The scene flips to Rhodey talking to a group of reporters. He says that a training exercise involving an f22 raptor occurred, and that the pilot was un-injured.
"Well, at least the pilots are okay." Maria said.
Obadiah is shown watching this happen on TV.
"Even his house looks pretentious." Clint said, somewhat disgusted. Rich people decor was never his thing. It was too much.
Rhodey talks about the turn of events in Gulmira and says that the United States government wasn't involved.
"I don't like the look in Obadiah's eyes." Gamora muttered, so only the rest of the guardians could hear.
They all nodded in agreement.
Pepper is shown walking down the stairs to Tony's lab. Tony greets her.
JARVIS says that the suit is a tight fit and the more he struggles, the more it'll hurt.
Tony tells him to be gently because its was his first time.
"You do know what that sounds like out of context, right?" Quill asked, giggling a little. Tony just sighed.
Tony is shown standing on a machine that is trying to take his suit off. Tony says that he designed the suit to come off so it should be able to.
"A lot of your tech has come a really long way since then and it's only been 4 years." Natasha said with a small (Very small) smile
JARVIS tells him to try and not move.
Pepper asks what's going on.
Tony turns his head and says that this isn't the worst thing she's caught him doing.
"What is the worst thing she's caught you doing?" Bucky asked.
"We never speak of it." Tony and Pepper said simultaneously. "It's a rule. I'm not joking. I made a rule book and it is number 1." Tony said.
Pepper asks if the holes in the suit are bullet holes.
"You are going to give me a heart attack with your recklessness one day. I swear." Pepper said.
The scene switches to Afghanistan. A few SUV's pull up to where Raza is standing with a few other men. Obadiah and a few security guards get out of the first car.
Everyone, except for those who knew what happened, gasped. Tony looked away from the screen Natasha caught a glimpse of hurt in his eyes. "That bastard!" Clint shouted. Nobody disagreed, but nobody bothered to say anything more, Clint was pretty spot on anyway.
Obadiah walks toward Raza who welcomes him.
Obadiah turns to look at the large burn mark on the side of his face. Raza explains that it was because of Tony.
Obadiah says that of Raza killed Tony when he was supposed to he'd still have a face.
Raza says that Obadiah gave them trinkets to kill a prince.
Tony flinches, he knew what Obadiah did but that doesn't make it any easier hearing him say it out loud. Obadiah was like an uncle to him, Tony was pretty sure Obadiah was his godfather even but no one ever told him if it was true, so that betrayal cut deeper than anything else. Obadiah cared about the company more than him, wanted the company more than him so he'd orchestrated what was supposed to be his death and it devastated him that the closest connection he still had to his family would do that.
"He paid to have you killed?" Steve whispered.
"Again I say: that bastard!" Clint yelled.
Obadiah tells Raza to show him the weapon.
Raza tells him to leave the guards outside. They start to walk into the cave. Inside the cave we see the Mark 1 iron man suit finally assembled correctly.
"Oh my god, they did it." Scott said, worriedly.
Raza says that Tony's escape bore unexpected fruit.
Obadiah realizes that the suit was how Tony escaped.
Raza says that this suit is a crude effort and that Tony has perfected the design.
"I haven't perfected it, I've improved it and will continue to improve it." Tony corrected. "Because I don't believe that anything is really perfect... at least tech wise. There is always room for improvement."
"Amen to that." Shuri said. She was constantly revisiting her older creations to see how she could make them better. That to her was the best part about science and being an inventor.
Tony says that Tony has made a masterpiece of death.
Tony flinched.
"He makes it sound like an art." Steve said.
Raza says a man with a dozen of the suits can rule Asia, and says that Obadiah dreams of Tony's 'throne', then says that they have a common enemy and if they're still in business he'll gift the designs to Obadiah.
"Like he'd ever fall for that." Fury scoffed.
Obadiah is staring at the hole in the chest of the suit, he runs his fingers along the side.
"Holy shit, he knows." Peter said.
"This is not good, this is very not good!" Quill yelled.
"I am groot."
"I hope he does too." Rocket said to Groot.
"Wait- what did Groot say?" Bruce asked.
"He said that 'I hope that man gets punished for his actions.'.. well to put it nicely." Loki responded before any of the guardians could.
"You speak Groot too?" Gamora asked. Did all Asgardians speak it? Loki smirked.
Raza says he hopes Obadiah will repay him with iron soldiers.
"I-I-I don't think he's gonna do that." Strange said. Obadiah is the one with the power here, or at least he's really good at making it seem like he is, Raza shouldn't really be making bold claims like that so soon, especially after failing to do what Obadiah hired him to do.
Obadiah walked toward him. He rested his arm on Obadiah's shoulder and turned on a devise that emitted a high pitched noise. Raza started breathing heavily and the veins in his head started popping out.
"Oh my gosh."
Obadiah says that that is the only gift he'll receive, and says that technology has always been the Achille's heel in this part of the world, then tells Raza the effect would only last 15 minutes.
"Wait, I'm lost. What did he do to him?" Ned asked.
"Short-term paralysis." Clint muttered.
Obadiah tells the guards to crate up the armor and to finish their business there. He gets into the car, behind him a bunch of people got shot. Obadiah is on the phone now.
He says to set up sector 16 under the arc reactor and that he wants the data masked, he says to recruit their top engineers and he wants a prototype right away.
"He's making a suit." Gamora realized.
Pepper walks into Tony's lab where Tony is repairing his suit. Tony asks if she's busy and of she could run an errand for him. He says he needs her to go to his office, hack into the mainframe and retrieve all recent shipping manifests.
"You're trying to find all of your weapons. Good luck." Clint said.
Pepper asks what he plans to do with the information.
"Same thing he's been doing." Rhodey said. "Going in, destroying the weapons, risking his life."
Tony tells her that Obadiah's been dealing under the table and he needs to stop it, then tells her that he's going to find his weapons and destroy them.
Pepper says she'd help him with anything, but she wont if he is going to start this again.
"He was going to get himself killed. I couldn't stand by and watch." Pepper said, sadly.
Tony says that there's nothing but this, he says there's no opening, no benefit and there isn't anything to sign. He says that there's nothing but the next mission.
'He's becoming obsessive.' Several people thought.
"You're going to drive yourself mad if you keep operating like this. It's goof that you want to find all of your weapons and make sure no one else gets hurt. That's good. But not- not like this." Rhodey said.
Pepper tells him that she's quitting then tosses the device on the table and starts to walk away.
Tony says that she's stood by his side when he was reaping benefits of destruction and asks her why she's walking out when he's trying to protect those that he put in harms way.
"Yes, you were trying to so the right thing. I respect that, I always will. But... if you continued doing this you were going to run yourself into the ground or end up dead and I can't enable that, not in good conscience." Pepper explained. "I worry about you sometimes, Tony."
Pepper tells him that he's going to get himself killed and that she wants no part on it.
A few people looked torn at that. On one hand Tony is taking responsibility for his actions by destroying his weapons. He's making an attempt at correcting his mistakes and doing better, being better, and that was a good thing. But on the other hand Pepper is right to say that she doesn't want to be a part of this, she's right to not want to watch her boss die from trying to fix his mistakes.
Tony says that he shouldn't be alive unless there's a reason.
Bruce was reminded of his and Tony's conversation on the heli-carrier a few days ago.'So you're saying that the Hulk- The Other Guy saved my life? That's nice, that's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?' It seemed like Tony strongly believed that everything happened for a reason. Bruce wasn't sure if that was true but he guesses they'll have to wait and see.
He says that he isn't crazy and he just finally knows what he needs to do and that in his heart he knows its the right thing.
"One of the rare moments we'll ever see you being serious." Natasha said.
"Well when the situation calls for it." Tony said half joking.
Pepper walked back over and picked the devise up from where she tossed it and tells him that he's all she has too.
"That's sweet." Peter said. "It's also kinda sad id you think too hard about it, though."
Pepper walks into Tony's office. She uses the device Tony gave her to log into his computer. A large number of files pop up. When she gets to the 3rd one, pictures of the Mark 1 on appear on screen. She notes that its sector 16 and asks herself what Obadiah's up to.
"This is so intense." Ned whispers to Peter.
She opens a new file and the video The Ten Rings shot of Tony starts playing. Pepper types 'translate' into the computer.
One of the men says that Obadiah didn't tell them that the person he paid them to kill was Tony Stark. Pepper is horrified by this.
"Oh my God is right." Hope said.
The man says that Obadiah's lies will cost him, and that the price to kill Tony has gone up.
"Why would he keep that a secret?" Ned asked.
"Probably because Tony is such a huge public figure and his death would bring a lot of investigations and attention and Raza and the Ten Rings didn't want to be a part of that. I mean... look what happened with his kidnapping. The news was blowing up." Rhodey said.
Pepper copies everything onto the flash drive.
Obadiah walks into the room and asks what they're going to do about this. Pepper gasps and looks at him.
"Oh no." Natasha whispered. Tony subconsciously moved closer to Pepper.
Obadiah pours a glass of some type of alcohol, and tells Pepper that he knows what she's going through.
"No, you really don't." Wanda said, angrily.
He sniffs the bottle and makes a comment about Tony always getting the good stuff.
"Always." Tony said, trying to joke, but his tone of voice made it seem like more of a threat than anything else.
Pepper smiles and nods, she covers up the flash drive with a newspaper and clicks on the screen saver. A picture of Tony's car pops up. Obadiah walks over to her.
"He's getting suspicious." Clint said. "Like not even bothering to hide it anymore."
Obadiah says he was happy when Tony came home.
"Liar." Bruce said.
"You know... thinking back on it. He did seem more shocked and surprised than anything. He didn't seem happy or relieved. He was shocked. Because I wasn't dead." Tony said. His voice sounded blank as he said it but there was rage in it too.
He says it was like he came back from the dead.
"Which is what you wanted me to be." Tony said.
He then says Tony never actually came home because part of him is still in the cave, and then says that it breaks his heart.
"As much as it absolutely enrages me to say this... I think Obadiah may be right about that. About part of me still being stuck in that cave with Yinsen." Tony said. "I mean I got out, but I think I took some of it with me and left some of myself there."
Pepper says he's a complicated person and he's been through a lot. She says that she thinks he'll be okay.
Obadiah tells Pepper that she's a rare woman.
"Is he... flirting with you?" Maria asked, though she already knew the answer. "That's- that's gross."
He continues by saying that Tony doesn't know how lucky he is.
"Didn't then. Do now." Tony said.
Pepper thanks and says she'd better go back then picks up the newspaper, unplugs the flash drive and grabs her purse.
Obadiah asks if the paper is from that day.
"He's not suspicious anymore, he knows!" Scott yelled.
Obadiah walks over to her and grabs the paper and asks if she minds, saying he likes the puzzles.
"The puzzles are fun." Clint agreed.
She walks away again and looks at the flash drive in her hands. Obadiah walks back over to the computer and sees 'download complete' on the screen.
"Oh no." T'Challa said.
Pepper is walking down some stairs. Coulson is seen sitting in one of the chairs.
Coulson reminds her that they had an appointment and asks if she'd forgotten.
"Oh no she definitely didn't. Pepper never forgets anything." Tony said. "It's kinda scary sometimes."
Pepper says she didn't and tells him to come with her.
Coulson asks if she means right now.
Pepper confirms and tells him to walk with her and that she's going to give him the meeting of his life.
"Poor Coulson." Natasha said. "Pepper you can be terrifying when you want to be."
"It's an acquired skill when you have to deal with this one." pepper said and pointed at Tony.
William is on the phone and surrounded by other men in lab coats, he hangs up when he sees Obadiah coming. He says that they've explored what they asked him to and that there's been a hiccup.
"Obadiah won't be too happy about that." Peter said, legitimately worrying for the scientists safety. Obadiah now seemed like he is definitely the type to cry(Blow up) over spilled milk.
Obadiah inquires about the hiccup.
William says that the technology to power the suit doesn't exist.
"It exits alright." Tony said.
Obadiah gestures to the arc reactor and says that they have the technology and that he only asked them to make it smaller.
William says that that's what they're trying to do and that its impossible.
"But it's not though." Shuri said.
Obadiah says that Tony was able to build it in a cave with scraps.
William apologizes and says he isn't Tony.
"Poor William." Bruce said, a frown on his face.
Tony is walking in his living room, the phone is ringing he picks it up and answers it. The same high pitched noise is heard again and Tony freezes.
"Son of a bitch!" Happy shouted. Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha, Peter and May were surprised at his outburst seeing as Happy's usually the one who's calm and collected.
"Aw, Happy you do care." Tony said, smiling.
Pepper, from the other end of the line, asks if Tony's there.
Obadiah leans him back onto the couch and tells him to breathe. He holds the device out so Tony could see it and asks if he remembers it, before saying it was a shame the government didn't approve.
"Your government draws the line in very odd places." T'Challa commented.
"Less of a line and more of a squiggle, that stops and starts in random places." Shuri said.
"No, yeah. That seems accurate." MJ agreed.
Obadiah says that there are a lot of applications for causing short-term paralysis.
"Oh really? Like what?" Clint asked.
Obadiah walks in front of him and grabs his chin and tells Tony that when he ordered the hit, he was worried he was killing the golden goose.
"He was using you for your intelligence?" Bruce asked.
"He was doing it for years." Tony confirmed. "I just never saw it."
He puts the devise up to the arc reactor, then says it was fate that he survived and that he had one more golden egg to give.
"That son of a bitch." Scott said. Stane, in so many ways, reminded him a lot of Darren Cross. Both of them were rich, powerful men who wanted to use someone's technology against them.
Obadiah asks Tony if he thinks having an idea means it belongs to him.
"Uh yeah..." Quill said. "Isn't that part of having an idea... that its your idea?"
"See you'd think that wouldn't you. But people have been stealing other people's ideas for years." Natasha said.
"Specifically things invented by black and brown people and women." MJ added quietly.
He says that Howard helped give them the atomic bomb, and asks what kind of world it would be if he was as selfish as Tony was being.
"I don't think these two inventions are comparable by any means, seeing as we are not in the middle of a war." Steve said, angrily.
"Even then, there are a lot of people who disagree with the bombing of Japan in World War 2." Fury said. "At the time it was seen as the only way to be sure that Japan would wave their white flag, but we killed a lot of innocents when we did that, so the question posed: 'Was it really a good thing?."
Tony gasps as the arc reactor is pulled from his chest. Obadiah takes the arc reactor in his hands and says it's beautiful and calls it Tony's ninth symphony.
"He's getting a little..." Steve trails off, not knowing what adjective to use because there were so many to describe Obadiah in this moment.
"Crazed." Peter suggested.
"Unhinged." Pepper added.
"Deranged." Steve said. "He's getting a little deranged."
Obadiah calls it Tony's legacy, and says that there could be a new generation of weapons with this technology and says that those weapons would put balance back in there hands.
"Not so sure his hands are the right hands." Bucky said.
He says he wishes Tony could've seen his prototype, and tells him he wished he didn't get Pepper involved because he would prefer that she lived.
Pepper growled at him, actually growled. Tony hugged Pepper, assuring himself that she was there and she was okay, and that Obadiah didn't hurt her.
Rhodey is driving and he's on the phone with Pepper. They're talking about Obadiah ordering a hit on Tony, Rhodey asks Pepper where Tony is.
Pepper says she doesn't know because Tony isn't answering his phone and asks Rhodey to go make sure everything is okay.
"Thank you." Tony said to Rhodey, who nodded in appreciation for the thanks.
Then she turns to Coulson and says she knows a shortcut to the factory.
"Wait a minute, when I got there you were on the floor in your lab, but Obadiah left you on the couch, how the hell did you get downstairs paralyzed and dying?" Rhodey asked.
"I threw myself around my house a bit." Tony said. "I don't recommend it."
Tony is seen leaning his head against the wall of an elevator. He stumbles out of it and struggles to get to his lab. He looks over at his desk and sees Peppers gift.
"You weren't kidding when you said it saved your life." Pepper said softly, silently thanking the part of her mind that told her to hold onto the arc reactor.
He falls to the floor and crawls over to his desk. He props himself onto a bin and tries to reach for it but fails. He falls back down.
"Don't give up now." Bruce said.
Dummy picked up the arc reactor and lowered it down to Tony. Tony takes it from him and calls him a good boy. Then he smashes the glass onto the floor.
Obadiah is staring at the suit he built. He walks toward it and puts the arc reactor in.
"That thing looks huge." Hope said.
"He believes in the saying 'The bigger the better'." Tony said. "In the end it didn't really work out so well."