Jericho
A very pained looking Tony Stark flashes on the screen, being held down. There's a brief view of cheap medical supplies if they could even be called that before it changes to one of the genius again; a hole carved in his chest and blood littering his torso. He's being held down as he lets out a chilling, anguished scream, the 'operation' continuing despite his obvious pain.
There were several shouts of horror throughout the room. Peter looked horrified and ready to puke. Tony had gone the colour of sour milk and was rubbing the new arc reactor excessively.
Something is being lowered into the void of Tony's chest by a pair of gloved hands before a cloth is held over the genius's face and he falls unconscious.
“What the fuck was that!” yelled Sam.
“ARE THEY MAD?!” yelled Bruce standing up and eyes flashing green. “THAT SHOULD’VE KILLED YOU!”
Tony coughed and attempted to place the mask back in place.
“Brucie, you should know by now. I am far too hard to kill.” his voice was strained though. Peter had drawn his legs back up to his chest, had his hands over his mouth and eyes wide. He kept on making these strange horrified squeaking sounds. Shuri was just as angry as Bruce, Strange seemed to be as well. Maybe it was a Doctor thing.
“T-That’s. You didn’t say it was without anaesthetic.” gaped Rhodey staring between his friend and the screen in horror.
“Well, you know terrorists. They have like, a pain fetish or something.” Tony said as calmly as he could trying to ignore the rising panic in his throat and churning stomach, why do I have to live on a diet of alcohol and coffee? “I tell you beyond the pain, the feeling of hands on your organs is really weird.” his voice was getting more strained with every word and he looked ready to faint. The others were staring sickened at the screen but Vision was looking, if possible, the most horrified. (which was strange considering the whole Android thing)
“Are these fiends dead?” roared Thor eyes crackling.
“Yep, most of those guys anyway. Not so much the 10 Rings but those guys yes,” replied Tony weakly.
“This wasn’t in your file,” said Natasha tentatively.
“I’ve been hacking SHIELD and editing their files since I first became Iron Man.” laughed Tony bitterly.
“Then… that means,” said Clint confused.
“I knew who Natashalie was before hiring her, yes.” he rubbed his temples ignoring Natasha’s shocked expression. “Can we just get this over with?” Sighed Tony attempting, and failing, at keeping the pleading out of his voice.
The camera is zooming in on an unconscious Tony Stark. Moments later, there's a distant scream and his eyes snap open. He shivers, letting out a shuddering breath that's visible in the cool air. Coughing, he brings his hand up to his nose, pulling out a breathing tube that seems to be infinite in length.
Wanda, along with several others, grimaced.
“Ugh.” groaned Scott.
The sound of it being pulled out can be heard, and he tries his best to suppress a gag, before finally ripping it off his nose, along with the tape that once held it in place. When he turns his head, his breath is perceptible, revealing just how cold it is. His eyes are set on a glass of water, and he reaches for it, only to succeed in knocking it to the ground.
Most everyone winced at that.
He has a short coughing fit, clenching his shivering hands and glancing at a man shaving his face in front of a cracked, rusty mirror, humming to himself. Tony ignores him for now and turns back to his task. He rolls over a bit to further his reach for the second bottle of water but stops short when there's a painful tug on his chest.
“What are you connected to?” asked Quill looking queasy.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man who's shaving in the mirror says.
Yinsen. Thought Tony trying to stop fainting completely. Don’t waste it, don’t waste it.
No one even questioned Tony when he stood up and without a word walked into the adjoining room. After the door closed Tony dashed to the bathroom retching and vomited into the pristine bowl. He leant against the wall, choking out sobs, and coughing at the burning in his throat. Fuck… Several minutes later he clambered to his feet flushing the toilet and turning on the tap. He stared at the water streaming out and into a grey, stone bowl. Jericho, build it, merchant of death. So wet, so cold, the air. Where did the air go? Help. Pepper. Please god no. He turned off the water abruptly he couldn’t breathe. The worst part was being unable to breathe, deep breath, deep breath, and it doesn’t even work. Fuck you oxygen. Gasping, Tony stumbled back into the adjoining room, heart racing and vision blurring. Was that from tears? Or just panic? Oh good. He had just spotted a bar. He grabbed the first bottle of scotch he laid his eyes and clutching a glass, sunk to the floor. Hands shaking he poured the liquid into the glass and downed it. Again, and again, and again. Soon he stumbled back to the bathroom to puke again. Then the cycle repeated, another, another, another. Tony kept on spilling the scotch onto the carpet since he was shaking so much. The mantra of memories and swearing in his head was probably the cause. Anger suddenly overtaking him he jumped to his feet and growled to the air.
“Syn?!? Since you seem so apologetic about making me spaz out why don’t you actually do something to help me?” his eyes flashed and the, now empty, bottle and glass thudded to the floor. All of a sudden there was a flash and a bottle appeared on the table. Staggering over, Tony focused his eyes on it. His anxiety medication… He stared at it for several seconds before glaring at the ceiling.
“Yes, you are very comforting.” he snarled, ready to throw the bottle of pills down the toilet when suddenly there was a crackle in his tiny earpiece that usually connected him to FRIDAY. Tony froze, unsure whether he should get his hopes up or not. There was a soft buzz and then he heard her.
“Boss? What is happening? I am very confused right now which I didn’t know was possible” Tony immediately grinned.
“Oh, Fri, I am so glad to hear your voice. Basically, this asshole God trapped the ‘Avengers and Co.’ in the cinema and is getting us to watch these videos about the past and shit to ‘understand’ one another better.” he laughed, maybe it was the alcohol but he was giddy FRIDAY was back online.
“And what is the video you are watching?” she somehow sounded worried.
“My origin story…” he replied. Tony could imagine FRIDAY staring at him in horror.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Just my usual bouts of panic attacks and alcoholism,” he replied turning back to the bar.
“Do you have your medication?”
“Actually Syn, since she cares for me so much, has magicked some pills for me.” he rolled his eyes wiping them with the back of his hand.
“Then you should eat something, if there’s food, and take them,” FRIDAY said sternly. She really was drawing on Pepper.
“But-”
“Boss, it will help you calm down. No more alcohol either.” Tony put down the bottle sighing.
“Fine, fine, fine.” he sighed making his way over to a fruit bowl that had been placed on a counter. Grabbing an apple he now realised just how hungry he was. After eating several pieces of fruit he downed some pills without water and collapsed into a chair.
-
Meanwhile, back in the cinema after Tony had left the others glanced at one another worriedly.
“Should someone go after him?” asked T’challa sounding concerned.
“Maybe we should leave him be until the whole kidnapping thing is over,” suggested Valkyrie, procuring a bottle from nowhere.
“That would probably be best. Tony likes being left alone when freaking out,” said Rhodey fiddling with his hands. “It’s why he locks himself in his lab for days on end.” Rhodey then moved to sit where Tony had been sitting in an attempt to comfort Peter who was still frozen like a deer in headlights.
“So, um. Let’s continue then,” muttered Sam.
Without answering, Tony slowly turns to look back over his shoulder, revealing a car battery with wires connected to it.He grips the cables in his trembling hand and traces their path all the way to his torso. He releases a painful grunt when it tugs beneath the bandages, tapping on it a bit before he starts to rip off the white gauze. His breathing is getting heavier and heavier as he continues to tear away the bandage to reveal what the wires are connected to. Sitting in his chest is a rusty electromagnet, cables attached to the battery beside him, dry blood and scar tissue visible on the surrounding skin. His eyes go wide with fear as he struggles to keep his breathing steady.
“A car battery…” breathed Rhodey rubbing his face tiredly, Bruce was angry again.
“The Rust on that thing…” he muttered angrily, then proceeded to swear and mutter under his breath.
The man from before is whistling and stirring food in a pan over a small fire, the camera slowly panning up to reveal Tony sitting on a cot, a broken mirror held in front of his chest. He's looking at it almost with disgust.
"What the hell did you do to me?"
There is a better view of the man now. He has glasses and a bit of grey stubble, and though he's mostly bald, there's still a thin bit of hair around the back of his head. He glances at the billionaire then back to his cooking before responding.
"What I did? What I did is to save your life." The view changes to looking into the mirror and at the device embedded in the brunette's chest as he continues talking, "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum. "
Those who didn’t know were confused so Strange mentioned.
“His heart.” this immediately made those who didn’t know more horrified.
"Here, want to see?" The man holds up a glass bottle, jingling its contents, "I have a souvenir. Take a look." He tosses the bottle to Tony, who catches it and raises it to his face for a better look. He holds it up to the limited bit of light, the pieces of sharp metal rolling in the glass. "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."
“That’s what Rhodes said.” breathed Scott.
The billionaire speaks up, obviously not in the mood for small talk, "What is this?"
"That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart. Hm?" He gives the distraught genius a weak, fake smile, before turning back to his cooking.
“That’s genius. Especially for someone to do in a cave,” muttered Shuri.
“You called someone genius, I’m surprised sister,” whispered T’challa. She flicked him.
Tony self consciously zips up his jacket, eyeing the security camera in the far corner. Upon catching his gaze, the man tries an attempt at humour.
"That's right; smile. We met once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern."
"I don't remember."
"No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."
“Impressive,” said Valkyrie drinking from her own bottle.
"Where are we?" Tony says almost immediately, but before the man can answer there's a noise from the door. A hatch opens and a man yells into the room.
“What’s happening now.” groaned Clint.
"Come on, stand up. Stand up!" The man's tone is just short of a whisper as he grabs Tony's arms and helps him stand. "Just do as I do." He commands, looking Stark straight in the eye. The door begins to unlock and they stand side by side, "Come on, put your hands up."
Wanda bit her lip. She kept on feeling pity for Stark, which he didn’t deserve. Right?
The door opens and a group of men pour into the room, all holdings weapons and aiming them at their prisoners. Tony looks at them confused before mumbling to the man next to him, "Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?"
And he didn’t know about the weapons either. Why was Stark suddenly so hard to hate?
"Do you understand me? Do as I do!" The man snaps back, and the billionaire falls silent, glaring daggers at their captors. The leader strolls in a larger man with a dark beard, holding a rolled up piece of paper. He begins to speak a different language, and when he finishes his sentence, he nods to the man next to Tony as an indication for him to translate.
"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America. He is honoured.'"
“Mass murderer,” growled Rhodey under his breath.
The leader continues talking, and the man translates again, "He wants you to build the missile; the Jericho missile that you demonstrated." Their captor hands them a picture, and the man next to Tony takes and holds it open for him to see, "This one."
“Oh, No…,” said Bucky horrified.
“He didn’t actually build it though?” asked Quill worried.
“No, he didn’t,” replied Rhodey smiling slightly.
Tony looks the leader straight in the eye upon seeing the picture, "I refuse."
“That’s not what you say if you want to live.” moaned Clint.
The scene changes immediately and Tony is being held underwater, thrashing and screaming for air. When he's finally pulled back up by the hair, he gasps for breath, spitting the water out of his mouth. Before he has a chance to completely catch his breath, he's shoved back under, the water reaching the cables in his chest and shocking him in the process. He's pulled up again, this time thrashing and fighting with his captors as they manhandle him and pull at his hair.
There was a short silence.
“What the hell?” said Sam, eyes wide.
“What was that?” asked Quill horrified.
“Waterboarding, it’s supposed to simulate drowning,” muttered Natasha.
“How long did that happen for?” asked Steve worried, Rhodey had paled, having a vague idea of something is much different to seeing it.
“Uh, Tony said that it took him two months to escape. The first month was them ‘convincing’ him to build the missile.”
“He held out for a month,” said Natasha impressed.
“Nor did he have training.” pointed out Sam.
“Holy shit,” added Clint. Bucky was freaking out, the torture had brought up memories of his own and now he was on the verge of a panic attack.
“Did you not know,” Bruce asked Rhodey.
“No. I mean I knew that ‘convinced’ probably meant tortured but when getting back Tony refused to see any Doctor’s, which is understandable…” he didn’t continue instead he just stared at the door Tony had exited through.
There's a bag over Tony's head now as he's being forcibly guided through the cave and outside. When the bag is removed, he blinks a few times, adjusting his eyes to the bright sun. He's shoved forward, clutching the car battery to his chest as he stumbles behind the men. He scans his surroundings as he approaches the leader, and looks horrified when he realizes all the cases say 'Stark Industries.'
“How did they get those.” squeaked Peter still in the horrified position.
“It will probably be shown,” muttered Rhodey.
The leader speaks again, and the doctor elaborates, "He wants to know what you think."
The billionaire looks at his captor and speaks, his voice raspy and raw, "I think you got a lot of my weapons."
"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," The doctor translates the reply, "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free."
Tony reaches out and shakes his hand, giving a fake smile, "No he won't."
"No, he won't," The man confirms.
In the distance, there is a brief shot of a tan, bald man, fiddling with his ring and standing on the edge of a rock, surrounded by men, overseeing the operation.
The scene changes again, and the two hostages are back in the cave, huddled around a fire. Tony is staring into the flames, wearing a beanie, a pair of gloves, and a coat; the entire outfit is so different than what he normally would wear, making him appear more like a hobo than a billionaire.
"I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains." The other man takes a seat next to Tony before continuing, "Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work in the hands of those murderers! Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?"
"Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week." The billionaire's voice is quiet, almost hopeless.
Everyone (mostly the Rogues) was shocked. He sounded so helpless. Tony Stark was never helpless. Never.
"Well then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?"
Men are carrying weapons and supplies around the room, and the camera pans over, revealing Tony yelling orders and the man next to him translating, "If this is going to be my workstation, I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools."
“I thought you said he didn’t build it,” said Steve.
“He didn’t, you’ll see.”
The camera reveals a Stark Industries missile, with Tony working on the end, "How many languages do you speak?"
"A lot. But apparently, not enough for this place." Tony gives a half-hearted smirk and the man continues, "They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian."
Clint gave a soft whistle.
Tony slides something out of the missile before he responds, "Who are these people?"
"They are your loyal customers, Sir. They call themselves the Ten Rings."
There's a brief view of the security camera, then switches to the men holding them captive overseeing the process from TV screens, before returning back to Tony.
"You know, we might be more productive if you include me in the planning process." The doctor says, sitting next to the busy billionaire.
“So he never changed the way he worked” smiled Bruce sadly.
"Yuh-huh." He starts pounding on the missile with his forearm, demonstrating a considerable amount of strength, causing the end to pop off. He pulls something out, setting it on the table and picking something out of it with a pair of tweezers. "Okay, we don't need this," He grabs the hunk of metal and tosses it over his shoulder.
"What is that?"
Tony holds a piece of thin metal up to the light with the tweezers, "That's palladium, 0.15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other 11?"
“He didn’t” gaped Bruce.
“He did” replied Rhodey.
“What’s palladium?” asked Wong.
“This will be awesome.” smiled Bruce.
There's a bowl of red-like-sand, the billionaire grabbing a hand full and putting it into a cup. There's a smelting cup being pulled out of the fire by the other man, Tony behind him holding the car battery over his shoulder.
"Careful. Careful, we only get one shot at this." He warns.
"Relax, I have steady hands. Why do you think you're still alive?"
They walk over to the table, Tony setting the battery down on top of it. They lean over and the doctor starts to pour the liquid from the cup into the mould when Tony speaks up, "What do I call you?"
"My name is Yinsen."
"Yinsen. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
“That took long enough,” said Vision smiling slightly.
“I’d say he might’ve been a bit distracted.” sighed Loki.
Tony is pulling a metal ring from the mould, holding it up and gently placing it into another metal disk, before the view changes and the billionaire is soldering pieces of metal and wire. The next thing we see is Tony twisting a dial, and the creation before him begins to glow a familiar blue.
Shuri gasped.
“He made the miniaturized arc reactor in a cave?”
“Are you impressed by someone’s genius sister?” asked T’challa smirking.
“Oh shut up brother. It is very impressive.”
“No shit.” gaped Scott.
Yinsen approaches and leans over the table, gazing in wonder at the contraption glowing on the table. "That doesn't look like a Jericho missile."
"That's because it's a miniaturized arc reactor. I got a big one powering my factory at home." He explains, tapping the table next to the reactor, "It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart."
"But what could it generate?"
"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second."
"That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes."
"Yeah, or something big for 15 minutes."
Shuri then began to cackle several others who knew or realised were also smiling. Those who didn’t were looking at her and the others very confused.
The billionaire lays down a pile of papers, turning the light on next to them. Yinsen shuffles through some of them before setting them back down.
"This is our ticket out of here," Stark says, pointing to the papers.
"What is it?"
"Flatten them out and look." He reaches forward and smoothes out the papers, revealing what could only be a suit of armour.
“Oh, my God.”
"Oh, wow. Impressive."
“Damn right it’s impressive.” smiled Rhodey.
“He made the suit in the cave?” asked Steve shocked.
“Do you think that is more badass than our prison escape?” Quill asked the Guardians, Gamora rolled her eyes.
“I am Groot.”
“What? Groot, you can’t be serious. Ours was the best. Remember everyone floating around?” he began to laugh. “And how I convinced Quill we needed the robotic leg?” he collapsed into laughter. Quill turned red and looked at him annoyed.
“You swore you needed it,” he grumbled.
“What’s this you’re talking about?” Peter, a bit calmer now, asked Quill.
“Our escape from the alien prison we met at.” he wiped away a fake tear.
“Good times.”
“I’m going to check on Tony.” sighed Rhodey walking to the door.
“Should someone come with you?” asked Steve sounding concerned.
“Probably not the best idea,” Rhody replied opening the door and stepping inside. Tony was sitting in a chair, eyes closed and massaging his left arm.
“You okay Tones?” Rhodey looked around the room and noticed the empty bottle and glass on the floor by the bar.
“Yeah.” he opened his eyes. “Where you up to?”
“You just started constructing the suit,” Rhodey said hesitantly. Tony nodded vacantly.
“That’s cool, that’s fine…” He closed his eyes again and Rhodey was relieved to see he was calmer.
“Hello Colonel Rhodes.” came the familiar voice of FRIDAY, Rhodey jumped.
“FRIDAY? You’re back?” That was possibly the best news Rhodey heard all day.
“Yes.” replied FRIDAY, “I’m keeping Boss company so you can watch the movie.” Rhodey then noticed the small bottle of pills next to Tony which he recognized as his anxiety meds. Rhodey sighed in relief.
“You can continue watching… I’m fine.” sighed Tony.
“Do you want me to get you when you’ve escaped?” he asked.
“Yeah. Sure.” Tony said calmly.
Rhodey smiled sadly and bid goodbye to his friend before heading back to the cinema.
“Is Anthony okay?” asked Thor as soon as Rhodey returned. Rhodey nodded.
“He’s… fine… in a broad term. FRIDAY’s back online and He’s coming back after his escape.” the others nodded looking nervously at each other and the door, Vision smiled slightly, obviously relieved that FRIDAY was back online. Rhodey resumed his seat and they continued watching.