Iron Man 3 part 2.
I own only my original characters, nothing else. Credit for the idea of this story belongs to sketchywolf
'...Max!!,' JARVIS said as Max woke up. 'MAX!!!'
"Yeah, yeah... I'm up," Max said, waking up. "I'm up. Turn off the alarm."
'That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent.'
Max woke up completely when he remembered what had happened and noticed that they were beginning to descend over a road. They almost crashed straight into a car, but they hit the road and continued to crash through the nearby forest and went through several trees before finally stopping in the middle of the forest. Max quickly rolled over face up and removed the faceplate to see that they were in much colder parts.
"It's snowing. Where are we?"
'We're five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee.'
"...What?!! JARVIS, what the hell?!! We're thousands of miles away from Malibu!! What about Mom and Dad?! And that one woman who's name I forget?!"
'I prepared a flight plan. This was the location,' JARVIS answered. 'Also, Mr. Stark, Miss Potts and Miss Hansen are all quite alright, thanks to you.'
"Oh thank God!!," Max exclaimed quietly to himself. "What about you, JARVIS? You gonna make it?"
'I don't think so. I... I think I may b-be malfunctioning, Max.'
Max quickly phased himself out of the suit and quickly felt the cold, winter temperatures.
"Oh boy. Okay, this isn't so bad. Could be Alaska. Alright, JARVIS, you go to sleep now and I will get us there."
'Okay. I think I need to sleep now anyway, sir,' the AI said as he shutdown due to low power.
"You get some rest, buddy. You've earned it," Max said and he got up and placed the face plate back on and picked him up and dragged the suit behind him as he walked towards Rose Hill.
Slowly, he walked towards the town, enduring the cold. Thanks to his heightened abilities and strength, the cold barely bothered him. He soon came across a gas station and went over to the payphone and immediately knew who to call.
'Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers,' a voice on a computer said.
"Mom... Dad... it's me. It's Max," he began. "I'm alive, obviously. 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, I'm sorry again for hiding my abilities from you. I know I've said it before and that you said that you've forgiven me, but still... I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry in advance because... I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You both gotta stay safe. That's all I know. Dad, I'll take good care of the Mark 42, hopefully I'll be back with you guys soon. Find my suit and I'll meet up with you at some point in the future, and we'll trade. Tell Shuri I'm sorry for almost dying. I love you both, bye."
Max soon reached a house that seemed empty from the outside. He kicked the door to the garage open and placed the suit on the couch in the garage. He then had a look around to see that it was the beginning of an engineer's workshop. He got the suit comfy before he sat at the desk and began to quickly tinker at his implants. But then a new, young voice began yelling.
"Freeze!! Don't... move," the new voice yelled.
Max put his hands as he looked back up to see a boy, a few years younger than himself standing at the doorway with a potato gun in hand.
"Easy, kid," Max said and quickly sped towards him and took the potato gun from him and placed it in the desk. He then turned to see the kid with a shocked look on his face.
"Whoa... you're Arc, aren't you?"
"That I am. You can call me Max though."
"I can also call you dead," the kid said and handed him a newspaper that said that he was dead.
"Huh... maybe I can use that to my advantage," max said to himself as the kid saw the Iron Man suit.
"Oh my God!! Is that... is that Iron Man?"
"Sorry, it's just the suit. The latest one, that is. My dad and I got separated during the attack at my house yesterday."
"You live in California, right?," he asked as he began to look at the suit and Max nodded. "How are you here in Tennessee?"
"He flew me all the way here."
"What happened to him?"
"Life. JARVIS used up all the power the suit had to fly me here," Max answered.
"Who's JARVIS?"
"The AI my Dad made before I was born. He ran my house and is uploaded into each other Iron Man suits. Thankfully, I can fix him."
"Like a mechanic?"
"Precisely like a mechanic. So, what might your name be?"
"Harley Keener," the boy answered and Max offered a hand.
"Maxwell Stark," he said Harley shook his hand. "Hey, if I was building Iron Man and War Machine-."
"It's Iron Patriot now."
"That's way cooler!!"
"I don't think so, but that's okay if you do. Anyway, you were saying?"
"I would have added in um... the retro..."
"Retro-reflective panels?," Max guessed and the kid nodded.
"Yeah, to make him stealth mode."
"Stealth mode... I like the sound of that. Gotta talk to a guy about that."
Then Harley accidentally removed one of the suits fingers.
"Ooh..."
"Sorry," Harley said.
"It's alright. Nothing that can't be fixed."
"Can't you just shoot lightning or something at the suit, like Thor?"
"Huh... never thought of something like that. I might try that one time, but I'm pretty tired right now. Anyway, your parents home?"
"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers," he answered. "I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago."
"Hmm... sorry to hear about that. I really am," Max said. "Listen, I need your help. 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, some good batteries, your best electromagnet and some food because I am starved."
"Heightened metabolism? Side effect from your powers?"
"...Yeah, exactly. You're a smart kid, though I already knew that given the design of your potato gun."
"Thanks," Harley said. "Anyway, what's in it for me if I help you?"
"...What's his name?"
"Who?"
"The jerk who bullies you."
"...How'd you know about that?"
"Clothes seemed a little roughed up and not from being worn out by the elements and you have a slight mark on your face," Max explain and he then got out something from the back of the suit, a small device and he gave it to Harley. "That's a flash grenade. Point it away from your face and it'll discourage bullying. Won't harm anyone, but it can cover your ass. Deal?"
"Deal. And thank you," Harley said and Max nodded as he sat down. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to eat?"
"Nah... whatever you may have is fine. Also, does your mom have any old phones she doesn't use anymore?"
"Yeah."
"Can you text message on them?"
"Some. Why?"
"Gotta message a friend. Let her know that I'm alive."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Haha... nope," Max answered. "But she is my best friend and she might help us. We can be a team, I guess you could say. Like the Avengers."
"Awesome!!"
"Ha..."
Back at Tony's house, which is now surrounded by emergency rescue and news reporters, Pepper and Tony stood alone in the aftermath of the attack on their home.
"I should've been there...," Tony said.
"...You know he would've never allowed it," Pepper said as she grabbed one of Tony's shattered Iron Man helmets. She then noticed a red flashing light inside the helmet and Tony noticed it too.
"It's received a message."
He puts it on and begins to play the message.
"Mom... Dad... it's me. It's Max,"he began and Tony sighed in relief at the sound of his son's voice and smiled. "I'm alive, obviously. 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..."
He quickly took it off when the message ended and gave it to Peter after he reminded it. He quickly went back up to what was left of Max's room and quickly found a secret compartment with the Arc suit in it. He grabbed it and he, Pepper and Maya all drove off.
"...Why were you at the house tonight?," Pepper asked Maya. "What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?"
"...I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin," she answered and both of them look at her. "So if you two still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."
"Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony said you're a botanist, so..."
"Yeah, well... she's both a botanist and not a botanist. That night is mostly a blur, but I do remember that there was something to do with a plant."
"That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist."
"Well, your boss man guy, does he have a name?," Tony asked.
"Yeah, you know him already. Aldrich Killian," Maya said and they once again look at her in shock.
"...We've got a lot of talking to do."
Back with Max, Harley led him into the town, making sure they were unnoticed.
"Alright, I'll be good with food for a little while.The spring was a little rusty but workable, if I tinker with the phone a little, it will be suitable and the rest of the materials, I'll make do. Also, not that I'm ungrateful or anything but... when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more adult than this," Max said, lifting his sleeve to show a pink Dora the Explorer watch and Harley just laughed a little.
"She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition," he said as they reached the place where the bombing occurred. "When can we talk about New York?"
"Not at the moment."
"What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?"
"Later. Tell me about what happened here first," Max said as he walked around the crater. "Afterwards, I'll answer your questions."
"Okay. Well, I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then... he blew himself up. Right here."
"...Six people died, right? Including Davis?"
"Yeah," Harley confirmed as Max sat next to him.
"Six... yet there are only five shadows."
"Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven. Except the bomb guy, he went to Hell on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."
"And what do you believe?"
"...I don't know," he answered and Max accepted the answer with a nod. "...You know what this crater reminds me of?"
"Are you gonna tell me no matter what my answer is?," Max asked.
"Probably."
"Okay, what?"
"That giant wormhole, in um... in New York. Does it remind you?"
"...A little bit. Well, I promised to answer any questions you had, so... ask away."
"Okay. Are they coming back? The aliens?"
"It's possible. Probably not for a while, hopefully."
"What about the Avengers? What are they like?"
"My Dad is everything you hear about him, but the best father I could ever ask for. Captain America lives up to his legend in every way. Thor is like the big brother you never knew you had or wanted. Hawkeye is... a glorified archer."
This got a laugh out of the kid and Max joined in.
"And Hulk and Black Widow?"
"Hulk as Banner is a nice guy. While Hulk himself is useful in a fight, I find him hard to be friends with. Then again, my first encounter with him wasn't the most fun, so don't take my word for it. Black Widow is... awesome in every form of the word. She's like that sometimes scary big sister you always wanted."
"Haha... so how did you get your powers?"
"...That's a long story," Max answered. "In basic terms, I was exposed to arc reactor energy and it changed me and gave me access to something called the Cheetah Realm, which manipulates space and time. Its saved my life several times and gave me my speed. But don't go off exposing yourself to unstable energy, the Cheetah Realm chose to save me."
"Why?," Harley asked.
"Isn't that the question of the decade?"
"One more question. How did you get those scars on your face?"
"...Back to business. Does this Chad guy have any family here?"
"...Yeah," he answered, a little disappointed that he didn't get an answer. "His mom is where she's always at."
"Bar?," Max guessed and the kid nodded in confirmation and pointed to a nearby bar.
"Bar."
"Great... that's gonna be difficult without drawing attention."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"I'm only sixteen years old. Legally, you've gotta be at least eighteen to get into a bar, and there's no telling if they'll ask for an ID."
"Ah. Yeah, that does sound difficult. So what are you gonna do?"
"...There's always another way in," Max said and he began to walk towards the bar, but then bumped into a woman as he was attempting to hide his face. "Sorry. Oh, wait, you dropped something."
He picked up the item and handed it to the woman.
"Thank you," she said and he then got a good look at her, and saw that she had a scarred face.
"Seen some action?"
"Seems you have as well."
"Hm... good day."
He walks past her and around the corner of the bar and vanished. He then walked to the back of the bar and phased through the walls and into the kitchen. He then sped through it, causing disruption and knocking items over before phasing back through the walls and walked to the front again and saw Harley, giving him a thumbs up. Max turned to see that the staff had been called into the kitchen to help figure out what happened and clean up. Max nodded and quietly walked through the doors and saw Mrs. Davis sitting alone at a table.
"Mrs. Davis?," Max said, getting her attention. "May I sit here?"
"...Free country," she said and Max sat down across from her.
"I first wanted to offer my condolences for the loss of your son. I slightly understand the pain you must be going through, as I too have lost someone I considered family."
She said nothing to this but simply pulled out a file and slid it towards him.
"Look, kid, I brought your damn file. You take it and go. Whatever is in here, he wanted no part of it."
"...Hate to disappoint you, but I'm not the one you were supposed to meet," Max said and her eyes widened slightly. "Your boy did not kill himself. Of that I am positive. Neither is he a murderer, someone used him to kill people."
"What?"
"There's a good chance the Mandarin used him as a weapon."
"...If you're not the one who called, then who is?," she asked and a cellphone was slammed onto the table.
"That would be me," the same woman from before said and quickly slammed Max's face against the desk and cuffed him, but not before he grabbed Chad's dog tags.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's all this about? What the hell's going on here?," a man asked, walking up to them with a few others.
"It's called an arrest. Sheriff, is it?"
"Yes ma'am, it is. And you are?"
"Homeland Security," she answered and showed her badge as Max phased out of his cuffs quietly. "We good here?"
"No, we're not good. I need a little more information than that. Especially since you're arresting a boy who is clearly a minor."
As they had their discussion, Max gestures Mrs. Davis to hide the file under the table and she did. He then quickly ran off and phased through the nearby wall for everyone to see.
"What in the hell...?," the sheriff said.
"Shit," the woman said and then her hand began glowing and the badge became red hot.
Max then saw a ruckus beginning and then saw Harley.
"Kid, go and hide somewhere. Things are about to get dangerous."
"They already are."
The woman then grabbed Max by the neck and threw him a distance away, ignoring Harley.
"What's wrong? I thought you'd have kicked my ass before I even knew it," she taunted.
"Ah well, you know what they say... ladies first," Max said back.
He then saw the man he saw from Stark Industries get out of a car and this distracted him long enough for the woman to kick him through a window.
"You know what..."
He then sped into the kitchen of the building he was kicked into as Harley shot a potato at the other man. Max then prepped everything he needed for his plan to work as the woman came inside and he then kicked her back outside and into a nearby car, causing it to cave in under the pressure. She quickly got up but fell to her knees. Max then saw where she'd received injuries to began to glow and heat up, quickly healing her.
She got back up with an angry and annoyed look on her face and Max sped back to the building and into the storage room. As she walked through the kitchen, the heat she gave off sparked the gasoline spilled all over the floor to ignite and it began to burn her up, but she still kept coming.
Max then waited for her to come through.
"Yeesh, you walked right into this one. I've met hotter chicks than you," Max said, practically channeling his father as she slammed the door open with a smirk on her face and her body burned to a crisp but she was unaffected by it.
"That's all you got, Scarface?," she asked. "Cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?"
"Lady... that could be the name of the Stark autobiography."
He then speeds out as she looked to see dog tags in the microwave with the gasoline on. A moment later, the entire building blew up and Max luckily survived due to his phasing abilities. He looked up once the smoke cleared to see the woman dead on some powerlines.
All of a sudden, a nearby water tower came down on him before he had time to react. Once he came to, he found his foot was stuck. He was about to phase through it when he heard Harley yelling and the man before sitting down in front of him with Harley struggling on his lap.
"Hey, kid. Been a little bit," the guy said. "Name's Savin, just so you know. Now what about you littler kid? What would you like for Christmas?"
"Max, I am so sorry!!," Harley said, knowing that he'd disobeyed Max, who told him to hide.
"Oh. No, no. I think he was trying to say is 'I want my goddamn file!!' And I want it now before you pull a fast one and I roast this kid's face off."
"Don't worry about, kid," Max assured him. "Harley... remember what I said about bullies?"
Harley nodded, understanding what he meant and pulled out the flash grenade and set it off in Savin's face, allowing him to escape.
"That's the thing with us smart guys," Max said and phased through the tower and sped towards Savin and used a homemade repulsor to shot him in the face up close, knocking him down with a smoking hole in his face. "We cover our asses."
Max quickly phased off the repulsor as it was melting onto his arm. He began to keep a low profile again as Harley walked up to him.
"Thanks for the help. Really."
"You're welcome."
Max then sped back to the bar and grabbed the file and phased into a car and began to hotwire it.
"Why are you taking a car when you have superspeed?," Harley asked.
"I can't read this file while running and I can't have people seeing a blue streak running around Tennessee," Max said and Harley then gave him the most smug look he'd ever seen anyone give him.
"Admit it, dude. You need me. We're connected."
"Hahaha... listen. As much as I would love to take you with me, I need someone to watch the Mark 42 suit, make sure it keeps on charging. You also have your mom and sister to take care of, and you can't do that if you die helping me with this."
He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and looked back at the kid.
"Last year, I almost lost the most important person in my life because I didn't see the danger that was right in front of me. Then I lost three friends to Loki right before the Battle of New York six months ago, and I saw the danger coming at that point. I can't put a friend in danger when I don't have to, so sorry."
"So, you're just gonna leave? Like my dad?," Harley said, trying to guilt trip him.
"Uh, yeah. Pretty much. Unlike him, though, I'll come back. Also, I'm a master at guilt tripping, so that's not working on me."
"I'm cold," he said, pulling his coat closer to his face.
"I can tell," Max said in a mocking voice. "You wanna know how I can tell? Because we're connected."
He then drove off and Harley dropped the act.
"Worth a shot."
"You honestly thought I'd leave you out of the loop?," Max said from the comlink piece he had placed in Harley's ear when he wasn't looking and freaked him out. "Don't worry, I still need your help besides babysitting the suit. Now, hold onto this earpiece, as it is a backup communication pls should my phone get lost. It's got near limited range so we're good there. Now, head on home before your family worries and we'll get to work."
"Okay then."
"Get going, Iron Lad."
Max then began driving whilst looking over the file and quickly found a familiar acronym. He found AIM written all over the file, along with EXTREMIS. It was then that Max knew who he had to call and quickly got onto the phone.
"Hello?," Rhodey said.
"Hey, just so I know... should I be cautious if I meet a woman who is glowing a bright orange and begins to straddle me?"
"Yeah, that's happened to me before, keep an eye out for that. Who is this?"
"It's Max, Uncle Rhodey," he answered and he could just tell that he was relieved to know that he was alive. "Sorry to scare you."
"It's alright, kid. Do your parents know though?"
"Yeah, I sent them a message earlier tonight. Right before I met the guy who might've had a hand in injuring Happy."
"You thinking this guy is connected to the Mandarin?"
"Not entirely sure just yet," he said. "But first, your suit's redesign, it was done by AIM, right?"
"Yeah, why?," Rhodey asked.
"I'll explain later. I'm gonna find a heavy duty satellite relay, so I'll need your login."
"Same as its always been. Warmachine68."
"And password?"
"Look, Max, I have to change it every time you and your father hack my login."
"Oh, please. This isn't the 1980's, no one says 'hack' anymore. Password please?"
"...WARMACHINEROX. With an 'X,' all caps."
Max then heard someone laugh at the password and a gun then fixed on him, causing Max himself to laugh.
"Yeah, yeah... I admit it. I think War Machine is better than Iron Patriot."
"Good boy," Max teased and he felt his uncle's annoyance through the phone.
"Alright, moving on. Where are you, Max? Are you okay?," Rhodey asked.
"I'm okay, but I can't tell you on open coms, not even a secure one. Just call my parents, check up on them for me please. Gotta go now as I'm driving."
"Wait, you just turned sixteen, how do you know how to drive already?"
"I've known since I was eight. Anyway, I gotta go and get my ass handed to me through the phone by my best friend."
"And secret love," Rhodey added for him and it was now Arc's turn to be annoyed.
"...Yes... and secret love. ...Goodbye."
He then hung up and pulled over to tinker with his phone and quickly figured it out and began to text.
"Shuri, you there?," he asked and he received an answer almost immediately.
"MAX!!!!!!! GLORY TO BAST, YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!," she message-yelled. "What on Earth were you thinking?!!!! Threatening a dangerous terrorist?!! I thought you were dead!!!!"
"I'm sorry I worried you. I truly am, but I need your help right now. I'm gonna call you now."
"...Alright."
He then called her and she immediately picked and started screaming into his ear. It went on for a few minutes before Max even dared to place the phone back over his ear.
"...Feel better now?," he asked.
"Yes, much. Now, what did you need my help with?"
"I'm going after the Mandarin. And I need your help to locate him."
"...Okay. What do you need?"
"At the moment, nothing. I'll let you know. First I need to break into AIM's database."
"Alright, but you are to keep me posted every single hour. Do I make myself clear?"
"...Yes, ma'am," Max answered fearfully.
Max then headed down to what looked like some sort of Christmas beauty pageant at a school with many news vans around. He quickly parked the car and got into a van and began to ready the satellite, but then saw it didn't have enough juice to suit his needs.
"Now the question is how I increase it without giving away myself as being alive and kicking?," he said to himself just as the owner of the van opened the door and saw him.
"Excuse me, young man. I don't know who you-," the guy said while he was on the phone, but was silenced when Max turned to look at him and gesture for him to be quiet. "...Mom, I've gotta go. Something magical is happening!!"
The guy began to freak out a little and Max was quick to move him inside and close the door.
"Tony Stark's son is in my van!!," he exclaimed quietly. "I knew you were still alive!!"
"Yeah, I've noticed. Hey, is there anyone else here with you? Cause the less people know, the better."
"Oh no. It's just us."
"Good. Maxwell Stark," he said and they shook hands, though the guy nervously held on.
"Gary..."
"No need to be nervous. I get this as much as my dad."
"Yeah. Well, I just gotta say... I'm your biggest fan. And your dad as well."
"I could tell from the hairstyle."
"Oh yeah," he said and took off his hat to show it. "I pretty much based my look off of your dad. Also... I don't want to make things awkward but I wanted to show you... BOOM!!"
He lifted hip his left sleeve to show a tattoo of Tony and Max.
"...A Hispanic Scott Baio and Logan Lerman," Max said, making Gary laugh a little. "...Oh wait, sorry, is that me and my dad?"
"Yeah, I had them do it off these dolls I made, so it's not like off of pictures-."
Max then grabbed him by the arms to get his attention.
"Listen, Gary, as nice as it is to meet a fan, which it really is... I think we both need to settle down. I need your help in saving the world. I'm trying to get into some hard-crypt data files, but there isn't enough juice."
"Okay."
"Now, I need you to get up on the roof and recalibrate the ISDNs and increase the power flow by 40%."
"Got it," Gary said.
"Max needs Gary."
"...And Gary needs Max."
"Okay then. We need to be stealthy about it," Max said and Gary immediately got to work.
After a few minutes, he knocked on the roof and Max knocked back in confirmation. He quick went to the NSC, the National Security Contractors, and used Rhodey's login. Immediately, he was granted access to the AIM database. He began to look through footage of test subjects for the EXTREMIS virus. First one was of Chad Davis, then one of the woman he fought earlier, who's name turned out to be Ellen Brandt. In one of the videos, it showed Aldrich Killian speaking to them about the dangers of EXTREMIS. Then it showed them all being administered the serum. While it was beginning to work for most, one began to glow uncontrollably and once everyone was out, a blinding explosion occurred and the feed went dead.
"...Bomb is not a bomb when it's a misfire," Max said to himself. "So, this stuff doesn't always work. Fault, but you were still able to sell it to the Mandarin."
Max thanked Gary and convinced him to give him his spare phone, and then left. He called Shuri and gave her a full explanation as what was happening then he called Harley.
"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report. Also, I'd like to sort of introduce you to my best friend, Shuri. Say hi, Shuri."
"Hello, Harley," she said.
"Nice to meet you, kind of," he said. "Well, I'm still eating that candy you wanted me to get. Should keep eating it?"
"You're seriously making him eat candy?"
"Didn't expect him to actually do it, but how many bowls have you had?"
"Two or three," he answered. "But I can still see straight... sort of."
"Then you're fine. Put JARVIS on please."
"So this is what you've been up to since you died? Almost getting roasted alive and making children eat sugary foods to keep them awake?"
"Yeah, it's been quite a ride," Max said. "JARVIS, talk to me, how are you doing?"
'It's totally fine, Max,' JARVIS said through the phone as Harley had placed it on the faceplate of the Mark 42. 'I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of a sentence, I say the wrong cranberry. But sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities that were sent to me by Shuri, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal.'
"Okay then. No way will he be anywhere near the most likely locations. Still don't understand why my Uncle Rhodey hasn't figured that one out yet. So, this is just a wild guess but... Miami?"
'You guesses correctly, sir.'
"...Okay, kid, I'm gonna walk you through rebooting JARVIS's speech drive in a moment, but right now look at the screen and tell me where it actually is. Shuri, could you check your screen as well to confirm it?"
"...It does say Miami," Harley answered.
"Same here," Shuri said next.
"...Well, I did say it'd be the most unlikely spot," Max said. "Alright, I'll let my dad know of all the information I've found out about. How's it going with charging the Mark 42?"
"Oh, um... it's not charging."
"Also, your parents have just vanished off the grid a few hours ago."
Instantly, Max hit the brakes hard and pulled over to the side of the road.
"I'm sorry, what?!!!!"
'Actually, Max, the suit is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not be sufficient enough to successfully revitalize the Mark 42,' JARVIS clarified.
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about...," Max said slowly. "But how the hell did my par-...? Oh, not me too..."
"Max? Max, are you alright?," Shuri asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just... having a panic attack of my own here."
He then opened the door and fell to his knees onto the ground.
"Max? Max?!! Max, it's alright. Just breathe."
Max did what she told him, but he kept on freaking out. The stress of what was happening had become too much even for him, especially since he brought it down on them.
"Um, Max? You're Arc aren't you?," Harley asked.
"...Yeah," he answered.
"You said so."
"Yeah. Yeah, I did, didn't I?"
"Maybe you should just stop being careful and... start being yourself and run."
This made Max stop for a moment and think on the kid's words. After that moment was done, he slowly got up.
"...Yeah. Maybe you're right. Miami, huh?"
"Yup. That's right."
"Are you sure you're alright, Max?," Shuri asked.
"Not even close to being positive if I am, but I'll take what I can get," he answered. "I'm gonna have to go out of contact for a little bit. Harley, you've done your part so thank you for that. Keep watching the suit, but be ready to open the doors when it's fully charged. Shuri, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
He then hung up both phones and squished one, keeping one in order to keep in touch with Shuri.
Max grabbed everything he needed and then got into a runner's starting position. After a moment, he then sped off towards Florida.
After several hours, and a few rest stops, Max finally made it to Miami. He quickly found the Mandarin's mansion and dealt with the guards outside with ease. He then slowly walked inside so as to not attract unwanted attention, and he quickly saw that the place was a mess.
'Like the aftermath of one of Dad's parties,' he thought to himself. 'A small one, that is.'
He made his way further into the house, taking out a guard and taking his gun in the process. He soon got to the master bedroom that was surrounded by greenscreens and camera sets. He quietly walked over to the bed, which had a large lump in it. He pulled the sheets down to find two women there, then a toilet flush, which caused him to hide.
"Well...," a man said in a British accent. "I wouldn't go in there for twenty minutes."
The man was rather skinny-looking weasel, very tan, long beard, hair brushed back and in a tight knot. He wore pajamas and a bathrobe. As he started going on about fortune cookies, max stepped out and revealed himself.
"Hey, asshole!!," he said, pointing his gun at him, the man surrendering instantly by raising his hands.
"Bloody hell. Bloody hell."
"Don't you even think about moving."
"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it. Although, the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones. Hey, young man... do you fancy either of the birds?"
"...You're not the Mandarin," Max said and cocked his gun and began threaten him, making him sit down. "WHERE IS HE?!!! WHERE'S THE MANDARIN?!!!"
"He-He's here, but he's not here. He's here, but he's not here. It's complicated, boy. It's complicated."
"Oh yeah? Then uncomplicate it. Ladies, into the bathroom right now. Do it."
He turned for a brief moment at them and the guy tried to crawl away and Max just shot the floor in front of him and scared him back into the seat he was in.
"My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery."
"Okay, you're probably a decoy. Right?"
"What? Like an understudy? Absolutely not!!," he exclaimed and Max pointed his gun at his face. "Don't hurt the face!! I'm an actor."
"Fill your last moment of life with words," Max said.
"It's just a role. 'The Mandarin,' see, it's not real."
"Then how in the hell did you get here?"
"Well... I had a little problem with um... substances. And I ended up doing things, no two ways about it, mind you, in the street that a man shouldn't do."
"Moving onto the next part of the story now."
"And they approached me about the role and they knew about the drugs."
"Let me guess, they offered to give you more."
"Yes, that's right," he said. "They gave me things! They gave me this palace! They gave me plastic surgery! They gave me things..."
It was at that moment that Trevor had fallen asleep out of nowhere.
"Did you seriously just nod off?," Max says and kicked the man's feet, waking him up.
"Oh, and a lovely speedboat! The thing was that he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."
"He?," Max said. "Killian?"
"Killian," he confirmed.
"...A custom-made terror threat."
"Yes, exactly. The pathology of a serial killer, the manipulation of Western iconography. 'Ready for... another lesson?' Blah blah blah!!"
"This has been nice to hear and all but I'm pressed for time," he said and pulled his gun up again. "I've got more questions for you to answer. Also, one of those accidental explosions you took credit for put a friend of mine in a coma and he might not wake up. Not only that, your boss has kidnapped my parents. And you're going down still, along with Killian and all of AIM."
Trevor looked behind him and Max didn't have enough time to react as Savin shoved his face into a wall, knocking him out.
"Hurts doesn't it, you little shithead?," Savin said and looked up at the actor. "Okay, Trevor, what did you tell him?"
"...I didn't tell him anything," he lied.
"Really? You should've pressed the panic button."
"Well, I panicked, but then I handled it."
Hope you like this. Next chapter will be the rest of Iron Man 3 and then possibly the beginning of Thor 2, or at least setting it up for it. Until then, see ya later.