Chapter 59 – Iron Man vs. Iron Monger
A/n – Okay, so I hit 800 reviews; I think I cried. I probably cried a lot. So .1999 I owe you a oneshot in this verse. Sorry I had to mangle your nickname to get it to stay cause of the censorship thing. Okay this chapter had over 50 reviews so I couldn't respond to them all here. I've messaged you all with replies and anon ones will be answered below.
Also I've answered questions about Toni's future relationships about a billion times so please read through all the AN's where I answer questions before asking yours. I'm getting a little tired of answering the same things over and over again.
Orangepaint – I hope you haven't traumatised your family too much. My updates aren't worth that. That is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me so thank you. I have written an original novel last year but I've never shown it to anyone.
Queen Apolline – Hopefully you'll be able to get an account one day.
Mythfan – I know right. I figure at least some probably have because there is no way people with a lack of common sense like that haven't.
.1999 – Congrats on getting the 800th review. I'm so flattered by how much you love my story. I highly doubt mine is the best but I am rather proud of it.
Guest #1 – I'm glad you liked how they reacted. Have an update
Guest #2 – I have :)
Guest #3 – I try and update weekly but unfortunately I can give no confirmation of a time because I'm allowed on my laptop at specific times.
Guest #4 – I update as quickly as I can so here's an update :)
Noel K-K – I'm flattered that you took the time to work that out. I'm updating as soon as possible but it's not the holiday here yet. It sounds like an interesting idea. Maybe once I'm done with this verse I'll try it.
By the way please stop messaging me asking me if I'm okay if I don't update for a while. I'm on an as and when system which means it may take me forever to update. Unless I specifically say I'm not fine just assume my mum took my laptop away.
"Okay," Toni said interrupting before the real fight scene kicked off and she was actually being beaten up on screen, "I'm only going to say this one last time. Obadiah Stane is dead and gone so there is no point in shouting at him and threatening him. Also I am still alive so there is no need to damage my property or worry about me. It's just annoying."
The others were reluctant to agree to those terms however. Not because they were unreasonable, in fact they were well within her rights to request. But because they knew that it would be extremely hard for them to stick to the terms. For while logically they always knew that Toni was sitting in the room and that Stane had long since been dealt with the movie seemed to draw you in and make you forget that. And while it might be annoying for Toni it would be almost impossible to repress. In the end they agreed though. Toni's glare was a little too scary to be subjected to for any amount of time and they really should be able to control themselves.
The minute they agreed Toni gestured to JARVIS that he should restart the DVD and play the next scene.
The Iron Man suit soared across the sky at top speed trying to get to the factory as quickly as possible. As she rounded a corner Toni asked JARVIS, "How do you think the Mark I chest piece is going to hold up?"
"Oh great," Bruce muttered to himself, "Now there's something else to worry about." He had never even considered the fact that while the first arc reactor would keep her alive under normal circumstances it wouldn't power the new suit for very long. He had seen how badly it had done with powering the Mark I suit which meant it wasn't likely to last for very long powering the more sophisticated systems of the Mark II.
"The suit's at 48% power and falling, ma'am," JARVIS informed her, "that chest piece was never designed for sustained flight."
Now the others suddenly realised the same problem that Bruce had just come up with. Natasha was kicking herself for not realising it earlier having personally gone through the tragedy of Toni's arc reactor failing on her. Maybe her instincts on these things weren't as good as they should be. She'd have to work on that.
"Keep me posted," Toni told him wanting to make sure she wouldn't get any nasty shocks during the fight which would put her at a disadvantage.
"The one time I've seen you looking out for your own health in any of the films we've seen so far," Phil said pleased that Toni at least had some concept of self-preservation rather than being willing to give up everything for every tiny thing.
Toni however knew that it hadn't really been her own health that had motivated her there. It had been the desire to protect Piper and get rid of Obadiah and that had been it. The chest piece had only had to last until she had done those two things and then if it had cut out she wouldn't really have minded all that much. As she had proven when she had taken a giant risk to get rid of Obadiah in the end.
She put more power into the thrusters and powered her way towards the factory. As Piper exited the building more relaxed having gotten away from Obadiah he received a call from Toni, "Piper?"
"Toni?" Piper said clearly relieved that Toni had gotten in contact with him, "Toni, are you okay?"
"Prepare for Toni to lie about how healthy she is," Clint said knowing exactly what was coming up next. It was fairly obvious now that he had seen these movies that Toni was excellent about diverting attention away from things she didn't want you to ask about. Specifically her personal health although her past came up sometimes too.
"I'm fine," Toni lied, "How are…?"
She was interrupted by Piper exclaiming, "Obadiah, he's gone insane!" as he turned back to face the factory building.
"Something's going to appear behind him," Steve said knowing there was too much focus on the space behind Piper for that not to happen.
"I know," Toni told Piper simply not wanting to waste her breath giving long responses. She knew every moment counted at this point because she would have to fight soon, "listen you'd better get out of there!"
"Good idea," Bruce acknowledged, "get everyone you can out of the area. Although somehow I doubt that's how that went down." None of them were ever lucky enough to have no civilians in the surrounding area when they were in the middle of a fight. Besides Piper often seemed to end up in the middle of situations with Toni if the snippets of conversation he had heard between them about it were any indication.
"He built a suit," Piper said not listening to the instructions Toni was giving him causing her to exclaim, "get out of there right now!"
"You'd think people would listen to you when you're the one in the possession of an iron suit and all the facts," Toni sighed remembering how often she had to order civilians to get out of her way whilst on missions. And people said she had no sense of self-preservation.
But Toni's voice was barely audible over the rumbling sound coming from behind Piper as the pavement sprung up due to a disturbance beneath the surface. The Iron Monger suit rose from the ground and pulled itself out of the hole it had created.
"Damn it," Steve said softly to himself. Sometimes he hated it when he was right about things.
"Where do you think you're going?" came Obadiah's voice from inside the suit.
Natasha scowled at Obadiah's insistence on killing Piper just to get back at Toni whom he already thought dead. She hadn't materialised in the near vicinity yet so he had no way of knowing that she was really alive and could have just left Piper alone. But Obadiah was intent on getting revenge on Toni even if she wouldn't know about it.
Piper took a few staggered steps back obviously shocked by the sudden appearance of the Iron Monger suit. As the suit advanced on Piper he cried out knowing that there wasn't much he could do against it except attract attention.
"Your services are no longer required," Obadiah said sinisterly as he levelled one of his many weapons and directed it at Piper.
"Why does everything the man says have to be some cliché villain line?" Clint said annoyed, "honestly you'd think he'd come up with something better to say than that."
"Okay so Obadiah is about to try and kill both Piper and Toni and you're concerned with how he's speaking," Natasha said incredulously staring at Clint in disbelief.
"Fair point," Clint acknowledged deciding to keep quiet about his annoyance for the things Obadiah was saying from now on. There were more important things going on in the movie after all.
As the machine gun whirred into life Toni soared down from the sky calling out the name, "Stane!" as loud as she could to draw attention away from Piper.
"That was very noble of you," Steve pointed out trying to get into the habit of complimenting Toni for her actions. He still had the problem of judging Toni for everything so if he could see things she genuinely did right then he might begin thinking about the other things more positively.
"It was common sense," Toni said confused by Steve choosing to compliment something so obvious even he must have realised it, "I was the one with the protective armour suit."
Seeming not to react to the shock he must have been feeling Stane automatically turned his machine gun on Toni. The bullets clattered off the suit as she drew closer and closer. As they collided she sent them both flying through the hole in the pavement Obadiah had made which resulted in them flying out of a wall and through a truck on the freeway. There was a shower of sparks and then the pair came to a halt right in the middle of the road.
"Oh no," Natasha said realising how much more difficult the situation just got for Toni.
"That seems like an accurate assessment of the situation," Bruce said his tone just as dismayed, "because I know for a fact Toni will be more concerned for the commuting citizens at this point than about anything else. It just complicated the entire fight."
One car went ricocheting straight off of Obadiah who was pushing himself up without regards to the cars travelling around him.
"Total disregard for any human life," Clint snarled. Even when he had been on the wrong side of the tracks he had never been as comfortable as Obadiah was with killing people. And he hadn't even been targeting civilians. He was almost certain that Natasha felt the same way despite what she had been through in the Red Room.
The truck with a hole in it veered to the side and cars slammed into each other as the entire freeway became a wrecking ground. Yet another car driven by a woman with three kids in the back sped towards the scene every one of them screaming. She slammed on the brake hoping to stop the car before it got to the pair fighting.
Phil distinctly remembered this part in Toni's report. In fact it was one of the few sections when he hadn't had to ask her to elaborate so that the report on the fight would be more accurate. She had obviously been disgusted by Obadiah's actions in attempting to harm an innocent group of people. It was that and many other small quirks of personality that had led to him becoming close friends with her in the first place.
The car screeched to a halt barely a centimetre away from Obadiah and the woman honked her horn at him obviously not knowing what else she should do in the situation. In response Obadiah simply pushed himself up off the ground and lifted the car up into the air.
The outrage in the room – which had already been at a high level before that moment – completely exploded at this action. They knew better than to damage anything further than they had already but other than that the Avengers didn't hold back.
Natasha's full vocabulary of Russian swear words and insults flew from her mouth. Toni almost felt like chuckling at some of the more colourful ones but even for her watching this moment was too appalling to do so. Even if it was her second time bearing witness to it. To her the endangerment of innocents just to hurt someone else was the worst thing any of her enemies could do. That was why she kept so many of her emotions under lock and key that she might not have otherwise. It was easier to appear passive and unemotional and be written off as cold than have others be used to get to her. That was also the reason she had been so reluctant to start a relationship with Piper or have it end up in the press. She was trying to protect him from the media circus just as thoroughly as she protected him from villainous people like Obadiah Stane.
Bruce's skin looked a little green but that quickly faded as he considered all the innocents that were endangered through any of their battles. It seemed that all villains were not content with just killing the person they had come for. It was just an endless drive to kill for them after they glimpsed the power they could have. That was probably more the case with Toni because getting rid of her economic power as well as her influence would open many doors for a lot of people.
Clint itched to grab his bow and shoot an arrow through the damn TV screen but he didn't want to upset Toni. Besides he'd been told off by JARVIS before for firing arrows inside the house and after the incidents with the foam in the vents he never wants to cross the AI again.
Steve and Thor both had similar reactions to the acts of Obadiah at this point. They had to leave the room because they knew that if they remained then the furniture in the room was going to be damaged irreparably. Toni suspected that they had headed to one of the Hulk proof rooms in the tower that was specially equipped with objects for the big guy to destroy. Considering the state they were in when they got back Toni was almost certain that had been what happened in the end.
A/n: I'm sorry this isn't very long after so long but I just badly injured my hand again so I'm writing one handed. And I'm off on holiday later today so I may have no internet for a week. That means more writing getting done.