Disclaimer: Not mine. But the words are!
AN: 28 days! I can hardly wait! So here's what I do to make it a little less painful (while I stare at my countdown). I have another chapter ready, but the more I read it, the more I dissect it. I will try against everything to get that up before the end of Sunday (here in L.A.) On another note, I took the Japanese from google translate, I apologize if it totally helped me butcher the language instead. Please feel free to correct me so I may change the wording. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday to my favorite superhero of all time, the irreplaceable and un contended Robert Downey Jr.! You don't know me, but I can honestly say that I wish you did! You'd like me...I'm sure of it. :-)
Tony landed, violently cracking the foundation beneath him.
Screaming alarms echoed as he searched for smoke, toppled structures, fire. Anything to help him identify the cause of the chaos. He shook his head in confusion as he was met with nothing. He walked forward and hoped he would come across a worker that could help him understand the situation. "Help me out J. Where am I going?"
"The main control room is thirty yards ahead to your left."
Clad in his Mark VII he walked to the building. His eyes darted around as his heads up display scanned the area for any personnel. He rounded the corner of the building when two men in lab coats slammed open the doors and ran to him. Mumbled and incoherent words flowed from them in a panic.
"Slow down." Tony tried to pacify them, signaling with both hands to stop flailing. "I can't understand what you're saying." He shook his head.
The two men continued their frightened rambling and pointed back towards the building.
"Yukkuri shite." Tony continued to urge them to slow down as they spoke. He understood the language, but he found it hard to understand the men as they talked over each other.
One of the men finally exhaled to calm himself, and spoke. "Tasukete."
Tony spoke under his breath. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on." He walked to the man and continued. "Nani ga atta ka?"
Both men shrugged at his question. Neither knew what was happening. Tony sighed and lifted his face plate. "What happened?" He asked again. This time a bit more frustrated than before. When he saw neither man would answer he shook his head and walked towards the building as he closed his face plate.
He hurried along the hallways and searched inside the red-lit interior for other workers. His metal feet clanked along as he walked past empty offices and rooms. Tony turned around when he was stopped by a man shouting for him from behind.
"Iron Man!" The man's English was broken, but understandable. Tony sighed; glad that he could speak more at ease.
Quickly he spun to face the man and made his way to him. "What happened! What's going on?" Tony yelled metallically.
"The levels. They are high. I do not know why." He wiped some sweat from his face with the back of his hand. "Come." He gestured for Tony to follow.
They arrived into a room. Normally the fluorescent lights would illuminate the inside, but it was dim. Only two emergency lights were on above the entry door, and a red light would flash on and off periodically. Tony didn't mind dangerous scenarios, but this particular scene made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"The rods." The man pointed to a room with a glass window where the cooling rods could be seen. "The levels. They say it is too hot."
Tony nodded as he studied the gauge before them. The needle bounced in the red zone wildly. "What can we do to cool them?" He asked.
The man shook his head. "They are not hot." He shrugged.
"I don't understand." He knitted his brows. "Do we have a problem or not?" Tony continued.
"The water. It is not boiling. We do not need to cool them." He pointed to the window again. "The problem is we do not know what is causing the false measurements. If it is a system issue, we need to evacuate the entire sector. Because we cannot assume everything is ok."
"I was told your radiation levels were spiking." Tony turned his head to face the man.
"Those levels are false too." He breathed out in relief. "The Geiger Counter readings were normal. We have checked four times. Nothing above normal."
Tony placed his gauntlet clad palms on his face. He wished he could rub his face, but he did not want to lift his face plate. "I'm getting too old for this." Tony shook his head as he spoke to himself. "How long will it take to run diagnostics?"
"Twenty four hours for initial data. Then technical computer analysts will also come and run their own studies. I cannot say a time."
"I can help clear out a radius." Tony stood tall. "Where are your safe zones."
"Come. I will show you." The man walked him towards a wall of maps.
They studied them intently as he pointed to the routes and zones until a menacing computerized laugh came from behind them. The worker stopped moving, his finger halfway between zones on the map as he moved his head to look at the computer screen behind them.
Tony turned in place and asked out of the corner of his mouth. "Is that you?"
"No." The worker wiped his sweat again.
Metal clanks echoed as he walked to stare at the screen. "That's not part of your system?" Tony pointed to the picture.
Curious as to what Tony was talking about, the man dropped his hand and walked to stand beside him. His eyes went wide. "That is not us." He shook his head at the ten inch skull and crossbones that laughed as its jaw dropped and came back up.
An anxious Tony began to connect the dots. Sweat ran down his face. The bile in his stomach rose and it made him suddenly very nauseous. He clenched and unclenched his armored fists in an attempt to expend the amount of adrenaline that coursed through his body.
His heart raced, and he felt a sense of panic he had never felt before.
Their eyes shot towards the figure as the scientists all stood perplexed.
"Do we have a problem?" Rhodey's mechanical voice came through and boomed. He stood in place but looked back and forth between the men. His heart sank when he realized the two men who fought back helplessly were homeless.
"Who the hell are you?" Leonard asked angrily, the material of the man's haggard shirt still bunched in his hands.
Rhodey laughed and walked forward a few steps. "I asked you a question first."
"Come a step closer and I will kill this man." Leonard warned through gritted teeth.
Rhodey heeded the man's warning and froze in place. He physically did nothing to provoke the men, but in the suit he had Jarvis calculate their distances, open targets, and other technicalities in case he needed a quick point of attack. "What do you think I'll do then? Killing a man in front of a witness, not very smart."
Michael stood with a vice grip on his subject's arm. "Leonard, release him." He nodded as soon as his partner whipped his head around to eye him curiously. "Do it."
"Now that's smart." Rhodey crossed his armored arms. "Now let go of the other man." Rhodey spoke to Michael.
"This one's insurance." Michael smiled. "You can't hurt me without hurting him. We'll get in our van and go."
Rhodey nodded before he uncrossed his arms. The man was clever, but Rhodey had his plan formulated in his mind already. "This isn't a negotiation. Now let him go before I have to resort to other means of coercion."
The scientists all stepped back tentatively. Unsure of how the man in the suit would react to any sudden movements. All of them but Michael raised their hands in the air as a sign of surrender. His eyes stayed glued on Rhodey as he pulled on the man's arm to force him in front of him as shield.
He signaled for his men to enter the van as he walked backwards to it. The defenseless man had nothing to do but try to keep his balance as he was dragged along.
The darkened alley grew brighter in Rhodey's heads up display as he had Jarvis sharpen the night vision. He steadied himself and waited for the rest of the men to board the vehicle before he carried out his plan of attack.
"Let him go." Rhodey warned one last time.
Michael laughed. "No thank you."
His target was clear before him, and as he readied himself, his ear com buzzed to life.
"Rhodey!" Tony yelled loudly into his ear. He stood still and kept his eyes on his target. He knew the second he lost sight of the situation before him, the men would get away. So he attempted to listen to his friend and be alert. "Rhodey!"
"Tony…" He whispered cautiously. "Kinda busy, man."
Tony raced out of the building as he darted off into the sky. He pushed Jarvis to limits as he felt himself being pressed into his suit. "I don't care. Drop what you're doing!"
Sensing the urgency in his voice, Rhodey knew he had to listen to what he had to say. He eyed Michael carefully. A few more steps and he would be inside the vehicle. He had to carry out his plan. "I have a little situation on my hands, Tony."
"Rhodey!"
"What's wrong, Tony?" Michael moved a step closer to the car. Rhodey felt himself get more anxious.
"Go get Pepper!"
"What?" His level of panic increased as well. He knew Tony could over react, but he always had a justified reason. "Why? What happened?"
"Just go! It was a sham…" Tony shook his head with anger. Someone had deliberately wanted him out of reach. He couldn't be sure why, but he knew Pepper could be in danger. And his heroic nature (which he now cursed) had let him fall for the trap. "…the nuclear plant…it was a false alarm. It was a diversion."
It made sense. It was an old trick, but an ingenious one. Rhodey stiffened and remembered he had been on his way to her before he got side-tracked. He closed his eyes and cursed their luck.
Michael opened his door, but before he could step in, Rhodey stopped him. He targeted his arm, which draped across the front of the homeless man's chest, and fired a paralyzing dart. It lodged firmly and securely, sending the neutralizing agent into his blood stream. His arms dangled at his sides before he fell back, still and harmless.
It wasn't long before the engine started.
"Rhodey!" Tony shouted when he got no response.
"I'm on it Tony! I'm on my way." Tony allowed himself to relax just a little, trusting that his friend could protect the one person that mattered most in his life.
As fast as he could, Rhodey disabled the van as best he could. He fired his repulsion rays at the rear tires and watched them explode. Quickly he located the two homeless men, and with them securely in his arms, he flew off into the night sky.
To be continued…
28 days 14 hours 2 think that "just yesterday" I looked at my countdown and it said in big fat numbers 149 days to go. It's been super hard staying away from the endless barrage of TV Spots they've been releasing, but I promised myself I wouldn't do that to myself anymore. After that second one where Pepper yells for Tony…ay. No more, please. So hopefully I can upload my updates like I planned from here on out. Thank you guys for your support of this story…and me! HUGS!