Chapter 10 Iron Man 1
Tony's point of view
We settled down to watch the movie. I had slipped Pepper onto my lap and tucked the blanket around both of us.
"I wish the cats were here" I said
"Same. Pinky would be purring up a storm lying on my chest and playing with my hair, or making biscuits, while The Brain would be sitting on your head…"
"We brought your furry friends to the campus but they are in the menagerie as we don't allow animals in the actual campus. Don't worry, they are being well looked after."
Serendipity came into the room with a sheepish expression on her face. She put Pinky on the sofa next to Pepper and The Brain beside me. The Brain climbed onto my lap, onto Pepper's lap and up onto my shoulders while Pinky curled up on Pepper's chest and immediately started to doze off. A cat bed appeared next to us. Pinky yawned and climbed into the cat bed. The Brain followed. Within minutes both cats were fast asleep.
"Cats" I muttered. "Ficklest motherfuckers you will ever meet!" Pepper laughed at this statement
"Damn right they are!"
but Rogers was snarling
"Language!" He exclaimed
"English!" I replied. "Don't get your old lady undies in a wad!"
"How do you know I wear..."
"Friday showed me them"
"And who or what is Friday?"
"You know the Irish robotic voice in the walls in the Tower?"
"Yeah"
"That's Friday. Her full name is Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth. She was designed to aid me with the Iron Man Armour"
"Jarvis was her predecessor... until he was eaten by Ultron... and you will learn who Ultron is later I am sure."

Playboy and visionary industrial genius Tony Stark, CEO of leading military defense contractor, Stark Industries, is at a casino, blowing off an award ahead of a big day in war-torn Kunar, Afghanistan, to demonstrate his company's new Jericho missile.

"Was this when?"
"Yes"
'It says playboy… so… that means that before you met Pepper you were a bit of a…flirt?"
"Even after I started working for Stark Industries, he was a flirt, until he realised who his soulmate is"
"Pepper why are you revealing my secrets to my mother?"

"Call it payback for... embarrassing me a lot when I was your PA"

With him is his best friend and military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, a member of the United States Air Force,

"Best friends since I was in Pre-Kindergarten and Jay was in 1st Grade. The Pre-K teacher tried to get me into 1st Grade but the other teachers and the principal were having none of it. Jay was assigned to look after me until my mother came to collect me and was unceremoniously told that I was 'too smart' for school. My parents decided that I should homeschool." I said.

"How did you become siblings?' how does that even work?" Constance asked. "While I was in labour with Anthony and Arnold, I haemorrhaged very dangerously, twice. Once after Anthony was born and once after Arnold was born. I almost died from blood loss. I had to have an immediate hysterectomy. When Tony was 6 he asked for a sibling for Christmas so I had to explain that we couldn't do that but then fate intervened.

While out at the playground with Ana, Tony had a bad fall. His foot slipped while he was climbing up the ladder to go down the slide and he fell backwards and hit his head. Jay and Bruce helped to stabilise him. They kept him calm by asking him math questions. I became friendly with Bruce's mother Rebekah. She asked me to take care of Bruce if anything happened to her… which it did. Howard and I took Bruce in and adopted him.

Then Jay's family was attacked… and we realised that it was racially motivated. Jay's legal guardian — his maternal grandmother — passed in the attack and since his mother did not have the means to raise him, we stepped in. When Tony turned 8, we went to the circus, and Howard witnessed a young stablehand being abused, fired and thrown out of the circus. Tony befriended the boy and we adopted him 6 weeks later.

On Christmas Eve that same year a basket containing newborn twins was placed on our doorstep. Howard thought he heard cats crying but it turned out to be the infants. Wanda and Pietro.

Finally, Hank Pym asked us to look after his daughter, Hope, while he was on a mission… that was the night we thought Janet died. Hope stayed with us until Hank felt he was able to care for her again. Hope was best friends with a girl named Ruth Lang at school, She and her brother Scott were abandoned at SHIELD HQ and that's how they became part of our family." My mother explained. "And then, Edwin's friend Alfred Pennyworth died, of a massive stroke and since his ward - Bruce - was only 9 at the time, we took him home with us too... there was a bit of a problem with names though so... Bruce Wayne - Alfred's ward - changed his name to Thomas Bruce Wayne Junior and was known as Tommy.""So I went from being an only child to having 8 siblings in the space of 2 years"

They arrive, Stark gives the short demonstration, and while riding in a transport convoy, Stark is critically wounded in an ambush and held captive in a cave by the Ten Rings.

"For three months. I spent my 39th birthday in captivity and you know what my present was? A beating and being waterboarded! Yinsen tried to persuade al-Wazar that we should get a cake but… it didn't work."

An electromagnet built by fellow captive Ho Yinsen keeps the shrapnel that wounded Stark from reaching his heart and killing him. Yinsen gains Stark's trust, tentatively at first but then after encouraging him, the two become firm friends. The Ten Rings leader, Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar, offers Stark freedom; in exchange, Stark must build a Jericho missile for the terrorists. Stark and Yinsen agree that al-Wazar will not keep his word of letting Stark live so they come up with a plan: Escape by any means necessary.

"How did you escape?"
"You'll see"

While pretending to work on the missile, Stark and Yinsen secretly build a powerful electric generator called an Arc Reactor to power Stark's electromagnet. They then begin to build a powered suit of armour, designed by Stark, to help them escape. The Ten Rings ambush the workshop when they discover Stark's plan, but Yinsen sacrifices himself to distract them while Stark's suit powers up.

"I told him to stick to the plan… I obviously didn't realise that he had plans of his own."

Using the armored suit, Stark fights his way out of the cave to find a mortally wounded Yinsen, who reassures Stark and urges him to continue his escape and not waste his life. An enraged Stark leaves the cave, vengefully burns the terrorists' stockpile of Stark Industries-produced weapons, and flies away. Having escaped, Stark crashes in the desert, which destroys the suit. Having been rescued by a search party, including Rhodes, Stark returns home.

"I am glad you returned" said Pepper
"So am I"
We kissed.
"Get a room" Rogers sneered

"It is not my fault that you are too insecure and scared to be affectionate with your significant other." I replied coldly "your situation is no longer illegal and don't worry, I won't expose you."
"It should still be kept private though. I appreciate that Tony."

He calls a press conference to announce that his company will no longer manufacture weapons, having seen first-hand the strife that they cause in the wrong hands. Obadiah Stane, his father's old partner and the company's manager, informs Stark that this may ruin Stark Industries and his father's legacy.

"Uncle Obie is My Godfather… this better not portray him in a light that is anything less than positive" I said angrily
Fury, and the other Gregoriate Council members looked decidedly sheepish. I scowled at them.

"Don't worry Tony, I will be OK" said Obie.

In his home workshop, Stark spends the following weeks building an improved version of his suit, as well as a more powerful arc reactor for his chest.

"You should have told me that is what you were doing" Pepper chided
"You had enough on your plate… dealing with the jealous creepers who were attempting to subjugate my company." I said furiously.

At Stark's first public appearance after his return, Christine Everhart informs him that Stark Industries weapons, including the Jericho missile, were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Gulmira, Yinsen's home village.

"That is horrible"
Stark confronts Stane about the supplied weapons and learns that Stane is trying to replace him as head of the company.

"Ugh! I would NEVER do that to my godson!" Uncle Obie cried. "When Tony was born, Howard was busy taking care of Peggy and since Maria and I could not conceive… Howard entrusted Tony to our care until Peggy was well enough to return home. As it turned out, Maria's brother and sister in law died and as Maria is their only son's godmother, we got custody."

Enraged, Stark dons his new armour and flies to Afghanistan, where he saves the citizens of Gulmira from the Ten Rings' wrath. While flying home, Stark is engaged by two F-22 Raptors on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. He phones Rhodes and reveals his identity in an attempt to call off the attack.

"How did you manage to dodge the F-22s?"
"When I was a child we used to play this game where we had to avoid being captured by the other team… that definitely helped"

Meanwhile, the Ten Rings gather the pieces of Stark's prototype suit. Al-Wazar meets with Stane and offers to exchange the suit with him. However, Stane has al-Wazar and his faction eliminated, taking the suit for himself. Returning to Stark Industries, Stane orders his scientists to have a new suit reverse-engineered from the wreckage.

"What reason would I have to betray my godson like that?"
"I don't think this version of me is your godson"

Seeking to find any other weapons delivered to the Ten Rings, Stark sends his trusted personal assistant, Pepper Potts, to hack into the company computer system from Stane's office.

"That was risky. Sending your best girl into the lion's den"
"This version of Uncle Obie would have figured it out if I had gone… Pepper is a much better liar than me and she can act better than I can too."
"It comes from being raised by a megalomaniacal woman whose authority was to be revered." Pepper explained "My godfather is not spineless but, when it comes to her… he might as well be. That is why they are still legally married."
"Excuse you Virginia! Your godfather is a pervert!"
"AND WHO WAS IT WHO DROVE HIM TO IT? HYPERCRITICISING EVERYTHING HE HAS EVER DONE, TREATING HIM LIKE AN IGNORANT CHILD AND KEEPING HIM UNINFORMED OF ESSENTIAL BUSINESS DECISIONS? IT WAS YOU LINDA, SO PUT A SOCK IN IT!" Yelled Pepper
"Hypercritical sexless bitch!" Vince's best friend muttered

Potts finds evidence of Stane supplying weapons to the terrorists, but also discovers that Stane had initially hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark in Afghanistan.

"Actually, it transpired that it was Quentin Beck and his goon crew"

After an uncomfortable encounter with a suspicious Stane, Potts meets with Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division to inform him of Stane's activities.

"On-screen me must have been petrified" said Pepper
"I would say so" I replied, not realising that less than 15 feet away from us the Pepper Potts in question was shaking uncontrollably because of how Stane punished her.

Stane's scientists reveal that they cannot finish his suit, as no one can manage to duplicate Stark's Arc Reactor. Furious Stane yells "Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave, with a box of scraps!" The scientist on the receiving end of Stane's wrath replies that he is not Tony Stark.
"There is another difference between this version of me and the version of me sitting before you… I would never expect a Stark Industries employee to take a dressing down like that, unless they had done something to warrant it and even then I would have done it privately, in my office and I would have encouraged the employee to find out how to fix their mistake." Uncle Obie said angrily

Stane ambushes Stark at his home, using a Sonic Taser to paralyze him and take his current Arc Reactor.

"I would never do that… even if I was evil"
"I know…"

Left to die, Stark manages to crawl to his lab and saves himself by re-using his original arc reactor.
"Not sentimental huh?" said Pepper raising an eyebrow
"Generally no. Unless it is feline related" Pinky cracked an eyelid raised a paw in the air and rolled over and went back to sleep.

"See? Even Pinky agrees with me"

Potts and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempt to arrest Stane, but he dons his suit and attacks them. Stark fights Stane, but is outmatched without his upgraded reactor to run his suit at full capacity. Stark lures Stane atop the Stark Industries building and instructs Potts to overload the large Arc Reactor there. Doing so unleashes a massive electrical surge that knocks Stane unconscious, causing him and his armour to fall into the exploding reactor, killing him.

"I suppose that is what you would call karma"
"Yes"

The next day, the press dubbed the armored hero "Iron Man".
"The suit is not made of Iron though"
"These people know you and know your father… and they obviously know about your grandfather too… he always said "Stark men are made of Iron"
I saw my father shiver. My mother put her arm around his shoulders.
"Your grandfather used to say that when I told him there was a spider in my room. I hate spiders… evil rotten 8 legged freaks"
"That must be where my arachnophobia comes from"
"Yes, it is, you were 10 months old when you first met one and you freaked out."

Agent Coulson gives Stark a cover story to explain the events of the night and Stane's death.
"Yeah right, like that would have worked! I know my Godson. He does not like fallacies, at all."

At a press conference, Stark begins giving the cover story, but then instead announces that he is Iron Man, shocking the public as the crowd of interviewers suddenly begin roaring out questions, much to Rhodes' confusion.

"I would have told you but you said it was better that you did not know much"
"That is true, I did. I am glad you listened."

Afterward, Nick Fury visits Stark at his home, stating that Iron Man is not "the only superhero in the world," and wants to discuss the Avengers Initiative.

"That is the second film that has ended with that particular initiative. Is there anything that Mr Fury is trying to tell us?" Hermione observed.

"All right, same procedure as before, stretch your legs, use the restroom if you need to, if you need to take medication do that too but be back here in 10 minutes. The next film we will be watching is… The Incredible Hulk" said Rufus
"WHAT? NO We can't watch that!" Bruce exclaimed
"Sorry Brucie Bear, we likely do not have a choice" said Tommy
"Yes we do and don't call me Brucie Bear!" Bruce replied
"We do not have a choice" Metatron confirmed.