I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 19: Aldrich Killian
After a few hours passed, Tony and Riley travelled down to the United States wearing hoodies, hats and sunglasses.
When the two Starks finished driving down a home improvement store, they drove down to Miami and arrived to a white mansion that had a red roof.
The father-daughter duo stood on a tree to see how many guards were guarding outside the mansion.
Tony had a pair of binoculars to his eyes as he watched the suited men guarding the place as Riley carefully held onto the tree.
The billionaire holds up three fingers, signalling to Riley how many guards they'll take down.
Riley gave Tony a nod of approval before the two of them hopped back into the grass and do a running start before they scale up the concrete fence that shielded the mansion.
They crouched down as the two of them crept towards the guards that awaited for them.
Upon seeing one of the guards was standing with his back to them on the staircase, Riley handed her father a rope which he then swung before wrapping it around the guard's legs and bringing him to the ground.
The guard hit his head against the staircase causing him to be knocked out almost instantly.
Tony then shot something at another guard's neck instantly distracting him.
The billionaire went ahead and kneed the guy in the stomach while Riley grabbed the taser from the backpack and turned to tase another guard who was trying to sneak up on them.
The two guards then fell to the ground while the Starks looked at each other.
Riley grinned as she held up the taser in delight.
"Yeah, I'm just going to take that from you now."Tony declared.
"What, why?"Riley questioned in disapproval."I'm heading to the purple belt in karate."
Tony gave Riley a look causing her to simply hand the taser back to him.
The two Starks kept moving along and Tony stopped Riley once they caught sight of two more guards standing a little ways away.
Tony took a small Christmas ornament out of the bag before handing it to Riley.
"Care to do the honours, Rye-Rye?"Tony requested.
Riley smirked at Tony before taking the ball and tossing it over to where the guards were.
The guards turned to look at the object with frowns on their faces.
One of them picked the ornament up only for it to explode in his hand, the glass shooting up and into his face as he fell to the ground with a groan.
The other guard was instantly on high alert and turned in the direction of the Starks, but Tony knocked him down instantly.
The guard fell into the small water fountain that was there and Riley grinned before tossing another Christmas ornament into the water as well.
The father-daughter duo then walked away as the ornament exploded behind them.
Tony put a hand on Riley's back before pulling her in the direction of the house.
They walked through one of the back doors and Riley scrunched up her nose at the sight of the unkept house.
The duo slowly walked around the house, hoping to find someone.
Mostly, the madman that had started the odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
The Starks stopped once they came upon a room with a woman and a man in it.
"Why is it so hot in here?"the woman complained."I told you to put it at 68."
"My fault again."the man scoffed."Let me tell you something, sweetheart. I am not your personal air con-"
The man fell silent as Tony put a glove on top of his head which instantly electrocuted him until he fell to the ground unconscious.
The woman looked at the two Starks with wide eyes, not expecting to see them.
"Él era molesto."Riley informed.
Tony sent his daughter a look that told her to be quiet before he reached over and picked up the gun that was lying on the table.
The woman held her hands up so that they resembled a gun before she mimicked a gunshot.
Riley gave her a confused look while Tony just hushed the woman.
Tony and Riley left the woman in that room and began making their way around the house until they came across a room that had a bunch of small screens that were playing videos of the Mandarin.
Riley furrowed her eyebrows and walked further into the room, confused as to why this room looked as if it were set up like some kind of TV set.
Tony made sure that Riley stayed behind him as they walked forward.
The father-daughter duo paused behind a big piece of metal and looked around it to see that there was a bed that looked like it had someone sleeping in it.
Tony held a finger up to his lips to signal Riley to be quiet.
The young brunette nodded before the two of them slowly crept towards the bed.
Tony held the gun up and pushed Riley behind him before reaching forward and pulling back the covers.
However, instead of being met with the face of the Mandarin, the two Starks came face to face with two very frightened looking women.
They looked at the two with frightened eyes and Tony quickly hushed them, but he was cut off by the sound of the toilet flushing.
Tony's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed Riley before hiding behind the head of the bed while the two women laid back down.
"Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes."A man laughed.
Riley peaked her head out slightly and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sight of the Mandarin coming out of the bathroom acting like anything but who she thought he was.
"Now, which one of you is Vanessa?"the man asked.
"That's me."the first woman said.
"Ah!"the man said before throwing a fortune cookie at the first woman."Nessie!"
Tony and Riley both shared a confused look.
This was supposed be the Mandarin?
"Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?"the man asked.
"There's some guy and his kid over here."the second man declared.
The Mandarin, however, didn't seem to hear the woman's respond.
"They're made by Americans, based on a Japanese recipe."the man continued.
Tony, having heard enough, cocked the gun before stepping out from behind the bed.
The billionaire pointed the gun at the man as Riley came out as well holding a crowbar that she found behind the bed.
"Hey!"Tony snapped.
"Bloody hell."the man murmured as he put his hands up."Bloody hell."
"Don't move."Riley demanded.
"I'm not moving."the man assumed."You want something? Take it. Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."
"What?"Tony retorted in confusion.
The man looked at Tony.
"Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?"the man assumed.
The Starks and the women looked at him confused.
"Heard enough. You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy."Tony stated and started yelling, making the man jump."Where? Where's the Mandarin? Where is he?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."the man said as he tried to walk away."He's here. He's here, but he's not here."
The man sat down on a chair while the Starks looked at him confused.
"He's here, but he's not here."the man admitted.
"What do you mean?"Riley questioned.
"It's complicated."the man remarked."Hey, it's complicated."
"It is?"Tony scowled in an annoyed tone.
"It's complicated."the man repeated.
"Then make it uncomplicated."Riley retorted.
Tony looked back at the women in the bed and nodded his head toward the bathroom.
"Ladies, out. Get out of the bed."Tony ordered."Get into the bathroom."
The women got up from the bed and began making their way to the bathroom.
Tony backed up slowly but kept the gun aimed at the guy who claimed to be the Mandarin.
"Sit."Tony ordered.
Riley held the crowbar tightly and glared at the man as the two women went inside the bathroom.
Once the women went inside the bathroom, Tony and Riley locked the door before turning back around to see the Mandarin crawling across the floor.
Tony and Riley shared a look of disbelief.
"He seems too stupid to be the Mandarin."Riley mumbled.
"I know, Rye-Rye."Tony replied.
Tony shot at the floor a foot away from the fake Mandarin.
The guy jumped back in surprise before hurrying over to the chair again and sitting down.
"My name is Trevor."the man admitted."Trevor Slattery."
Tony and Riley walked towards Trevor.
"What are you?"Tony asked."A decoy? You're a double, right?"
"What, you mean like an understudy?"Trevor assumed with a hint of hurt in his voice."No. Absolutely not."
Tony held the gun up at him and Trevor held his hands up.
"Don't hurt the face!"Trevor begged."I'm an actor!"
"Really?"Riley said with a unfazed look and looked at the orange bracelet on her right wrist, pretending that it was a watch."Judging by the look of my father's face, you've got actually about a minute to live. Might as well spill out everything."
"It's just a role."Trevor declared."The Mandarin, see, it's not real."
"Then how did you get here, Trevor?"Tony questioned.
"Well, I, um, had a little problem with, um, substances."Trevor exclaimed."And I ended up doing things. No two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do."
Tony began to get more irritated while Riley looked at Trevor with a confused expression.
If the Mandarin was fake, then who blew up their mansion and almost killed them?
"Next."Tony requested.
"Then, they approached me about the role and they knew about the drugs."Trevor declared.
"What did they say?"Riley asked, holding tightly the crowbar."They'd get you off them?"
"They said they'd give me more."Trevor remarked excitedly."They gave me things. They gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things."
Trevor's eyes closed and before either of them knew what was happening, the man before them began to snore.
Both Tony and Riley blinked before glancing at each other.
"Did you just nod off?"Tony questioned.
"I think he did."Riley muttered in disbelief.
"Hey."Tony retorted.
Tony kicked Trevor's foot causing him to sit up suddenly.
"Oh, and a lovely speedboat."Trevor remarked."And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."
Trevor then mimicked an explosion.
Tony let the gun drop to his side while Riley simply lowered the crowbar she held.
"He?"Tony said, making Riley give him a confused look."Killian?"
Trevor nodded. "Killian."
"He created you?"Tony asked.
"He created me."Trevor repeated.
"Custom-made terror threat."Tony commented.
"Yes."Trevor told them before standing up and going to mess with something."Yes. His think tank thinked it up. The pathology of a serial killer."
Trevor then did the accent of the Mandarin.
"The manipulation of Western iconography."Trevor declared."Ready for another lesson?"
Trevor held a beer can out to Tony, who shook his head.
"So you're basically a coverup of the real mastermind."Riley assumed.
"Of course."Trevor agreed."It was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life."
"Your performance?"Tony questioned."Where people die?"
"No, they didn't. Look around you."Trevor insisted."The costumes, green screen. Honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. And when I was, it was movie magic, love."
Riley gritted her teeth as her thoughts went over to Happy.
"I'm sorry, but we've got an important friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up."Riley scowled."This all happened because of the insane maniac you are working for."
Trevor looked to Riley sadly before Tony placed a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"So you're gonna have to answer for that."Tony informed."You're still going down, pal."
Trevor's eyes flickered to something behind the two Starks.
Tony was quick to turn around and went to hit whoever it was only for his arm to get stopped by the very man that he thought he had killed.
The man hit Tony in the face and he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Dad!"Riley yelled.
Riley attempted to hit the man with the crowbar, only for someone to come behind her and inject something on her arm with a jet injector.
"Ow!"Riley scowled in pain.
Before she could even turn, the young brunette suddenly felt dizzy before collapsing on the ground and dropping the crowbar in the process.
Trevor looked at the unconscious Starks silently.
"Okay, Trevor."the man replied with a frown."What did you tell them?"
Riley's eyes snapped opened as she regained her senses and saw she was binded into some kind of machine.
The Stark heiress scowled as she struggled to release herself.
Who took her?
What was the place she was taken in?
Where was her father?
The young brunette became shocked when she saw on her right side was Pepper in the same machine she was in.
"Pepper?"Riley said in shock.
"Hey, Riley."Pepper greeted with a weak smile.
"What happened?"Riley demanded, worried for her mother figure."Who took us?"
"I did."
Both Riley and Pepper turned around and saw Aldrich Killian coming forward.
"Who the hell are you?"Riley scowled.
"I'm Aldrich Killian."Aldrich replied and went up to Riley."I'm…a friend of your father's."
A scoff escaped from Riley's mouth.
"Yeah. No offence, pal."Riley answered sarcastically."But I checked my dad's friends list and you, sir, are not in it."
Aldrich suddenly grabbed Riley's chin in a rough way.
His eyes flickered over her face and he gave her an evil smirk.
"I see you got your dad's stubbornness."Aldrich retorted."That's irritating."
"What do you want?"Riley asked.
People in white coats rushed into the room, some of them going over to Pepper while others went over to Riley.
"I want your father."Aldrich stated.
"He won't come to you."Riley informed coldly."He is smarter than you think."
"Oh, I think he will find that I can be quite persuasive."Aldrich remarked as he let go of Riley's chin."Especially when he sees what's happening to his little bundle of joy."
Riley paled as she felt one of the scientists grab ahold of her arm.
She tried to struggle, but another one steadied her arm while the othet one brought a needle to her arm.
When the needle's syrum was injected in her arm, Riley started groaning in agony before screaming in terror of the burning pain that overtook her body.
Pepper watched the sight in terror.
"Riley!"Pepper yelled out.
Pepper soon was injected with the same syrum causing her to let out a scream as well.
Aldrich smirked sinterestly as he left the room while Riley and Pepper's screams were heard in the background.