T S VI

Tony sat calmly on his sofa, sipping his drink while his gaze remained fixed on the gauntlets lying on the table in front of him. He studied them, their dark metallic surface glinting faintly under the room's light, as the quiet hum of the mansion filled the air.

His mind wandered as he placed the drink down and reached out to the gauntlets, fingers lightly brushing over them. "Suit up," he said, half-heartedly, closing his eyes.

But nothing happened.

"Hm, should I say it with more passion?" Tony thought, amused by the fact that his usual command hadn't worked. He opened his eyes, looking at the gauntlets again, but they remained motionless on the table.

"Alright... maybe I just need to control them better," he mumbled to himself. Closing his eyes once more, Tony focused, imagining himself commanding Ifrit—not just speaking the words, but mentally connecting with the power within the gauntlets. Slowly, he visualized the armor materializing around him, summoning it through sheer will.

"Come on... get back on," Tony murmured, concentrating harder, trying to tap into the mysterious energy the gauntlets held.

After opening his eyes once again, Tony found the gauntlets lying motionless on the table, still not responding to him. "How did I do it back there?" he mumbled to himself, recalling how the gauntlets had absorbed his Mark II suit effortlessly after the battle. He had simply wished for the suit back, and it had reappeared, yet now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't replicate the effect.

Frustrated, Tony leaned back into the sofa, rubbing his temples. "I should just call Garcia," he muttered under his breath, realizing that he needed answers. Without wasting another second, Tony grabbed his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed Dave's number.

The phone rang, and Tony impatiently waited for Dave to pick up, hoping he'd be able to shed some light on the gauntlets' mysterious abilities.

"Hello?" Dave's voice sounded from the other end of the call.

"Thank god you picked up. What the hell did you leave me with?" Tony almost shouted into the phone, his frustration clear.

Dave raised an eyebrow, his mind wandering to what could have gone wrong. "What happened? You didn't burn down your house with it, did you?" he asked, assuming the worst-case scenario behind Tony's anger.

"Oh, you wish! This thing ate up my new creation!" Tony grumbled.

"Wait, you mean your Iron Man armor?" Dave asked, surprised. Even he hadn't considered that the gauntlets could cause something like this to happen.

"Yes... How did you know about that?" Tony asked, still a bit annoyed but curious.

"Hmm... I'll come to you. We'll figure this out," Dave said calmly, and Tony nodded on the other side, relieved.

Dave hung up and looked over at his secretary. "Take care of everything here. I've got something I need to handle," he instructed her as he stood up, adjusted his coat, and left the building, heading to meet Tony and get to the bottom of what just happened.

"Did the origin of Ifrit somehow merge with his armor?" Dave mused as he drove, racing toward Tony's Malibu mansion. The thought lingered in his mind, wondering if the power of the gauntlets had unexpectedly fused with Tony's tech.

Soon, he arrived at the mansion, pulling up to find Tony standing outside, clearly waiting for him.

"You know, I would've liked it more if it was your secretary," Dave joked as he stepped out of the car, a teasing smile on his face.

Tony rolled his eyes, retorting, "You wish."

"No time for jokes. Get your ass in my basement—I want my Mark II back!" Tony said, waving Dave inside with urgency.

"Mark II?" Dave asked as he closed the car door, slightly confused.

"Yeah, so you didn't know about it and just acted on some news guess?" Tony mumbled to himself, annoyed, before clarifying, "It's my new creation, the best of my creations. Or it was until your gift decided to swallow it up."

"Hmm, even I didn't know it could do that," Dave admitted as they descended into Tony's basement.

As they stepped into the high-tech space filled with gadgets and cutting-edge tech strewn about like toys, Dave couldn't help but comment, "Your basement is quite impressive."

"Thanks, but the real deal is right here," Tony replied, pointing to the gauntlets lying on the table.

Dave nodded, approaching the table and touching the gauntlets. As soon as his fingers made contact, his mind was flooded with information—his system analyzing the gauntlets and revealing what had happened.

"so , what did you find?" Tony asked as Dave expression changed for a moment.

"Hmm, I have good news for you," Dave said, 

"And?" Tony raised an eyebrow, curious.

"What do you mean 'and'?" Dave asked.

"I mean, isn't there usually bad news that comes with the good news? You know, the 'bad news, good news' thing?" Tony gestured, expecting some downside.

"There's no bad news—just good news this time," Dave said with a laugh, shaking his head. "Your Mark II suit isn't lost. It's stored within the gauntlets, but you can summon it back whenever you want."

"Yeah, genius, I know that. I did it already, but now I can't do it again. So is there any way to just get my armor back?" Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, clearly frustrated.

Dave chuckled a bit at Tony's impatience. "Why would you want to? Now it's even more powerful than your original suit could've ever been. It could even allow you to survive in space without needing anything else."

Tony raised an eyebrow, intrigued but still skeptical. "Survive in space? That sounds great, but I need control. I don't want to have to rely on this thing going rogue every time I want to suit up."

Dave nodded thoughtfully, understanding Tony's concern. "Alright, give me a bit of time. I'll work on stabilizing the connection between you and Ifrit. You should be able to control it consciously, and summon your armor whenever you need it."

****

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