Ch. 106 - Shock

"What the? I thought you left outside the cave?" Tony questioned him. Tony rubbed his eyes to see if Yinsen is really here or maybe he's already dead and he's just seeing his ghost?

"What do you mean leaving? The only thing I remember was passing out just when I started the installation." Yinsen scratched the back of his head and said while Tony's face turned grim.

'What's going on? Am I perhaps just hallucinating?' Tony asked himself before shaking his head.

'It doesn't matter, Yinsen is still here and the installation is almost done. I can get both of us out of here.' Tony continued in his mind.

"Yinsen, I'll go first and when I give the signal, run out of the cave, okay?" Tony instructed him first, hallucination or not, Tony thinks that Yinsen would definitely sacrifice himself just to buy some time. So, just in order to be sure, he would leave Yinsen inside their prison while he clears the enemies outside the cave.

And so, Tony went outside and was about to rampage when he noticed that the entire cave seems to be so quiet.

"What's going on?" Tony questioned himself and when he finally reached the main area of the cave where most of the terrorists stayed, he saw countless dead bodies laying on the ground. At first glance it looks like the bodies were just laying on the ground but the internal system of his armor gave him a hint that the bodies were already dead as they aren't breathing anymore.

"Took you quite a long time." A voice finally revealed its presence and when Tony looked at the perpetrator, he saw Doflamingo with 'Yinsen' standing right behind him.

"Yinsen? I thought I told you t-." Just before the confusion could escalate, Doflamingo already wanted to clear it up.

"The 'Yinsen' behind me is an illusion. The real Yinsen is still back in that prison cave." Doflamingo said while pointing behind Tony.

And just like what Doflamingo said, Tony turned around and saw that Yinsen was not walking out of the prison cave.

When Tony turned his head back to Doflamingo to see if the 'Yinsen' that was behind Doflamingo.

Tony saw 'Yinsen' slowly fading away from Doflamingo's behind.

"Tony?" Yinsen finally reached out to his position and called out to his name.

"I'm fine, Yinsen. We have a guest." Tony said as he pointed at Doflamingo.

To be honest, at first glance, he already knew who the person was in front of him. It was the owner of the Dressrosa Theme Park that he used to visit whom he hadn't seen in years.

"You are....." Tony racked his head, trying his best to remember the name of the man in front of him.

"..." Meanwhile, Doflamingo just sat on a random crate and waited patiently for Tony to remember him.

"Mr. Donquixote Doflamingo?" However, Yinsen was the only one to remember him when Yinsen saw his face. Though it took him quite a few seconds to recall his name.

"That's right! You're Doflamingo! It's already on the tip of my tongue, it's just that Yinsen ." Tony smashed his palm and said, pretending that he almost got his name.

"It doesn't matter." Doflamingo shook his head at Tony's words before continuing.

"It actually took me quite a lot of time to find you guys and when I did, I already finished all the enemies here." Doflamingo looked around and said, indicating towards the dead bodies on the ground.

"Yeah I see that." Tony nodded his head and said, after gulping.

Inside his head, Tony started wondering if Doflamingo really did all these, alone.

"I can see that you're prepared to escape here by fighting them alone. I'm sorry for stealing your spotlight." Doflamingo said, pouting at the suit of armor that Tony is wearing.

"It..actually doesn't matter. Thank you for saving us, I owe you one." Tony gratefully nodded his head at Doflamingo.

"It's fine. I know you're in a relationship with Matilda. And as her boss and best friend, I don't like seeing her sad every single day after you disappear." Doflamingo said, making Tony have a toothy grin. However, deep inside, Doflamingo was smirking as he finally got what he intended here.

(A/N: Sorry for those who shipped for Tony and Pepper. I needed someone worthy to be Matilda's husband and Tony crossed my mind.)

"R-really? As expected of her. She's such a soft-hearted person." Tony stuttered at first while blushing slightly.

While Doflamingo just stared at him and couldn't help but wonder how Matilda tamed this playboy who slept with different models like changing shirts.

If Doflamingo didn't know Matilda's character, he'd thought that she brainwashed Tony to love her. But knowing that she yearned for true love ever since she changed from being a lesbian to straight.

"How about we go home? I already sensed the helicopters flying a few kilometers around here." Doflamingo said, however, Tony still has a question in his mind.

"How did you do all these? Aren't you-." However, Doflamingo already knew the question in his mind so he already beat him to it and answered before he could finish his question.

"I'm a man with many skills, Stark." Doflamingo fixed his dark pink long sleeve shirt and said, looking extremely cool.

'Shouldn't I be the one to look cool in here? After all, I'm wearing this suit of armor that the world hasn't seen.' Tony grumbled inside his mind however, he didn't dare to say it out loud. After all, he doesn't know how strong Doflamingo is and how he could kill tens of armed men alone.

And besides, he's here to save them anyway, so there's no point in arguing with him.

And just like that, Tony and Yinsen were saved by the helicopter that arrived.

However, Tony couldn't possibly reveal the suit of armor. When Doflamingo noticed this, he offered to bring his suit of armor back to his laboratory in his mansion.

Although Tony doesn't know how Doflamingo will do it, he trusted Doflamingo, considering that he also saved them from the terrorists.

Tony only guessed that Doflamingo must've brought a bigger chopper that would transfer the suit of armor without any problems.

***

Staring at the departing helicopter, Doflamingo touched and large armor beside him and couldn't help but be tempted to bring it back to Sanctuary's lab but he cannot break Tony's trust as that will make him lose a lot of opportunities.

After the helicopter disappeared from his vision, Doflamingo knew that they would send someone here to investigate, so he quickly left with the suit of armor through a portal.

***

"...and that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing department of the Stark Industries." The moment Tony dropped those words, chaos immediately ensued as the reporters started asking several questions while the staff and employees of the Stark Industries were shocked to the bone as the Weapons Manufacturing Department is the reason why Stark Industries is standing tall.

Shutting them down translates to Stark Industries's doom.

Perhaps the most shocked person in the room was Obadiah Stane.

So, he immediately tried to put out the fire immediately by saying that Tony was just having a mental breakdown and that the decision isn't final yet.

Meanwhile, Matilda was watching the television and couldn't help but flash a smile.

"You're in love with him." Alice commented behind her.

As of now, Alice finally had a physical body however, not the kind of physique of a human but more like a machine.

"I-Inlove? Me? Psssh, there's no way I would fall in love with that playboy." Matilda tried to refute Alice's words but the blush on her face says otherwise.

"Whenever you stare at Tony in the television, your heartbeat rate fastens, which indicates that you're feeling an emotion whenever you see him and basing on your past interactions with him, my observations say that you are in fact, in love with him." Alice's words rung on Matilda's mind.

"....I don't think it matters. to him, maybe I'm just similar to those girls that he used to date with, after he's done using me, he'll just go and look for another girl." Matilda sighed in sadness.

"That's not true." Doflamingo appeared behind her and said.

"Doffy?" Matilda was so consumed by the sadness that she was feeling that she didn't notice Doflamingo's arrival.

"Do you know the reason why he managed to come out alive?" Doflamingo said to her.

"What is it?" Matilda's curiosity was at its peak.

"When I went to rescue him, the first thing I saw was your picture in his hand. He was looking at your face with loving eyes." Doflamingo said as he continued when the blush appeared on Matilda's face.

"Do you think he would look at someone he would just use that way?" Doflamingo striked while the iron is still hot.

He doesn't mind Matilda having a relationship with Tony. In fact, he encourages her to do so. It brings many benefits to not only him, but also to the entire family.

After Matilda went quiet, Doflamingo knew that his words had somehow impacted Matilda. So, he quickly left her alone.

He still has another matter to take care of. He just received a phone call that Thor had just recently debuted as a superhero even without joining the Avengers.

"I guess it runs in his blood to be a hero." Doflamingo muttered.

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[The next chapter will be Doflamingo travelling to another universe! And guess which universe!]

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