18: Tony Stark

18: Tony Stark

Tony swore that no one would ever find out how his roof got a new hole. He rubbed the ice on his head, the pain slowly diminishing. He grimaced as he felt the ice melting and the drops of cold water running down his neck.

He needed to improve the padding in the suit; maybe some more of interior cushioning would be good.

He walked over to where the suit was parked. Admiring it up close was certainly surprising; sometimes he himself was amazed at how incredible he was.

But even he knew that walking around in a suit that seemed to be made entirely of gold would be too ostentatious.

"Jarvis, I need a paint job change, maybe something less flashy, something elegant. Put some black on these parts" he said, pointing to specific parts of the armor. Then Jarvis deployed a projected screen beside him, showing the design of the suit and how the chosen color would look on it.

Tony analyzed the new view thoughtfully.

"I look like a rich man going to a funeral to flaunt his money. Let's add some red here" It was like painting a new sports car. Tony loved those cars, but this was better than any car.

"Perfect colors for camouflage, sir" Jarvis' voice could be almost robotic, but even Tony could detect the sarcasm in those words.

"Hey, I'm quite discreet. Make sure to make it shine" he smiled and walked to his workbench; he still needed to make some adjustments. The flight needed fine-tuning as well as the center of gravity. None of that required a completely new suit; for now, Mark 2 was enough. But Tony was already starting to think about designs for Mark 3.

Mark 2 was good, but it had only just broken Mach 4 during its space walk. Defiant's data placed its speed much higher than that, dozens of times beyond. If Tony wanted to close the gap, he needed more than just powerful engines; he needed to improve the suit's damping system. After all, Tony was still human; even if theoretically the suit could surpass Mach 5, that didn't mean the same for his body. If he didn't want health problems beyond those he already had, he needed a way to solve it.

With those thoughts in mind, he reached his workbench and pressed a button on his keyboard to turn on his computer, causing several monitors to come to life, showing different things at once. He sat down, getting comfortable to work better. At the same time, he noticed a box left behind by Pepper, stretching to pick it up, He looked at the note left and smiled, but before he could look at its content his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the news on one of the monitors.

"It has been mentioned by reliable sources that Tony Stark's post-traumatic stress has affected his mental state, leading the board members of Stark Industries to decide to remove him from his position as CEO after many days of discussions, resulting in Obadiah Stane taking over as the new CEO of Stark Industries. It is still unknown if this will affect Tony Stark's decision regarding his involvement in the military market, but it is expected that-" Tony suddenly sat up straighter, his eyebrows furrowing, and he set the unopened box aside.

"Jarvis, where is Obadiah right now?"

to his question, his faithful assistant was quick to respond.

"He appears to be at his third annual benefit gala for families of firefighters who died in action" That was his party!

"Jarvis, why don't I have an invitation to my own party? Did you check the Spam folder?"

Tony stood up and began to get ready to leave; he needed to have a serious talk with Obadiah as soon as possible.

"I assure you, sir, I meticulously check every email that comes to you"

Jarvis seemed offended; clearly, he was the best assistant one could ask for, and he wouldn't let something so basic slip by.

"Of course you do, Jarvis, that's why I pay you" Tony started up the stairs to change his clothes.

"You don't pay me, sir" Jarvis' voice was flat.

"And it will stay that way if you keep complaining. Now, get my car ready; it's time for a ride"

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Flashes, luxury cars, men in elegant suits, and beautiful women in low-cut dresses; Tony passed through them all without looking at them even once. His heart was pounding, and the anger that had been building up inside him seemed on the verge of erupting.

He looked at Obadiah, who was grinning from ear to ear and shaking hands like a good businessman. Tony approached him unnoticed and slapped his back, catching him by surprise.

"Tony?!" Obadiah almost shouted, and Tony could see he hadn't expected his arrival at all.

"Hey, Obi, having a great time, I hope" he gave a smile even though he wasn't happy.

Obadiah forced a smile; the cameras were still taking pictures and videos after all. He patted Tony's shoulder and leaned in as if they were good friends.

"What are you doing here? I didn't expect you to come; it's an unexpected surprise" he was uncomfortable, and that was easy to see, but as an experienced businessman, he managed to quickly shake off that surprise.

"Why not? I remember this is my party. Can't a man attend his own party?" Tony smiled and looked at one of the nearby interviewers.

"What do you say? Do you think I shouldn't be here, beautiful lady?" The reporter smiled, blush evident on her cheeks.

"Of course, Mr. Stark, you should definitely be here. You're the life of all parties" she responded hastily, Tony smiled and looked back at Obadiah.

"See? Everyone loves me" Tony walked away from Obadiah and began to enter the event hall. As he walked, he spoke with a serious voice without looking at him. It was clear to everyone who managed to hear him that his voice contained an ultimatum.

"I'll be waiting inside. We have a lot to talk about"

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Tony arrived at the cocktail bar and quickly ordered something; he needed to calm down.

"Mr. Stark"

The voice pulled him out of his thoughts, causing him to turn and face an unfamiliar but vaguely familiar face. Did he know this guy?

"If you're here to waste my time, you'd better leave. I'm not in the mood for pointless chatter"

Maybe it was harsh, but his mood wasn't the best. He had been betrayed, and no one had bothered to inform him. Losing Rhodes had already been bad enough; this was just another nail in his coffin. Now that he had decided to change for the better, it seemed like he had lost everyone who was on his side.

It was a bitter pill to swallow.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson. We've met before" The agent didn't seem offended by Tony's previous response. Tony looked at him again.

"Yes, I remember you now. You're from that... what was it called?" Tony could be quite selective with the things he remembered.

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division-" Tony interrupted Agent Phil.

"Yeah, I'm not going to use that; it's too long. Shorten it" Phil fell silent for a moment.

"We're also known as S.H.I.E.L.D"

"Nice acronym. Do you have it stamped on your T-shirts?"

Phil sighed.

"Listen, Mr. Stark, I need to talk to you seriously. It's something important" Tony took a long sip of his freshly served drink and looked at Phil.

"Important? Well, I have many important things lately. Why would yours be more important, Agent?"

Despite the hostility in Tony's tone, the agent spoke calmly.

"I know you're going through serious problems, Mr. Stark, and this may not be the best time, but I assure you that S.H.I.E.L.D. only wants what's best for everyone, for you. There are still many questions regarding your escape from Afghanistan, and we would like to ensure that nothing similar happens again"

"Nothing similar?" Tony furrowed his brow slightly, placed his drink on the bar, and looked at Phil seriously.

"Believe me, Agent, something like that will never happen again. I promise you that" He caught sight of Obadiah entering from the corner of his eye and knew it was time to attend to truly important matters. He patted Phil's shoulder and looked at him one last time before leaving.

"But if this S.H.I.E.L.D. is so 'concerned' about me, then they won't mind finding out how those terrorists in Afghanistan knew where I was, right? When I know something about that, maybe we can talk. Until then, I have things to do."

He bid farewell without looking back, leaving Agent Phil alone.

"Well, that could have gone worse" the agent sighed and took out his phone; he needed to make some calls.

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Before Tony could reach Obadiah, someone interrupted him halfway.

"Look who it is! The great Tony Stark!" The blonde woman smiled with clear irony in her words.

"Listen, whoever you are, I don't have time for dates right now" he tried to brush past her, but she blocked his path.

"It's Christine. Maybe you should start remembering things better, but I'm not surprised you forgot; men like you tend to forget their promises" Tony frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, and she smirked mockingly at him.

"I remember just a few weeks ago you promised the world that you would change the course of Stark Industries, abandon the military market, and transform your company into something better. I guess that's another thing you forgot"

Tony sighed and smiled, replying in a cold voice.

"I know what the news says, but believe me, the board of directors is not going to change my decision. Stark Industries is not going back to the military market, and that's final"

"Really? You say it with such conviction that I almost could believe it, but everyone knows that Stark Industries is still trading weapons."

Tony's smile vanished, he furrowed his brows deeply, looking at Christine this time with real seriousness and attention.

"What do you mean by that?" Christine's smile faded slightly as she saw the real seriousness on Tony's face. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out some pre-prepared photos.

"Look at these. They're from a town called Gulmira, a small and picturesque place, or at least it was until a few days ago" Tony took the photos; all the sound around him seemed to disappear as he looked at their contents, and his face visibly paled.

With each new photo, he felt like his heart beat slower and the blood in his veins froze. He almost trembled seeing his company's logo in each of them; he gritted his teeth so hard he felt them grind. He looked up to Christine.

"Christine, right? When were these photos taken?" Seeing the change in his expression and behavior, Christine's mocking tone and condescending smile vanished.

"They're from yesterday."

Tony licked his dry lips, nodded a few times, patted Christine's shoulder, and smiled.

"Alright, Christine, I must thank you, and I don't do this very often, just as I don't break my promises. Whatever this is and whatever is happening, I assure you it won't stay like this" He wasn't going to let this continue.

Christine smiled and scoffed.

"I'll believe it when I see it" With that said, she turned around and left; she had nothing more to say.

Tony watched her leave before turning around and walking with heavy steps. He saw Stane chatting with some people and quickly approached him.

"Tony, it's good to see you. Let me introduce you to—" Obadiah smiled upon seeing him and took him by the shoulder, indicating the people he had been talking to.

"I don't care. We need to talk now" Tony didn't even look at them; all his focus was on Obadiah. The smile on the man's face vanished upon hearing his tone of voice.

Obadiah nodded, and soon the two of them moved away from the crowd.

"What's wrong, Tony? You seem... upset" Obadiah took a sip of his drink as he spoke, looking at Tony, who seemed quite angry.

"You know what's wrong, you know what's happening!" he almost shouted and pulled out the photos Christine had given him.

"What is this? What does this mean!?" Obadiah glanced at them quickly and grimaced; it seemed like it was time to stop pretending.

"Business, Tony, it means business" he smirked, walking up to him and facing him.

"Stark Industries doesn't negotiate with terrorists! We don't make deals under the table, we don't—" Tony was interrupted by Obadiah.

"Don't be naive, Tony. Money doesn't rain from the sky or grow on trees. Stark Industries doesn't stay afloat by selling appliances or being Samaritans. What did you think was going to happen? That we would abandon the arms market? That we would simply follow your orders and squander millions for nothing?"

Stane smirked mockingly at him.

"No, I won't let this continue. My company—"

"Your company? You no longer have power here Tony! You've been relegated, replaced. Your decisions don't matter anymore, I made sure of that..." he patted his back.

"Now go home, go out with a girl, spend some money. I'll take care of the rest"

Obadiah left, leaving Tony alone.

He clenched his fists, looked at the photos in his hands. If this was how things were going to be, then so be it.

He would handle this his way.

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Tony hurried home, quickly returning to his workshop and began barking orders.

"Jarvis, I need all the information available on Gulmira—maps, images, news, anything"

Jarvis quickly deployed several holographic screens around him, flooding the entire place with information from all sources.

Tony read through every report, every note and news article. He looked at the images and frequently saw the same name appearing multiple times, a familiar one.

"The Ten Rings, huh? Well, I'll take care of you." He examined the maps and images obtained; it wasn't enough.

"Do we have any satellite images, jarvis?"

"The only satellites with access to the airspace in the area are of military grade, sir. We don't have access to their images"

Tony clicked his tongue.

"Alright, then we'll have to force our way in" He quickly sat down and deployed his keyboard; it seemed like it was time to breach the military defense systems.

"I advise against it, sir. Unauthorized access to military databases is a serious violation of the law that can—" Jarvis was cut off by Tony.

"The law doesn't matter right now, Jarvis, so just be quiet and make coffee"

The artificial intelligence remained silent for a second, and if it had a body, a sigh might have been heard.

"Understood."

Soon, Tony gained access to all the satellite images he needed.

Not only did he want to save Gulmira, but he was also going to get rid of the Ten Rings once and for all. If Obadiah wanted to sell weapons? Well, then Tony would leave him without customers.

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There were explosions, screams, dust and smoke rising into the sky.

A member of the Ten Rings shouted orders over his radio, but before he could do anything, a black metal hand punched through the wall and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him outside and dragging him out of his hiding spot.

"Ugh!" The terrorist screamed as his body was dragged outside and violently thrown to the ground.

A repulsor beam hit him moments later, killing him instantly. Then, a hail of bullets flooded the area as another group of terrorists jumped from the side of a building.

Tony watched as one of them pulled out a portable missile launcher. The projectile was about to be launched, but he was faster. From his shoulder, one of his weapons deployed, firing high-speed projectiles that hit the missile launcher, causing it to explode, engulfing the attacking group in fire and smoke.

Tony scoffed and began to walk in another direction. He had arrived in Gulmira in record time, wasting no time or hesitation, jumping into direct confrontation from the very beginning.

After taking care of saving the village, he didn't stop. With all the information he had extracted, he knew there were at least 15 more Ten Rings bases scattered throughout Afghanistan. He had calculated their locations and was determined to get rid of them that same day.

No matter what, he wouldn't leave without destroying all the weapons Obadiah had sent.

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Raza shouted orders, the ground trembled, thunderous impacts made his ears ring, and he barely managed to cover himself in time to avoid being hit by an explosion.

His head buried in the sand, making the wound on his side burn even more, he could feel the grains of sand and dirt embedding into his flesh.

He gritted his teeth, tasting his own blood, with red eyes and evident fury and desperation, he slowly got to his feet.

Everything around him was engulfed in flames—his men, his resources, his weapons.

In a matter of minutes, they had lost half of their bases; the Ten Rings had been attacked so hard and fast that there was no time to form proper resistance.

Raza watched everything he had strived for—his dreams and goals—being destroyed before his eyes. He screamed to the sky, almost tearing his own throat as he did so.

Something heavy landed beside him; he felt the ground shaking and his eyes filled with madness as he turned to face the one responsible for it all.

"You!" his pupils contracted, recognizing the design of the metal mask now before him.

"Missed me? I thought I'd drop by, bring some gifts, light up the fireworks, spice up this party a bit. What do you think? Enjoying it? I put in quite an effort" the voice full of sarcasm and mockery made Raza grit his teeth so hard he felt like they were going to break.

"You'll pay for this! The Ten Rings will make you pay for this!" he growled, limping; even in his current state, he didn't back down, standing recklessly face to face with his enemy.

Tony approached him and mocked, extending his hand.

"No, they won't" the repulsor beam lit up, ready to be fired.

Raza let out a scream of rage and lunged at him in one last desperate attempt to fight, but before he could get close, the repulsor beam struck him in the stomach, sending his body flying dozens of meters until it crashed onto the ground. Blood sprayed everywhere, and an enormous hole in his abdomen revealed his spilled entrails.

Tony almost gagged at the sight, shaking his head and turning away; it wasn't pleasant. He began to walk, prepared to leave; he still had some bases to destroy.

On the ground, with blurred vision, Raza spat blood. Surprisingly, the blow hadn't killed him instantly. He tried to speak, to say something more, but he was choking, his lungs no longer able to hold air.

He raised his hand, stretching it towards the sky. Was this how it was all going to end? Was this the end of his life? murdered by a fucking rich kid in a metal can?

He wanted to laugh, coughed, and felt his body numbing, his mind wandering. His eyes looked at him, watched his back slowly receding. No, this couldn't be the end, not like this, not in his hands. He wouldn't allow it to end like this.

He was Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar! A commander of the Ten Rings! He was supposed to rule over these lands! His bloody fingers dug into the sand, feeling his heart beating harder. He had to stand up! He was still alive! He could still fight.

His dark brown eyes, which had seemed to lose all their sparkle, suddenly began to change. An unnatural glow began to emanate from them; the sand around him began to stir, the wind howling. Deep within himself, something began to awaken, cells that had previously been indistinguishable from any other starting to mutate grotesquely, stimulated by his darkest and most desperate desires.

He felt something change within him, felt the strength returning to him. his bones creaked, snapping back into place of their own accord, flesh and muscle twitching and air began to flood into his lungs with much more intensity than before. Slowly, he stood up, the skin on his body starting to crack, becoming rough. Black blood oozed through it. Raza didn't know what was happening or why, but he didn't care. In his mind, there was only one idea, one thought that flooded his brain.

Fight.

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Tony furrowed his brow, watching as his vision began to fill with dust and sand. Of course, the area had been filled with them before, but now it seemed as if a tornado was suddenly shaking the whole place.

He stopped. "Jarvis, what's happening?" Was there some meteorological anomaly?

But before his faithful artificial intelligence could respond, a scream, more like a roar, echoed. Tony turned only to see a cyclone of sand and dirt rising, and in the midst of it, Raza stood up, roaring as the force of the winds increased to impossible measures, tearing debris from all directions, forming small tornadoes around him.

"What the hell?!"

"Hahahahaha!!!" Raza's uncontrollable laughter filled the area, gusts of wind battering the destroyed base, the intoxicating power coursing through his veins.

"Jarvis, how's our energy holding up?" Tony adjusted his stance to withstand the strong winds that began to whip the area.

"The main reactor still retains 85% of its energy, with the secondary at 100%."

He could work with that.

"Give me a diagnostic. How's the suit's integrity?" Despite having been easily winning so far, he still took some hits, mainly from tank shells and missiles.

"The integrity is stable. There are no significant damages to the core components of the armor"

Tony clenched his fists. He had heard that Defiant fought a monster several days ago; he thought those were absurd rumors, but it seemed that something really messed up was happening in the world.

"First a superhero, and now monsters. What's next? Aliens in capes?"

It seemed he would have to work harder on his future armors.

For a moment, only the sound of the winds whipping around them was heard. Both sides stared at each other amidst the fierce currents of sand and dust.

Then it began.

The thrusters on Tony's suit's back ignited to their maximum capacity in an instant; in just a fraction of a second, his body surged forward, breaking through the air currents and rushing with his fist raised.

Raza's pupils shrank, his maniacal smile froze as the blow came extremely fast towards him, barely giving him enough time to move his head to the side.

As Tony's punch missed, he opened the palm of his hand; the repulsor beam shot out from his palm, forcefully changing the position of his arm and driving his elbow towards Raza's head.

His elbow, which should have impacted easily, was interrupted by an almost invisible wall of air currents, sand, and dust.

Raza smiled and waved his left arm; the wind stirred, and a powerful gust of air hit Tony's side, causing him to slide several meters back.

Quickly, Tony activated his thrusters and lifted off into the air, freeing himself from the strange phenomenon.

He saw hundreds of debris from the entire base rising into the air and opened his eyes to see tornadoes forming around him with those same debris in them.

He dodged several of them in quick succession, using his thrusters to change direction abruptly. His stomach churned as he felt his body forced to move erratically so many times.

He raised his palm and made a hole in what seemed to be the middle of one of the base's buildings, which had been torn from the ground by the winds. He navigated through it and began to analyze his options.

But there was no time to think; wind blades suddenly formed around him. Tony let out a muffled scream as he felt the suit being struck from all directions by attacks he could barely perceive.

The suit's alloy held up quite well, but marks of cuts appeared all over its surface, clearly visible.

"Shit!" Tony dodged as best he could and accelerated towards his opponent; clearly, he had the advantage of long-range, so staying away was the worst option.

Along with the cutting air currents, debris also flew. Hundreds of tons of them, whether from the base's buildings, vehicles, or even the bodies of the dead members of the Ten Rings.

It was pure unpredictable chaos.

And that was what gave Tony an answer.

'He can't control it' If he wanted to attack him directly, there were many ways, but his opponent wasn't just attacking him; he was attacking everything around him. Tony could see how he was indiscriminately destroying the surrounding terrain, like an area attack that couldn't fully focus on a single target. At least not entirely, and he was going to take advantage of that.

Raza waved his hands and laughed maniacally as his newly discovered abilities created chaos and destruction without measure. Intoxicated by his power as he was, he couldn't react when Tony navigated to him, hiding from his view among the flying debris.

His fist suddenly struck him in the face, making him scream in pain and sending him crashing into a building that had been lifted into the air.

"Argh!" he groaned, and a piece of tooth flew out. His left cheek had caved in completely. His golden eyes looked towards Tony, who was flying towards him at full speed without hesitation.

He hastily raised his hand, causing the wind to become extremely violent suddenly. Tony twisted his body as best as he could, but he was still hit by what seemed like a sharp current of air.

He tried to cross his hands in front of him, but the blow broke through his guard and hit his chest, causing a long and deep cut to form in his armor plate.

The arc reactor sparked and began to flicker suddenly.

"Main reactor compromised, switching to backup mode. Secondary reactor at maximum power" The thrusters on Tony's back burst with full force, propelling him forward without wasting time.

As he flew, his right hand stretched out and grabbed the broken turret cannon of a tank that he had destroyed earlier, now flying through the air with the rest of the debris. He tightened his grip on the cannon and dragged it with him until he reached Raza, swinging it like a large club directly towards Raza's head, blocking his vision and causing him to hurriedly try to intercept the blow using a wall of wind.

There was an impact, and Raza smiled as he saw that he had successfully blocked the blow. But that smile disappeared when he heard the sound of the repulsors being fired. His eyes moved as fast as they could only to see Tony appear from the bottom of the turret with both arms stretched towards him and a deep, bright blue light about to hit him.

His pupils shrank, and a panicked scream almost began to escape his throat. He tried to move his hands to block the attack, but it was too late.

BOOM!!

The light pierced through the heavy layers of sand and dust, instantly clearing the surroundings as the shockwave spread.

The hurricane winds suddenly calmed down, and the debris began to fall to the ground like a torrential rain.

Tony, half kneeling on the ground, watched as Raza's body fell to the ground, or what was left of him. His upper body had turned into pieces of flesh that began to rain down at the same time as the debris.

Tony breathed heavily, slowly lowering his arms that were still smoking, and checked the amount of energy in his secondary arc reactor.

"76%." He had used at least 24% of energy in that single attack.

"Jarvis, diagnosis." Data about the armor began to appear on his HUD.

"Main structure compromised by 38%. Primary Arc Reactor disabled. Secondary Arc Reactor stable-"

He listened to jarvis report on the situation as he sat on the ground and watched the debris fall with the sand and dust slowly settling.

That was intense, a short and intense battle, Tony thought. He had made a small miscalculation that cost him his main reactor, but fortunately, he had a secondary reactor that he once thought was an exaggeration but now knew was the best choice.

He looked at the body of the "monster" or whatever Raza had become.

There were so many questions in his mind, but the pain in his body and chest made him focus again on the present. Any questions he had would have to be answered when he finished what he started.

Even if his suit was a little damaged, he still had enough juice to take out the remaining Ten Rings bases.

With some difficulty, he got back on his feet, ready to continue his mission.

"It seems I arrived late this time" a voice Tony didn't recognize said, making him jump in alertness, his body quickly turning and raising his hands with his repulsors ready to fire.

Descending from the sky, he saw the familiar but still strange figure of Defiant.

"Sorry, the party's over" Tony replied to his words as he slowly lowered his hands.

They both looked at each other, studying each other carefully in a silence only interrupted by the sound of debris falling to the ground.

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Note:

What did you think? Writing this chapter amidst a hellish heatwave was, quite literally, hellish, haha! My poor fan decided to embark on its own isekai adventure and shut down forever, so now I'm sweating buckets. I hope to get a new one soon.

If there are any issues with the chapter, please let me know so I can fix them.

Thanks for your fantastic support! :D

The next update of Still Defiant is now available on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) and soon there will be another chapter there, If you don't want to wait for a public update, you can take a look at it n.n