11. Poor Control, Killing Stane

Inside the helmet, Tony Stark panicked for a brief moment before quickly devising a new plan.

"Take me to maximum altitude," Tony said, looking upward.

"With only 15% power remaining, the odds of reaching that altitude are—" Jarvis began, but Tony cut him off.

"I know the math! Just do it!"

At that moment, Pepper could only stand and watch helplessly as Obadiah Stane's Iron Monger suit pursued Tony. The two played a dangerous game of cat and mouse in midair.

Suddenly, Jarvis interrupted.

"Sir, there is an incoming call from your brother."

"Did you tell him about our situation?" Tony asked, irritated.

"No, sir. I followed your instructions," Jarvis replied.

"Alright, connect the call."

An image of John appeared inside Tony's helmet.

"What's your situation, brother?"

Tony was momentarily shocked but replied in a relaxed tone.

"Just sightseeing, as usual."

"Don't lie to me. I know everything. Just tell me your situation," John insisted.

Tony sighed helplessly. He hadn't wanted his brother to get involved in this fight, but now that John had figured it out, there was no point in hiding.

"Well, right now, a big guy is chasing me. So, I don't think—"

Before Tony could finish, John interrupted.

"Alright, just bring the big guy to Sector 16. Leave the rest to me." With that, John ended the call.

Tony frowned and muttered, "What does he mean? How can he handle that guy?"

"Sir, you seem to have forgotten that Master John now has supernatural abilities," Jarvis reminded him.

The realization clicked, and Tony's resolve firmed. He kept ascending.

"Thirteen percent power, sir."

"Climb!"

"Eleven percent."

"Keep going!"

"Seven percent power."

"Just leave it on the screen! Stop telling me!"

As he scolded Jarvis, Stane's voice rang out.

"You had a great idea, Tony, but my suit is more advanced in every way!"

Tony smirked.

"How'd you solve the icing problem?"

"Icing problem?" Stane was momentarily confused, and then his suit began to malfunction. Just as Tony's Mark II had, the Iron Monger's systems froze, and the suit shut down completely.

"Might want to look into it," Tony quipped as he watched Stane's suit fall into a freefall, spinning toward the bright city lights below.

Tony hovered in midair, illuminated by the moonlight, enjoying his brief victory, but Jarvis quickly interrupted.

"Two percent energy remaining, sir."

Suddenly, Tony's repulsors shut off, and he began plummeting as well.

"We are now running on emergency backup power," Jarvis added.

Tony's fall was slowed by short bursts of the repulsors, reducing his momentum. He eventually crash-landed on top of the Arc Reactor building, tumbling onto the roof with an undignified crash.

As he struggled to his feet, he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

"Hello, brother. You seem to be in one piece," John said calmly.

Tony got up and looked at jhon who was in mark 2 suit and asked with a wry smile.

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

John didn't respond immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes, focusing on a newly acquired rune. Suddenly, the gloves of his Mark II suit twisted and deformed. Moments later, John's hands were exposed, and he replied calmly,

"It looks like I can handle it."

Tony, seeing his brother's control over metal, sighed in relief but was shocked nonetheless. "How can you manipulate metal like that?"

Before John could answer, Pepper ran toward Tony, panic etched on her face.

"Tony! Oh my God, are you okay?"

Tony raised a hand to calm her down.

"I'm almost out of power. I've got to get out of this thing. I'll be fine, don't worry."

As Tony reassured Pepper, the Iron Monger suddenly appeared behind him.

"Nice try, Tony! But it ends here," Stane growled.

John stepped forward, raising his hand toward Stane. The Iron Monger suit trembled, its metal rippling unnaturally.

"What are you doing?" Stane shouted, frantically activating the weapons in his suit. But before they could fire, John clenched his fist, and the left arm of the suit twisted backward with a loud screech.

The chest plate crumpled inward next, the metal bending like paper as it pressed tightly against Stane. His breathing grew frantic as he tried to fight back, but the controls were useless under John's power.

Next moment the legs of the suit collapsed, forcing Stane into a painful, contorted position. The helmet buckled last, folding inward and silencing his panicked cries.

With just a single motion, John crushed the suit entirely. The once-mighty Iron Monger was reduced to a twisted, bloodstained lump of metal.

Tony stared in horror at the sight, bile rising in his throat. While he felt a pang of sadness for Stane's death, he couldn't blame John. Still, the method was terrifying.

John, equally shocked, remained silent. He hadn't expected his control over the metal to be so destructive. As an intermediate wizard apprentice, he had underestimated the power of his metal manipulation.

Pepper, unable to bear the sight, fainted. Tony carefully laid her down before approaching John.

"Don't blame yourself for this," Tony said softly. "If you hadn't killed him, he would have killed us. Just go home. I'll handle this mess. Though… you could've been a bit gentler."

Next tony said to Jarvis.

"Take John home."

"As you wish, sir," Jarvis replied.

All this while jhon didn't said a word and went home, and after John left tony looked at the lump of metal and murmured to himself,

"Now, how do I explain this? Brother, you've caused a big problem."

Just as he finished his murmure, Coulson and other agents walked toward Tony with serious look on their faces.