A/N: Hello, everyone! Before we begin, I promised my good friend Eclipse Metastar that I would inform everyone of his new story where the Star Wars characters react to various media from our world. It is titled Star Wars reacts to Earth! It's off to a great start, so go check it out!
"Well, at least we're going back to when Tony changed and became a better person." Jaune said.
"Yeah. He was reminding me WAY too much of Mercury." Emerald agreed, rolling her eyes at the thought of her partner.
"I'm still wondering what about the villains I'm probably going to hate." Cinder explained, either concerned they'll hit very close to home for her like Loki did, or growling at the thought of them being abusive and manipulative like Salem or the Madam.
"We'll just have to watch the movie and find out." Weiss said, rolling her eyes.
"Ice Princess is right, let's do it!" Yang declared as Katana started the movie.
Present Day - Malibu, California was seen at the bottom center of the viewing as Tony's cliffside home was shown at night as several shouts of pain were heard. It was revealed that Tony was in his lab, injecting himself with some devices. A paper reading "Stark Industries R&D Dept." was shown, with DUM-E having a Dunce cap placed on his head.
Penny was instantly annoyed at the mistreatment of her fellow robot. "Unbelievable! DUM-E saved your life, Tony! That robot should be the best taken care of thing in your entire lab!" She snapped.
"Yeah! Stop being mean to him!" Pyrrha agreed.
"I would be more concerned with whatever he's injecting himself with." Winter stated in concern, as whatever these injections were, they were clearly painful, based on Tony's shouts of pain.
"After all that talk of leaving the party scene, I certainly hope those aren't drug-related." Glynda declared judgingly.
"Now, now. No need to assume the worst, Glynda. I'm sure there must be a good reason for whatever those injections are. At least in Tony's mind." Ozpin said, looking to Katana.
The ice demon was taking a drink from her soda, before noticing the look, likely hoping for an explanation. "It will be revealed soon. All I'll say is, it isn't drugs." She said.
"Ow!" Tony cried out as he injected himself, a bloody rag in his mouth.
"Sir, please may I request just a few hours to calibrate..." JARVIS requested.
"No. Forty-eight." Tony denied the request and counted again as he injected himself a final time. "Ah! Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete." He declared as he wiped away several dime-sized spots of blood on his arms from the injections.
"As you wish, sir. I've also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore." JARVIS informed him.
"That's a lot of blood." Velvet said, slightly queasy.
Ironwood groaned at this. "Tony's being foolish. Rushing ahead before everything's calibrated and ignoring the safety briefings is exactly why we passed over Watt's ideas and, while we know now he faked his death, the Paladin incident we thought killed him could just as easily have killed someone else!" Ironwood snapped.
"Eh, Dum-Dum jumped right into that Paladin he stole and chased team RWBY with it, but he never read the manual or anything. It can't be too bad." Neo said.
"I think a large, armored mech is quite a bit different from what I'm guessing are pieces of metal being injected into Tony's body." Ren challenged Neo's claim.
"When you put it like that, this suddenly sounds way more dangerous." Jaune said, taking a nervous gulp.
"Which I will. Right, let's do this." Tony declared, sniffing and putting down the tissues, before turning his attention to the robot who saved his life, who now had a broom to clear the trash off the floor. "DUM-E. Hi, DUM-E. How did you get that cap on your head? You earned it." He said as he walked towards the robot. On the way, he stopped and hit a punching bag with rods coming out of it. "Hey. Hey! What are you doing round in the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it." He ordered.
"Sir, may I remind you that you've been awake for nearly seventy-two hours." JARVIS reminded him as he threw a few fake punches at a camera being held by U.
"That is SO bad for you!" Weiss cried out.
"Is it really that much?" Ruby asked.
"It's three days, Ruby." Cinder informed her.
"What?!" The red reaper shrieked.
"Hoo, boy. That's rough. I've been there before on some missions I did for Oz. I got some less than savory characters on my tail more than once that managed to find me at every turn. Couldn't get a wink of sleep." Qrow said, groaning at the memory.
"Well, then this time off will certainly do you well." Ozpin told him.
Tony then stood on a platform, addressing the many Iron Man suits that were in their glass cages. "Focus up, ladies. Good evening and welcome to the birthing suite. I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, bad-ass baby brother." He declared
Tony the pointed to Jarvis as he recorded Tony with a camera. "Start tight and go wide, stamp in time. Mark 42 autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence." He declared as everything powered up. He raised his hands and motioned to activate the new suit, which glowed blue.
"Ooh! A new suit!" Ruby cried out in excitement.
"Yeah, let's see it!" Nora cheered.
"Mark 42?! Holy crap, Tony's been busy with these suits! Any chance we could get some of them? It's not like he doesn't have enough." Yang said, to which Katana shook her head.
"Autonomous prehensile propulsion. So that means it can automatically fly around and grab things, if I'm not mistaken. So, what? Tony can shoot the hands off the suit to grab something?" Blake asked.
"You were close Blake, but uh... Just watch." Katana told her.
Coco observed the colors on the pieces lying on the table. "Hm... I'm liking the darker shade of red, but the lighter gold isn't doing it for me." Coco said.
"Maybe wait until you can see the whole suit on him, Coco?" Velvet asked, rolling her eyes at her leader.
"Jarvis, drop my needle." Tony instructed. A needle dropped on a record player, playing a jazz cover of Jingle Bells (Qrow, Ozpin and surprisingly Cinder bobbed their heads to the music). Tony moved with the music then pointed his arm where he'd been injecting himself toward the dismantled Iron Man suit on the table opposite, nothing happened. "Crap." He cursed and bit his arm where he'd injected himself once and then hit it five times.
"Wow. What a brilliant approach to delicate, highly advanced equipment coming from a genius who built an engine at age four." Emerald said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, hitting it fixes everything. I remember once when I was visiting Tai and the girls. There TV wasn't working, probably from Tai trying to 'fix it', so I kicked it and it started working again." Qrow told her.
"Taiyang always did try to prove he could fix anything himself. Unfortunately, he usually made the situation worse." Glynda said.
"I doubt that would work with such small, fragile technology as whatever thee micro-repeaters are." Penny declared.
He pointed his arm again and this time the same arm of the suit flies over to Tony and attached itself to his hand and extended to his arm and shoulder. Tony then pointed his other arm toward the suit and the second part attached itself to his hand and arm. Tony laughed at this success. "Alright, I think we got this. Send 'em all." He declared. A leg piece flew in a wide half-circle before flying right to him, causing him to raise up his leg like he was preparing for a kick to intercept it. Tony seemed pleased with this, but then another part flew at crazy speeds, faster than Tony could react to and it crashed into one of the Iron Man suit glass cages, knocking the head off the Mark IV. Another part hurled itself at Tony, forcing him to deflect it with his arm, making it crash.
"He can call it and make it assemble on himself!" Ruby said excitedly.
"Fascinating! That would make it an upgrade from the Mark 7, which required the bracelets to register Tony before attaching to him." Winter realized.
"True, but the bracelets seemed more effective. If Tony had to rely on this suit to save him after Loki threw him from the window, I doubt he would've survived." Weiss pointed out.
"Well, it was stated to be a prototype. The Mark 7 may not have been completed, but it was a suit that likely had all its kinks worked out." Glynda countered.
"This one, not so much." Cinder added, looking shocked at how the rogue piece took off the head of another suit.
Tony was understandably concerned at this. "Probably a little fast, slow it down. Slow it down just a..." He declared, doing a time out with his hands, before ducking as another part zoomed at his head and probably would've taken it off. "...little bit." He finished his order as the piece did a 180 and zoomed back at his head, forcing him to duck once again as it smashed through pipes coming from the walls. He seemed to get it under control again as another piece attached to his left thigh, leaving his lower body armored, save for the crotch area... Which suddenly slammed into place with enough force to push Tony back about a foot.
All the males winced at this. "Oh, that's gotta hurt." Jaune said.
"Hope him and Pepper weren't planning on having kids." Qrow chuckled. Katana looked away, whistling innocently
"I definitely would have asked for one at a time. With the cod-piece to be going at quarter-speed." Ren stated.
"Wise decision." Ironwood agreed.
The back plate then slammed into place, sending Tony flying forwards, almost face-planting with the ground, but he managed to save himself with the repulsors on his hands. "Cool it, will you, Jarvis?" Tony complained as he awkwardly flew back into place, although a bit off from the platform he started on. Finally, all the other parts shot over and got attached to Tony, except for the face plate, which flew past and hit the table with the record player, stopping the music. It then hovered in the air, facing Tony. "Come on. I ain't scared of you." Tony challenged the piece of metal. The face plate flew over and Tony flipped over to grab the piece and finally the Iron Man suit was fully attached to Tony.
"Oh, yeah! That was epic!" Yang cheered.
"Nice moves, Tony. Even I'm proud of that one." Neo said with a smile.
"Something's gonna happen. I know it." Emerald said, waiting with a smirk.
"The gold is the main color of the suit?! No way. Four thumbs WAY down!" Coco declared, grabbing Velvet's wrists and making her do a double thumbs down, before doing it herself.
"I do miss the red being the main color." Pyrrha admitted.
"I'm the best." Tony declared as his HUD came online. At that moment, however, what appeared to be the rear of the suit shot over to Tony, knocking him down, which knocked the entire suit, except for the head piece, off Tony.
Everyone burst out laughing at this. "That was amazing!" Nora laughed.
"He really did set himself up for failure." Blake admitted.
"His ass made an ass out of him! Get it? Because it was the butt piece of his armor that hit him?" Yang asked as everyone groaned.
"As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work." JARVIS said with a bit of sass.
"I guess seventy-two hours is a long time between siestas. Didn't think it could get any worse. Then I had to go and turn on the TV." Tony's voiceover continued.
"It certainly seems like any time I turn on the TV, all I see is bad news." Ozpin said.
"That's why I don't watch the news. Everything is either depressing or makes everyone angry." Velvet stated.
"Which in turn makes our job harder as that negativity attracts the Grimm." Winter agreed in annoyance.
The news on TV showed footage of The Mandarin. "That's when he happened." Tony's voice declared.
Images were shown in the desert of a man with a long beard, sunglasses and his hair tied back in some kind of bun [1], was seen supervising the attacks on a small village before walking away, much more terrifying imagery being shown afterwards. "Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher. America, ready for another lesson?" The man asked as he was seen sitting in a chair.
Mayne became a bit fearful of this man and horrified by the video. "I do not believe I want to learn his lesson." Penny said with a gulp.
"He's showing them the massacres he caused. He's trying to spread panic and fear. It's like what I would've done after making you and Pyrrha fight for the Vytal finals and... You know the rest." Cinder said, not wanting to imagine the fear, panic and pain she would've spread.
Surprisingly, Yang put her arm around Cinder's shoulders this time. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. It's not gonna happen now. Instead, think of the look on Salem's face when you turn those Maiden powers back on her!" She told her future sister-in-law, who smiled and leaned against her for a minute in a sort of hug.
"This man is a savage. If he considers these lessons, he is delusional. Know one should have to learn this fear or pain." Ren declared angrily.
"In 1864, in Sand Creek Colorado, the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind and claim their land. Thirty-nine hours ago, the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I...I...I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers, the braves were away. President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am, you don't know where I am and you'll never see me coming." He explained the atrocities he committed as the horrific images continued.
"He's rubbing it in that he killed a bunch of children? How can he think he's anything besides a monster?!" Jaune growled, only restraining himself from screaming due to Pyrrha being beside him.
"Coward!" Ironwood snapped.
"For once, I'm right there with ya, Jimmy." Qrow said angrily.
"For everything we did for Salem, I never thought we'd go that far, attacking helpless women and children ourselves. The Grimm, sure, but never us." Emerald said in horror.
"I wish I could stick Hush up his ass and open it." Neo said angrily, making a jabbing motion with her umbrella, before opening it like she said.
As the footage ended, the TV channel changed and all the news channels were talking about The Mandarin. "And now that we seem to be back, let's recap some of the frightening..." The first reporter suggested.
"American Airwaves were highjacked..." The second reporter explained.
"The nation remains on high alert..." The third reporter announced.
"All attempts to find the Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful..." The fourth reporter informed the people.
"The Grimm would be having a buffet with all this fear and negativity." Winter said in concern.
"Why can't they find him?" Nora wondered.
"He's a terrorist, Nora. It's sad, but its true." Velvet stated.
"Right? If everyone knew where to find them, the White Fang wouldn't still be a problem." Blake added.
The president was then shown at a podium, giving a speech to the people. "Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot." He declared as Rhodey came out in his suit, which was now painted red white and blue.
Cinder winced at the sight of the armored superhero, his last name reminding him of the mentor she killed. "Rhodes..." She said regretfully.
"He would be proud of you, Cinder. You don't have to run anymore, because you've chosen the right path." Glynda told her.
"Yeah. We're all proud of you, Cinder." Ruby said, kissing Cinder's cheek, before looking to the screen excitedly. "But how cool is that suit!? I love the colors!" She cried out.
"Wow, I'm surprised she managed to stop herself from geeking out for that long." Jaune said.
"Ruby, it's only a paint job." Weiss told her leader.
"An awesome paint job!" Ruby countered.
"The greys and whites worked SO much better! They ruined the suit." Coco complained.
A more comedic was then shown talking about this on his show. "And how is President Ellis responding? By taking the guy they call War Machine and giving him a paint job." He declared.
A sassy-looking elderly woman on 'The Fashion Police' was now seen talking about the new Iron Man suit. "Same suit, but painted red, white, and blue. Look at that. And they also renamed him Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle." She explained, the man shown with her laughing wildly.
"I know, right!? What's a paint job gonna do!?" Yang demanded.
"Especially one that makes him look less intimidating. The old War Machine looked like someone who should stay out of the way of. This new one looks like someone who you would like to shake hands with." Pyrrha admitted.
"Perhaps they're trying to give the public a more positive image to focus on, rather than the more fearsome image of this so-called 'Mandarin.'" Ozpin suggested.
"Captain America ain't the perfect poster boy for this? He was already one governor's dancing monkey, I'm sure he'd do it again if he had to." Qrow stated.
"He finally has a respectable image, Qrow, I doubt he'd ruin that." Glynda scolded the former drunk.
Rhodes and Tony were at a bar and they saw the woman making fun of the Iron Patriot suit on TV. "It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodey explained.
"I am Iron Patriot..." Tony said, putting on a mocking voice. "It sucks." He said.
"It is pretty lame. It sounds like what Steve would be if he was wearing an Iron Man suit. And it's just ripping off half of Tony's name." Jaune said.
"Maybe a less aggressive name would be a little better. Send a better message? Like how all the Atlesian ships around have been sending the wrong message." Velvet stated, to which Ironwood sighed, putting his face in his hands.
"Maybe, but at this point in time, they need to sound strong and confident, too. And War Machine already sounded that way." Blake added.
"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message." The Colonel elaborated. (Velvet nodded at this.)
"So what's really goin' on? With Mandarin. Seriously, can we talk about this guy?" Tony asked as he moved closer to Rhodes.
"It's classified information, Tony." Rhodes said loudly, before leaning in. "Okay, there have been nine bombings." He explained.
"Unbelievable! You just admitted classified information to a civilian!" Ironwood snapped.
"Well, Tony has helped take care of a lot of issues in the past. I mean, he's a superhero!" Ruby told him.
"And to be fair, general, I highly doubt there's a way to keep Tony out of it. It's likely easier just to tell him what he wants to know." Ren admitted.
"Nine." Tony repeated.
"The public only knows about three. Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings." Rhodey told him.
"You know I can help, just ask. I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air." Tony told him excitedly, bordering on manically.
"He's going a little bit crazy. Like after I hit someone with a REALLY bad hallucination." Emerald said in concern.
"Well, we know Tony hasn't slept for at least 72 hours. That is long enough for your body to start getting the really bad symptoms, such as hallucinations, mood changes and irritability. Sleep deprivation affects the prefrontal cortex, which handles reasoning, and the amygdala, which deals with emotion. A lack of sleep may also make it harder for a person to form new memories, which can affect learning. Lastly, it can also effect fertility." Penny broke down what may be happening to the billionaire.
"Someone get this man a nap. NOW. The princess of Asgard demands it!" Nora declared.
Katana giggled at this. "And get this man a nap." She said in a strange accent.
"But how can there be no bomb casings? There would have to be SOME remnants of a device." Winter pondered.
"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?" The colonel asked in concern.
"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?" The billionaire countered.
Everyone looked at Katana. "He was a genius and is considered the father of modern physics." She explained.
"Interesting. I'm certain Ambrosius would have loved to meet him. Likely Penny's father as well." Ozpin said.
"But only sleeping that long cannot be good for you." Pyrrha said, somewhat horrified.
"People are concerned about you, Tony. I'm concerned about you." Rhodey admitted.
"You're gonna come at me like that?" Tony demanded.
"No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic..." Rhodey began, before a girl and a boy come up to their table. "...tator." He quickly corrected himself.
Neo giggled. "Nice save." She said.
"He's not wrong, though. He's liable to blow a gasket staying up that late. We all need someone to make sure we take naps every now and then." Blake admitted, remembering how Yang had to talk her into taking it easy, having fun at the dance and getting a good night's sleep.
"Definitely. There were some times when I probably would've blown our cover for the next day if Emerald didn't force me to sleep." Cinder stated. As submissive as Emerald often seemed, there were a few good times when she DEMANDED for Cinder to go to bed and get some rest, even watching her until she went to sleep.
"Do you mind signing my drawing?" The girl asked.
"If Richard doesn't mind." Tony said, turning to Rhodes. "You alright with this, Dick?" He asked teasingly.
"Fine with me." Rhodey agreed.
Tony looked at the drawing of himself in his Iron Man suit that the girl had drawn. "What's your name?" Tony asked the girl.
"Aww, that's so sweet." Velvet cooed.
"Yeah. When I'm a Huntress, I'm definitely gonna give an autograph to anyone who asks." Yang said.
"Same here. Only I'm gonna get a lot more offers because magazines will be dying to have me on the cover." Coco said confidently.
"I already get asked all the time to sign album and CD covers." Weiss declared proudly.
"Erin." She answered. Her drawing was of the battle of New York as Tony flew the nuke to the wormhole.
Tony looked at the boy standing next to him. "I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way." He told the boy. (Some students giggled at this.)
As Tony was signing Erin's drawing, Rhodey tried to talk Tony out of pursuing this. "Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not..." He explained. As he was saying this, Tony wrote a speech bubble on the drawing, reading "Erin, help me!". However, it was clear Tony was becoming uncomfortable at the mention of New York.
"Everyone else noticed that, right?" Jaune asked.
"Yes. It looks like Tony is becoming somewhat... anxious, I believe, after Rhodes mentioned New York." Ren stated.
"He almost died several times there, I can't blame him for not wanting to remember it." Pyrrha said.
"I fear this goes quite a bit beyond not wanting to remember it, Miss Nikos." Glynda corrected, now concerned for the Billionaire's mental health.
"It's not superhero business, I get it." Tony said in understanding.
"No, it's not, quite frankly. It's American business." Rhodey confirmed.
"That's why I said I...got it." Tony accepted. Suddenly, as Tony was signing the drawing, he looked ill. The crayon broke and he placed his hand on his face.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ruby asked.
"If what I'm thinking is right, I can only hope this is something he'll get over, but I wouldn't hold my breath." Cinder said worriedly. As they'd seen when Thor first arrived in The Avengers, thunder and electricity rattle her quite a bit, so if what Tony is going through is anything like her, it will be something he simply can't get over.
"Sadly, this also happens to experienced Huntsmen. Throughout their career, they'll see many things. Some of which they'll never be able to forget." Ozpin explained sympathetically.
Qrow shuddered at this. "That lizard Faunus regrowing his tail." He stated, almost tempted to summon his flask back, simply taking a large swig of his soda instead.
"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked worriedly.
"I broke the crayon." Tony said.
"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?" Erin asked.
"Take it easy. Tony..." The colonel tried to calm his friend. Tony sat up a bit, but seemed to be frozen.
The little boy suddenly leaned in towards the billionaire. "How did you get out of the wormhole?" He whispered his questioned.
Suddenly, Tony rose and started walking off. "Wait a minute! Tony!" Rhodey quickly called after him as he followed Tony as he walked out the bar.
"Even when he was imprisoned, even when dying from poison, I don't think we've ever seen Tony this vulnerable." Winter said, shocked.
"Indeed. He seemed as hardy and strong as his suits. For him to be like this... It's saddening." Penny said feeling sad about the inventor's current state.
"I've seen former White Fang members a bit shaky like this, but NEVER to this extent." Blake stated, equally worried.
"What'd he say?!" Tony asked weakly. He frantically made his way towards the suit, pushing people out of the way as he did so.
"Tony!" Rhodey called after his friend.
"Sorry. Have to check on the suit...make sure...okay." Tony tried to come up with an excuse, before he stepped into his Iron Man suit that was parked outside the bar and collapsed to his one knee.
"The suit's fine, Tony. But YOU need some kind of help." Neo stated as Yang held her close.
"From what we've seen, probably several different kinds." Emerald stated.
"This happened to my mother once, after Father told her he only married her for the Schnee name. Whatever's happening to Tony must be putting him under immense stress." Weiss said, remembering her mother's breakdown and shedding a tear that Penny wiped away.
"Check the heart, check the...check the...is it the brain?" Tony asked. He sounded scared like he had never been before.
"No sign of cardiac anomaly or unusual brain activity." JARVIS informed him.
"Okay, so I was poisoned?" Tony wondered.
"My diagnosis is that you've experienced a severe anxiety attack." JARVIS explained.
"Dad had those a lot after Summer was gone. He was barely able to function for a while." Yang said sadly.
"One woman he loved abandoned him and the other disappeared forever. No one should look good after that." Qrow stated.
"Leonardo was prone to those as well. But even he never dropped to his knees like that." Ironwood said in shock.
"Me?" Tony questioned in disbelief.
Rhodes knocked on the suit's head, people having gathered around them, watching Tony. "Come on, man. This isn't a good look, open up." He told his friend.
"Sorry, I gotta split." Tony told him, pushing him back before he flew off in his suit.
"So, Tony's having panic attacks now?" Pyrrha asked, worried about the billionaire.
"And they started some time after New York. And especially whenever the wormhole is mentioned." Jaune said.
"I'd say it's a classic case of PTSD. Many old veterans from The Great War and seasoned hunters have it." Ironwood said regretfully.
"We have programs in place to help them, but it doesn't ever seem to be enough." Winter added, equally sad about the state of former soldiers and huntsman.
"It's tough to deal with, no matter what world you're in. Our world has things in place for those with PTSD, but we still haven't figured it all out, either." Katana assured them.
"I hope he's gonna be okay." Velvet said in concern.
"It's Tony. He'll be fine... He has to be." Ruby said worriedly, holding one of Cinder's hands and leaning against her as the Half-Maiden embraced her new girlfriend.
A/N: As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
[1] I'm sorry if that was a bad description, I'm not good at those.