Helloo! I am back rather quickly with a new chapter for ya'll so enjoy!
Shout Outs!
TheBeard263
Thank you 3 I thought it would be so cute to have 'living' plushies, and it would definitely fit a Tony impulse buy
Shaonics6
It does, maybe not as much as you might think but it does quite the curve ball in there. Hehe, you'll see in this chapter, or partially at least.
omega13a
Huh, makes sense, I just didn't think about that.
They'll probably end up dealing with them in a simal manner that the Archipelagons leaned to deal with their planes in the air, very begrudgingly.
Journal 2, Entry 44: "Iron Man 3 Part 3"
Tony sat with a mug of coffee while staring out at the predawn sky. Sparring a glanced at Pepper sleeping again on the couch, he sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair before standing before shuffling down to his lab. He flopped into the desk chair and flicked on the computers without even looking at them, contemplating the mess his most recent nightmare had made, continuing to stare down at his blue lit desk until a weight placed itself in his lap.
He jolted and leaned away from the desk to see…nothing on his lap. No, wait—two orbs reflected faintly in the computer's light. His shoulders sagged as he sighed in relief. "Tor, you really are going to give me a heart attack one of these days."
Tor whined and wiggled closer to Tony.
"How you doing, kiddo?" Wheels squeaked as Hiccup pulled a chair over.
Tony leaned his head back in tired exasperation. "Pepper and I were having a great night, up until that Thor forbidden dream again. I managed to wake up from it on my own this time—not it terrifying me awake—only to find Pepper screaming because my suit was about to put her into a choke hold."
Hiccup cringed sympathetically. Tony continued on, focusing on Tor and scratching his ears. "I-I need to figure out the exact coding problem or put new code in so that doesn't happen again."
He turned to the computers only for Hiccup to stop him. "Hey, get some rest for tonight. We can work on it tomorrow."
Tony's brows pinched, disliking the thought of going back to sleep. "But uncle H, I can't let this happen again. I can't lose-"
Hiccup smiled knowingly and pulled his chair away from the computers. "I know, but you need sleep. JARVIS can make sure no suit re-enables for tonight, right JARVIS?"
"Of course, Hakon. Sleep well, Sir."
Tony glared at the ceiling and muttered, "Traitor. You always side with him."
If JARVIS had a body, he would be grinning. "That is because he has your welfare in mind more than you do."
Tony huffed while Hiccup patted his shoulder and waved him off to the couch. He was reluctant at first until Tor started dragging him to it by his sleeve. "Alright, alright."
He grabbed a spare pillow from beside it and plopped down, slinging an arm over his eyes to block out the many flickering lights of his lab. "Hey, uncle H?"
"Hm?" Hiccup questioned from the other couch.
"In all your Hydra/SHIELD spying, have you come across someone named Adrian Killian?"
Hiccup sat up on his elbows as Tor left his lap. "It doesn't ring any bells, but I can ask the Guild tomorrow."
Tony nodded and let out a slow breath, his brain finally relaxing again. "Okay, sounds good."
"Any particular reason?"
Tony batted away the snout sticking itself in his hair. "He had a meeting with Pepper this afternoon and was apparently giving Happy some weird vibes."
Hiccup hummed and lay back down. "I'll check first thing when I get back."
Tony waved him off with his free hand. "No rush. I'm sure not everyone who gives Happy the heebie-jeebies is Hydra. Phh! Hammer certainly wasn't."
Hiccup laughed quietly. "No, I'm sure Happy just saw him as a more annoying and aggravating you."
"Hey!" Tony cried out indignantly before all air left his lungs as a massive weight settled along his body. "Tor!" He wheezed. "Get, off!"
Tor growled lowly and shifted, easing the weight on his chest but did not get up from the couch.
Hiccup chuckled and turned off the last light by the couch. "Night kiddo."
"Uncle H!" Tony pleaded. When no help came, he went limp in defeat and Tor moved his head so it rested on his chest again. He sighed and rubbed the furry head as he fell into a dreamless sleep.
*O*
Pepper woke up the next morning to a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen, hugging her body sleepily as she took a bar stool and smiled at Hiccup. "That explains the good smells."
Hiccup chuckled while Tony looked up from the pan of omelets. "Hey! He's taken. Sorry, but you're stuck with my cooking."
Hiccup shot his godson a look and shook his head while handing her a plate. "Well, at least he's not as bad as he used to be."
Pepper nodded and took a bite of the waffle, grinning through her mouthful.
Tony finished dishing up the eggs when his phone rang. He glanced down and frowned, not recognizing the number. "Hey J, run a scan on that number real quick."
Almost before he finished, JARVIS was already finishing the scan and said, "It is the Hollywood PD, Sir."
The furrows on Tony's forehead deepened as he reached for his phone. "Odd, what could they possibly want? Hello?"
"Is this Tony Stark?" A woman's voice asked professionally.
Tony glanced at Hiccup and Pepper. "Depends on who's asking."
The woman sighed and they could hear papers shifting around. "You're listed as Harold Hogan's emergency contact?"
Worry suddenly clenched his chest and he gripped the phone tighter, shoulders shifting inwards. "Uh, yeah—yes, that's me. Why is the police calling me? He didn't do something stupid following that guy, did he?"
The woman took a fortifying breath that was barely heard. "Your friend was in an explosion—only survivor-"
"I'm just now hearing about this!?" Tony yelled.
Pepper abandoned her breakfast to stand by him, gripping his shoulder and staring worriedly down at his phone.
"It took us a while to clean up his wallet to get an ID, sir. We've gotten word from the hospital that he's pulled through surgery but he's in a coma."
Tony swore and tore off for the lab and snatched a suit, repulsors roaring and quickly fading away.
Pepper sighed as she watched him go. "Well, I guess I should get to doing something myself…maybe Happy left me a note as to why he was going to Hollywood of all places." She turned to Hiccup and asked, "Do you know who it was Happy was trailing?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No, sorry. Tony mentioned someone from a meeting with, uh, Killian gave him a bad feeling."
Pepper sighed, remembering Happy's odd behavior after that appointment but she'd only thought he was still on a high about his new position and taking it overly seriously.
Tor sat next to him with a heavy thump and he shook his head. Just what this country needed were terrorist attacks just after Loki's. He finished his breakfast, feeding Tony's cooling half-finished meal to Tor, before teleporting to the nearest Branch then to Berserker Island.
He nodded to the Branch manager as he started off to the Changewing's headquarters. Green flashed from behind him and Toothless nudged him fondly before taking off into the sky. Hiccup chuckled at his friend and watched him for a moment before continuing on.
Many greeted him with a simple word or nod as he wandered through the facility to an unused computer and searched the name Tony had given him. It didn't take long to find the answer. He sat back with a hum as he contemplated the screen—affiliation to Hydra unknown but not implausible, not with the type of research he and his company seems to be doing.
*O*
Pepper flipped through the bits of paper mail the company still received, a decent amount of it fan mail to Iron Man since his address is not public knowledge. She huffed at the thought, it was a miracle it remained confidential with all the parties her boyfriend was known to throw.
The TV played softly in the background as she marked up some papers and jotted down notes. She wasn't paying much attention to the news that ran, just more talk about the most recent Mandarin broadcast. She glanced over at her phone again, unsure if her nerves would make it to tonight to hear an update about Happy…maybe I'll just make it a half day today.
"We're waiting the arrival of Tony Stark-"
The mention of his name snapped Pepper out of her reverie, frowning at the reporter who loved to find dirt or any story at all on Tony. She not so secretly thought she had a crush or something with how often she hounded him. Grabbing the remote, she turned the volume up a few notches.
The blonde smiled pleasantly for the camera as she continued. "We're hoping he'll give us a reaction, his reaction, to the latest attacks."
Pepper frowned as the image suddenly shifted to a sudden clamor of reporters all trying to ask questions and cameras flashing as Tony left the hospital.
Their words were the usual unintelligible babbling of a dozen reporters all speaking at once to be heard and never succeeding…until a young man who looked like he was a part of a college newspaper asked in a moment of relative silence, "Hey, Mr. Stark, when is somebody going to kill this guy?"
Tony froze and Pepper clenched a fist, back ramrod straight as she stared at the TV, praying he didn't do something 'Stark' stupid.
"Just saying." The reporter shrugged as he held up his phone to capture Tony's response.
"Is that what you want?" Tony asked after a moment, struggling to not take his fury out on the reporters after just leaving one of his closest friends laying comatose in a hospital bed. "Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name's Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided, that you've just died pal."
He pulled off his glasses to glare into the phone's little camera. "I'm gonna come collect the body. There's no politics here, just good ole fashioned revenge. No Pentagon, just you and me. I've faced lunatics, psychopaths, gods and aliens—you're not even going to be a footnote in history. Enjoy your remaining breaths."
He turned to the reporter with a scowl. "That's what you wanted, right?"
With that, he ducked into his car and slammed the door shut, revving the engine loudly to usher people away before he took off at decidedly not parking lot speeds.
Pepper sat back with a huff and silent curse before gathering documents and striding out of the office. That could have gone worse, she supposed, but it certainly wasn't good either because Tony was most definitely going on a rampage now. She could only pray that he didn't come back with bullet holes like last time.
*O*
Maya slowly drove her car through the front gate of Tony's estate and gripped the steering wheel tightly, relaxing as she blew out a breath. She checked the road behind her again as she came to a stop before dipping her head and closing her eyes as she took another deep breath, resolving her nerves before the fear of her boss overtook her again.
Stepping out of the car, she stared at the luxurious house, bit her lip, then walked up to the door and knocked on the glass impatiently. She glanced in at the empty hall and around the yard again before giving her phone a quick glance; no calls or texts. She was safe for the moment. Sparing a look up at the skies revealed a few birds but nothing else.
She bounced on her feet as the war on her nerves grew when the door suddenly opened on its own. She spared it a look but it shouldn't have surprised her, not with who lived here. She hadn't gone more than a few steps when Iron Man came around a corner.
"Right there's fine." There was a long and awkward moment of silence between them before the mask lifted and the guarded face of Tony finally greeted her. "You're not the Mandarin, are you?"
She smiled thinly at his unrecognizing expression.
"Are you?" He pressed.
She shook her head and gave a small, bitter laugh. "You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?"
"Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast." Tony countered clippedly.
"Gluten-free waffles, sir." JARVIS supplied.
Maya glanced up at the ceiling, only having heard of the AI, before looking back at Tony. "Okay, I need to be alone with you…someplace, secure—it's urgent."
Tony frowned and turned away, walking back to the living room. "Normally, I would go for that sort of thing but now, I'm in a committed relationship." A bag fell from above, soon followed by another one.
"With her." He said as he looked up with a frown. She almost hit him with those bags! And those things aren't light either.
"Tony, is somebody there? I'm not used to Hakon knocking before he comes in."
Tony smiled and exited the suit. "Yeah, it's Maya Hansen." She smiled with playful annoyance at him, so he does remember. "Old botanist pal I used to know…barely."
Pepper descends the stairs, startling as the plush Razorwhip flew down in a flash and curled around her neck. She paused for a moment to look at it, shocked it reacted to her leaving with bags when it hadn't cared when she left for work that morning.
Tony leaned close to Maya and whispered. "Please tell me there isn't a twelve-year-old kid waiting out in that car."
She smirked. "He's thirteen." Tony's eyes widened in panic before she rolled her eyes and huffed. "No. I need your help."
The TV playing the news coverage of him threatening the Mandarin winked off behind Maya, but Tony barely noticed it. "Why, why now? I'm kinda busy."
She looked at him flatly and said, "Because I read the papers and, frankly, I don't think you'll last a week."
Tony frowned at the woman he'd only known for a night. He'd faced terrorists before and frankly they were far less terrifying than an alien hoard gunning him and everyone in their path down. "I think I'll be fine. Thanks."
Pepper hurried over to her partner and smiled politely at the woman but it carried an undertone of unwelcomeness. "Sorry, with Happy in the hospital I wasn't expecting guests."
"We weren't." Tony said flatly, eyeing Maya as the two women had a brief argument to suss out the other's past and current relationship with the billionaire. Tony sighed and glared to the side before saying softly to Pepper, "Are you sure you won't take something? I've been working on a prototype shield device, kinda like what uncle H made back during the war—except it's actually kind of more like Capsicle's shield, but still!"
Pepper silently smiled warmly at Tony, taking his hand. "I'll be fine. The Mandarin hasn't attacked outside of the States-"
"Doesn't mean he can't change his mind at any second…especially since I called him out."
Pepper shot him a look that he huffed at. "I'll be fine. It'll take me at least a week if not two to take care of business in Europe—especially with you having put it all off for so long."
Tony stared up at the ceiling, remembering so many of those Thor forsaken, boring meetings. "Well, if you finish early could you call uncle H, see about taking a vacation in the Archipelago? I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Actually-"
Pepper placed a finger on his lips with a pointed look. "I'm not ditching business for vacation. Maybe if I'm finished before you are. But everything will be fine." She sent him a serious and slightly reproving look. "You have forty-two suits…I'm sure you'll take care of this before I'm even done and we can even spend Christmas together."
Maya took a step back towards the bags. "Look, I can drive you to the airport—and we can talk on the way?" She asked, nearly pleading.
A tiny silver head popped out from under Pepper's hair and let out a hiss at the new woman before turning its snout up, eyes narrowing at everything and nothing. Pepper patted the plush in fond annoyance—she had so many questions about the odd little thing.
Maya's eyes widened and pointed at the dragon. "Is that normal?"
Pepper sighed. "Sadly yes, this is normal. Actually, it's a more pleasant normal than his usual normal."
Tony frowned. "What's that mean?"
Pepper eyed him tiredly. "You're—eccentric."
Maya huffed quietly, swinging her arms as anxiety crept up on her again. She needed Tony to leave. Now. She glanced at the TV, trying to think of a way to drag him out—she needed to explain!—when a reflection on the dead screen stopped her heart. Shit. "Duck!"
At her cry, Tony dropped to the floor—something just missing his chest but grazing the skin of his collarbone—and drug Pepper down with him. His head whipped around and stared, at first in shock then in horror, at a dart now buried in the drywall behind him. No singular curse lingered in his thoughts long enough to say it, all stringing together into an incoherent mess.
"Go, go!" He hissed to the women as he scrambled behind the couch, biting back a yelp as another dart pierced the toe of his shoe, thankfully missing all flesh.
"What's going on!?" Pepper demanded as Maya drug her behind a lounge chair.
Tony ignored her question as he gestured for the armor that he left in the entryway to the living room to come to him.
"This is what I needed to talk to you about!" Maya said hoarsely.
Tony didn't dare peek over the couch as he gestured for the armor again, smacking the sensor implants in his arms. Pepper tried to crawl out to somewhere safer but a rain of bullets halted her trek.
"JARVIS!" Pepper screamed as she threw herself back into Maya. "Call the police!"
"Screw that, call uncle H!" Tony barked as he flattened himself, looking around for something.
Something heavy fell to the floor, but the landing was near silent. Maya clutched at Pepper's arm, more out of personal fear than protection for Pepper. Both she and Pepper had a good view of the TV and saw a man that could rival Steve carefully step across the living room, eyes solely for the couch Tony hid behind with a rifle raised.
"JARVIS?" Pepper asked softly, though it should have been plenty loud for the AI to hear. Hands tightening around her arm brought her attention back to the TV and whispered loudly, "Tony!"
Tony shot out from the opposite side of the couch the attacker was turning, a small trail of darts following his progress as the man turned before they plinked on the armor. He quickly shoved his hand into a gap and hit the reboot button, faintly hearing a whirr as the tiny backup battery kicked on.
The man rounded the armor and Tony carefully kept the meager shield between them. He heard the man growl and he pulled out his Vibranium knife. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when the armor just pinged that it rebooted, only for it to suddenly collapse into dozens of pieces, ducking just as another fist swung through the crumbling suit.
He motioned for the armor to encapsulate Pepper as she shrieked again, once more trying to leave the 'safety' of the chair only to be stopped by another rain of bullets. The silvery plush hissed at the intruder but didn't leave Pepper's side as the armor flew to attach itself to her.
"Another one?" He grumbled before gagging as the first assailant finally snagged him and held him in a chokehold.
He pulled on the arm in reflex before thinking to drive in the dagger. The man yelled and loosened his grip just enough for him to slip out. He was scrambling back to his feet when something hot blew over his back and his attacker groaned—his attacker being thrown into the wall as Pepper stumbled back several steps with the repulsor glove still glowing.
"I love you Pep." He couldn't help but smile while he waved for her to go, running for the front door before diving into the stairwell to the lab—tucking his feet close as tile shattered inches from him.
Pepper helped Maya up, who was trembling at the sight of the first man now grunting in frustration as he got his feet under him again, and tried to fire but couldn't figure out how she'd done it the first time.
"Go, go! Get out of here!" Tony yelled before running down to the lab and slammed into the glass door, fumbling with the handle then cursing when it wouldn't open—the electronic lock as dead as the rest of his house.
He jumped with a shriek when someone grabbed his shoulder. Whirling around with a fist raised, he was just able to restrain himself at the sight of Hiccup standing in the previously locked hall door. "Uncle H!?"
"Yeah, it's me, Tony. Let's go." Hiccup said, glancing up the stairs before dragging him into the hallway.
Tony hurried after his godfather but frowned. Something seemed—off with him. "Where's Tor?"
"Keeping them busy." Hiccup answered brusquely, the sunlight from the rooms on either end of the hallway lighting his face enough to see his scowl. A very un-Hiccup like scowl…and for a brief second his face—flickered.
"Tony?" Hiccup called in alarm as the inventor ripped his arm away and ran in the opposite direction and recalled his suit—Pepper should be clear by now. He ignores Hiccup's worried voice, which didn't ring right—it sounded chopped, like someone had taken it from recordings. And not once did he call him kiddo, no matter how brief a conversation.
He was at the door when he heard a frustrated growl from the person, most definitely not Hiccup's growl, and slammed the door shut—only to be grabbed from behind and thrown into the glass, shattering it. He groaned as he rolled over to get up, warily staring as the first attacker steps through the shattered door.
"Just great." He mumbled as he stood.
The intruder grinned and started to speak when a blur of red shot past him and onto Tony's hand—he fired without hesitation, catching the man in the chest as he dodged another flying piece. The man flew back, crashing into and shattering yet another glass pane.
A commotion on the stairs followed a clattering as more and more Mark 42 pieces came flying down. A black man, built eerily similar to the first man, batted another piece flying by him away before it could hit him again and scowled at Tony.
The helmet finally snapped into place and he raised both gauntlets at his two—the hall door slammed open and an enraged blonde female stepped out—alright, three intruders, attackers, assassins? "J, you there, buddy?"
"Only in a very minor capacity, sir. They've disrupted my connection with anything outside of your suit, at least until power can be restored to the house."
The second man dropped his rifle and charged Tony. He evaded a fist, barely, only to be caught by a kick and while it didn't send him flying, it did send him stumbling a few steps. He fired at the woman, being the first in his new line of sight, and ducked a punch sent by the first man—punching him in the stomach instead.
"Can you get a call out to uncle H?" Tony asked quickly, trying to avoid multiple attacks—staggering as one managed to get a fist in.
"Negative sir. The suit is just a prototype, it's barely fun-"
Something slammed into the suit from behind, sending him careening into his workbench. Laying over it, he spies a large ratchet for his car's tires and grabs it—spinning around and swinging the ratchet as one of them approaches.
Face to face with a brown-haired man, the first attacker, he notes, is still standing. He followed the man's gaze and raised hand to the ratchet and his hand encased in a silvery light, unable to move it forwards. Odin's beard. "We need to get a call out! Now!"
Tony pulled back and shot a repulsor at the man, who evaded, and blew out a window to the outside. Perfect. He started towards the window when a silvery flash caught him again, this time catching a Scandinavian man throwing it from his hand. While twisted away to avoid the full force of the blast, he still got knocked into an Audi, denting its hood significantly.
He jerked back and shot at a kettlebell encased in silver out of the air. Glaring at the brown-haired attacker, he aimed the gauntlets at the floor but only a small burst came out. "JARVIS, I need thrust power."
He swung at the woman, only to hiss as she caught his arm and twisted it despite the armor.
"Working on it, sir." He managed to twist enough to send a repulsor her way, freeing his arm. "Being a prototype, it has limited capabilities that I am able to work with. Would you prefer flight power or me trying to figure out a way to contact Hakon?"
"Flight power!" Tony barked loud enough for everyone to hear and the four assailing him narrowed their eyes. "Oh, Thor, that can't be good."
Something moved, just out of the corner of his eye, and he reared back to avoid whatever assault might come. Only to be left facing a wispy image and stumbling back enough to be grabbed around the neck again and his annoyance mounted. He threw out a hand, getting enough thrust to knock both of them over backwards and skid across the ground until they hit his mobile tool chest.
The man slackened with the hit so Tony ripped the arms from around his neck, barely glancing at the broken window that now had a man and woman guarding it. He sprinted, or as much as one could sprint in a suit of augmented armor, into the underground driveway.
He made it five steps before the black attacker tackled and flipped him on his back. As he raised a repulsor, the man batted it away before he flipped a knife around and in a flash, it became something resembling a Taser. In a too fast movement, the prongs jabbed into his armor. He yelled as the electricity coursed through the suit, not yet having been insulated against it because—prototype.
His HUD and JARVIS wavered, the HUD never shut off but JARVIS sounded almost drunk as he spoke. He could only groan as the current man and the first lifted him off the ground, speaking to one another in some language he didn't know.
Tony shook his head and said, "J, open drag flaps."
One of the few fully operational things the suit had popped open, smacking into both men; startling both and leaving sizable bruises. He head-butted one, releasing his right arm, then punched the other. The man released him but unfortunately flung him back into the room as he did so.
Tony quickly regained his balance in the center of the four-person circle and raised his hands—gauntlets caught between fisting and splaying to activate the repulsors. In the brief pause as they all regarded one another, the most ludicrous thought popped into his head. "Bring it you bad copies of Sif and the Warriors Three; I can do this all day."
The woman glared while the brown-haired one said, "Стрельба ракетой."
Tony frowned, head constantly twitching to keep all four in sight. "JARVIS, what did he just say?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but language translators are down."
The four of them suddenly ran to the back of the lab, leaving Tony with a clear shot to the window. He wasn't about to question why until he turned and received a clear sight of a missile a second from impact.
His world became blinding and deafening, back slamming against the far wall as his lab exploded—though not of his own doing for once. He shook his head as he got to his knees, wiping away the dust that gathered over the lenses. Before he could stand, hands once again grabbed him and pulled him along.
The brown-haired attacker spoke, glancing out the destroyed window, "Успех миссии."
He looked up and saw the group dragging him to the hall door. The black man noticed his awareness and flicked his knife into a Taser again. Before he could use it, Tony put up both hands and activated the repulsors—blasting himself out of their grip and towards the crumbling edge.
Another missile sailed overhead and hit the foundation, raining rock and debris everywhere. Distantly, he heard one of them shouting, but paid it no mind; sliding away from a large piece of falling ceiling then leaping over the edge.
The repulsors sputtered for a second before they caught and he flew away from his crumbling home, weaving around flying wreckage. He neared the edge of the major debris field when silver lit up his HUD from behind and lost control as the magic blasted him again.
He spun in midair and before he could regather his bearings, water slammed into him and large chunks of his house continued to fall all around him. A car plunged through the water just in front of him as he quickly tried swimming away when his world darkened. He sucked in a good deal of the bit of air he still had as a massive shadow covered the ocean sky as a truly enormous piece of the house fell into the waters.
He swam, badly in the metal suit, and tried firing a repulsor to assist but it sputtered and failed. He started sinking faster and to his horror, he was caught by a falling chunk, several gnarled pieces catching his arms and even his neck.
As it drug him to the bottom, he was able to slip free his arms and once it settled, he could pull off the piece around his neck…only for more to come falling around him. He managed to push a fist through the settling debris but couldn't get anything more than his forearm out. His mind whirled as it tried not to panic, but with limited time and no solution coming, it was about to fail.
"Sir, hold your-" JARVIS began before stopping as someone grabbed the extended glove and pulled.
Survival instincts rejoiced at the salvation and he clamped onto the arm that was slowly but surely pulling him out from under the wreckage. Once he had a bit of leverage beneath him, he pushed himself out the rest of the way but his savior never let go of his arm—swimming him up once free.
Tony took the last breath of air before the suit filled and squinted through the sea water at his HUD; but it was distorted now and even then, practically useless in the dark depths. What felt like ages later, they breached the surface and the mask flipped up, water spilling out and allowing him to take a deep, hacking breath—trying to blink back the black spots that began gathering but they proved stubborn to do so.
"Flight power restored. Hang on sir." JARVIS said with a nervous tone.
The AI took control of the suit as Tony's head listed against the helm. They'd only risen a foot from the water when a helicopter swung low and the black assailant leaned out and Tased the suit. JARVIS winked out and the suit fell but the Scandinavian man in the water with him caught it before they drifted down again.
The brown-haired man leaned over to help his partner in dragging the suit into the 'copter before the Scandinavian pulled himself up, staring at the house indifferently before slamming the door shut, glaring at the unconscious genius at their feet.
The brown-haired man left the group to poke his head into the cockpit with the woman and a deathly pale man. "Take us back. We have what we came for."
The man turned his head with a nod, eerily red eyes not bothering the leader of their group in the slightest. "We found this before locating the target."
The brown-haired man grabbed the book the pale, bald man held up, flicking through its pages. He leafed through several pages, paying close attention to the detailed drawings of various dragons, even if the writing was unintelligible to anyone outside of Hyse's people and Tony. Command will be very interesting in this.
*O*
Pepper stood just outside the house as the suit flew off to Tony in shock, cringing when loud crashes echoed from deep within. That was enough to prompt her into action again. Her hand diving into a pocket to retrieve her phone—only for it to be dead.
She turned to Maya, who stared through the broken door and shook softly. "Ms. Hansen, is your phone still working?"
The woman patted a couple pockets without looking at them before finding her phone and shoving at Pepper. "Who are you going to call? No one's going to get here in time!"
Pepper tapped the power button, but it too remained functional. "Damn it, nothing works!"
Something pushed aside her disheveled hair and a soft purr followed after the plush dragon made itself comfortable. She reached up to pat the little head, a mediocre comfort.
Suddenly the ground trembled as flames licked the back windows and within moments the living room floor cracked down the middle then began to crumble. Seconds later another missile struck the house. Both women ran away from the unstable ground as the house began to sink, another explosion rocking the ground beneath their feet.
Horrified, Pepper watched the house collapse into the ocean—watching the skies with hopes and prayers that would be left unanswered. Through the plume of dust and dirt, she could just make out a helicopter hovering over the water for a bit before taking off. She didn't know whether to pray Tony was on it or not.
Have a great weakened!
Translations:
Стрельба ракетой-Fire missile
Успех миссии-Mission success