Authors Note:
Hello and welcome to the official start to this story! Hopefully the little preview got you interested enough to continue this far.
I will say that I am not a pro when it comes to fight scenes, they are sadly my weak point. It's hard to describe, but I can envision the fight, but when I try to put it into words it's almost like it doesn't come out the way I want it to. Oh whale.
I will make a disclaimer that this story does contain dialogue/quotes directly from the movie, and all rights to those go to Marvel as well as the characters in this story.
Now I've kept enough of your time for now, please enjoy the actual first chapter of the story!
Seven Years Earlier
"For your consideration, the Jericho." The genius exclaimed as he held his arms open wide. A few smaller missiles being launched off a bigger one and creating a disastrous and huge explosion behind him.
Tony was showing off to the military his latest invention from Stark Industries known as the Jericho missile. A highly advanced weapon capable of taking out multiple threats at once. Whatever Tony produced out of his company and supplied to the military he was always proud of, he knew it would give them an edge in battle and the weapons would be in good hands.
Or as he hoped it would.
He found himself caught in a field of explosions and gunfire. The people who were his source of protection as they drove down the long path back to the military, ended up dying from gunshots. He remembered the young male soldier telling him to stay in the car.
His fear had gotten the best of him.
He got out of the car, running frantically as he tried to take cover. He hid behind a rock, taking out his phone and starting to dial someone. As he finished dialing the number, a missile was soon within his vicinity directly off to the side. As he looked at it a familiar name he knows all too well was on the side of it.
Stark Industries.
As his mind began to race and he started to run, the missile exploded and he was caught in the blast.
He was propelled back a few feet, landing on his back as he found it hard to breathe and maintain consciousness. He looked down at his white button up shirt being stained with red. He pulled apart the top half of the shirt, buttons popping free, as he saw where he got hit from the vest under his shirt. His vision faded in and out before the world around him started to fade to black
He could hear the voices around him, but he could also feel the pain. It was if his chest was being open and operated on. He felt every invasive instrument in his chest cavity near his heart, the pain unbearable to take. He screamed out and started squirming trying to get away from whoever was causing him this pain. He opened his eyes and saw a vast sea of white around him, a mere glimpse before a mask was put on him. His breathing was elevated as he started to panic more, but the air being taken in from his nose to his lungs started to calm him down as his eyes started to get heavier until he passed out once more.
When he opened his eyes again he found that the sea of white was gone. He looked around accessing his surroundings and found that it was very dim with very little light source. He still had the unsettling feeling in his chest, but soon that was replaced by realizing something was in his nose.
He brought his fingers up and pulled at the long skinny tube, whimpering and coughing a little as he felt it tickle past his nose, until he reached the end of tube as it got caught on some sort of bandage. With a small amount of force he yanked it out, breathing heavily. Once he got himself under control he turned to his left and saw a bowl full of some sort of liquid and a bottle. He tried to grab the bowl, but ultimately it ended up on the floor after two attempts. His eyes came up to look at the bottle and noticed something or, someone to be precise.
The man was humming to himself as he was busy shaving. He tried to get up but, something stopped him abruptly.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man told him.
He stopped to think a bit before he turned to his right. He saw a car battery and the wires attached to them. He followed the wires and his eyes went wide as he realized the wires stopped at him. He started to panic, fingers trembling as he ripped open the bandages around his chest, whimpering and hyperventilating as he revealed a foreign object within his chest.
He sat up slowly trying to catch his breath after the sudden shock, turning his gaze towards the man once more as he regulated his breathing.
"Who are you and what exactly is this?" Tony asked.
"My name is Yinsen. That thing inside your chest is an electromagnet hooked to a car battery that's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart." The man named Yinsen explains, reaching down for a small bottle containing the pieces of shrapnel he pulled out of Tony's chest and showing it to him.
Tony looked down feeling a little uneasy. He zips up his jacket and sighs lightly, unsure what to do.
Just then he hears a door being open. He turns his head to the right and sees a group of people in Arabic clothing walk towards him and Yinsen.
"Quick do as I do!" Yinsen whispered before standing up abruptly, and putting his hands behind his head.
Without hesitation he followed Yinsens example as the group came to a halt in front of them. One of them stepped forward, a smile on his face as he spoke a language that Tony couldn't understand.
Yinsen on the other hand seemed to understand perfectly and talked to the man in the same language. Tony looked on in confusion as the two continued to talk. When they appeared to be done to Tony comprehension, one of the other men within the group was motioned forward. He opened a file and a picture was inside. A picture Tony was all too familiar with.
The Jericho Missile.
"He wants you to build him a weapon. The Jericho Missile." Yinsen explained.
Tony thought to himself, knowing he couldn't build them the weapon. Not because they likely didn't have the equipment, but because they'll use it to kill not only other people. Not only that, they'll kill him and Yinsen after if he decides to build it. He knew his answer.
"I refuse."
Before he had any time to react or object, his head was plunged into what can only be described as a frigid temperature of water. He felt the shock as he struggled to escape the hands that were holding him down. He thrashed about as water was making its way through his nose and into his lungs as he was running out of air. He was pulled out abruptly and gasped for air, coughing up whatever water he could manage before his head was plunged back under. Tony only hoped this would end soon.
He sat there in silence in his thoughts, remembering what he had witnessed. Once his waterboarding was over they took him outside. Upon looking back he realized this entire time he was in a cave, somewhere in Afghanistan. That however was the least of his worries. He saw all of his weapons within crates, boxes, metal suitcases, it was a nightmare. Why would weapons he made for the military end up with a terrorist organization that called themselves the Ten rings. He felt his blood run cold as he looked at all the weapons his company had manufactured. When offered the deal to make the weapon again, Tony gave a smile and shook one of the men from the group's hand and said he would make it. Now he sits back in the cave thinking of a way out of here and what to do with the weapons.
"You're going to build the missile right?" Yinsen asked from behind him.
"If I do they'll kill us after I finish it and then kill everybody else."
Tony got up off his makeshift bed and went over to the file the Ten rings left him. He pulled up some schematics on the missile, walking over to a well lit area before laying them on top of each other.
"We're gonna build this." Tony said, pressing the papers together and showing Yinsen what appears to be a suit. Tony smirked at himself knowing this was their way out.
Tony spent the next hours deep in focus making the suit. There was one individual part that he had to make personally with parts from a missile. The most important part in creating this contraption was from vibranium, the rarest metal on earth. It took awhile, but Tony managed to create a miniaturized version of an Arc reactor. This version is somewhat microscopic in comparison to the one at Stark Industries. This is what is going to power the suit. Tony didn't know how much longer they were working on the suit, but eventually it was finished and Yinsen hooked up the suit while Tony was inside of it.
Just then someone appeared at the door speaking a language Tony still wasn't comprehending.
"Say something." Tony said.
"He's speaking Hungarian. I-I don't know how to speak-" Yinsen started to explain.
"Just say something in Hungarian." Tony argued. Yinsen nodded his head, pausing before attempting to say something in Hungarian. It seemed to not work as the man continued to shout and attempt to open the door. Yinsen booted up the uploading process-with Tony's help of course-and the process soon began. As the bar began to load an explosion was heard from the door that they had rigged if anyone tries to interfere with what they were doing currently. Both men heard more shouts and knew more men were being sent to their location. Yinsen turned towards the computer, realizing Tony needed more time.
"There's not enough time. I will buy you some time!" Yinsen said as he went over towards the door, picked up one of the guns on the floor from the bodies of the men littered around the door before running out the room yelling while shooting the gun.
"Yinsen what are you doing? Stick to the plan! Yinsen!" Tony yelled. He looked at the computer screen, the upload almost done. There was only a few more minutes left on the bar as he heard more footsteps. Once the upload was finished the lights diminished. The footsteps were now in the room, slowly advancing towards him and he twisted his wrist, curling and uncurling his fingers to get a feel for the suit.
As the man stepped closer to the suit Tony extended his right arm, knocking the guy across the room.
Gunshots were heard after Tony started to slowly climb off the metal bench as the gunshots had died down. He walked in front of the other men and smiled under the mask as he lifted his left arm, a small gatling gun mechanism appearing.
"My turn." Tony said as he started shooting, the men falling in front of him. He started making his way through the cave punching, breaking, and shooting his way out. Towards the exit he saw someone familiar.
"Yinsen!" Tony exclaimed.
"Watch out." Yinsen said weakly.
Tony looked to his left as the bald headed leader of the Ten rings shot a missile at him. He pulled back as a missile and fired it towards the man. He pulled back as the missile flew past him. He readied his own missile and fired it towards the man. The missile hit above the leader and rocks fell on top of him, either knocking him unconscious or killing him. Tony really hoped it was the latter as he made his way over to Yinsen.
"We had a plan Yinsen. Why didn't you follow it?" Tony asked.
"This was always the plan Stark." Yinsen said weakly. He had bullet holes in his shoulder, chest, and abdomen. The man was dying slowly.
"Come on get up we're gonna go see your family." Tony told him.
"My family is dead Stark. I'm going to see them now." Yinsen looked at Tony. His eyes slowly started to close.
"Don't waste your life Stark."
Yinsen's eyes closed and he let out his dying breath, body going limp. Tony swallowed the lump in his throat and proceeded to exit the cave.
He was met with gunfire as soon as he exited the cave. Bullets bounced off of the suit not having any effect.
"My turn." Tony said, turning on the flamethrowers on both arms of the suit.
He burned everything including the weapons that the Ten rings had managed to acquire. The shooting on Tony didn't stop even as everything and anyone was incinerated. One particular shot came from high above him, managing to shoot out one of the legs on the suit causing Tony to kneel down. He didn't let up however, still managing to destroy the entire base of the Ten rings before activating the repulsors on the legs and flying off; an explosion commencing behind him as he flew off into the sky.
He let out a cheer as he escaped, but that was short lived as the repulsors died out on him and he started to plummet towards the sandy earth. As he hit the ground there was a loud boom, and the suit came apart with Tony still inside of it. A small crater within the sand was formed after the initial crash.
"Shit," Tony said flinging bits and pieces of the now damaged suit on to the sand around him. He pulled himself out of the crater as he removed the last bit of metal off of him. The sun was blazing down on him and he could feel the intense heat on his face. He decided to take off his jacket and cover his face with it before trekking off to who knows where.
As the sun started to drop down within the horizon Tony could feel the chilly air around him. He started to lose hope of himself being found, his breathing becoming shallow.
He came back to reality as he heard a noise within the distance. As the noise got closer it was suddenly above him and he realized that the noise were rescue choppers.
"Hey! Hey!" Tony yelled, relief washing over his tired aching body as he collapsed onto his knees and held up a peace sign so the choppers could see him.
As the choppers landed a familiar face was within his view. He let himself be pulled into a hug and inspected by his best friend Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes.
"Next time you ride with me." Rhodey said. Tony let himself rest against Rhodey as he hugged him. He was glad to know he was found and that he made it out alive.
A lot has happened ever since Tony had been rescued from Afghanistan. He called for a press conference on his immediate return as he knew he had to make an important announcement. What he had told all the news reporters and journalists created an uproar, a bomb shell that nobody was prepared for.
"Effective immediately, the weapons manufacturing of Stark Industries is to be shut down."
He knew it would cost people a lot of their jobs, but thinking it over he knew it was the right thing. The fact that weapons he had created were being sold under the table to the enemy was unforgivable. He felt guilty that the people he supplied those to, were also people being killed by them. In the long run he knew that this was the right call for Stark Industries.
His C.O.O Obadiah on the other hand was busy trying to calm everyone down after Tony's little announcement. He was the one dealing with the press, and trying to deal with the bomb shell and let's just say he was a little bit annoyed at the surprise. He even had a little talk to Tony about this and through that talk he discovered Tony's little Arc Reactor he made to escape captivity.
After talking to Obadiah, Tony went to his home in Malibu and did what he does best. He immediately endorsed himself into his work down in his workshop trying to invent new pieces of technology. His mind was racing as he preoccupied himself with the tasks at hand, which so happened to be trying to recreate the same suit he used to escape Afghanistan, but only supremely better.
He created the Mark 1 shortly after his return-with somewhat help from DUM-E-and had JARVIS run diagnostics on the suit after he made it. There were a lot of tests Tony had to put himself through before he could even so much as test the suit. These tests included working out the flight from the repulsors and that ended up with his face planting into walls. Eventually he got the flight pattern down and decided that now would be a good time to test his invention. As Tony put himself inside the suit for a test run his AI had warned him that the Mark 1 was not ready for a test flight. Tony decided that was a perfect time to test the suits limitations, as he repulsed himself out of the garage, scraping the suit as he exited and flies off into the night sky.
Tony never felt more excited in his entire life. He was happily zipping through the sky catching a glimpse of the city and the carnival as he continued his test flight. As he looked up from within the suit he had a spontaneous idea to test the limits of the suit by flying into space.
As he was getting closer to exiting the atmosphere JARVIS had warned him that the suit could not handle the vast majority of space. Tony however, decided to neglect this and test the suit out even more. This is how the genius found himself free falling towards the earth in a suit covered completely in ice. Tony started to panic just a little bit before he focused and turned a knob on the side of the suit cracking the ice and regaining control back over the suit, flying back into the sky before he hit the ground.
After the first flight, Tony had been working with JARVIS on the Mark 2 shortly after returning; or more like falling into his home from the roof. As he was working the TV in his workshop was talking about the Grammys which happened to peak Tony's interest.
He told JARVIS to finish the suit rendering and not to wait up for him as he took one of his expensive fancy cars out towards the location of the Grammys.
What Tony expected was to fully enjoy himself, but it seems that instead he was to be surprised by some journalist named Christine. She told him how she almost believed Stark Industries was going to stop the manufacturing of weapons until she showed him horrific pictures of Gulmira. He looked at the pictures and saw that his weapons were indeed there. He tried to tell her that he had not made anymore weapons and he had not been selling under the table. She however, wanted to know if he wasn't, then who was.
Tony stopped to think for a moment until one name came to mind.
Obadiah Stane.
He hurried outside and saw Obadiah. He approached the older man and stood by his side, demanding to know if he was selling weapons under the table to the enemy. All Stane did was put his arm around Tony and smile, saying that they should take a picture together. He leaned into Tony's ear and whispered to him that he was just trying to keep Tony safe by locking him out of the business before walking away after the picture was taken.
This brought Tony's world crashing down as his mind began to race. An abundance of emotion began to plague him, but the most recognizable one came in the form of hatred.
Upon returning back home from the Grammys, Tony turned a TV on with one repulsor from the Mark 2 currently equipped, and a screwdriver as he began to tighten the gauntlet. As the TV depicted more images from Gulmira, Tony stood and aimed at the glass window in his workshop, shooting out a repulsor blast that caused the glass to shatter. Once he got a feel for the strength and damage this thing could cause, he proceeded to do the same to the other three glasses before deciding he wanted to pay Gulmira a little visit.
Tony stood in Gulmira after a few modifications to the suits fire power and adding his own weapons, and was appalled that Stark Industry weapons were indeed here.
He took it upon himself to not only blow up the weapons, but to save the people who were going to die in Gulmira because of some of the Ten ring members who were here. As he took them all down with ease— and blew up a very annoying tank that shot him out of the sky— he started to fly back towards his house in Malibu.
What Tony didn't expect were two fighter pilots tailing him as he exited Gulmira.
As he evaded and maneuvered his way through the onslaught of missiles the jets were shooting at him he knew he had to call Rhodey to tell him. Through some serious near death experience he managed to tell Rhodey that he was inside of the suit, and then had to go and save one of the pilots from falling to his death-courtesy of Tony hiding under the belly of one of the jets and a faulty parachute.
Now we find Tony here, sitting completely paralyzed on the couch thanks to a device in Stane's hand. He sat there and remembered how he had asked Pepper to dig some dirt up on Stane and concluded that he must have found out that he sent her so that's why he's here now.
He stands above Tony with a different device in his hand that he uses to clamp onto the Arc Reactor in Tony's chest. Turning it to the right as he tells Tony how he was the one who put the hit on him. Tony's world came crashing down upon hearing that phrase. He knew that Stane was behind the whole dealing under the table, but to actually want to kill Tony was an entirely different bomb shell itself.
He ripped out the Arc reactor and Tony could feel himself slowly dying, his own heartbeat like a small timer ticking down to his death. He watched Stane left and he sat there, unable to move for fifteen minutes.
He whimpered and groaned as he regained the use of his limbs. He crawled his way to the workshop, trying to stay conscious as he slowly started to fade in and out of reality. His breathing became shallow as he crawled towards his desk. He remembered that when he first came back from captivity, he also asked Pepper, his secretary, to help replace the Arc Reactor in his chest with another one. Upon removing it he told her to burn it, but she instead gave it to him as a present neatly encased in glass with a title that says "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart."
That is what is sitting up on his desk at this very moment and what could possibly save his life right now.
As Tony got closer to the old Arc Reactor he grabbed a bin off to the side and used it to prop himself up on it. He leaned up as best as he could to grab the glass encasing his "heart," but he couldn't get a grip on it as the bin slipped away under him and he landed on his back.
He felt himself slipping and the feeling of hope leaving his body. He swear he could feel the shrapnel entering his heart as the beating started to get slower and slower. He stared off into space, thinking this is how he was going to die.
A familiar sound brought him back to reality and he saw his creation DUM-E holding the old Arc Reactor in his claw. He couldn't feel anymore proud of his first creation as he gripped the glass in his hand and looked back at DUM-E.
"Good boy," Tony said weakly before smashing the glass onto the floor. He quickly scrambled and grabbed the Arc Reactor inserting it into his chest before he collapsed.
"Tony. Tony!" He heard someone say. His eyes flew open as he gasped for breath. As his vision focused he found out the person was Rhodey.
"Rhodey?! C'mon we gotta get going Pepper is in danger!" He said with urgency. He got up and went over to the garage exit.
"JARVIS! I need a suit." Tony commanded. The AI had granted him his latest design the Mark 2, and Tony turned to tell Rhodey where he was going before taking off into the night, hoping he wasn't too late to save Pepper.
Tony had his work cut out for him. He stopped Obadiah from hurting Pepper by making himself the primary target instead. He had to endure Obadiah hurling him around in the streets and practically blowing him up in a bus, and trying to choke him in outer space before suffering the same icy situation Tony's old suit did and free falled towards the earth.
By that point Tony thought Obadiah was down and he could grab Pepper and take her back her, and maybe try to have her forget her life was in any sort of danger.
However that wasn't the case.
Obadiah had survived the fall somehow and appeared behind Tony, bringing him into a vice like grip attempting to squeeze the life out of him. Tony started to panic as the suit began to crack around him before telling JARVIS to activate the flares. This served as a good distraction and caused Stane to let go of Tony so he could make an escape and phone in Pepper.
The plan he made for her was to overload the Arc Reactor. His job was to make sure that Stane was on top of the roof when she finished prepping the overload. He knew he was the target so he had to make sure he got all of Stanes undivided attention.
Tony had the element of surprise with Stane not knowing exactly where he was. He managed to get the drop on Stane from behind and reached into the neck compartment of the suit and pulled out a few wires he knew connected to the targeting system of the suit. Stane managed to grip onto Tony and threw him onto the platform above the Arc Reactor and started shooting missiles at Tony trying to end his life. Thanks to Tony disabling his targeting system this was proving to be more difficult.
"Ok it's ready!" He heard Pepper shout. His mind started to race, trying to figure out a way for him to get out of the way of the Arc reactor blast.
Stane started to shoot another missile, missing Tony again, but they were gradually getting closer.
"Now would be a good time to push that button!" He told Pepper.
"But you'll die!" She yelled back. He knew it was a risk he had to take, and if it meant stopping Stane then he was willing to make the sacrifice play.
As another missile came nearly close to ending Tony's life he looked down at Pepper. With no way of being able to get out of the blast he yelled at her,
"Push it!"
She hesitated at first before pushing the button. The Arc Reactor emitting a bright light into the night sky. Tony was taken up and knocked off to the side from the beam, taking much of the force from the initial blast.
With whatever consciousness he had left, he saw Stane get hit by the rest of the beam and was knocked out cold. He saw the man plummet to his doom into the Arc Reactor causing it to blow.
He felt himself slipping once again, his eyes struggling to stay open and the world around him starting to become fuzzy. His breathing was all hazy, and his eyes closed letting the world around him become dark.
Through the events that happened, Tony found himself at home finishing up his recovery after the battle with Stane. He didn't suffer major injuries, but mostly cuts and bruises that will heal with time. He called for a press conference to perhaps shed some light on everybody what had happened recently since everybody already knew what was going on thanks to the news. He sighed to himself after talking to Pepper and Agent Coulson— the man who Pepper had apparently scheduled a meeting with— before opening the door and becoming familiar with the flashing lights and loud voices.
As he took his stance on the podium next to Rhodey he pulled out some notecards and looked at audience in front of him before saying,
"Last time I was here I dropped a bombshell on you guys, so I think I'll stick to the notecards this time." That earned him a few laughs and he himself had smiled in response.
He started to talk about the recent events that happened before he was inevitably cut off.
"With all due respect Mr. Stark you don't possibly believe this was just some work of a body guard." The girl Christine had said.
Tony had denied the claim she was making about being a superhero and that earned him a weird look from her before she said that she never accused him of being one. That took him a bit back as he tried to regain his composure. He felt relieved that she did accuse him of that and then started to list off all the bad things about him until Rhodey had to stop him and tell him to stick to the cards. Tony nodded at him and held the cards up once more.
"The truth is," he began as he stared out into the sea of reporters. His eyes wandered the crowd and he thought to himself if he really wanted to do this. He thought about the pros and the cons, the good and the bad, and he most certainly thought that this was going to do more good than bad. He didn't really mind if he exposed himself in front of everyone, he was ready to start a new life as a superhero.
"I am Iron Man." Tony finished. As soon as the words left his mouth the crowd erupted into chaos trying to ask him questions. Tony just stood there looking into the crowd and not regretting anything.
When he returned home the lights were dim, his senses on high alert considering nobody was supposed to be home.
"JARVIS?" Tony questioned. The AI gave no response, but what Tony gazed upon were three shadows hiding in the dark near the couch.
"Who are you people?" Tony asked. One of them stepped out from the shadows and placed themselves directly in the light, letting Tony have a gander at them.
The person who stepped forward was a dark skinned male dressed in all black from head to toe, and a black eye patch on his left eye.
"Nice to see you Mr. Stark. Names Nick Fury, but just call me director Fury. I'm here to make a proposition for you called: The Avengers Initiative." Fury said.
Tony looked dumb founded before he opened his mouth to speak.
"Ok fill me in on that later, but who are they?" He pointed at the other two. Fury ushered them forward, a man and a woman were at his side.
"This is agent Natasha Romanoff. She's gonna help me decide if you're good enough for the initiative." Fury said. The woman was dressed in all black as well, the fabric hugging her very tightly and bringing out all her curves. She smiled at him, her pink lip gloss shining in the light and her red hair resting nicely on her shoulders.
"This is Steve Rogers. He's going to be acting as your "bodyguard" in a sense. Emphasis on bodyguard."
Steve was dressed pretty casually to say the least. Brown khaki jeans, a plain blue T-shirt that hugged the man tightly bringing out all his muscular features; or at least his pecs since Tony couldn't see his arms, and a brown leather jacket to finish off his appearance. Tony also took in his piercing blue eyes that shone just as bright if not brighter than Natasha's lip gloss, and his beautiful blonde hair that matched his blue eyes perfectly.
However something else seemed off, or rather familiar about him much to Tony's amusement. Upon looking at Steve more and making the man smile at him slightly out of awkwardness probably, he figured it out.
Steve Rogers, was Captain America. The man his dad cared so much about, and spent nearly his entire life trying to find instead of caring about his actual son. Tony couldn't be more displeased.
Author's Note:
I feel like partway through the story I rushed it, and then the other half of me feels like I did a good job. Oh whale.
Now that we got Iron Man one out of the way (with an obvious twist since, well, this is my story) now I can work towards the next movie.
I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter and if you feel like it, you can Review. I accept any and all constructive criticism and positivity. I will continue to do my best to give you a good story that hopefully you like.
Until next chapter!