-Chapter 2-

I am Iron Man

Inside a secluded warehouse, numerous shifty characters had gathered in order to participate in an underground auction to procure weapons of untold power. After a few moments, a bald man with a beard stepped onto a stage, getting everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen, welcome," he greeted. "Well, I won't waste anyone's time, so let's get started."

Several men brought crates onto the stages, opening them to showcase numerous weapons. "What we have here is top of the line Stark Industries weaponry. Walk away with one of these, I guarantee the other guy isn't walking away."

The bidders all looked at the crates, seeing everything from anti-tank missiles to bombs.

"And I've saved the best for last." The man walked over to a massive tarp, pulling it off to reveal a giant metal suit. "I give you... the Iron Monger. A walking arsenal capable of everything you've seen today and then some. Let this thing loose... and whole armies will crumble to you."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't bring an army then."

Everyone perked as rock music began to blare, just as a figure in red-and-gold armor burst in through the roof. He touched down in front of the stage, revealing himself to be the Invincible Iron Man.

"Hell of a party you got here," he looked around. "Lot of neat stuff. Only problem is... some of it has my name on it. So... how about you just hand it over, and I won't have to crack some skulls taking it back? And by all means, say no."

"Whoever takes him gets 70% off their next purchase."

"You try to be reasonable…"

The patrons all rush the stage for weapons, looking to take Iron Man out. One of the men grabbed a gun and tried opening fire on Iron Man, but he just walked forward, not even flinching at the shots as he moved toward the guy, grabbing the gun and snapping it in two. He then punched the guy out before quickly spinning around and firing several repulsor blasts at some of the others in rapid succession. Seeing more of the patrons of the auction beginning to arm up, Iron Man raised his arm, allowing a missile to rise out of his arm. He fired it at the group, allowing smaller rockets to launch off the missile and attach to all the weapons of the group. One by one, the weapons exploded, taking the patrons out instantly. With them being taken care of, Iron Man turned to the ringleader.

"Obadiah Stane. We've really gotta stop meeting like this," Tony's eyes narrowed. "No, seriously. How many times do I have to kick your ass before you drop this 'Krabs vs. Plankton' shit and find something to do with your life other than ripping off my stuff?"

Stane scoffed. "It's not my fault you created the greatest weapon of all time and used it to be an armor plated nursemaid. But now that you're here…" He was already in the middle of climbing into the Iron Monger suit. Once inside, it finally sealed up, allowing him to step toward Iron Man. "We can see what you're really made of."

"Oh boy…"

Iron Monger raised a machine gun hand and opened fire on Iron Man, forcing him to rocket forward and plow right into him. The impact knocked them through the wall of the building, tumbling down a hill onto the highway. The two slowly picked themselves up, Iron Monger grabbing a passing motorcycle and swinging it at Iron Man, sending him careening into another car. Before Tony could react, a missile rose from Iron Monger's shoulder and fired at him. Iron Man barely dodge before the missile hit, causing him to tumble across the ground. Iron Man shook his head as he looked up to see Iron Monger approaching. Thinking fast, he kicked his feet up, firing his rocket boots in Iron Monger's face. Iron Monger stumbled back as Iron Man jetted into the air. At that moment, Iron Man got an idea.

"Your suit's pretty impressive," Iron Man admitted. "Let's see what else it can do."

"If you insist," Iron Monger replied, activating his own thrusters.

With that, Iron Man took to the sky, with Iron Monger chasing after him. The two kept climbing higher and higher into the air. Eventually, the two reached the upper atmosphere, where Iron Monger managed to grab hold of him.

"You had a great idea, Tony, but my suit is more advanced in every way!" Iron Monger boasted.

"How'd you solve the icing problem?"

Stane blinked. "'Icing problem?'"

Right on cue, Iron Monger's suit began to freeze over and short out.

"Yeah... you might want to look into it." Tony promptly punched Iron Monger in the face, knocking him off. Stane plummeted to the ground, crashing down hard. With that done, Iron Man flew down after him. He went toward the beach where Iron Monger landed, looking over the downed Stane.

"Was that it? And I was just getting warmed up."

Suddenly, the suit powered back on, Stane slowly picking himself up, the suit visibly damaged.. "I'm not finished yet, Stark."

Iron Man sighed. "I just had to say something, didn't I? Jarvis, give me a full scan of armor and systems."

"On it, sir," a computerized voice came.

As the scan went on, Stane charged forward, firing countless missiles at him. This put Tony on the defensive, blasting the missiles and flying out of the way of one, working to stay ahead of the projectile.

"Runnin' out of time here, Jarvis!" he insisted, firing at the projectile.

"I'm working on it," A few moments passed before Jarvis spoke up again. "Scan complete."

"And?"

"The energy output emanating from the suit's arc reactor is causing irregular power fluctuations within the suits systems."

"So this suit can only handle a certain amount of juice?"

"Essentially, sir."

Having an idea, Iron Man jetted forward, socking Iron Monger across the face before getting grabbed by him.

"Nowhere left to go. Any last words?"

"Yeah, kinda…. Flares!"

"What…?" Several flares shot out from Tony's suit, blinding Stane and causing him to drop him. Tony immediately jumped to his feet, the arc reactor in his chest charging up before firing a repulsor beam from it directly into Stane's own reactor. The energy being poured in caused the suits to begin surging with power, much to Stane's surprise.

"What the-?!" Stane managed as his suit began glowing, sparks shooting from it.

"Science 101, Stane! What happens when you overcharge a battery? If you don't eject within the next ten seconds, you're gonna find out!"

Seeing no options, Stane ejected from the suit seconds before it exploded. He tried crawling away, only to crawl into Iron Man's metal boots, looking up to see Iron Man himself.

"Hi there," Tony grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifting him up. "Rough night? There's a nice warm cell in the Raft for you to sleep it off."

Later on, Tony flew above the streets of New York City to his NYC base of operations, Stark Tower. As he landed, removing his suit, he was greeted by a Japanese teen.

"Here a bit early, aren't you, Pen?"

"Miss Potts needed help with the project we've been working on."

"Down in the lab."

Tony nodded before heading down there. He entered the lab, seeing a woman with red hair working on something.

"Certainly different being the one walking on you working on a project at work," he mused. "Not that I mind, of course."

"Good morning to you too, Tony," Pepper greeted. "I assume Stane's been busted again?"

"Thoroughly. He had a suit this time, Pep. A big one."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Bad guys always think bigger is better, don't they?"

"And yet it never works. Go figure. Though sometimes, bigger is better, if you know what I mean."

They chuckled before sharing a hug, about to kiss when a voice cut in.

"Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

They turned to see Peni descend the stairs.

"Yes/Np." Tony and Pepper said at the same time.

"You really know how to kill a moment, don't you, Peni?" Tony asked.

"Well, maybe you should save the hanky-panky for after work," Peni deadpanned. "Ever think of that?"

"In passing. Did you need something?"

"Yeah," Peni nodded. "Some privacy so we can wrap this up, please."

Tony shrugged. "I'll just leave you to it, then." As he turned to go, he stopped. "By the way, when you see Pete, tell him to at least try to be on time for once next week."

Peni chuckled. "No promises."

Author's Note:

Been a long time coming, but here we are.

For context/those who haven't read Chronicles of Spider-Man, this incarnation of Peni is Peni Watanabe, niece of Yuri Watanabe and best female friend/first secret keeper of Peter Parker. By this point in time, she interns for Stark Industries and is the mission control of the Web-Warriors.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr.

* Peni - Kimiko Glenn

* Pepper - Gwyneth Paltrow

* Iron Monger - Jeff Bridges

Please R&R. Until next time!