Chapter 105 - Responsibility

It didn't take long for Prime to reach Tony's mansion. In his symbiotic form, Prime could leap and run at superhuman speeds. If he really pushed himself, he could probably break the sound barrier. Once upon a time, he had thought he might even reach the speed of light, but that seemed like a distant fantasy now.

Even if he somehow achieved such a feat, it was unlikely that both his and Sara's bodies would come out unscathed. Of course, Prime had never tested to see what the final outcome would be. He decided to set that matter aside when Sara's voice echoed in his mind.

(Doesn't seem like anyone's here. With a mansion this size, you'd think he'd have someone to clean or something?) Sara asked in Prime's mind.

At that moment, Prime put Sara's words aside and quickly returned to his human form, while Sara appeared where he had been moments before. Glancing briefly to the side, Prime exchanged a look with Scream, who, understanding the signal, smashed through the front door. Emma was already next to Sara, surveying the surroundings with curiosity in her eyes.

Prime didn't specify exactly what he wanted Scream to do; he simply indicated his desire to enter. Scream took this as permission to break down the front door. Setting unnecessary destruction aside, Prime turned to Emma.

"Don't wander too far from me, young lady" Prime said with a smirk. Emma simply nodded in confirmation.

Walking slowly, Prime and the girls entered the mansion. No voices could be heard, and with the darkness of the night and the lights off, the place strangely resembled a haunted mansion. Prime seriously wondered why Tony's house gave off such a depressing feeling.

Despite the mansion being clearly beautiful and sophisticated, there was a sense of emptiness hanging in the air. Prime thought this probably reflected how Tony felt inside: despite having everything, he also had nothing.

"It really doesn't seem like anyone's here, and Tony isn't either" Sara commented, looking around and briefly glancing at a couch in the middle of the room, which looked recently used.

Prime also noticed the couch and walked over to it. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like two people had sat there recently. Prime wasn't sure if this impression came from his senses and instincts or something else, but he was certain of it. As he pondered this, Prime briefly realized that Emma had disappeared from his side.

"Emma?" Prime called out, looking around.

"I'm here, Daddy!" Emma exclaimed.

Upon hearing her voice, Prime looked in her direction and found Emma. Approaching her, Prime noticed a staircase leading further down into the mansion.

"What did I tell you before we entered?" Prime asked, a stern expression on his face.

"... Not to wander away from Daddy?" Emma replied with a question, a silly smile spreading across her face.

Seeing how Emma acted, it was obvious she wasn't afraid, let alone worried about anything that might happen to her. From her perspective, she was probably confident that either I or Annie would protect her from anything that happened.

(Well, she's not exactly wrong) Prime thought, releasing a brief sigh.

Lost in thought, Prime didn't notice another person approaching. Their voice echoed, catching Prime's attention, and he finally looked at the stairs descending to see Sara staring at him.

"What are you doing? Let's go downstairs already; he clearly isn't here" Sara spoke as she continued down. The only question on Prime's mind at that moment was where they got so much courage from.

Ignoring these thoughts, Prime began to descend the stairs, followed by Emma and Annie, now in human form. They soon arrived at what seemed like a workshop, at least from what could be seen through the glass that prevented them from fully entering the area.

"There's someone here" Annie said, looking around.

Prime smiled slightly upon noticing this; Annie's senses seemed quite sharp, though not as sharp as his. Still, it was praiseworthy. Of course, Prime had also sensed someone's presence since he approached the stairs, though he found it odd that he hadn't sensed it when nearing the mansion itself. He decided not to dwell on it, knowing it would only give him a headache.

Now, the only question that remained was exactly how they would get in. Although it was impolite, Prime decided to go old school. After all, it was necessary because someone's life depended on it.

Not a word was needed; suddenly, Sara extended her arm forward, and her hand transformed into a powerful symbiotic claw, ripping the door off with ease.

No one stood on ceremony; with the door gone, everyone stepped in and looked around. Despite the several parked cars, the place also had characteristics of a lab. Prime chose to ignore all of this and followed his instincts. Upon arriving, he saw Tony lying on the floor.

(Is he dead?) Prime thought, raising an eyebrow.

But that didn't seem to be the case. Tony's chest rose and fell, indicating he was still breathing. Without saying a word, perhaps because he couldn't, Tony pointed to the table beside him. It seemed that was where he had been trying to reach before he collapsed, having lost his strength.

On the table was a rudimentary cube glowing with energy. It took no more than that for Prime to understand: Tony's chest had a hole, and the object on the table seemed to fit perfectly there.

Without hesitation, Prime grabbed the object and positioned it next to Tony's chest. After connecting the wire to the right place, Prime slid the object into the hole in Tony's chest and twisted it, as if activating it. Tony took a deep breath, as if coming back to life. His breathing was irregular, but Prime knew it was inevitable.

"Hey, looks like you made it back to life successfully" Prime remarked as he watched the girls looking around.

"Never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you" Tony said as he got up, a tired look on his face. It would probably take a few minutes for him to fully recover.

"So, what exactly happened here?" Prime asked, though he could technically imagine what had occurred.

Hearing Ryan's question, Tony remained silent for a few seconds. Then, as he seemed to be urgently calling someone, he finally spoke.

"It was Obadiah; he's the one who tried to kill me and took the Arc reactor. With that, he has everything he needs to power the armor. I need to stop him; I could never forgive myself if he managed to use that power" Tony replied.

Prime said nothing; he just watched as Tony ran his hand through his hair, appearing desperate for some reason.

"Hello! Pepper, are you okay?" Tony spoke with desperation as soon as the call seemed to go through.

Prime found Tony's reaction intriguing. He seemed genuinely worried about this woman, though Prime didn't know her. He fixed her name in his mind; after all, to make the Tony he knew care so much about her, she must be special.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Prime asked, leaning to the side.

Hearing Ryan's words, Tony momentarily turned to him. No matter how Tony looked at him, Ryan seemed just like an ordinary human, very different from what Tony imagined his true form to be.

"I'm going to stop him; my new armor is practically ready" Tony said.

Prime initially considered helping him but couldn't find a convincing reason to do so. Still, he decided to step in if things went south for Tony, though, for now, it didn't seem like that would happen. At least, that's what Prime believed.