars, silks, grenade launchers...
And at the opposite end of the room, furthest from the door, was the Harem. A four poster bed, surrounded by huge soft pillows and tapestries. The huge pillows were big enough to use as chairs. Trails of incense were gently wafting all over the place, and Tony could smell opium. It was exactly the sort of place that an Oriental Warlord would have his women.
But no sign of The Man Himself.
Long limbs stuck out from under quilts and pillows, and Tony drew the covers back quickly, aiming a gun.
Three naked women. A blonde, a brunette and a redhead. All stoned or mostly asleep. He nudged the redheads' side. "Wake up." He hissed softly.
The woman groaned at being woken up and rolled over to see him. "What?"
"Where's The Mandarin?" Tony hissed. "Tell me now."
"I don't... Tony?"
Tony blinked and looked closer. "Kelli?"
Kelli sat up and stretched. "Tony-y-y!" She slurred happily. "It's great to see you again! Like old times, yes?"
Tony grit his teeth. "Not exactly like old times."
She saw the gun, and was more interested than worried. "I didn't know you were into that." The opium cleared from her eyes a second and she suddenly seemed aware of the situation, looking very scared. "Oh."
"Where is he?" Tony demanded.
Kelli pointed to the Throne at the other end of the room.
Tony went over to look at it, and noticed a hidden door behind the big ornate chair, hidden completely from view.
"He... he goes in there when he's done." Kelly called. "He stays a few hours, comes back out and joins the party again."
"What's in there?" Tony demanded.
She shrugged and pulled the blankets back over her and her companions. "Don't know. I think he gets high in there. Don't know why he can't just use the same stuff we do..."
Tony gripped his gun tightly and gestured at her. "You got clothes?"
"Haven't seen them in days." She confessed.
"You and your friends get in the bathroom right now." Tony warned her. "There's going to be some hostilities."
Kelli gulped and shook the other two women awake.
As they made their way into the bathroom beside the bed, Tony returned to the Throne and pulled the banner aside, looking for a latch, a keyhole...
Tony had hidden enough secret passages in enough places to find the hidden latch. It was set into the Throne. When he hit it, the Throne and the floor, including the doorway, suddenly rotated twenty degrees. Tony crept to the passage and looked within.
There was a ceremonial feeling to the place. Something between a Meditation Chamber and a Holy Altar.
There was a prayer mat on the floor and a velvet cushion for the Master of this place. The small chamber was lit by candles, and the walls and ceiling were all carved with ancient writings of some kind.
Thick, hard-backed books and scrolls writing in languages Tony couldn't guess at surrounded him, all within reach of the man himself.
The centerpiece of the whole set up was some kind of jewel box made of gold and ivory, with Ten large ornate Rings, set with various jewels and materials displayed.
And lo behold, sitting cross-legged on the velvet pillow, facing away from him with head bowed with thick green robes spread out around him... Was The Mandarin.
Tony took a step forward, gripping his gun.
He didn't hear his footsteps, but The Mandarin clearly did, he turned around instantly without rising from his crouch.
"Freeze." Tony said reflexively.
Mandarin stared at him, more surprised than scared. His eyes flicked to the big elaborate Rings on the altar; then back to Stark, pointing a gun at him.
"Get up!" Tony growled at him.
The mandarin's eyes went wide, and he nodded quickly. "Sure! Whatever you say, mate!"
Tony hesitated. The voice was all wrong. The Mandarin's voice had sent shivers through the whole western world. This voice was British. Somewhere between Jude Law and Eliza Doolittle.
The man tried to get up and overbalanced, dropping to the mat. "Ow." He struggled for a minute to uncross his legs, tangled in his robes.
Tony didn't understand what he was looking at, but kept the gun trained. It wouldn't be hard to expect a little subterfuge from a man like The Mandarin.
Eventually, the guy got to his feet, and quickly put his hands up again. "Right. Um..." His eyes were still wide and terrified. "Well, if this is a hold up, you can take anything. The gold is fake, and so are the guns. They won't let me have real ones. The coke is real though. Primo stuff, too. So if this is a hold up you can have anything you want." He blinked. "Did I say that already?"
Tony hauled him out of the small chamber, into the Throne Room. "Who are you?" Stark demanded. "A body double, right? How many are there? Where's the real one?"
"Here!" The man said. "Trevor Slattery, at your service."
Tony pulled the hammer back on the gun.
Slattery dropped to his knees, petrified. "Really! I am The Mandarin. Look, see? My face is really here!"
BANG! Tony fired into the floor, six inches to the left. Trevor jumped like a scared cat. The harem women hiding in the bathroom let out a screech.
"You have sixty seconds to live." Tony snarled. "Don't waste them on not making sense."
"Right. Well. I was playing some Indie thing off Broadway." Trevor explained. "California, see." He shrugged helplessly. "California is off-Broadway." He yawned, despite the gun in his face. "And... I was there anyway, in a nice place with barred windows for 28 days. I had... a problem with... substances, shall we say. My family insisted that I take care of that matter first."
"Skip to the good parts." Tony warned, mindful of the guards somewhere in the building.
"Right, well... that would be day 18. That was when I met Killian." Trevor said with a big smile. "He hired me. Said he was doing a big reality web show, or something like that."
"The drugs didn't bother him?"
"Are you kidding? He had some of the best stuff I've ever used. It was how we started the conversation." Trevor's eyes glazed for a second. "Funny thing though, he never seemed to get high."
"I'm sure." Tony growled. "None of this bothered you?!"
Trevor shrugged. "Hey, I've done weirder stuff than plastic surgery for a job... or a hit. Killian said that the grand finale would be the highest rated, most talked about broadcast anywhere. Emmys only get given for work on TV, Oscars only get given for work on movies, Grammy's only get handed out for music. Killian said the last Mandarin broadcast had a viewership of 800 Million people! It's the most talked about public statement since Moses came down the mountain!" Trevor found his joke to be so funny he rocked back on his knees enough that he almost over again. "OOF!" He righted himself. "An actor dreams of an audience like that. Once the show's over, I bet I could get my own sitcom out of it!"
Long silence. Tony took in the room again. Television cameras, bed, drugs, bathroom, food tray. There was no reason for a stoned actor to ever leave this room, and Tony suddenly realized why.
"...You're a fake." Tony breathed, realization sinking in. "It's all faked. It's all part of Killian's plan. He's created a custom made international terror threat. He's got the whole western world holding their breath."
Trevor Slattery processed this, not comprehending. "No, it's a web series. Killian said so. He said the finale would end with him saving the day, or something. He's setting up the set right now."
"Setting up?" Tony heard the only two words that mattered., and he grabbed Slattery by the throat, hauling him upright. "Listen to me pothead, I went to the Morgue personally and checked my best friend!
Slattery took this in. "...Oh." He said finally, more confused than anything else.
Stark pressed his gun into the fool's throat. "Where is Pepper?"
"I think... the kitchen, probably?"
Stark growled. "Where's Aldrich Killian?"
"Oh. Um... He went to get the last broadcast ready. He's doing it at the... the..." He searched for the word. "You know those yards, where they handle ships?"
"Shipyards?" Tony guessed.
"That's it! The Oil place!"
Tony thought quickly. The last Mandarin Broadcast was about..." Roxxon!" Tony said quickly. "The Roxxon oil refinery had it's own Shipyard. Pepper wanted to know if we were gonna buy it when they shut it down." He shut his eyes a moment. "Which means its abandoned and everything."
Slattery was looking at the TV, which was showing a soccer game. "Come on, Manchester!" He howled.
Tony grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved him back toward the Throne, in front of the cameras. "All right." He growled. "We're going on the air right now. Live to the whole world. You're going to tell the whole world what's really going on."
Slattery gestured back at the chamber. "I need the rest of my costume."
"The Rings?" Tony stopped him, tapping at the computers. "Screw it. This isn't about the costume, this is actual reality. You're going on the air, you're gonna tell the truth!"
Tony saw his prisoner's eyes flick to the left, and spun around, trying to bring the gun up.
Brandt was behind him with a demented grin. Tony had the gun pointed before his brain processed who it was. By the time he realized, she leaned forward and took the barrel of his gun between her teeth, grinning around it. Tony squeezed the trigger instantly.
There was a loud bang, and a cloud of red, messy vapor sprayed out behind her neck, and the three Harem women screamed in the bathroom again.
But the half-panther-woman didn't fall. Tony saw the wound close over through her mouth, and Brandt didn't even seem in pain.
She yanked her head back, the strength of her jaw enough to pull the gun from his grip and throw it away. She reached out and clasped his shoulders before he could scramble out of reach. Stark brought up his Repulsor and gave her a blast to the stomach. He knew it wouldn't hurt her, but he was hoping to break her grip.
Except her grip didn't break and the blast sent him flying across the room with her. By the time they stopped skidding, she had flipped them over so that she was on top, and Stark was leaning back against the pillows that covered the Harem floor.
Tony tried to get clear and Brandt planted her knees on his arms, keeping him pinned, right in his face, noses brushing. "Relax, Stark." She almost purred against his lips. "This is what you're into, right? Sex and Death. You're famous for them."
"I'm not generally into both at the same time." Stark retorted. "And to be blunt... I've been with women a lot hotter than you, Lava-Girl."
"Truthfully, I'm disappointed." She taunted, right in his face. "All the things I've heard about you? And all you've got is a cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner."
"Sweetheart, that could be the title of my autobiography." Stark groaned as he brought up the repulsor again.
She just laughed, hauled him to his feet, and gave him a hyper-fast punch that sent him into the wall. He didn't get up again.
'Trevor Slattery' grew two feet taller without hesitation. "Idiot!" He barked at her, razor sharp again.
Brandt's face went from smug to terrified, and she dropped to her knees before him, forehead scraping floor. "Forgive me, Master. I was..."
"You were Elsewhere." The Mandarin boomed. "Killian gave you to me as a guard after the last time this man evaded you, and I took it on faith that you had learned your lesson."
"Yes Master." Brandt groveled completely. "I'm so sorry!"
The Mandarin went to the table and slid on one of his ornate Rings. He made a fist, and the Ring sang with a crackle of power. Brandt was trembling, waiting for her punishment.
It did not come.
Mandarin reached down with one hand and lifted her chin. "You were... impressive, my dear." He granted. "Once you bothered to show up." He gestured to Stark. "Remove that. If he's alive, put in him in the dungeon." He put a hand out. "And make sure that only the tertiary guards are responsible for him."
Brandt paused. The Tertiary guards were the weakest and least trained. None of them were Extremis-Enhanced. "Master, it was my mistake. Let me make up for it?"
He shushed her. "This is not an insult, or a punishment. This is... part of a plan. Is Killian still here?"
"Yes Master." Brandt said submissively, still bowing before him.
Mandarin rose and went to collect his Rings. "Then see to the Prisoner. You will go with Killian when he leaves."
The garage doors to the Manor opened. Other stately Manors would have a dozen expensive luxury cars in the garage. This one had only moving trucks. What was a private garage was now a loading dock.
The unmarked vans drove in, and eight men came forward to wrestle a large heavy crate onto a hand crane.
Killian was observing the whole thing, with a few guards alongside him. He tolerated their presence, more interested in what was happening. He didn't need guards any more.
But one of them looked to the door into the Manor and froze, dropping quickly to his knees. The others saw it and followed his gaze, quickly doing the same.
Killian knew what he would see as all activity in the chamber dropped to nothing. The Mandarin had entered. "Master?"
The Warlord gestured to Killian. "Walk with me."
Killian did so; and they both left the room. The hallways were clear of people; everyone eager to give The Master his space.
The Mandarin spoke, strong and precise. "The bow and arrow, was the pinnacle of weapons technology, nine centuries ago. It allowed Genghis Khan to rule an Empire four times that of Alexander the Great. More than twice the size of Rome." He glanced to Killian. "A few years ago, I shared these thoughts with a man I trusted to carry This Ring." He pointed to a large red ruby on his left hand. "His name was Raza. You recognize the name?"
Killian nodded. "I do, Master. He was in command of several operations in Afghanistan."
"He carried My Banner, and was rewarded for his efforts." Mandarin nodded. 'Then one day, Raza turned his back on me. Do you know why?"
"No Master. His connection to you was never discovered."
"As it should be." Mandarin told him. "Raza could not command the Ring as I do, and turned away from me, in the hopes of currying his own favor with Obadiah Stane. Stane wanted Stark's power for his own, and arranged to have Stark taken and killed. Raza got greedy, and tried to hold the American to Ransom. The result was Iron Man."
Killian had never met Raza, but couldn't help the smirk. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.
"The Mongolian Archers of Genghis Khan were able to strike a target with their arrows hundreds of yards away, on horseback, at full gallop. Raza turned away from elegant weapons, in favor of something more... tactile. He wanted a weapon he could control without effort." Mandarin held up his hands. "What the world did not know, was that the Great Khan had other weapons at his disposal."
"Such as?"
The Mandarin leveled his gaze at Killian, who quickly looked down, aware that he'd spoken out of turn. "The warfare of Genghis Khan was known to be without mercy. Where his armies struck, nothing bigger than a cockroach would dare to live for years. His armies were a force, not of conquest, but of total devastation." He held out his hands. "And he searched all of Asia, to find more than the three Rings he possessed. It took decades to find them all."
"The Rings." Killian breathed.
"Six months ago, the world became aware of other powers in the Galaxy." The cultured voice boomed. "During the time of the Vikings, The Allfather left Earth to itself, because he knew we were not ready for what they represented, and what was history passed into legend, until finally forgotten as myth. One of their weapons was hidden here for a thousand years by Loki, until he reclaimed it. Thanks to the misuse of The Tesseract; The Realms were alerted to the fact that Earth was ready for a higher form of War. " He grinned at Killian. "Have you worked it out?"
"Six months ago." Killian thought aloud. "Just after the Alien invasion... when you ordered me to announce your presence to the world."
The Mandarin nodded.
Killian never took his eyes off the Rings. "Are they... like the Tesseract?"
The Mandarin clasped his fists. "There are Empires unknown to the Golden Halls of the Asgardians, and beyond the Dark Cities of the Chitauri. The Makluans had powers that even Stark would not understand. The slightest use of that power gave the Great Khan his Throne. But he could not understand what he had, literally, in the palm of his hand. His time passed, as all the Conquerors did. And the Ten Rings passed to one of his sons."
"What did he do with them?" Killian asked, curious now.
"He studied them. He learned what they truly were, what they could truly do. Where others would be eager for the sharp rush of battle... I played a longer game." Mandarin turned to meet Killian's gaze. "I was the youngest survivor of that generation. The Great Khan was my father."
Killian's face changed, as he looked The Mandarin in the eye for the first time.
"You would have thought it impossible a year ago." The Mandarin gave him a single nod.
"I would have." Killian nodded.
"And now?"
"Now I am also... Eternal."
"Centuries ago, when I was young, Alchemists and Soothsayers sought to claim power of the natural laws. They called it Magic. Centuries passed, and those that could not understand Magic looked to themselves and created tools to achieve the results they wanted. They called it Science, and Technology. Now, men and women like your Maya Hansen have discovered that control over natural things like organics, and scientific things like atomic powers, are not quite so separate as once believed. Asgard has long since known that the line between Science and Magic is not only blurred, but never existed. And now that Sly Loki was greedy and foolish enough to make all The Realms aware of our existence..."
Killian rose to his full height, and finished that thought. "They will be coming."
"Almost certainly." Mandarin smirked. "After nine centuries of study, preparation, contemplation, and care... my thousand year plan to take control was revised into a three year stratagem." He looked to Killian. "Aldrich, you and Maya are the first humans to find a way. A way to bridge the gap between Science and Magic, and grant yourselves power over your own design. And when I knew that... I knew it was time for me to emerge once again. For the first time in Centuries, I have found someone that may be equal to the task I have before me. To make this world ready, under one united, immortal rule. And from Earth... The possibilities are endless."
Aldrich was drooling at the 'possibilities'.
The Mandarin smirked. "When Stark defeated Raza, he proved Raza unworthy to carry my Ring. When he worked with the Avengers, he proved himself a worthy challenger. Right now, The Avengers are the only ones that have proven a decent response for Threats beyond this world." He threw down the challenge to Killian. "Prove yourself and your forces are a match for Stark, and I will know that you are ready to step up and take your place."
"Name the challenge." Killian was eager for it.
"I have convinced Stark that The Mandarin is your invention. He will soon see the way this will benefit you. You will play up that angle. I have given Stark the location of your next mission, and given Stark an appropriately incompetent guard. Have your Extremis Warriors present. Stark will escape and be there soon, to challenge you. Defeat him, and I will lay the world at your feet."
He held out his right hand, and Killian bent forward to kiss The Mandarin's Ring. "Thank you, my Master."
"These Rings have power of their own. Power enough perhaps to stabilize the reaction. Win this challenge, and I will deem your formula worth the cost of my Ring. You could command Extremis by will, rather than trust to random chance." The Mandarin dismissed him, and returned to his Harem. "Let us see if the Gods are with you, Aldrich."
Killian returned to the Dungeons, where Brandt was levering the huge wooden crate open. The box fell open, revealing Iron Patriot within.
Rhodes had been sealed in for the better part of a day. The suit was pressurized, airtight and he was breathing fine. He had no idea what they'd bound him with, because he couldn't physically make his neck bend to look. The armor had cooled enough that the control surfaces could shift again... but he was bound tight.
The HUD told him he was moving, the way the axis were shifting... But he couldn't call out. His transponder was offline, so was his radio, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how they were doing it.
Finally, he was put upright and the box opened around him. Rhodes blinked as his vision cleared. He was indoors, in a room made of stone walls. He could see a cell set up, waiting, obviously for him.
There were two people in the room with him. One guard with a silenced 9mm, and the other... Rhodes didn't know what to make of him. He wasn't wearing any kind of protective gear, he carried no weapons. He was wearing cargo pants, a T-shirt... and was barefoot?
"Well, there's only one reason I can see why you wouldn't be wearing shoes." Iron Patriot said digitally. "You want to put the suit on... and I guess you don't wear my size."
"Harker got the job when you blew up our other pilot." The guard with the gun said helpfully.
'Harker' slugged his partner across the back of the head. "No names, moron." Without letting the conversation linger at all, Harker reached out a hand and pressed his palm against the Iron Patriots' chest. An instant later, his skin started to glow bright red from within.
Rhodes felt the heat rising. He could hear whatever was tying him up snap from the growing temperatures, but as the metal in his suit expanded again, he was having trouble moving. His cannon was still gone, his shoulder mounted weapons weren't targeting from the electrical overload...
Rhodes' HUD put up the temperature readouts. 140. 160.
Rhodes painted targets over all of them, and tried to fire. His arms were immobilized by the expanding metal; his heavier weapons were gone...
200. 215.
The flares and chaff fired out, filling the room with pyrotechnics. Sparks and fire bounced off the floor, off the walls, an overwhelming display...
The man with the gun let out a shout and dove for cover.
245. 260.
Harker didn't move, didn't even flinch. Rhodes could see the flares and chaff bouncing straight off him, burning his clothes. Rhodes felt the same way, feeling his skin sizzle against the inside of his suit like he was pressed against a grill.
285. Approaching Failsafe Point.
"Ahh, screw it." Rhodes growled, backed into a corner. "Eject me now!"
The armor opened swiftly like a mousetrap in reverse, and Rhodes felt a kick in his back send him forward to get clear of the suit.
Rhodes sprang out of the armor and didn't even pause before he lashed out, slugging Harker across the jaw.
Harker barely blinked from the blow. The other guard raised his pistol and fired half a dozen shots. Rhodes ducked behind Harker, using him as a human shield. The bullets struck him, and he didn't even blink.
For an instant, Harker looked annoyed, when his eyes flashed bright red.
Rhodes cast about, looking for a weapon he could use, when Harker turned to him... And let out a breath forcefully. A burst of flame came from his lips as he exhaled.
The soldier threw himself backwards in shock so fast he fell, still scrambling backward. "Breathing fire! Breathing fire! That man is breathing fire!" Rhodes blurted in open shock.
He scrambled backwards into the cage, and the armed guard slammed the cell door shut.
Harker grinned, and turned back to The Iron Patriot suit. He stepped towards it, and the suits' shoulder cannon spun around to point at him automatically. But the weapon had been disabled during his capture, and nothing happened.
Harker laughed and came close enough to touch it...
A second cannon, this one armed with missile interceptors, suddenly detached from its standby position and rotated to fire over the other shoulder. It was a barrage that would chop a tank in half.
Harker was cut down instantly, the bullets shredding his torso apart.
The cannon spun to aim at the other guard, and cut him down too. The cannon retracted again, back in standby mode.
"Now, how do I get you to break me out of here?" Rhodes asked himself...
...When Harker sat back up again.
Rhodes was stunned. He'd seen the fire-touch trick in Pakistan, but bullet-proof?
Harker groaned and spat out a smoking bullet. "Right in the mouth, now nothing is gonna taste right." He glared at Rhodes. "Bet you thought that was pretty funny, huh?"
"Less so than you'd think." Rhodes mumbled, wondering how far out of his depth he was.
Pepper woke up. Her head was clear but her mouth tasted like someone had stuffed it full of cotton. She groaned before memory caught up. It took several minutes for her vision to focus. When her surroundings became clear, she wished she was unconscious again.
The room she was in was below ground, but not entirely. She could see a stained glass window that had grass in sight. A basement then. The walls and floor were stone, and she was secured to a frame of some kind, standing upright. Her wrists, legs and chest ached from where the straps held her steady.
There was only one more piece of furniture in the room, and that was a long table, which was covered, end to end with computer equipment, and a few items of laboratory gear that she recognized from Tony's workshop.
Maya Hansen was at the equipment, staring at the screen with the same look Tony got when designing a new Iron Man. It was a crazed, hungry, eager look. A Zealot with the Holy Grail.
There was one door, at ground level, and a set of stone stairs leading to it. The door was thick and heavy oak... with two guards armed with machine guns. The guards noticed she was awake, and one of them reached for a radio.
Pepper knew who he was signaling, and decided to try and take advantage of the moment. "Maya."
Maya Hansen didn't turn to face her. "Werner VonBraun invented the first rocket of any power and accuracy. You know what he wanted? Space travel. His dream was to go to other planets. He had the misfortune of being in Germany when he did it, and the rise of the Third Reich meant that his work became the V2 rocket." She turned to face Pepper. "When the first V2 rocket hit London, he said: 'The Rocket worked perfectly. It just landed on the wrong planet.'" She smirked. "When the war ended, the KGB and the CIA snapped up every German engineer they could find as fast as they could; and when the Gestapo agents came to the USA, everyone looked the other way because they needed help beating the Russians to the moon."
Pepper groaned and tried to make her voice work around her cotton-mouth. "I know all that." She rasped out. "I live with the best engineer on the planet, so of course I know the story. What's your point?"
"My point, Miss Potts, is that VonBraun's dream got there. The V2 rocket was the precursor to the Saturn V, which gave the world Apollo 11. The Space Program gave us GPS, Satellite tech, communications, enough new materials to build everything from a racing bike, to a ceramic plate, to Iron Man himself." Maya turned back to her workstation and picked up a cup of water. "Every advance that ever helped the world was paid for in blood."
Pepper licked her lips again, and Maya brought over the cup, letting her get a mouthful of water. Grateful, Pepper nodded. "You don't have to tell me the numbers, Maya. My boyfriend was nicknamed 'The Merchant of Death' by Time Magazine."
"And a year later, they called him the Man of the Year. Beat that." A voice commanded.
Maya and Pepper both looked up to the door, and in strolled Aldrich Killian, in a flawless pinstripe suit, looking in perfect control. He was so calm and confident, it felt like he could command the stars to move at his whim.
Pepper just wanted him to come close enough to spit at him.
"So Pepper, by now you figured it out, I'm sure." Killian invited her to speak.
"I think I have the nuances." Pepper nodded. "You and Maya make Extremis for Mandarin. Except it's not working and people start blowing up." Pepper thought it out. "He's a monster, and sees a way to use it anyway, and uses your lab rats as suicide bombers who don't even know it, and tells you to make it work. But you can't do it fast enough to save your necks. So you come to me at SI, only I turn you down. So you send Maya to Tony. Only he's already thrown down the challenge, so Mandarin strikes first." Pepper glared. "Your Master doesn't know you haven't fixed it."
Killian grinned. "That's my girl." He gestured at Maya. "I had hoped that my partner over here would figure it out. She's been chasing it since forever. Her brains and my cash, we went from my Storage Space to Park Avenue." He cupped Maya's face with one hand, and the dark haired woman nuzzled into his touch automatically, in a way that made Pepper shudder. "Not enough people are patient. Patience was all it took to get this far." He wasn't talking to Pepper any more. He was talking to Maya as his other hand came up to caress her other cheek. "Remember, Maya? Ten years, a few billion dollars and an investor smart enough to shut up and just let you work."
Maya nodded, licking her lips. "You were the only one that would."
Killian spun away from her, dropping her instantly. "But you screwed it up."
Maya rocked back and forth a little on her heels, and Pepper knew instantly that Killian's control over Maya was more than financial.
"Fortunately, we have another way now." Killian was back to Pepper. "You. See, Extremis works, as i told you, by rewiring the brain to use all the leftover stuff."
Maya came forward, explaining the problem. "Some people don't make the change in the intended order. The power they produce in their new brains is ready before their bodily functions can regulate..."
"That's not important." Killian interrupted. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a syringe. "Pepper, I need a blood sample. Do I have to get it the hard way?"
"Why?"
"So that Maya can engineer you a dose of Extremis, of course." He said smoothly. "If Tony wants to save you, then he'll need to fix Maya's beta version."
Pepper shivered as he got the sample. Fighting would have been a waste of energy, and she knew to keep still when a needle was coming at her. "What are the odds?"
"So far, only one in four survive. The others... explode. I believe your friend Happy found that out." Killian grinned. "So then, Pepper. Let's see if the Gods are with you."
He turned to leave the room, and pepper sagged against her restraints. Maya took the sample from Pepper and fed it into a centrifuge.
Pepper kept her eyes on the machine, as Maya hurried up the stairs and followed Killian out. "What if it does take?" She hissed to him once they hit the hallway. "What if she... Makes it? There are safer ways to control Stark through his girlfriend."
"I have my reasons." Killian said simply. "Get her ready to travel. She's coming with me."
Rhodes was still in his cell. More people had come into the room, but these were not soldiers. They were technicians. They had brought in tablet computers and diagnostic tools, and had gone right to work on the suit. Somehow, they had managed to shut down the automatic defenses within a few minutes.
After ten minutes, they had levered the mask open, and were working on the HUD.
Rhodes gave them nothing, but he knew what they were trying to do. After Rhodes had stolen the MK-II, Stark had put in a lot of extra security to make sure nobody could fly any suit anywhere, without being on the approved list.
So far, there were only three names on the list. Stark, Rhodes... and Pepper, though she probably didn't know about it. Rhodes had found it funny that Pepper had been approved to take a suit, when none of them would fit her.
There were three levels of protection. Facial recognition, retinal scans, and biometrics. Each of them was as individual as a fingerprint, even more so.
So how were they able to get past the defenses already?
Harker turned to Rhodes, and headed over. "The Master wants this to work." He said quietly. "It's worth my life to give him what he wants." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "The techies say that the thing has a retinal scanner built in, so that only you can fly it." Harker grinned toothily. "So, I need an eyeball."
Rhodes went hold and cold all over, but didn't let any of it show on his face.
Harker reached through the bars for Rhodes, who darted back against the wall. "You want it? Come in and get it."
Harker reached a little further, and somehow his arm stretched. Rhodes could hear bones dislocating, the whole shape of Harker's torso shifting, but the man didn't seem to be in pain as he squeezed through the bars...
"Got it!' A voice called over from the suit.
Harker forgot about Rhodes instantly, and headed over to the suit. Rhodes was quickly on his feet, rushing over to the bars.
"Congratulations, Harker." One of the Techies said. "You are now on the approved pilot list."
Harker grinned, and stepped over to the suit. And... it opened for him. With a cunning grin, Harker stepped into the suit, and it closed neatly around him.
Rhodes would have wondered how he could fit into such a custom fit, but he had just scene Harker dislocate his entire torso to reach through the cage door. he didn't know what Harker was, but he hoped there weren't more of him.
The Iron Patriot came to life, moving around as the new pilot tested his limbs.
The technician grinned. "All right folks, fix the damage, and lets get him on his way."
Rhodes went cold inside. They had a bruiser like Harker on the payroll, and they needed his suit for something. There was no scenario that would end well.
Okay Rhodes... He told himself. What now?
AN: So, this marks the most serious diversion from the movie. I swear, right up until the last frame, I was expecting this to be how the movie turned out. I won't say I was disappointed by the movie, I'm just saying if I had written it, this would have been how the scene between Tony and 'Mandarin' turned out. The fans off the comic will recognize the significance of the changes.