Draumr

A week passed, and Tony was getting anything but better. With Pepper spending most of her time in their office back at Stark Industries HQ, there were few people Tony spoke to. The other Avengers had come back the day after Tony’s last incident, but he hadn’t seen much of them. Mainly because he was locked in his lab, only coming up when JARVIS insisted he eat something. On a lighter note, JARVIS was slowly starting to forgive him for shutting him off, but only after Natasha had told Pepper. She had yelled at him for half an hour before leaving to “get something she forgot in the office”. Tony had felt miserable throughout that whole night, lying in bed waiting for Pepper to come back. In the end, he’d given up and went down to his lab again.

“Sir, do I really have to remind you again that you need sleep?” JARVIS’ steady voice sounded impatient. Tony merely waved him off, still buried halfway into the Mark nine. There was a loose wire that had been poking him in the back during the test-run which he wanted to take care of as soon as possible.

“Sir…” JARVIS started, but was cut off by a quick “Mute” from Tony. Everything was eerily silent after that, but Tony didn’t mind. He barely noticed, too busy trying to keep his eyes open while the small screwdriver went to work on the inside of the suit. Now that he was in there, he could see there were lots of things he could improve on. It was, if anything, a good distraction.

Tony yawned, hand fumbling over the small worktable for his mug. Bringing the cup to his lips, filled his mouth with a liquid he instantly realized was not coffee, but in fact oil. He spit and coughed, trying to rid himself of the bitter liquid. To his left, DUM-E whirred excitedly, wheeling over to get a small cloth to clean the mess. Tony wheezed, grabbing the nearest bottle of water to wash the taste out of his mouth. Cursing, he glared at his actual cup of coffee, which was, of course, empty. Even through the silence, Tony could almost hear JARVIS’ snarky comment. The “I told you so, sir” practically filled the air without being muttered.

Grabbing his cup, Tony walked over to the coffee machine to get a refill. To his disappointment, there was no more coffee left. Sighing, he started dragging his feet on his way to the elevator. He needed sleep, but coffee was a better option. Alcohol would have been even better, but he didn’t want a repeat of last week. Grumbling curses to himself, he pushed the right button on the elevator. He had absolutely no idea what time it was, or even if it was night or day. Having spent the last four days in his lab, relying on coffee, water and a few bits of scrap he’d managed to dig out of his fridge (mostly fruit Pepper had placed there), time had become one big slur. Of course, the other Avengers had tried coming down to him, tried talking to him, but they hadn’t gotten inside. Natasha didn’t even make it to the floor he was on, as Tony had JARVIS stop the elevators on the way down.

Now he was on his way up for the first time, thinking of grabbing his coffee and returning to the lab so he could work. Perhaps he could even snatch one of Clint’s energy drinks and make a getaway before the archer noticed it was gone. While these plans were going on in his head, the elevator came to a slow stop. Tony mused. The elevator ride was usually longer than this, weren’t they? With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and a tired-looking Steven Rogers stepped inside. Tony froze. This was exactly the kind of interaction he’d spent a week trying to avoid.

“Oh! Tony, you’re up?” Steve asked, taking in Tony’s shape while the mechanical doors slid shut behind him. Blue eyes trailed over Tony. It felt like he was being scanned.

“Hey, Cap. Yeah, I’m just goin’ for more coffee.” Tony replied simply. They had both come to the point where they just ignored last week’s incident. Well, Tony had avoided it until Steve had given up and gone with the flow. The super soldier nodded, trying for a smile which turned into something more awkward. With none of the two Avengers knowing exactly what to say, silence quickly befell them.

That is, until Steve couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer.

“Tony, I’m sorry about what happened last week. I… stepped out of line when I shouldn’t have and… I’m sorry.”

Tony groaned inwardly. So much for Steve going with the flow.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Really though, I just feel like I need to apologize, because, y’know. It sorta seemed like I put you in an uncomfortable situation and I didn’t really mean to offend you or anything. I just felt I needed to inform you that your actions were… well, anyway. I hope we can put this whole thing behind us… start anew?” Uncomfortable situations? Like this one? Tony sighed. He wasn’t drunk enough to have this conversation with the man again. Nor did he have enough coffee.

“Already did, Cap,” He replied. Finally, finally! the elevator came to a halt. Tony stepped out, instantly making a turn for the kitchen where he could see the temptation that was the coffee maker. He could hear the fast thumps of Steve’s feet behind him.

“Jarvis, give us some light,” he commanded. Instantly, light flooded the room. Tony’s legs were already shaking, he didn’t need the dark to hide little traps for him to trip over. God, he needed coffee. Maybe something to eat too, but mainly coffee. He’d been growing progressively weaker the last couple of days, probably because he neglected his own basic human needs. Last time he’d seen himself in a mirror (must have been, what? Six days ago, now?), he’d resembled his own ghost. Paler than usual, with sunken in eyes and dry lips. The sight made shame pool in his stomach, and he’d turned away quickly. Tony knew he couldn’t continue on like this, they didn’t call him genius for nothing. He knew that he would have to turn it around, or never hear the end of it from the public.

With shaking fingers (damn his body’s weakness), Tony grabbed one of the small pods for the coffee machine.

“Isn’t it a bit late for coffee?” Tony wanted to snap back: Isn’t it a bit too late for judging, but resisted the urge. He was too exhausted. Instead, he just grunted, waiting impatiently for his coffee to finish so he could get out of here and leave the captain to his own business, whatever that was. Now that he thought about it, what was the Captain doing up so late?

“So, what brings you out of bed?” He asked casually, opening the fridge and pulling out a hotpocket. His stomach was becoming more and more of an annoyance, demanding whatever sustenance he could get. This would do for now. Especially since the energy drink he’d hoped to find wasn’t there.

“Couldn’t sleep, you?” Steve replied, leaning closer to Tony to see what he was fumbling with. The soldier gave the small package a curious look as Tony placed it right in the microwave to heat. His coffee finished, and Tony was already down to only half a cup.

He shrugged. “Same reason.”

An awkward silence settled over them again, this time worse because the soldier was just looming over him while Tony was waiting for his food to heat up. Casting small glances at the taller man, he could practically see the cogwheels in Steve’s head churning at full speed. Finally, he spoke and Tony honestly didn’t know if it was a relief or not.

“You don’t look so good,” understatement of the year award for one Steven Rogers, please. Tony sighed, focusing his attention on the food. Just a few more seconds, then he could return to the lab and work until he passed out.

“I always look good,” Tony grinned, or at least he tried to grin. Steve frowned at his petty attempt of a joke.

“Tony…” At that exact moment, the room was bathed in a blood-red light. The alarms blared loudly, almost deafening. It was like the whole tower came alive at once. Banner came up the elevator, looking tired and worried. His eyes landed on Tony for a second before his attention was pulled away to the archer and widow who came rushing up the stairs. Everyone were in battle mode. Well, everyone but Tony, it seemed. The billionaire looked around, his muddled brain not entirely able to comprehend the situation.

“What’s the situation?” Widow asked, straight to business.

“We’re not sure yet,” Steve said, rushing over to where Bruce was already fiddling with the keyboard. Seconds later, the alarm went quiet and an image of Nick Fury appeared on one of Tony’s windows.

“Avengers,” Tony waddled over to where the others had gathered, hotpocket all but forgotten. “We’ve got another attack in Washington DC. Some crazy bastard is walking around blowing shit up, claiming to be the next Merlin. The military was called in, but they need your help asap. ”

“One guy? What exactly is it with this guy that has the military stumped?” Clint asked.

“He turned their heavy machinery into turkeys. Get down there now! ” And with those words, the image disappeared.

“You heard the man. Clint, Natasha, suit up. Bruce, I want you to come with us. In case this guy is more than what he’s turned out to be, I want our strongest artillery close by at all times. We meet by the quinjet in five less than five minutes. Everybody go!” instantly, the Avengers jumped into action. Clint and Natasha disappeared down the hall towards the stairs, Bruce made his way back to the elevator and disappeared out of sight. Steve was just about to follow after them when Tony gave a loud cough, already fishing his bracelets out of his pockets.

“I guess I’ll meet you there?” He asked, glancing up from his wrists to see Steve’s face twist.

“Actually, Tony… I was thinking it might be best if you… ya know… stayed here. Just in case someone attacks while we’re gone, we have someone staying watch,” Tony blinked at him, fingers halting their movements around his wrist. Steve was trying to keep him out of the fight.

“Lucky for you I have the world’s most advanced AI keeping watch, isn’t that right, Jarv?”

“You flatter me, sir.”

“Well, I know that. But I was just thinking-” Steve was cut off by a sharp movement from Tony’s hand. He hated when people were lying to him, especially if they were bad at it.

“Cap, if there’s something you wanna say, just say it,” Steve’s shoulder slumped in defeat.

“Tony… you’re not in any state to fight,” Tony’s eyes hardened, but he didn’t say a word, just stared at the Captain while he fiddled clumsily with his words. “Don’t take it in a personal sense, but you look like you’re about to collapse at any given moment. Tony, you’re malnourished, your hands are shaking. When was the last time you slept ?”

Tony opened his mouth to answer, only to come to a blank. He hadn’t slept properly since Pepper was gone. Sure, he’d passed out on the couch a few times, but Tony had an inkling that didn’t count. At least not to the Captain.

“So what, I take a few extra hours to focus on work and suddenly I can’t fight? Or is it because you don’t want me hoggin’ all the credit because I do it better than you?” Tony could see the exact moment he hit a nerve in Steve. His shoulders tensed, expression hardening. They were about to enter another fight, Tony could tell, and part of him craved it.

“This isn’t about who’s the better hero, Tony, you proved that when... during the invasion. Why can’t you just listen to me for once and stay put, get some rest,” Tony gritted his teeth, fists tightening.

“Because you’re not my boss. You’d have to talk to Pepper for that, send in a request which would have to go through five different people and be approved by all before Pepper would even get the chance to look at it, and by that time, one word has turned to ten. Really, there’s just a lot of paperwork involved, not really worth it,” As he spoke, Tony was moving further and further away from the Captain, towards the window, the balcony that was still in the process of being turned into a landing platform for a small quinjet. Steve was following, starting to pick up on what was going on.

“Jarvis, deploy mark seven,” The suit shot out of a slot in the wall, sensors locking the bracelets on each wrist. He felt the cool, comforting metal wrap around him reassuringly, though the faceplate stayed open.

“Tony…”

“No, Cap. I’m as much a member of this team as you. I’m fighting, whether you like it or not. Now you can either continue complaining and waste both our precious time, or you can get your stars and stripy ass down to the others and meet me there. Choice is yours,” Steve looked like he wanted to argue, in fact, he looked like a fish gaping in water. Finally, his face settled, and he gave Tony a curt nod before disappearing down the hall to catch up with the others. Tony allowed himself a victorious grin before the faceplate slammed down, lighting up with the constant stream of information he was used to.

“Sir, I have to say I am in agreement with Captain Rogers. Going into battle against an unknown enemy while in your state of fatigue might not be the best plan you’ve ever had,” JARVIS said into his ear. Tony hummed in minor agreement, as JARVIS and Steve were both probably right. But Tony needed this, needed to stretch his legs and get some action into his life before the repetitive days drove him out of his mind. He’d felt like a zombie, walking around aimlessly, not sleeping or eating properly.

“Come on, J. Where’s your sense for adventure?” he asked happily back, knowing he couldn’t fool his AI for one second. But hey, it was worth a try, wasn’t it? And JARVIS, bless his motherboard, took the hint and didn’t bring it up again, instead showing Tony a stream of information he’d gathered from CCTV cameras around the area, though most had been destroyed in action, so it was difficult to find out that was angled right to see the destruction.

Four minutes later, and Tony was hovering over the chaos that used to be a street in Washington DC, but was now a stripe of broken concrete, glass and garbage. Not to mention the hundreds of turkeys running around in fear. Hadn’t Fury said something about the man turning weapons into turkeys? For a split second, Tony pictured himself trapped inside a turkey’s stomach, but quickly shook the thought. Now wasn’t the time for that.

“Alright, lock onto his signature, J. I want a complete scan for weaknesses.”

“Scanning, sir.” Sadly, it was at that moment, the man turned around and noticed Iron Man hovering a few meters above the ground. His face, -and seriously, what the hell was he trying to be? Vanilla Ice?- twisted into an unnervingly big grin. Something flashed gold, and Tony felt himself yanked out of the air and slamming into the ground with unlively strong force. He didn’t have much time to get his bearing however, before he was again dragged away, metal suit scraping against the broken concrete. There was now an Iron Man shaped hole in the street, and an Iron Man trying to grab hold of something to prevent himself from being dragged again further.

“Jarvis, put everything we have into the thrusters!” He practically yelled. Instantly, the suit flared up and he managed to get free from whatever the guy had used on him. He turned, barely aimed, and fired a shot in the man’s direction. The man was hit square in the chest and thrown backwards. Tony was hoping that was that, after all, the guy looked to be only human. However, life always found ways to disappoint him, and soon the man was back on his legs, face twisted into an angry snarl covered in piercings.

“You dare try to resist the will of Merlin ?!” He yelled. Tony blinked a couple of times, actually left speechless by the pure idiocy that was escaping the bastard’s mouth.

“You… oh my god, you poor sod! ” He couldn’t help it, he laughed, bending over and heaving for breath. It was like facing off a Loki wannabe, but less intimidating and more stupid looking dressed in his oversized hoody-cloak-thing and leather boots.

“Why are you laughing?!” The man shouted angrily. He lifted his hand, pointing some fancy stick at Tony. “I’ll show you!” A ray of twisting light shot out of the staff, and Tony jumped back in surprise, barely dodging the ray. But to his surprise, the light decided to follow him, wrapping around his torso and squeezing. Tony felt the metal dent, but only a little before the light suddenly vanished. Looking up, he saw an arrow blinking rapidly before exploding right between the man’s legs. There was a cry of pain, and Black Widow, Hawkeye and Captain America all jumped out of the quinjet hovering just above ground. Tony gave a little wave to Bruce in the pilot seat, which was returned, before he turned back to action. Somehow, this lucky bastard had gotten away with only a few scorch marks. He was the one laughing now.

“You think your gadgets are any match for the armoured cloth of Baltazar?” He yelled, and they all watched as the small golden rod he’d used as a whip earlier let out a huge amount of what looked like liquid gold. The golden light morphed slowly, twisting and turning in on itself with a show of sparks. It was like watching fire take form, rounding up until the rod previously used as a whip, was now a flail of burning energy.

“Scan complete, sir,” JARVIS’ voice rang out suddenly, almost making Tony jump in surprise.

“Show me.”

JARVIS zoomed in on the golden stick in the flail, as if it hadn’t been obvious. “The rod is letting off a very distinct energy signature, sir. It is not any element documented on earth, but it is… familiar.”

Tony frowned. “Familiar? What do you mean familiar?”

“It is cloaking itself with surrounding signatures like radiation, just like the anomaly in your arc reactor, sir. If I were to guess, I would say the flail is consisting of at least a similar element.”

Tony felt ice spread through his limbs, like getting dunked in cool water and zapped at the same time. He did a jolt, feeling his fingers shake and buzz with energy all of the sudden as something stirred within him. A small groan made its way past his lips.

“Sir, I’m detecting an increase in heartbeat. Are you alright?” JARVIS asked, worried. Tony waved him off, not bothering how stupid it must have looked from outside the suit.

“I’m fine, Jay. Did you find any weaknesses we can exploit?”

“I’m afraid not, sir. The energy is still unknown, and I can’t get a proper read on it. I would recommend doing what you always do; shoot at it with a repulsor ray and hope for the best,” Tony let out a sarcastic laugh, feeling his fingers itch to do just that. Without warning, he lifted his hand and fired a shot and the… whatever he considered himself to be, who was slowly approaching them until he was thrown back by a repulsor.

“Alright guys, Jarvis has absolutely no clue what that thing is, so just hit him with everything you got. Try to make him lose his weapon,” He said, taking another shot at the man. The other Avengers quickly picked up, all turning their attention to the threat at hand. Natasha fired a bullet, which simply disintegrated right before their eyes.

“You think you can hurt me ?! I will show you the true meaning of pain! ” The man shouted, slamming his flail into the ground so the asphalt cracked. The very ground seemed to groan and moan, until big chunks of it simply lifted themselves out and started walking towards them like a hoard of zombies. Tony was instantly captivated, his mind trying to come to speed with what was going on around him. Crazy-dude had just brought the very ground to life, and if it wasn’t for the fact that said ground-gnomes were now attacking them, Tony would have tried to study them further. He dodged hits and kicks from the rock-monsters, shooting when he got the chance. There seemed to be an endless wave of them, and Tony didn’t even know where they were coming from anymore.

“Guys, Fury wants this man alive!” Natasha yelled from somewhere to his left.

“Alive? Did Fury miss the part where the ground stood up and started attacking?” Tony shouted back, blasting at one of the beasts. Meanwhile, crazy-dude was cackling, making an escape while the others were distracted. With a burst of luck, which Tony would later refer to as tactical skill and badass fighting abilities, Tony saw an opening. Putting everything he had into thrusters, he shot through the small hole between two rock-monsters, shaking off the ones dangling off of him at the same time. He dashed through the air, getting closer and closer to his target. The man turned around just in time to see a blur of red and gold before he was slammed across the street, straight into a wall. Tony grinned in victory, only to suddenly tip sideways.

Confused, he looked around. The inventor had never been one for motion-sickness, but then again, the world was rarely this… spinny. Not even when he was drunk did the world twist and turn like this. His mind, not to mention his very hurt, very bruised ego, couldn’t grasp what he was seeing.

“Confused, Iron man?!” Snapped the sorcerer, and Tony had completely forgotten he was even there, too taken aback by the new change in environment. It was difficult keeping balanced on the ever-moving ground, and he kept falling over like a clown on ice.

“Behold, the mirror dimension! Here, I am even stronger!” As he said it, the man twisted his wrist, and the steady-ish ground Tony had been standing on suddenly threw him off. He went flying through the air, landing harshly on the pavement. Another movement, and Tony was sailing through the air again, crashing head-first into a nearby building/roof. The air was knocked right out of his lungs, and he wheezed at the sudden pressure around his chest. Once again, he’d been grabbed by that damned whip. This time is made his armour groan in protest, bending and snapping wires. Tony felt panic build up, but swallowed it down as much as he could. He would not show weakness. Not now!

“What’s the matter, underling? Finally realizing your place is at the feet of Merlin?” The guy asked. Tony heard his footsteps approach him from behind. He lifted his arm and shot blindly in the direction, and judging by the loud “umph!”, he hit as well. But the pressure didn’t disappear, and Tony couldn’t breathe. His vision was starting to swim, and he had the sudden urge to throw up. He couldn’t breathe, why couldn’t he breathe?

Stars were dancing around his darkening vision, and Tony screamed as it all came crashing down. Space-can’t breathe, the chitauri- can’t breathe , the void- can’tbreathepleaseletmebreathe!

It happened in the blink of an eye. Tony screamed again, a broken sob making it past his lips. Then, he felt numb, tingly all over. Energy crackled and sparked across his skin, angry and hateful. Tony didn’t do anything to try and hold it back, he didn’t have the strength. The energy escaped in a shock-wave that shook the very foundations of the ground they were standing on. Tony barely heard the surprised scream. The pressure on his chest lightened, and Tony gasped for air. The world was a blur, and he felt sick to the bone. Distantly, he heard someone shout his name, but it was too slurred to fully make out who it was.

“Facemask… off,” He managed, feeling his gut wrench and twist uncomfortably. He collapsed on his knees, not having realized he’d stood up in the first place. His entire body felt exhausted, like he’d just ran ten marathons in a row. The faceplate folded back, and Tony gasped in the fresh air in greedy gulps. Falling forward, he barely had the strength to lift his arms so he wouldn’t crash face-first into the broken pavement. Tony coughed and hacked, feeling nauseous as the world around him wouldn’t stop spinning. Something clawed at the back of his throat, and he’d been hungover enough to recognize the feeling. Before he could stop it, his stomach emptied itself on the pavement. What little food he’d consumed over the last few days came back with a vengeance.

Tony had just enough thought process left to fall to the side.

Everything went dark.