Chapter 9
The scene switches to Afghanistan. A few SUV's pull up to where Raza is standing with a few other men. Obadiah and a few security guards get out of the first car.
James glares at the man "That fucking bastard." James growls
Obadiah walks toward Raza who welcomes him.
Obadiah turns to look at the large burn mark on the side of his face. Raza explains that it was because of Toni.
Obadiah says that of Raza killed Toni when he was supposed to he'd still have a face.
Raza says that Obadiah gave them trinkets to kill a princess.
Peter and Harley curl around Toni, who unconsciously wraps her arms around them
Obadiah tells Raza to show him the weapon.
Raza tells him to leave the guards outside. They start to walk into the cave. Inside the cave we see the Mark 1 iron man suit finally assembled correctly.
Raza says that Toni's escape bore unexpected fruit.
Obadiah realizes that the suit was how Toni escaped.
Raza says that this suit is a crude effort and that Toni has perfected the design.
"There's always room for improvement." Iron Man mutters, staring down at his arms, where the Bleeding Edge armor was stored in his bones
Obadiah says that Toni has made a masterpiece of death.
Toni flinches at that
Raza says a man with a dozen of the suits can rule Asia, and says that Obadiah dreams of Toni's 'throne', then says that they have a common enemy and if they're still in business he'll gift the designs to Obadiah.
"Like he'd fall for that." Natasha says
Obadiah is staring at the hole in the chest of the suit, he runs his fingers along the side.
"Oh shit he knows." Ron says, earning a glare from his mother for his language
Raza says he hopes Obadiah will repay him with iron soldiers.
Obadiah walked toward him. He rested his arm on Obadiah's shoulder and turned on a devise that emitted a high pitched noise. Raza started breathing heavily and the veins in his head started popping out.
Obadiah says that that is the only gift he'll receive, and says that technology has always been the Achille's heel in this part of the world, then tells Raza the effect would only last 15 minutes.
The Witches and Wizards stare in horror at the weapon
Obadiah tells the guards to crate up the armor and to finish their business there. He gets into the car, behind him a bunch of people got shot. Obadiah is on the phone now.
He says to set up sector 16 under the arc reactor and that he wants the data masked, he says to recruit their top engineers and he wants a prototype right away.
"He's making a suit." Harry mutters
Pepper walks into Toni's lab where Toni is repairing her suit. Toni asks if she's busy and if she could run an errand for her. She says she needs her to go to her office, hack into the mainframe and retrieve all recent shipping manifests.
"You're trying to find all your weapons aren't you?" Remus asks and gets a nod from Toni
Pepper asks what she plans to do with the information.
Toni tells her that Obadiah's been dealing under the table and she needs to stop it, then tells her that she's going to find her weapons and destroy them.
Pepper says she'd help her with anything, but she won't if she is going to start this again.
Toni says that there's nothing but this, she says there's no opening, no benefit and there isn't anything to sign. She says that there's nothing but the next mission.
Pepper tells her that she's quitting then tosses the device on the table and starts to walk away.
Toni says that she's stood by her side when she was reaping benefits of destruction and asks her why she's walking out when she's trying to protect those that she put in harm's way.
Pepper tells her that she's going to get herself killed and that she wants no part on it.
The future versions of the Stark Brothers flinch, their spouses gripping their hands
Toni says that she shouldn't be alive unless there's a reason.
She says that she isn't crazy and she just finally knows what she needs to do and that in her heart she knows it's the right thing.
"One of the rare times we've seen you serious." Natasha says
"Well when the situation calls for it." Toni says jokingly
Pepper walked back over and picked the device up from where she tossed it and tells her that she's all she has too.
The older Stark brothers smile sadly, they missed Pepper
Pepper walks into Toni's office. She uses the device Toni gave her to log into her computer. A large number of files pop up. When she gets to the 3rd one, pictures of the Mark 1 on appear on screen. She notes that its sector 16 and asks herself what Obadiah's up to.
She opens a new file and the video The Ten Rings shot of Toni starts playing. Pepper types 'translate' into the computer.
One of the men says that Obadiah didn't tell them that the person he paid them to kill was Toni Stark. Pepper is horrified by this.
The man says that Obadiah's lies will cost him, and that the price to kill Toni has gone up.
Pepper copies everything onto the flash drive.
Obadiah walks into the room and asks what they're going to do about this. Pepper gasps and looks at him.
Obadiah pours a glass of some type of alcohol, and tells Pepper that he knows what she's going through.
"No you don't." Wanda and Henry say together
He sniffs the bottle and makes a comment about Toni always getting the good stuff.
"Always." Toni smirks, a dark look in her eyes
Pepper smiles and nods, she covers up the flash drive with a newspaper and clicks on the screen saver. A picture of Toni's car pops up. Obadiah walks over to her.
Obadiah says he was happy when Toni came home.
"Bullshit." Henry says, if his mother had been killed in Afghanistan then Obadiah would have probably killed him and his brothers too
He says it was like she came back from the dead.
He then says Toni never actually came home because part of her is still in the cave, and then says that it breaks his heart.
Pepper says she's a complicated person and she's been through a lot. She says that she thinks she'll be okay.
Obadiah tells Pepper that she's a rare woman.
"Is he flirting with you?" Lily asks
He continues by saying that Toni doesn't know how lucky she is.
"Didn't then. I do now." Toni says, looking at her children and wife, and then her best friend and her team
Pepper thanks and says she'd better go back then picks up the newspaper, unplugs the flash drive and grabs her purse.
Obadiah asks if the paper is from that day.
"Oh fuck he knows." Alexander yells
"Careful there, Steve doesn't tolerate that type of language." Henry says, getting some laughs from the team and Steve sighs
Obadiah walks over to her and grabs the paper and asks if she minds, saying he likes the puzzles.
She walks away again and looks at the flash drive in her hands. Obadiah walks back over to the computer and sees 'download complete' on the screen.
"Oh shit." Harry says
Pepper is walking down some stairs. Coulson is seen sitting in one of the chairs.
Coulson reminds her that they had an appointment and asks if she'd forgotten.
"Pepper doesn't forget anything. It's kind of scary." Toni says and Henry nods. Pepper could hold a grudge
Pepper says she didn't and tells him to come with her.
Coulson asks if she means right now.
Pepper confirms and tells him to walk with her and that she's going to give him the meeting of his life.
"Poor Coulson. Pepper can be scary when she wants to be."
"It's a skill you acquire quickly when dealing with them." Pepper says, pointing at the four Starks
William is on the phone and surrounded by other men in lab coats, he hangs up when he sees Obadiah coming. He says that they've explored what they asked him to and that there's been a hiccup.
Obadiah inquires about the hiccup.
William says that the technology to power the suit doesn't exist.
"Yes it does." Toni says
Obadiah gestures to the arc reactor and says that they have the technology and that he only asked them to make it smaller.
William says that that's what they're trying to do and that its impossible.
"It's not though." Toni says
Obadiah says that Toni was able to build it in a cave with scraps.
William apologizes and says he isn't Toni.
"And he never will be." Arsenal scowls, William had given them trouble when Mysterio had first shown up
Toni is walking in her living room, the phone is ringing she picks it up and answers it. The same high pitched noise is heard again and Toni freezes.
"Son of a bitch!" Steve yells earning shocked looks from the Avengers "Language." they tell him
Toni sighs, happy that she had sent her Henry and the twins away before this happened,
Pepper, from the other end of the line, asks if Toni's there.
Obadiah leans her back onto the couch and tells her to breathe. He holds the device out so Toni could see it and asks if she remembers it, before saying it was a shame the government didn't approve.
Obadiah says that there are a lot of applications for causing short-term paralysis.
Obadiah walks in front of her and grabs her chin and tells Toni that when he ordered the hit, he was worried he was killing the golden goose.
He puts the devise up to the arc reactor, then says it was fate that she survived and that she had one more golden egg to give.
"That son of a bitch." James says
Obadiah asks Toni if she thinks having an idea means it belongs to her.
"Isn't the point of having an idea is that it's your idea?" Sirius asks
He says that Howard helped give them the atomic bomb, and asks what kind of world it would be if he was as selfish as Toni was being.
"What's the atomic bomb?" Sirius ask, getting some disbelieving looks from the Avengers and some magicals
"A weapon that can destroy a city in a few seconds." Dumbledore tells him
Toni gasps as the arc reactor is pulled from her chest. Obadiah takes the arc reactor in his hands and says it's beautiful and calls it Tony's ninth symphony.
"Creepy bastard." Tarantula mutters
Obadiah calls it Toni's legacy, and says that there could be a new generation of weapons with this technology and says that those weapons would put balance back in their hands.
"Not so sure his hands are not the right ones." Bruce says
He says he wishes Toni could've seen his prototype, and tells her he wished she didn't get Pepper involved because he would prefer that she lived.
Pepper actually growled at the screen
Rhodey is driving and he's on the phone with Pepper. They're talking about Obadiah ordering a hit on Toni, Rhodey asks Pepper where Toni and the kids are.
Pepper says she doesn't know because Toni isn't answering his phone and that she had sent the kids away and then asks Rhodey to go make sure everything is okay.
"Thank you." Toni tells Rhodey
Then she turns to Coulson and says she knows a shortcut to the factory.
Toni is seen leaning her head against the wall of an elevator. She stumbles out of it and struggles to get to her lab. She looks over at his desk and sees Peppers gift.
"You weren't kidding when you said that it saved your life." Pepper says
She falls to the floor and crawls over to her desk. She props herself onto a bin and tries to reach for it but fails. She falls back down.
"Don't give up now." Lily whispers
Dummy picked up the arc reactor and lowered it down to Toni. Toni takes it from him and calls him a good boy. Then she smashes the glass onto the floor.
Obadiah is staring at the suit he built. He walks toward it and puts the arc reactor in.
"That's a big fucking suit." Ron mutters
"Wait until he sees the Hulkbuster, ThorBuster and SuperManBuster." Iron Man says
Rhodey is upstairs in Toni's house, he calling for Toni. He walks downstairs and sees Toni on the floor and asks if she's okay.
Tony asks where Pepper is.
"Aw you do care." Pepper says
Rhodey says that she's fine and that she's with 5 agents who're about to arrest Obadiah.
Toni says that it won't be enough.
Four cars pull up outside of the factory. Pepper and Coulson get out of the first one. Pepper opens the front door and starts looking for sector 16 She finds it and tries to get in, she can't because her key wont work.
Someone hands Coulson a device. Pepper asks if its a thing that'll pick the lock.
"Along with other things." Clint says
Coulson says she might want to take a couple steps back. Pepper walks away and covers her ears. The device creates a small explosion that opens the door. Obadiah hears the explosion and looks toward the door. He powers up the suit.
"Uh oh." Sam says
Tony is seen getting into her own suit. Rhodey says it's the coolest thing he's ever seen.
"Thanks Rhodes." Toni says
Tony shoots her previously destroyed car out of the way. Rhodey asks if Toni needs him to do anything else.
Toni puts the face plate down and tells him to keep the skies clear. Then flies through the hole in the roof that she made earlier.
"We really need to fix that hole." Henry says
Rhodey takes notice of another suit. "Next time baby."
Snickers broke out through the room "Love at first sight." Pietro mutters to Wanda
Pepper, Coulson and the other four SHIELD agents are seen walking through sector 16 when they come across the mark 1 suit. Coulson says Pepper was right about Obadiah building a suit.
Pepper says she thought it would be bigger.
"That's what she said." a third year Gryffindor yells
Pepper walks away and notices a bunch of cables hanging from the ceiling. One of the agents notices blueprints on a computer. Pepper is walking through a bunch of chains. Behind the chains she sees two glowing blue eyes, the eyes move up higher. She screams and runs.
"Holy Fuck!" several people yell
The agents all start shooting at Obadiah who swipes them away and continues chasing Pepper.
Toni is flying to the factory. She asks JARVIS how the mark 1 chest piece will hold up.
"Not that well." Toni says
JARVIS says that the suit has 48% power and its failing, he tells Toni that the mark 1 chest piece wasn't designed for sustained flight.
"What else is going to go wrong?" Lily asks
Toni says to keep her posted and calls out to Pepper.
Pepper asks if she's okay and then says that Obadiah's gone insane and that he built a suit.
Obadiah comes up through the ground and asks Pepper where she's going, then says her services aren't required any longer.
Toni comes into view then tackles Obadiah into the ground. A bunch of car crashes occur. Obadiah picks one of them up. Toni tells him to put them down.
Obadiah says its collateral damage.
Toni tells JARVIS to divert chest power to RT. Then she shoots a repulsor beam out of her chest. Obadiah drops the car and falls over, Tony catches the car.
JARVIS says the power has been reduced to 19%.
The lady driving the car slams on the breaks. Toni gets stuck underneath the car, then lifts it off of herself. Obadiah gets up and jumps over to Tony, he rips someone off of a motor cycle and hits Toni with it.
"That had to hurt." Wanda whispers
Obadiah says that he's been holding Toni up for 30 years, and that he built the company from nothing.
"That's not true." Steve says slowly
He picks Toni back up and says nothing will stand in his way, Toni least of all. He throws Toni into a semi-truck then blows the truck up.
Henry and the twins gasp, forgetting for a second their mother is 100 percent fine and sitting by them
Toni starts falling but catches herself. Obadiah says Toni's upgrades are impressive and that he's made some upgrades of his own. Then he starts flying.
"What is with SuperVillians and flying?" Spider-Man mutters
Toni tells JARVIS to take her to maximum altitude and starts flying higher.
JARVIS says that the odds of reaching it are low with only 15% power remaining.
Toni says he knows the math and tells JARVIS to do it anyway.
"Oh my god Toni you're crazy." Clint says
"All the Starks are crazy." Ghost-Spider mutters
At the military base a soldier notices that the bogey is back and says to get Major Allen and to scramble the jets.
Rhodey says that that wont be necessary because its just a training exercise.
"Well at least one thing went right." Harry says
Toni keeps flying up as JARVIS tells her she's losing power.
Obadiah's suit is starting to acquire a thin layer of ice.
"The icing problem." Hermione says and Toni nods
JARVIS says there's 7% power left.
Tony says to leave it on the screen and stop telling her.
Obadiah reaches up to grab Toni's leg. He says Toni had a great idea but his suit is more advanced.
Toni asked how he solved the icing problem.
"He didn't test his suit before this did he?" Harry asks and Toni shakes her head no
Obadiah asks about the icing problem. his suit starts to shut down.
Toni tells him that he should look into it then knocks Obadiah on the head.
"I'm still amazed that didn't kill him." Toni says
JARVIS says that there's 2% power left. Toni starts falling, catching herself every few seconds.
JARVIS tells her that she's running on emergency backup power. Toni lands on the roof of her factory and calls out to Pepper.
Pepper asks if she's okay.
"That's a relative question." Toni says
Henry grunts in agreement
Toni says that she's almost out of power and that she needs to get out of the suit and starts to dismantle it. Obadiah appears behind her.
"Oh come on!" Remus yells
He raises his arm to punch her but Toni ducks, then holds out her hand to shoot at him, only to realize the gauntlet isn't there. Obadiah smacks her and she goes flying. Toni runs toward Obadiah and punches him, Obadiah starts squeezing her.
"Ouch." Steve hisses
Toni asks for a weapons status.
JARVIS says that missiles and repulsors are offline.
"Isn't that great?" Henry says
Toni starts shooting flares. Obadiah drops her.
Obadiah says that was clever.
Toni is now hiding behind something. She quietly calls for Pepper and says that they have to overload the reactor and blast the roof.
Pepper asks how she's going to do that.
Toni tells her that she's going to do it. She tells her to go to the central console and open all of the circuits. She says she'll let her know when she's clear of the roof and when she is She'll hit the bypass button and it'll fry everything.
"That sounds extreme." Sam says
Toni reminds her to make sure she clears the roof, and that she'll buy her some time. Toni moves from her hiding spot. Pepper starts pulling all of the switches.
"That's a lot of switches." Ron says
Toni jumps on Obadiah's back and pulls something off of his suit, saying that it looks important. Obadiah's screen goes blank, he throws Toni onto the ceiling above the arc reactor.
Obadiah says that he's never had a taste for this kind of thing and says he's really enjoying the suit. He then says that Toni's outdone herself and that he's made Howard proud.
Toni tries to stand up. Pepper says that she's ready and tells Toni to get off the roof.
Obadiah shoots out all the glass, Toni falls through and hangs onto the metal bar.
Obadiah points out the irony of Toni trying to rid the world of weapons but she's gave it the best one, and says he's going to kill Toni with it
"I wasn't trying to rid the world of weapons. I was trying to fix my mistake." Toni says
He tries to shoot Toni and misses, noting that Toni ripped his targeting system out.
Toni tells Pepper to hit the button.
Pepper tells her she told her not to.
Obadiah tells Toni to hold still and tries to shoot her, but misses again.
Toni tells Pepper to hit the button.
Pepper tells her that she'll die.
Everyone was tense as they watch the scene
Obadiah shoots again. Toni falls, now holding onto the bar with 1 hand.
Toni says to push the button. Pepper pushes the button and runs for cover. The explosion throws Toni to the other end of the roof, Obadiah gets electrocuted.
"At least he's dealt with." James says
The explosion shoots a beam into the sky, causing a lot of building to lose power.
Obadiah falls into the arc reactor and it blows up. Toni is lying on the roof with her eyes closed, the arc reactor is flickering.
Lily lets out a whimper at the state of her daughter
Rhodey talks to a group of reporters. He says they've received the official statement of what happened at Stark Industries the previous night. He says that there are unconfirmed reports of a robotic prototype malfunctioning and causing damage to the arc reactor.
"Is this that other press conference?" Steve asks and Toni nods
The camera shows Toni reading a newspaper while Pepper takes a bandage off of his nose. She makes a comment about the 'Iron Maiden' name being catchy, and says that isn't technically accurate because the suit is a gold-titanium alloy but the imagery is evocative.
Coulson walks up to her and hands him a stack of cards and tells Toni it's her alibi, he says that Toni and her sons were on a yacht when the fight last night occurred. He says that they have papers that say she was in Avalon all night with statements from 50 guests.
"50 guests?" Lily asks and Rhodey snorts "That's not even close to the biggest party any of them have thrown."
Toni says they should say that it was her and Pepper on the island.
Ginny sighs. They were so obvious and so oblivious at the same time
Coulson says his story is the one that happened and tells Toni to read it word for word.
"So this is the speech that changed the world." Scarlet Spider says
Toni starts flipping through the cards and notes that there isn't anything about Obadiah.
Coulson says that its being handled his story is that he's on vacation and that small aircraft have poor safety records.
Tony asks about the bodyguard cover story and says its flimsy.
"It was flimsy." Henry says
Coulson says that this isn't his first time doing this and tells Toni to stick to the official statement.
He starts to walk away. Pepper walks after him and says she wants to thank him for all of his help.
Coulson says that that's what they do and that they'll be hearing from them.
Pepper starts trying to recite the name of the organization.
Coulson says to call them SHIELD.
"And there it is." Henry says
Pepper says to get the show on the road and picks up Toni's jacket.
Toni says the story isn't bad and even she doesn't think she's Iron Maiden.
Pepper says she isn't.
Toni says she is.
Pepper says she isn't.
Toni says that is she was Iron Maiden she'd have a girlfriend who knew her identity and she'd always be worrying that she was going to die but she'd also be proud of the person she'd become.
"I am proud of you." Pepper says
She says that this girlfriend would be conflicted but that would only make her more attracted to her. Then asks Pepper if she still thinks about that night
Pepper asks if she means the night they danced and went up to the roof and she went downstairs to get drinks and then left her alone.
"Yep there it is." Natasha laughs
Then asks if that would be all.
Toni says that it will be all.
"At least I now know why you left." Pepper says
Rhodey says that Toni has prepared a statement and that there will be no questions.
Toni thanks him and turns to the audience saying that it's been a while since she was in front of them and that she's stick to the cards.
"Which you didn't." Rhodey sighs
Toni says that there's been speculation that she was involved with the events from the freeway and the rooftop.
Christine interrupts buy asking Toni if she expects them to believe that a bodyguard conveniently appeared.
"This is why Clark and Lois are our favorite reporters." Henry says
Toni says she knows its confusing, but that its one thing to question the story and another to make accusations and insinuate that she's a superhero.
Christine says she never said she was a superhero.
Toni says that that's good because it would be outlandish and says that she isn't the hero type.
Steve winces as he remembers what he said to her on the helicarrier
She says he has a list of character defects and she made a lot of public mistakes.
Rhodey comes up behind her and tells her to stick to the cards.
Toni says that the truth is that she is Iron Maiden.
Arsenal, Iron Man and Spider-Man flinch, having flashbacks to 2023
The room erupts in chaos.
Toni and her kids enters her house and calls for JARVIS.
Fury, who is also in Toni's house, quotes the ending sentence of Toni's speech and asks of Toni thinks she's the only superhero in the world.
"Holy fuck a pirate." Sirius yells
Fury tells Toni that she's become a part of something larger and she doesn't know it.
Toni asks Fury who he is.
Fury tells her and says that he's the director of SHIELD and that he's here to talk to her about the Avengers Initiative.
"And that's the end of the first movie." Stephen says "Now how would you like to meet the Avengers of the future?"