Mario walked through Stark Industries' exhibition hall. Advanced weapons systems lined the walls, missiles, energy weapons, targeting computers that could probably calculate pi to a million decimal places while simultaneously ordering pizza.
Today, none of the big players were available to receive visitors. Tony was dealing with his own life-or-death crisis. Pepper was juggling corporate espionage and impending disaster. And Obadiah was busy being a treacherous bastard.
Not that Mario's operation warranted a personal tour from Tony anyway. His company was barely a blip on Stark Industries' radar.
Ivan's expression kept shifting as they moved through the displays. Part of him refused to admit that Tony might actually be better than him. But another part, the honest engineer buried under years of resentment, couldn't help but feel inspired by the sheer innovation on display.
Mario clapped a hand on Ivan's shoulder and said quietly, "Don't get too worked up. Tonight we're moving all this stuff back to our place anyway. You'll have plenty of time to study it then."
Ivan froze for a moment. Then that same grin Mario had been wearing spread across his features. He nodded slightly, fully embodying the Italian folk wisdom: Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei, tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.
As they stepped out of Stark Industries headquarters, a figure caught Mario's attention.
Rotund. Bald. Built like a barrel wearing an expensive suit. Obadiah Stane in the flesh, heading toward a waiting car.
Watching Obadiah's retreating back, he chuckled softly. "Bet he's heading to Tony's place right now to steal the arc reactor."
He stood there for a bit longer, then climbed into his own vehicle. "Take us to Tony Stark's place. The 'Point Dume' estate."
The driver, one of Mario's people who'd been stationed in LA ahead of their arrival, immediately started the car and pulled out into traffic.
"We're going to find Tony Stark?" Ivan couldn't contain his curiosity, turning in the passenger seat to look back at Mario.
"We're going to save his life."
"Save him? He's in danger?"
Mario pointed at the Rolls-Royce speeding ahead of them. "That's Obadiah Stane. Major shareholder of Stark Industries. Also the guy behind Tony's kidnapping in Afghanistan."
Seeing the stunned expressions around him, he continued, "And Pepper Potts has already obtained evidence of his dealings with the Ten Rings. Right now, Obadiah's panicking. Cornered rats do desperate things. He built himself a bigger, badder suit of armor using Tony's blueprints. But his people couldn't replicate the arc reactor, so he's going to rip Tony's right out of his chest."
Ivan frowned. He didn't want Tony to die before he had the chance to prove himself superior.
"Do we... take out Stane?"
He glanced forward at Obadiah's car.
Mario shook his head. "Not yet. Here's what you're going to do: wait until Obadiah gets the reactor, suits up in his Iron Monger armor, and defeats Tony. Then you take him down."
Neither the driver nor Anna showed any surprise at this plan. They didn't even flinch. Seeing this, his smile widened.
He was speaking freely in front of them as a kind of loyalty test. The generous benefits he provided were designed to ensure that both of them knew when to be blind and deaf to certain activities.
"Then... why are we going to Tony's place now?"
"To save Tony's life, of course. I'd feel guilty just taking his stuff without doing him a favor first. After all, he's not my enemy."
He leaned forward toward the driver. "Step on it. Pass them."
"Hold on tight!"
The Mercedes van's engine roared to life. The powerful acceleration pressed everyone back into their seats as the vehicle shot forward, overtaking Obadiah's Rolls-Royce.
Twenty minutes later, Mario watched Obadiah's car pull into Tony's cliffside estate. He turned to his companions. "You two wait here. Ivan and I are going in."
"Understood."
He pulled out a potion of invisibility and tossed it to Ivan. Having used one before during their first meeting, Ivan said nothing. The two of them headed for the front gate.
The iron security gate that should have been closed stood wide open.
"Looks like he already disabled the security system," Mario observed. In the movie, when Obadiah had appeared behind Tony, J.A.R.V.I.S. gave no warning. The only explanation was that Obadiah had shut down the AI.
They drank the potions and walked straight into the villa. As soon as they entered the living room, the massive floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the cliff drop and the Pacific Ocean beyond.
And there, in the middle of that stunning view, they witnessed Obadiah using a specialized device to remove the arc reactor from Tony's chest.
Tony's face had gone deathly pale, completely drained of color. His body was paralyzed by some kind of sonic weapon, leaving only his eyes capable of movement. The moment Obadiah extracted the reactor, the shrapnel inside Tony's chest began migrating toward his heart. Every second that passed brought him closer to death.
But Obadiah didn't care about Tony's suffering. He stared at the glowing reactor in his hands, striking a triumphant pose.
"Oh... this is beautiful. Tony, this is my Ode to Joy. My masterpiece."
He sat down beside Tony, holding up the reactor. "A true work of art, look at it! This will be your legacy. The heart of a new generation of weapons."
He placed the reactor into a small case and stood to leave. But not before delivering one final twist of the knife.
"You shouldn't have involved Pepper in this. I was going to let her live."
Then he walked out without a backward glance, leaving Tony to die alone.
After Obadiah left, Mario spoke to Ivan. "Villains die from talking too much. Remember that, Ivan. Don't monologue until your enemy is dead."
He drank milk to reverse the invisibility effect, then handed a bucket to Ivan. "Drink up."
He approached the slumped figure on the couch. Tony looked at him with dazed confusion.
"Save me..." Tony gasped. "Basement... old reactor..."
"Don't worry. I've got you covered." Mario turned to Ivan. "Go get the reactor from the workshop. Should be on a display stand."
Ivan finished his milk, glanced at Tony, who looked about thirty seconds from death, then headed for the stairs leading to the underground garage without hesitation.
Mario mimicked Obadiah's earlier posture, sitting down beside Tony with a cheerful grin. "Tony Stark, I think we should discuss the value of your life. You might think I'm taking advantage of the situation. But let me be clear: yes, I absolutely am taking advantage. I don't think you'll mind though, will you?"
"N-no..." Tony managed.
Mario stood up immediately. "Oh, you do mind? Then I'll just go—"
"...I don't...mind..."
"Good answer. Lucky I'm a slow walker, or you'd be screwed."
Down in the garage-slash-workshop, Mario's eyes lit up. Advanced tools, prototype components, half-finished projects scattered everywhere.
He looked at Tony seriously. "I don't need money. But I'm thinking you wouldn't mind if I borrowed some equipment and maybe drove off with a few of your cars, right?"
Tony's mind was entirely focused on Pepper and the impending battle with Obadiah. He had no mental bandwidth to care about property.
"From now until I get back, take whatever you want from the villa. Including my car collection."
Mario's eyes widened. His mouth fell open slightly. He stared at Tony.
"Really?"
"Really."
With that, Tony stepped aside, blasted through the ceiling, and flew toward the city.
Mario stared at the hole Tony had left in his roof and muttered, "Now that's what I call generous. Billionaire mindset right there."
More than ten minutes later, James Rhodes arrived at the villa, having received an urgent message from Pepper.
"Tony, are you—"
He stopped dead, staring at the empty space around him.
The once-luxuriously decorated mansion had been stripped down to bare walls. Even the hardwood flooring was gone. It looked like a construction site.
Rhodes scratched his head. "Did he... move out?"
---
Meanwhile, Mario sat in a helicopter heading toward Stark Tower, surrounded by crates full of liberated equipment.
"In my entire life," he said to Ivan, "I have never seen anyone make an offer like that."
Ivan said nothing, but his expression suggested he was reconsidering several life choices.
Mario patted the secured crates. "Anna, contact the hotel and arrange a landing zone. And after you drop us off, you and the driver head back. What happens next isn't something civilians should witness."
"Understood."
His phone rang. Seeing Coulson's name, he answered with a teasing tone. "Hey, Coulson. Don't tell me you're being chased by some big iron bastard right now?"
Coulson's voice came through stressed. "I need your help. Obadiah Stane from Stark Industries built an armored suit. He's chasing me and Miss Potts. If you're available—"
CRASH!
The sound of impact came through the phone. Mario's expression darkened instantly.
"Are you okay? Hold on, I'm on my way!"
Coulson had helped him multiple times. To just let him die like this, he couldn't accept that.
"Faster!"
The helicopter banked hard, accelerating. Then Coulson's voice came through again.
"I'm fine. Another guy in armor just showed up and knocked Stane away."
Mario relaxed slightly. Tony sure took his sweet time getting there. Must have stopped for shawarma or something.
"Find somewhere safe to hide. And don't try playing hero with that peashooter sidearm of yours. I'll be there in two minutes."
The highway battle was already visible below. He could see intermittent flashes of repulsor fire and hear the impacts of metal on metal.
He turned to Ivan. "How's your preparation?"
Ivan nodded firmly. "Ready. I've analyzed Stark's armor data. His design is way too conservative."
"Good. Get ready to make an entrance."
Two minutes later, Mario witnessed the Iron Monger grabbing Iron Man and hurling him into a wall. Tony's armored body was embedded in the concrete like a bug on a windshield.
The shock absorption in Marvel armor was pure black magic. Physics had left the chat.
Mario pulled out an ender pearl and handed it to Ivan. "Hold this and throw it at the ground when you're ready."
He demonstrated, and purple particles replaced his form as he teleported to the street below.
Ivan followed suit, but the moment he appeared, he coughed up blood.
Mario immediately pulled a health potion from his inventory. "The pearls teleport you, but there's a cost. Drink this."
Ender pearls dealt 5 points of fall damage on use. For someone like Ivan with only 20 hit points total, losing a quarter of his health was no joke.
Ivan drank the potion. The pain in his body quickly faded. He didn't complain that Mario hadn't warned him. For an item that gave a normal human instant teleportation, paying a price was more than reasonable.
Screams echoed around them as civilians fled the battle zone, abandoning cars on the highway.
Coulson spotted Mario approaching and ran over. "Do you have a way to stop that oversized tin can? If not, we should retreat. S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements are en route."
Mario reached into his inventory and pulled out Ivan's masterpiece.
The armor materialized. Gray exterior plating gave it an overwhelming presence. In its right hand was a massive chainsaw, currently inactive. Skull emblems adorned the shoulders and knee guards.
"Go prove yourself."
Ivan nodded and approached the armor. A scanning beam shot out from the helmet, sweeping across his body. An electronic voice announced: "Cable."
The chest plate split open, revealing three second-generation arc reactors mounted in the torso.
Ivan stepped inside. The armor came alive, servos whirring, the chainsaw blade beginning its rotation. The armor closed around him, fully enclosing his body in several tons of advanced combat engineering.
The massive mech turned its head to look at Mario, then began walking toward the Iron Monger.
Following the principle that "bigger is better," Cable stood half a meter taller than Obadiah's Iron Monger. Its appearance immediately drew the larger suit's attention.
"Who are you?" Obadiah's voice carried hints of panic. The armor's menacing design made it clear this wasn't some amateur's garage project. Especially that roaring chainsaw, the sound alone was enough to make anyone's blood run cold.
Ivan didn't bother with words. Several ports opened on the armor's surface, unleashing a swarm of micro-missiles that slammed into the Iron Monger.
Unfortunately, the explosion produced mostly smoke.
Obadiah retaliated with his own missile barrage. Cable didn't even try to dodge, charging straight through the explosions. The Blast Protection IV enchantment built into its frame wasn't just for show.
Coulson stood frozen in shock. Just yesterday, everyone was playing with tanks and fighter jets. How was it that today, people were pulling out full battle mechs like it was nothing?