I've made this chapter a bit longer by splicing together parts of what used to be Chapter 6. Hopefully you enjoy this being a little bit longer :)
This is the introduction to the second half of the story. It's all going to build towards the big climax.
Chapter 5: The Journey
"Where is it?!" he demanded of the older Stark, as if the middle aged man had any better idea than the one, true Mandarin.
"How should I know, Gene?" Howard replied. The man had lost his temper a long time ago, after being forced to help the spoiled child find the rings he had spent years studying.
"For the sake of seeing your son alive, I would think that you know whatever I need to find out."
Howard Stark was a rather calm person, but after being kidnapped by Gene Khan he had started to slip into becoming a very high strung man who would swap from one emotion to the next - typically between rage and anger, with a side of hate added onto it all. The entitled boy walking before him made him think about if his son might have become like this, had he not been there at all.
To Gene Khan however, his tour guide's opinion of him meant nothing. He would not let anything stand in the way of him and his destiny.
I will have them all, just like mother said.
xXxXx
"Temugin?"
The little boy heard his mother call his name and ran over to her, a wide smile plastered on his face.
"Yes, mother?"
"It's time for bed."
"But I can't sleep... not with the man around."
His mother had invited the man to start living at his home. Something about the man was off, but the young child had not been able to figure it out.
"If you don't go to bed," his mother spoke in a gentle manner and smiled, "You won't be able to fulfil your destiny."
xXxXx
"You realize that this would be faster if I had a computer to analyze this, right?"
The older genius' sudden words shook Gene out of his thoughts. After figuring out what was going on, he turned away to leave the prison where he had been keeping the scientist.
xXxXx
"Why did you kill her?" a now 13 year old Gene had finally gained the courage he had needed. The question had been on his mind for what was only six years, but seemed like ages.
6 years since he killed her.
"I did it because you were too weak to take the mantle of the Mandarin for yourself."
He remembered how it broke his heart to find the lifeless body of his caring mother surrounded by overgrown grass in the garden of his home. The man had taken the ring from around the neck of her lifeless form. He had been trying to advertise what he had done.
xXxXx
"You're doing fine as it is, Stark," Gene replied, in an effort to rip himself away from the memories.
The older man groaned to the response, but continued working anyway. He needed to see his son again.
After another moment of thought, the memories made a bit more sense. The realization made the Mandarin smile.
"The ninth ring... I know where it is."
xXxXx
The genius smiled after having said the words.
"Tony, I..." her words trailed off, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"I know it's probably too late, but I needed to tell you. I needed you to know that I-"
The words were cut off by her lips landing on his. The inventor's heart was racing. His mind had gone blank.
He began pulling away for a moment, to which her face changed from a look of happiness to one of concern.
"Pepper..."
"I'm sorry, did I move too... is this ok? I don't want to..."
"Pepper," the boy started, "You're crushing my hand..."
"Oh! Sorry!"
As soon as Tony's hand became lose from her iron grip, he moved it towards her face to brush the hair away from her face.
"I'm sorry for taking so long to realize it. I should have noticed it before."
The redhead gazed into his eyes and responded with three very simple words.
"Tony, I love you."
xXxXx
Of course one of the rings would be kept here.
His childhood home. The place he had found his mother devoid of life. The place where Zhang killed her and took the ring that would start his journey...
The journey to find all of the rings.
To Gene Khan, this was the place that had started turning him into who he was. Who he had become.
"Gene, are you sure the ring is here? We've been walking around this place for hours!"
Howard had been rapidly losing his patience, and even reminding him of what his fate would be if he resisted, he continued to complain.
"Silence, Stark! We are close... I can sense it."
Raising his hands to the empty field before him, the rings on his fingers began to glow as the ground started shaking.
"Look before you, Stark. The ninth Makluan Temple!"
The field split open as the structure started raising to the surface.
xXxXx
"Gene, please tell me you know where we're going."
The boy acknowledged the statement with a snarl, then looked to his left to read some chinese characters written on the wall.
"It should be just past here..."
The Mandarin gave a sloppy flick of his wrist and blew apart the wall to reveal an ancient room filled with books. In the middle stood a faceless grey statue on a podium.
"According to the legends engraved in the walls, this guardian is known as the Adaptoid."
Nine down, one to go.
The Mark 3 will be making a debut in the next chapter. If you would like to view the design, I posted a sketch of it to my tumblr: mark50sketch.
A small hint for the last part of this whole story: it's going to be titled Rebooted ;)
Chapter 6: antivirus - Coming soon