Chapter 46 – A Matter of Revenge

A/n: I cannot put into words how glad I am that so many of you like this story. It's unbelievable! As is the fact that new people keep reading this when it's this long as I know when I see a story of that length sometimes I'm a bit like well I don't know if it will be worth reading it now it's that far in. If you haven't done so already go vote on my poll and get your view out there.

Booklover2526: Go Toni indeed! Glad you liked it :)

Post U Later: I say can we meet in the middle with amazing filler :) I'm really glad that I lived up to any expectations that you had for that scene.

ReadPaxJoy: I am really glad that you liked it :) You're very welcome

babyliss12: I'm really happy that you enjoyed it and I hope the other scene you are looking forward to is just as satisfying for you to read :D

XxxBellaBellaxxX: I think I'd be more scared of angering Toni than any other woman on the planet and I'm the one writing her. Mind you I have a temper as well so I can't really talk :)

ReenReen: I'm glad it was as good as you hoped it would be :D You were saying for a while that you were looking forward to this scene so your opinion means a lot to me :D Badass Toni coming up :) ILY too :)

LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books: I'm just epic like that :) All joking aside I'm glad you like the epicness that is Toni Stark because she's badass and she knows it :D

nessa11997: You're welcome :D

Luke Black: I am really glad that you're enjoying this story especially since you are one of the group of people are usually aren't fem!Tony fans but read this anyway because it is highly flattering. I'm from Scotland so we're working in a similar time zone there :)

maipigen: I'm very glad that you like it so far :)

youwannabekate: She is indeed :D And I am so glad that the scene was so good for you and managed to get that reaction from you :) Enjoy ;)

Sun Swipe 98: Toni is certainly going to oblige there and I'm really glad that you like me story and the way that I write it. Sorry I couldn't put the dots in your name without the site erasing most of it. There are no pairings in this story but one of the sequels is Bruce/Toni orientated.

DaughterofDeath: Hi new reviewer! Have an update :D

"Toni didn't start learning from me until a little while after this," Natasha told him, "we hadn't even met at this point."

"It doesn't change the fact that her movements there looked a lot like you when you're fighting," Clint repeated even more amazed by the similarity now that he knew that the pair hadn't met at this stage. Of course he suspected they hadn't because surely Natasha would have been shown in the movie by now if they had although he had wondered when he saw it if they had met before the events of this movie and Toni had just subconsciously picked up a few things from Natasha just from her body language.

"Natasha's not the only person in the world who can move smoothly you know," Toni told him slightly offended that he didn't believe she could be naturally capable of moving with grace, "with the amount of etiquette lessons I went through when I was little I would be worried if I wasn't able to be graceful by now without any outside assistance from Natasha."

"All I did was teach her how to fight really," Natasha admitted, "she had the grace already but I was expecting it from someone who was brought up in high society especially since her mother was the picture of poise and elegance."

"You would hardly believe she used to mess with cars all day would you," Toni said bitterly. She still resented her father to reducing Maria to the woman that Toni had grown up with instead of the woman her friends had known her as back when she was in college.

Dressed in the black cat suit she had designed to go underneath the Mark III suit for the first time Toni stepped onto her newly created assembly station for the suit and the floor around her began to open up.

"I have to admit that does look amazing," Steve said, "and extremely complicated. Although the system that you have now is obviously even more so because from what I saw in the previous movie it almost seems too complicated."

"Yet it still works," Toni pointed out, "I don't make things more complicated for kicks. I designed that system because I wanted to be able to suit up or down depending on the time and doing it whilst walking just makes everything more efficient. It takes less time and gives me more momentum for manoeuvres that I have to do straight after I take off."

She neatly stepped onto the base of the suit which was designed for her feet and let the machines go to work as they tightened all of the bolts that were needed to keep such a delicate piece of machinery together. The only thing she needed to do by way of movement was raise her arms so they could be gloved and suited up.

"You do make that look very simple Lady Toni," Thor informed her, "I don't understand how Midgardian science can do such a thing but for you it always appears easy."

"That's the one problem I have with science," Toni told him, "sometimes it feels too easy for me which is why I push myself harder to create something that nobody else has even thought of and experiment in so many different aspects of the scientific field because I have to do as much as possible to keep me occupied. Especially since until I met Bruce I didn't have anybody to exchange ideas with and I didn't have anyone but myself to design for because I hadn't met any of you at that point except for Phil. And Phil wasn't much more than an acquaintance at that stage."

"Which is why your pursue languages and other skills as well," Natasha said knowingly.

"It's something that doesn't come to me naturally," Toni confirmed, "and I need that because I need to feel challenged in some way. Of course my memory does make some things easier than they would be for other people trying to learn the languages I have but overall it's still more challenging than a lot of the other things I do. There is a reason that I only have two foreign language degrees seeing as I don't really count the English one and I tend to focus on the degrees I know I can get. Over time I plan on getting a few more in the other languages I speak."

"If you ever actually choose which one to do it in…" Phil joked remembering the insane list of languages that Toni had presented to them in her long speech earlier on in the film. He couldn't even remember the names of all the languages that she was at least partially or fully fluent in let alone remember all of the words that went along with knowing those languages.

"I was planning on getting something different next so I'll probably get a degree in one of my Scandinavian languages or maybe one of my African languages. I've always wanted to get one in Swahili," Toni considered.

"You just like showing off," Bruce teased, "and saying you have a degree in Swahili is a great crowd pleaser which is the real reason that you're going for that one soon."

"So what," Toni shrugged, "I think if you're good enough at speaking Swahili to get a degree in it and you're American and learned the language by yourself then it should come with some serious bragging rights."

Soon enough Toni was only left with the helmet to put on as the arc reactor in her chest seemed to glow a brighter blue when it connected with the suit.

"The suit boosts the power to the reactor," Toni said responding to the inquisitive looks a few of the others (namely Bruce) threw her upon observing this change, "unfortunately it does have the effect of draining it too but only if I wear it for a significant amount of time because that particular arc reactor produced 12 gigajoules of energy."

"Wow," Bruce said stunned by just how much power was contained in that tiny device.

"You said 'produced,'" Clint observed, "as in past tense, is that arc reactor different from the one that we're seeing on the screen."

"Yes," Toni said sharply not wanting to dwell on the fate of that particular reactor as it had been destroyed along with the body of Obadiah Stane which was not her most pleasant memory. The next one she had built had the same capacity as the destroyed one as she hadn't had the time to make any advancements beyond a few simple things and she couldn't well remain attached to the one she had built in the cave as it had been almost completely destroyed itself by the energy blast from Obadiah's fall into the big arc reactor.

Finally the helmet lowered itself over Toni's head concealing her ice cold glare and replacing it with the blank expression that was imprinted on the Iron Man mask and the next shot showed her shooting through the sky.

"That was quite a leap from making a semi-controlled flight solely about LA in the Mark II to actually flying across the ocean and right to Afghanistan in the Mark III," Natasha said, "anything could have gone wrong with it."

This statement didn't help the nervous atmosphere that had been building in the room ever since Toni had completely lost it when Christine Everhart had accused her of double dealing and causing the deaths of people in Yinsen's home town far more intentionally than she had ever caused the death of anyone innocent before. Neither did the fact that Toni didn't respond to the statement and they had to keep watching the movie to find out what would happen when Toni confronted the remaining members of the Ten Rings.

In and around Gulmira citizens were being ordered around by members of the Ten Rings as they screamed at the sight of components of the Jericho missile raining down on the hills behind them.

Toni couldn't help but get angry again just seeing this footage because what they had done with her weapons had taken the lives of innocent people. Yinsen had never said exactly but she knew it was highly likely that members of the Ten Rings murdered his family and then took him captive because he could be useful to their crusade if they used intimidation to keep him down. The cold look in her eyes returned although it wasn't the same strength as it had been at the time. Thor looked at over at her to ask something but quickly met Toni's gaze and hurriedly looked away deciding that what he wanted to know was not important enough to face that for too long.

Refugees desperately tried to protect their families as they barricaded the doors to their residences but men carrying guns simply kicked the doors down and opened fire before hauling out all of the terrified survivors.

"Yeah right we won," Steve muttered as watching this footage was only increasing his feeling that he might actually throw up if he was forced to watch too much of this.

Other doors were blown sky high with dynamite as chaos reigned in the streets. Refugees who fell were pulled roughly to their feet and set going again and everyone who wasn't a member of the Ten Rings had their arms behind their head hoping that by cooperating they would save their lives.

"I've seen so many warzones," Clint said softly, "but nothing makes me sicker than seeing people bossing around terrified civilians who haven't done anything to hurt them just because they can. It's not a fair fight and it's not for any good cause. It's just a thirst for blood that they can't stop satiating even though they have to know somewhere that what they're doing is so very wrong."

The women and children were being separated from the men as the spokesman from earlier issued orders in a foreign language, "Hurry it up. Put the women in the trucks. Stack the weapons here. Clear all the houses."

Steve had a feeling that these images would join those that already haunted him in his nightmares for in his head they were already becoming hopelessly mingled together with images of the Nazis separating out the women and children from the men to go to the work and death camps that they had set up. Many of the people from the footage he had seen were not alive at the end of the war and he suspected that the same would have been true here if Toni hadn't decided she would come and get her revenge on the Ten Rings and save Yinsen's village.

"That one there," the spokesman continued as an entire family came running out of their house huddled together desperately trying to cling onto each other, "Faster. Faster." As the family walked forward the man continued clinging onto his wife and children as the order was given to take him, "grab that dog."

"They won't even let families die together," Natasha said distastefully, "nobody there would want to die but they could accept it but you just leave them wondering what happened to each other before they die and if they're lucky enough to survive they have to live with the fact that maybe their family member isn't dead but is still suffering."

"Nobody ever said terrorists were humane," Toni spat out, "I don't think they even qualify as being human. Because they don't have anything that sets us apart from the animals of the planet because what they want to do is kill and maim. That's it! Along with getting more weapons to kill and maim people with. But they can't even do it themselves because they have to get their captives to do it for them."

As the family drew closer to the truck the man was pulled away by a terrorist lackey and was ordered to, "Put him with the others." His wife and children couldn't stop screaming as he was pulled away from them.

Lightning crackled around Thor once more and Bruce's eyes were flashing green more and more strongly as the scene continued. They needed Toni to arrive and soon but the problem was that the minute she got there Toni was in the line of fire too. But the sophistication of the suit would hopefully baffle the terrorists and give her an easy victory.

His son managed to slip out of their arms and ran towards his father screaming out for him desperately trying to keep his family together.

"And there are always scenes like that around," Clint said sadly because no matter what there were still times that despite his training that he still remembered the old phrase 'they were somebody's baby once,' and it was always evident after the bodies were counted and loved ones were informed. SHIELD agents could pretend to be numb to those expressions but any that truly were Clint did not want to spend any time around because you could have a heart and still be a spy and an assassin no matter what your superiors thought of it.

His father broke free for a moment and embraced his son but he still gestured frantically that he should return to his mother desperate to at least keep his family alive if he had to die. "What the hell is this?" the spokesman shouted upon seeing the scene.

"This is a family that you were determined to rip apart and emotionally torture you bastard," Toni snarled lowly hating the fact that someone could be so nonchalant about killing when it still made her want to throw up on occasion even if it was bad people that were falling by her hands.

He picked the boy up and flung him away before his father was forced to the ground and stomped on as if he were a bug that the spokesman wanted to squish. His wife looked on and she couldn't stop crying and screaming knowing what was about to come.

"How can anyone find such events to be a source of pleasure?" Thor said furiously looking like he might send a bolt of lightning hurling into the screen any second.

Finally the spokesman had had his fun with the father and told one of the guards, "shoot this dog. You're all incompetent."

"Good!" the room spoke as one glaring at the spokesman creating a combination of looks that would send any man – even if he was the bravest in the world – running for his mummy crying like he was a toddler again.

A gun was held up against his head as the gunman told him to, "turn your head," over and over again as if thinking that the man would actually agree. His wife desperately tried to shield her children's eyes from the scene although there was nobody to protect hers.

"That's what I call a good mother," Steve said admiring the woman's first instinct being that she had to protect her children from seeing anymore atrocities instead of trusting that they would look away and shielding her own eyes. She seemed to know that the innate curiosity of children would defeat them there and they would look and be forever traumatised.

But suddenly a loud gust of wind could be heard and the group looked up to see a faint figure hurtling through the sky before Toni in the Mark III landed perfectly on one knee on the ground in front of an insurgent.

"And now Annie will stop me from having to watch too much more of that," Natasha exclaimed, "слава богу."

As she straightened up that insurgent began firing on her but the bullets deflected harmlessly off the suit and she grabbed a hold of him and flung him up over the nearest building.

"There is no way that he survived that," Clint said with a smirk, "go Toni!"

She took out three more with perfectly aimed repulsor blasts before turning back to the larger group who had each seized a hostage and were pointing a gun to their heads.

"Cowards," Bruce muttered darkly.

Toni of course couldn't use the long range attack of her repulsors in fear of hitting someone so she lowered her hands and powered down those but she had another trick up her sleeve. Her targeting system quickly identified who of the people in front of her was a hostile and who was just a terrified civilian and then she fired neatly with her missile systems taking down all of the hostiles and leaving the civilians safe.

Clint let out another low whistle at the sight of Toni so ruthlessly taking out the bad guys especially since she had ingeniously managed to deal with the fact that they had human shields by using her amazing targeting system.

The young boy quickly escaped his mother's grasp again and ran to his father who could now hold onto him as he didn't fear that the dead insurgents would kill him and his son for doing so. The little boy shot Toni a grateful glance as she marched past towards her next target.

"That's sweet," Natasha admitted, "you've got your very first fan Annie."

As the spokesman tried to hide and call someone – presumably Raza – and inform them that Toni was back and in a far more sophisticated version of her escape vehicle a fist flew through the wall next to him.

"Now that's how you intimidate them," Phil said approvingly, "show them that you're strong enough to bust through a wall with a single punch."

The hand grabbed a hold of him by the collar and pulled him back through the wall letting go at just the right point so he skidded to a halt at the feet of the civilians. As he tried to regain his bearings Toni blasted off of the ground and told them, "he's all yours!"

"That was a very decent thing to do," Steve told her, "everyone deserved a little revenge in that situation and you made sure they wouldn't get themselves killed going for it."

A/n: Tada! Epic action Toni and there's more where that came from in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it y'all!