"Oh, dear. I believe Tony's made an incredible mistake." Penny said worriedly.
"Penny, that is the most mild way you could POSSIBLY put what he just did." Weiss told her.
"He'd best be prepared with his greatest armor to date at all times and have any and all defenses of his home prepared." Winter said. No one noticed Katana barely containing her laughter.
"I just hope he finds whatever he needs to get this Mandarin guy and get revenge for Happy!" Ruby declared.
"But he has to stay alive long enough to do that." Coco reminded her.
"I can hardly take the anticipation. We need to start now." Pyrrha said as they resumed the movie.
Later on, Tony was seen in his lab, going through any files he could find on the Mandarin. "I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir. Drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., F.B.I. and C.I.A. intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction." JARVIS declared as Tony started looking at all the data gathered and a hologram of the accident taking place appeared around Tony.
"Incredible. Penny, make notes on this for R&D." Ironwood instructed.
"Already done, sir." Penny assured him.
"I've seen you're shooting, by the way. While you're at it, have them look into bullets people can't CASUALLY dodge." Qrow added.
"I'd hate to agree with him, sir, but it's true. Your bullets travel far-slower than they should and even the average soldier can dodge their shots." Winter admitted.
"Okay, what do we got here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning 'adviser to the King'. South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher. There's lots of pageantry going on here...lots of theater." Tony realized as he pushed the virtual information down to close. "Close." He instructed as he looked at the virtual crime scene reconstruction.
"So, it's like the Mandarin has researched names, tactics and speaking patterns of several cultures and languages throughout the world to sculpt his image. Interesting, but highly unusual for a radicalist, they're usually heavily devoted to their cause and their beliefs only. To take inspiration from other walks of life would be seen as a betrayal to most of them." Glynda analyzed.
"Exactly. Like how Tyrian only spouts off about Salem being our goddess, doing her will and following her wisdom. And even slightly pointing out problems in her plan would be questioning her in his eyes and a reason to kill someone. He almost tried to murder Watts for trying to reason with one of Salem's not as well thought out plans." Cinder added.
"Precisely. It's like what Miss Goodwitch said, he's a sculpted image, almost like a character that they've created rather than a real extremist terrorist." Ozpin agreed.
(Whoa, they're catching on quick.) Katana thought, impressed.
"The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius. Any subjects within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly." JARVIS informed him. (Many winced at this.)
"No bomb parts found in a three mile radius of the Chinese theater." Tony noted.
"No, sir." JARVIS confirmed.
"Talk to me, Happy." Tony pleaded to his friend as Happy's body materialized in the scene. In the virtual reconstruction, Tony saw Hogan pointing his finger at some dog tags. "When is a bomb not a bomb?" The billionaire questioned as he picked up the virtual image of the dog tags to investigate them further. "When is a bomb not a bomb?" He wondered as he looked carefully at the virtual tags. "Any military victims?" He asked.
"Not according to public records, sir." JARVIS told his creator.
"Then assuming those tags did belong to the man who blew up, he surely would have been vaporized as well." Pyrrha stated.
"Right, so they wouldn't have been able to identify him." Jaune agreed.
"So, Savin, Killian and, by extension, the Mandarin are using military men as bombs?" Weiss questioned.
"I don't think so. Savin asked Taggert if he could regulate. And he seemed surprised when he started glowing like that. I don't think he planned for him to blow up." Ruby pointed out.
"Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees." Tony instructed.
"The oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now." JARVIS declared as around 37 spots on the map popped up, matching Tony's inquiry. [1]
"Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack." Tony requested, the points shrinking down to a mere eleven.
"Twenty-six attacks!? Not even the White Fang has done that many major hits. Mostly, it's been taking down small businesses that don't serve Faunus, with occasional hits on big Atlas military bunkers or Schnee shipping trains to be used for something much bigger MUCH later." Blake cried out.
"This Mandarin guy works fast. That makes him a lot more dangerous." Yang realized.
"Yeah. Luckily, Roman and I always had to work on Cinder's time tables, so we didn't have as much time for our other normal crimes once we joined her." Neo added.
Tony looked at the information popping up, ruling out spikes in California and Missouri. "Nope." He denied, before he saw an attack in Rose Hill, Tennessee. "That. You sure that's not one of his?" He questioned.
"It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide." JARVIS explained.
"Bring her around." Tony instructed.
"The heat signature is remarkably similar. Three thousand degrees Celsius." JARVIS explained as Tony looked at all the information being presented on the Tennessee attack.
"That seems a bit much for a suicide attempt." Emerald said in shock.
"Sadly, when people reach that point, their often irrational and don't think things through." Ren said sadly.
"But how the heck did he make a bomb that got that hot!?" Nora cried out.
"I'm not so sure he did." Penny said, getting a strange suspicion.
"That's two military guys. Ever been to Tennessee, Jarvis?" Tony asked rhetorically.
"Creating a flight plan for Tennessee." JARVIS understood Tony's meaning as the billionaire was about to get ready to leave for Tennessee, he heard his door bell ring.
"Alright! Tony's got a plan! There's no stopping him now!" Ruby cheered.
But then they heard the door bell ring. "Are you kidding me?! You should be at the highest state of alert possible, no one should ever even be able to get near your home, let alone ring the door bell!" Winter snapped.
"He's focusing too much on finding the Mandarin, not enough on making sure he's protected so he lives long enough to find the guy!" Qrow said in annoyance.
Tony looked to be in disbelief at this. "Are we still at 'ding-dong'? We're supposed to be on total security lock down. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?" He questioned as Maya was shown on the monitor.
"There's only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world's press your home address." JARVIS told his creator as a number of News Helicopters were seen flying around Tony's house like buzzards.
"Unbelievable. He should have JARVIS reporting anything within Tony's airspace to the maximum range of his scanners!" Ironwood snapped.
"He's been using JARVIS for all this Mandarin research. Even for a super advanced AI, multi-tasking a lot of stuff is probably hard work." Jaune defended.
""And this is what it felt like to have your Atlas military ships flying overhead all the time." Emerald told the general in annoyance, who rolled his eyes at the statement.
Maya was shown standing outside Tony's house. The glass doors were opened and she entered. "Right there's fine." Tony warned her, dressed in his newest Iron Man suit walked toward her. "You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?" He questioned.
"Is that the PROTOTYPE suit!? Why isn't he using one that's finished?!" Coco demanded.
"I don't think Tony thought everything through right now. He hasn't been in the best headspace since the movie started. I really hope that doesn't come back to bite him." Velvet said worriedly.
"He's doomed." Weiss said with a palm to her forehead.
"You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?" Maya questioned.
"Don't take it personally, I don't remember what I had for breakfast." Tony declared.
"Gluten-free waffles, sir." JARVIS reminded him.
"Eww! Gluten-free is the worst!" Yang cried out.
"I know, right?! Ren made gluten-free pancakes once. They tasted like rubber! Never again!" Nora announced.
"It's better for you." Ren said defensively.
"And some people can't eat gluten. That's why Dum-Dum and I are on a gluten-free diet." Neo declared proudly. [2]
Cinder gained a look of realization at this. "Oh, THAT'S why you asked if my booby-trapped cake was gluten-free and why Roman wanted to use Flan instead." She said, nodding in understanding.
"Actually: Ren, Neo, gluten isn't particularly healthy or unhealthy. It's still a protein, but most foods that have it don't have enough for it to really make a difference. If someone's allergic or sensitive to it, that's one thing, but for everyone else, it's just a health myth that's been pushed around by celebrities and marketing." Blake explained. [3]
Neo's eyes widened at this. "I'm never eating gluten-free again." She said.
"That's right." Tony confirmed.
"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you. Someplace not here, it's urgent." Maya told him.
"Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship." Tony refused as he turned to walk into the living room, before two bags were thrown down from the above balcony. "It's...with her." He said.
"We'll see how committed it stays in a few minutes." Weiss said.
"Love conquers everything Tony and Pepper will always be together!" Ruby cheered. Katana whistled innocently once again.
"Well, it certainly seems like she's ready to leave, with or without him." Winter added.
"Tony, is somebody there?" Pepper asked from upstairs while Tony stepped out of his suit.
"Yeah, it's Maya Hansen." Tony called back, which made Maya smile. "Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely." He explained. As Pepper started walking downstairs, Tony moved towards Maya and spoke quietly. "Please don't tell me that there is a twelve year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met." He pleaded.
"He's thirteen." She corrected, much to Tony's brief panic.
"WHAT!?" Everyone cried out in shock.
"And you didn't come forward in all this time!? Do you have any idea how much child support he owes you!? You should be able to retire off that!" Emerald cried out, getting giddy at the idea of getting a big check from the billionaire.
"And the boy deserves to know his father." Pyrrha added.
"Yeah, but back then, did Tony deserve to know HIM?" Jaune asked, making Pyrrha nod in consideration.
"And no, I need your help." She explained. (A few were disappointed at this.)
"What...what for? Why now?" The billionaire questioned.
"Because I read the papers and, frankly, I don't think you'll last the week." She told him.
"With his current rate of planning? I'd say not." Glynda agreed.
"His decision-making as of late has been flawed, but we've all seen in these films you should never underestimate Tony Stark." Ozpin declared.
"I'll be fine." Tony insisted.
"I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests." Pepper said, sounding less than pleased.
"We weren't." Tony told her.
"No, I..." Maya began.
"And old girlfriends!" Pepper added sarcastically.
"She's not really." Tony protested.
"No, not really. It...it was just one night." Maya assured her.
"Yep." Tony confirmed.
"That's how you did it, isn't it? Yep." Pepper questioned.
"Oh, man! Tony, you're SO in the dog house now!" Coco laughed.
"To be fair, he was probably already there when he made them have to leave their house." Velvet said.
"I certainly wouldn't be too happy about that." Penny agreed.
"It was a great night." Tony admitted.
"Well, you know..." Pepper started.
"Yeah." Maya agreed with Tony.
"You have saved yourself a world of pain." Pepper told the other woman.
"I'm sure." Maya agreed again.
"What?" Tony asked, thrown off-guard.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Qrow said, laughing a bit.
"Uncle Qrow, that's not nice!" Ruby scolded.
"But true." Yang admitted.
"Trust me." She told Maya, before turning to Tony. "We're going out of town." She told him.
"Okay, we've been through this. Nope." Tony denied.
"Yep!" Pepper insisted.
"The man says no." Tony continued to refuse.
"Immediately and indefinitely!" Pepper declared resolutely.
"Yeah, it might be a good idea to go somewhere that the bad guys DON'T HAVE THE ADDRESS TO!" Nora cried out.
"But it's where all of Tony's suits are. Surely, that's gotta be the best place for them." Jaune pointed out.
"Sure, but he can only use one suit at a time. And right now, he's wearing the one that falls apart like nothing." Blake reminded them.
"Honey..." Tony tried to reason with his girlfriend.
"Great idea. Let's go." Maya agreed with her fellow female, grabbing one of Pepper's bags.
"I'm sorry. That's a terrible idea. Please don't touch her bags." Tony warned them.
"Tony, this is how normal people behave." Pepper told him.
"I can't protect you out there. I challenged..." Tony began.
"Is...is that normal?" Maya asked as she noticed the giant stuffed rabbit Tony had bought for Pepper.
"As normal as you can get for Tony Stark." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.
"I still say it was a sweet gesture." Pyrrha said.
"And if Jaune got you one?" Cinder asked.
"Please, no." Pyrrha pleaded.
"Yes, this is normal!" Tony insisted.
"Sadly, that...is very normal." Pepper admitted.
"It's a big bunny, relax about it!" Tony defended his gift.
" Calm down!" Pepper told him.
"I got this for you." He reminded her.
"I'm aware of that." She stated.
"You still haven't even told me that you liked it!" He complained.
"I don't like it!" Pepper snapped.
"I mean, seriously, what was she gonna do with it? She's a big girl, too old to be playing with stuffed animals. And even if she did, it's way too big to even play with. And it's not like she can cuddle with it in the bed or something." Neo said.
"And that is why you give little hints on what you want for your anniversary." Yang agreed.
"Or make a list. That's what our family does." Velvet said.
"Very helpful. I know just what to get her, but it's still a surprise, because she doesn't know exactly what I'm buying on the list." Coco agreed.
"I asked you three... You don't like it?!" Tony questioned. As the happy couple was bickering, Maya noticed on the TV that helicopters were coming toward Tony's home.
"Tony, we are leaving the house; that's not even up for discussion." Pepper said with finality
"I said no." Tony countered.
"Guys, can we um..." Maya tried to get their attention.
"What?" Tony demanded.
Maya pointed to the missile heading straight for the house. "Do we need to worry about that?" She asked.
"YES, YOU SHOULD WORRY!" Everyone screamed at once.
The house was suddenly hit. As everything exploded around them, Tony managed to get his Iron Man suit onto Pepper to protect her from the fall. Tony looked over to Maya, who was lying unconscious on the ground. As the ceiling was about to fall on Tony, Pepper saved him with the Iron Man suit.
"I got you." She told him.
"I got you first. Like I said, we can't stay here." Tony declared as they got back up.
"That was amazing. He risked his own life to have the suit save Pepper first." Penny said in wide-eyed amazement.
"A true act of love. I would lay down my life if it meant saving Weiss, as well." Winter agreed.
"Please never do that, Winter. I need you. And I have a team to help fight with me and keep me safe." Weiss said, smiling at her team.
"Ugh. This sweet stuff is making me sick." Emerald said, before Blake kissed her cheek. "I guess I can learn to live with it." She admitted.
The helicopters started shooting at the house. "Move! I'm right behind!" Tony told he. As they ran to get out, the floor between Pepper and Tony collapsed. "Get her, I'm gonna find a way around." Tony instructed, but Pepper hesitated. "Stop stopping! Get her, get outside! Go!" He ordered.
"You can't ask so much of her like this. She's never experienced something like this before." Glynda told him.
While that is true, this is a tense situation that means life or death. Hesitation only decreases all of their chances of survival." Ironwood stated.
"You really think Tony would have prepared her for this, to protect her if he isn't there to do it." Ren pointed out.
"Once again, she's a busy CEO. She likely has little time for such things." Ozpin pointed out.
Pepper picked up Maya and hurried to get her outside. They were quickly approaching the glass doorway. Pepper attempted to blast it with the repulsor, but she couldn't figured it out and fired it the wrong way. They reached the door and Pepper simply crashed through it and collapsed outside.
The helicopters continued to fire and destroyed more of the house. "Oh my God. Tony!" Pepper cried out.
Back inside, the house was being destroyed around Tony as he clung to a metal pole, pulling himself up to sit against a window, giving the helicopters a decent target. Luckily, not for long. "Sir, Miss Potts is clear of the structure." JARVIS instructed.
Tony motioned for his Iron Man suit to come off Pepper and onto him. He army crawled a short distance, before finally getting the suit on him. More of the house was destroyed, starting to go over the cliff, causing Tony to slide a small ways. "Jarvis, where's my flight power?!" Tony demanded.
"Working on it, sir. This is a prototype." JARVIS reminded him.
"Why did he pick the prototype!? He believe a potential threat came to his house! He should break out a suit that should be able to take down Thor!" Cinder said in clear annoyance, many others agreeing with her.
"I don't think we can say many more times that Tony's not thinking clearly." Penny noted.
"It was the new suit for the movie, they needed an excuse to show it off. Tony's poor decisions just happened to line up with that." Katana told them.
Tony tried to fire his weapons, but most of them were offline. However, his repulsors started working and he blasted his piano at a helicopter to destroy it. "That's one." Tony declared.
"Nice work, Tony! Way to work with what you've got!" Jaune cheered.
"I guess you could say that was a pretty GRAND takedown!" Yang joked as everyone groaned. "Get it? It was a Grand Piano!" She said.
"We got it, Yang. You just killed an epic moment, though." Qrow told her.
"Sir, the suit is not combat-ready." JARVIS informed his creator once again.
Tony managed to get away from the bullets being fired at him from one of the remaining helicopters and took a missile out of his suit, throwing it at one of the helicopters and firing his repulsor to make the missile explode, bringing down the helicopter. "That's two." He counted again. As the helicopter exploded, it crashed into the house. The remaining helicopter continued on shooting at the house until finally, the remains of house, with Tony inside, fell into the ocean.
"Yeah! He's really turning this fight around!" Velvet said happily.
"Yeah, but for how much longer?" Emerald wondered worriedly.
They got their answer when the helicopter crashed into the house. "No! Tony!" They all cried out.
"He fought valiantly, but in the end, he was unprepared for the attack he brought on himself, he was outnumbered, outgunned and had a limited arsenal. There was no way he could have won." Winter said solemnly.
Pepper ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the ocean. In the water, Tony tried to escape, but something wrapped around his neck, pulling him down. "Tony!" Pepper cried out. Water then began getting into Tony's suit and he had little room left to breath.
"No! Tony, get out of there!" Blake cried out.
"I thought his suits could work underwater!" Nora cried out.
"Let me guess, more prototype issues?" Coco asked.
Katana pulled out her phone and played a clip from Street Fighter the movie. "Of course!" M. Bison declared.
"Thought so. So it's not stylish or functional. It gets an F... MINUS." She delivered her verdict on the suit.
"Sir, take a deep breath." JARVIS instructed. A hand detached itself from Tony's suit and grabbed his hand, flying out of the water, reattaching when the rest of the suit got its flight power activated by JARVIS. "Flight power restored." The AI announced as, finally, Tony managed to fly out of the ocean as everything went black.
"Thank goodness, he's out of the water now." Pyrrha said in relief.
"And apparently passed out..." Neo said in concern.
"And we have no idea where he's going." Ren added to the mounting pile of concerns.
Tony began to wake up to JARVIS' urgent voice. "Sir. Sir!" The AI frantically tried to rouse him.
"Alright, kill the alarm. I got it." Tony said tiredly.
"It's like Weiss asking for five more minutes." Yang said with a smirk.
"Is now really the time for that?!" Weiss snapped.
"Just trying to lighten up the mood, Ice Queen.
"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent." JARVIS explained worriedly.
Tony noticed that he was flying through the snow at night. He fell and crashed into the ground in the middle of a forest. He took off his face helmet as he laid on the ground catching his breath. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Tony asked.
"It looks nearly as cold as Atlas." Glynda said in concern.
"Indeed. Based on how warm Tony's home in California appears to be, this must be at minimum, hundreds of miles away." Ozpin stated.
"It certainly looks cold enough for someone to freeze without aura." Penny stated worriedly.
"We're five miles outside of Rose Hills, Tennessee." JARVIS informed him.
"Why?! Jarvis! Not my idea! What are we doing here? This is thousands of miles away, I gotta get Pepper, I gotta..." Tony rambled.
"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location." JARVIS explained.
"Who asked you? Open the suit." Tony ordered.
"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir." JARVIS said, a bit worriedly.
"W-what?! How?! JARVIS is so advanced and reliable, how could he be malfunctioning now!?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.
"We know the Mandarin can hack TV stations and such. With Tony's address, it's possible he found a way into Tony's servers and defenses to plant a virus into JARVIS." Winter theorized.
"Or, since Tony's home was destroyed, the operating center or whatever makes JARVIS work was probably destroyed, too." Blake gave her own opinion.
"All good guesses to a question that was NEVER answered. The main reason we're supposed to accept is because the suit ran out of power, so JARVIS did, too." Katana stated.
"UGH. I hate it when certain things are never explained!" Emerald snapped. [4]
"Open eject." Tony instructed. The suit opened and Tony sat up. Something he would immediately regret, due to the freezing winter temperatures of the area. "That's brisk!" He said as he started to feel the cold weather. "Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit." He said, about to lay back down, before JARVIS gave him grim news.
"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir." JARVIS said weakly as the suit lost power.
"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy." Tony pleaded, but the suit was already offline.
"It's so weird seeing Tony of all people be scared and vulnerable." Velvet said, worried about the billionaire.
"Everyone has moments when they are brought low and vulnerable. It's how they handle those moments is what's important." Ironwood declared, vowing to be better than the dictator Katana showed him he could become.
"Well said, general." Blake said with a smile, looking to her friends who got her through those low moments.
Tony managed to drag the suit through the snow. Eventually, he stopped at some form of store with a wooden Indian wearing a poncho, which he took from the statue.
"Jeez, Tony's fashion took a SERIOUS L in this movie." Coco said.
"It's not always about what's fashionable. That poncho looks thick and heavy. It should be good for keeping warm." Cinder said, then smirked. "You could probably swaddle Neo in that thing." She said.
Neo pouted at this. "Hey, from what we saw from the future, it looks like you wore some kind of half-poncho." She countered, before looking back at the screen. "Still, it's impressive he can drag that suit around. And even more impressive it didn't fall apart on him again." She added.
Tony then managed to reach a petrol station and made a call to Pepper. "Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers." An automated female voice stated.
Tony then prepared a message for the first person he had to inform that he was alive. "Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because... I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian." He told her.
"Aww, it's sweet that the first person he called is Pepper." Nora cooed.
"He probably knew she was worried sick about him, wanted to calm her nerves. Stress and anxiety are real killers. Trust me, I know." Qrow assured the children.
"But how's he gonna find the guy without his suit or any kind of clues?" Yang asked.
"He knows the basics of the suicide incident. If he searches around and asks some locals, he may find something that could tie into the Mandarin." Penny theorized.
"Anything's worth a shot at this point." Ren stated.
Tony dragged the suit to an abandoned-looking farmhouse, where he placed the suit on a couch and sat next to it. "Let's get you comfy." He said as he placed its hand by its side. "You happy now?" He asked the suit.
"He knows that his isn't alive, right?" Glynda asked.
Ruby gasped. "Miss Goodwitch! Everyone's weapon is special to them and like their baby! Tony's is no different! No one should be shamed for loving their weapons!" Ruby cried out.
Everyone was shocked at this. "Well, I suppose you truly do never stop learning." Ozpin said.
"And what was there to learn from this?" Winter questioned.
"Cherish your weapons... and never disrespect a weapon in front of Miss Rose." Ozpin explained.
"I also believe that, even without sentience, weapons and machines should be properly cared for and respected." Penny said, placing a hand on Ruby's.
As Tony tried to fix the micro-repeater implants in his arm, a boy stood by the doorway and pointed his toy gun at Tony. "Freeze! Don't move." The boy warned as he held Tony at "gunpoint".
"You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS." Tony said, unimpressed. The boy pointed his gun at a glass on a shelf and shot at it, breaking the glass. "And now you're out of ammo." He stated.
"Still, commendable aim for a child and a decently designed potato gun." Ironwood stated.
"That would still probably hurt if it hit you in the face." Jaune agreed.
"Honestly, I've never understood the appeal. It childish and a waste of perfectly good food." Weiss said.
"It gives little kids something to play with so they're not bored. And in this case, it lets this kid think he can protect his house. That's something." Blake stated.
"What's that thing on your chest?" The boy asked.
"It's a electromagnet. You should know, you've got a box of them right here." Tony explained.
"What does it power?" The boy asked, to which Tony stood and pointed the desk light at his suit sitting on the couch behind him. "Oh my God!" He said excitedly as he dropped his potato gun and took a step towards Tony. "Oh my god! That... that's... Is that Iron Man?" He asked in amazement.
"Technically, I am." Tony explained.
"Technically, you're dead." The boy countered as he gave Tony a newspaper which had the billionaire's picture with the headline "Mandarin Attack: Stark presumed dead".
"That's a shame. It's got to be a bad shock to Tony's friends like Rhodey and the Avengers." Velvet said.
"On the plus side, it gives him the element of surprise if his enemies think he's dead. You can do a lot with that. It's one of the things that made Watts so dangerous. You all thought he was dead, so you were left scratching your heads at his cyber attacks." Cinder explained.
"Wow, who would've thought CINDER would be the one putting a positive spin on things." Yang said, to which the half-maiden rolled her eyes.
"Whatever can let us breathe easy, I'm fine with that." Coco said, holding Velvet close and stroking her ears to calm her.
"A valid point." Tony admitted.
"What happened to him?" The boy asked, referring to the suit as he sat next to it on the couch, checking it out.
"Life. I built him, I take care of him, I'll fix him." Tony said.
"Like a mechanic?" The boy asked.
"Yeah." Tony confirmed.
"Oh. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine-" The boy began.
"It's Iron Patriot now." Tony interrupted.
"That's way cooler!" The boy said excitedly.
"No, it's not." Tony disagreed. (The entire audience agreed with this)
"Anyways, I would have added in um... the retro..." The boy struggled for his answer.
"Retroreflective panels?" Tony questioned.
"To make him stealth mode." The boy finished.
"You want a stealth mode?" Tony asked.
"Cool, right?" The boy asked.
"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one." Tony considered.
"Penny?" Ironwood called.
"Already filed away, sir." Penny acknowledged.
"Good." He said.
As the boy touched the suit, he accidentally snapped off one of its fingers. "Oops!" He yelped.
"Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone." Tony scolded.
"He's just a child, Tony. You can't be so harsh with him!" Pyrrha huffed.
"Did you not hear what Penny and I just said!?" Ruby demanded.
"With its AI and scanners, it is likely the suit can detect damage to technically feel a sense of pain." Penny agreed.
"Also, perhaps its not the best idea to be randomly touching an armored suit with military-grade weapons stored everywhere." Ren stated.
"You can't tell me that anyone hear would try the same thing." Jaune countered, everyone admitting they'd want to touch the suit.
"S...Sorry." The boy said sheepishly.
"Are you? Don't worry about it, I'll fix it. So, uh, who's home?" Tony asked.
"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I... I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago." The boy explained.
"Bastard." Yang growled, clenching her fist and teeth at the thought of the man leaving his wife and son.
"Parents should always be there for their kids." Nora agreed, thinking about her mom abandoning her to run from the Grimm.
"Maybe we should start a support group. I know I could certainly use it from time to time." Emerald admitted.
"Mm. Which happens, dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it. Here's what I need: a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich." Tony instructed.
"What's in it for me?" The boy questioned.
"Salvation. What's his name?" Tony asked.
"Who?" The boy asked.
"The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?" The billionaire questioned.
"How'd he know that?" Weiss wondered.
"He's a science geek. It was the same with Ruby for being a weapon geek. Until I found out who was bullying her and gave them two black eyes." Yang explained, causing Ruby to blush.
"And you got a month's worth of detention. And that was from me AND Tai sweet-talking the principal to reduce the sentence." Qrow reminded her.
"How'd you know that?" The boy inquired.
"I got just the thing." Tony assured him as he opened a compartment on the suit and took out a metal object. "This is a piñata for a cricket. I'm kidding, it's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discourages bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass." Tony explained. Harley reached out to take it, but Tony pulled his hand away. "Deal? Deal? What'd you say?" He questioned.
"That CANNOT be legal!" Blake cried out.
"I know I was just praising them, but that doesn't mean a kid should have them!" Ruby agreed.
"Indeed. He appears to be around ten years old. That's still younger than a student going to Sanctum or Signal." Ozpin stated.
"He said it's none-lethal, but he didn't say it couldn't cause injury... I can't wait to see what it does to the bully!" Neo said with a smirk.
"Neo!" Emerald, Cinder and Yang all scolded her.
"Deal." The boy agreed.
"Deal." Tony said and gave the object to Harley. "What's you're name?" Tony asked.
"Harley. And you're..." The now-named Harley introduced himself.
"The mechanic. Tony." Tony introduced himself, before he looked at Harley for a moment. "You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?" He asked.
Qrow laughed at this. "Nice. Good to see Tony's still got his sarcastic, smug side. Dealing with him being all paranoid and shaky was getting old. I dealt with way too much of that from Tai." He stated.
"And he needs something to get the taste of sea water and those gluten-free waffles out of his mouth." Yang agreed.
"But now it looks like Tony's ready to go again. Stark is on the case!" Ruby cheered.
"That was intense!" Nora shouted.
"Indeed. Although, most of this seemed to be from Tony's poor planning and decision making." Ironwood stated.
"Well, at least he came across a nice kid willing to help him instead of some angry guy who shoots him as soon as he sees him." Qrow said.
"And lucky that he was also a science nerd with everything Tony needs." Emerald added.
"That does seem to be an incredibly lucky break." Ozpin admitted.
"Yeah, but he definitely needed it after everything he just went through." Ruby said.
"Still, he's pretty far from being out of the woods." Blake explained.
"Especially if Killian and his men find out if he's still alive." Cinder added.
"And what did Maya want after all this time?" Neo wondered.
"Yeah. She thought he wouldn't last a week without her, but what could she do to prevent that?" Yang wondered.
"I suppose there's only one way to find out." Glynda stated as they continued the movie.
A/N: So, there's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! Also, for those that don't know yet, there is a trailer out for the new Venom movie: Let there Be Carnage. For those that haven't seen it, check it out, it's looking pretty good. For those that have, what are your thoughts? Venom seems a little bit bright and happy in the beginning, but when the scary stuff goes down, it goes down HARD. I'm definitely looking forward to it... but that does NOT mean I'm doing the Venom movies, so don't ask!
[1] Yes, I counted. I said around because I wasn't sure if one point was two overlapping, or if there was one in Florida, which Tony's head was blocking.
[2] Someone on Quotev actually pointed that out to me in the point I had Cinder make.
[3] Yes, I actually researched that for the sake of a one-off joke.
[4] It's an irony joke, let's see if you guys can get it. Emerald and things that aren't explained. Good luck!