"Sir, we do not have enough time."
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s mechanical voice was entirely devoid of its usual comforting warmth. It delivered the clinical, undeniable math of a nightmare.
The Joker hadn't hidden Rhodes's or Pepper's locations at all. The live video feeds clearly displayed prominent structural landmarks through the warehouse windows. But after J.A.R.V.I.S. ran the velocity calculations, the horrific reality of the trap locked into place.
The Bronx was located at the extreme northern tip of New York City. Staten Island sat at the absolute southern edge.
Even at maximum supersonic overdrive, pushing the armor past its structural limits, Tony could only reach one location before the C4 detonated.
Pepper Potts. Or James Rhodes.
He had to choose one to live, and condemn the other to die.
Images of Rhodey flashed through Tony's mind—surviving MIT, serving in the military, the shared trauma of Afghanistan. This was his brother. His best friend.
Then, Pepper. She had been silently supporting him from the shadows for years. She had pulled him back from the brink of self-destruction, single-handedly kept Stark Industries afloat, and become the very center of his world.
'I have to choose,' Tony realized, his chest heaving inside the airtight suit. 'I have to let one of them die.'
Inside the armor, Tony's eyes were fixed wildly on the flashing red countdown strapped to Pepper's waist.
[02:45]
"Sir!" J.A.R.V.I.S.'s urgent prompt cut through the buzzing static in Tony's ears. "You must make a trajectory decision immediately! We are losing the window!"
A flicker of absolute, devastating determination flashed in Tony's bloodshot eyes. A piece of his soul shattered, replaced instantly by a crushing, permanent guilt that he knew would haunt him for the rest of his life.
'I'm sorry, Rhodey,' Tony thought, squeezing his eyes shut. 'God, forgive me. I'm so sorry.'
"We're going to Staten Island!" Tony roared. "Maximum thrust!"
In his heart, Pepper's life outweighed everything else. He knew this decision would cost his best friend his life. He knew the Joker had won.
The armor's thrusters flared white-hot as J.A.R.V.I.S. initiated the autopilot sequence to launch into the stratosphere.
But at that exact microsecond, Ivan Vanko's scarred face suddenly hijacked the massive JumboTrons surrounding the Expo plaza.
"Tony Stark!" Vanko's thick, booming voice echoed through the stadium speakers, freezing the Iron Man armor on the launchpad. "You are a thief!"
The massive crowd, already in a state of panic, turned their eyes toward the screens, and then down to the glowing Russian standing before the superhero.
"You are just like your father, Howard Stark! Both of you are nothing but despicable thieves!" Vanko's voice roared, echoing off the pavilions. "You stole the life's work of my father, Anton Vanko! And this is the undeniable proof!"
Down on the plaza, Ivan Vanko pointed a heavy, tattooed finger at the glowing Arc Reactor embedded in his chest.
According to every comic book trope and Hollywood script, this was the moment the hero was supposed to descend. Tony Stark was supposed to engage in a heated, public debate, proving his innocence and dismantling the villain's ideology before engaging in an honorable duel.
At least, that was what the thousands of spectators—and the watching world media—expected.
But did Tony Stark really have the time for theatrical morality?
[02:30]
Inside the helmet, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s countdown warning became a blaring siren. Vanko's booming accusations blurred into meaningless noise. The buzzing in Tony's skull made him dizzy with sheer, unadulterated panic.
He was out of time. He was no longer considering his public image, his superhero code, or the legal consequences.
Saving Pepper was the only thing that mattered. Vanko was standing in his way.
The Iron Man armor surged upward. Without a single word of defense, two micro-munitions snapped up from the launch ports on Tony's shoulders.
FWOOSH. FWOOSH.
The twin missiles streaked downward, slamming directly into the plaza where Ivan Vanko stood.
KABOOM!
A massive, concussive explosion rocked the Expo. A deep, smoking crater was blasted into the earth, kicking up a thick cloud of pulverized concrete and dust. The crowd screamed in absolute terror.
Tony didn't stay to watch the smoke clear. The armor broke the sound barrier, rocketing south toward Staten Island.
Down in the crater, a dying Ivan Vanko lay in a pool of his own blood, his exoskeleton shattered. He was coughing up pieces of his lungs, clearly on the verge of death. Yet, as his fading eyes watched the Iron Man streak away into the night sky...
A victorious, bloody smile appeared on Vanko's face.
"Tony Stark..." Vanko choked out a laugh. "You lose."
[Staten Island - Abandoned Warehouse]
"J.A.R.V.I.S., accelerate! Give me everything!"
The two minutes passed in a hypersonic blur. Iron Man crashed cleanly through the roof of the abandoned shipping facility, shattering the skylight and landing in a crouch on the concrete floor.
Seeing Pepper tied to the chair, terrified but unharmed, the heavy stone in Tony's chest finally dropped.
[00:03]
[00:02]
Tony lunged forward. His armored hands moved with desperate precision, ripping the C4 explosive and the duct tape completely off Pepper.
[00:01]
Tony violently hurled the explosive into the far corner of the warehouse, instantly throwing his entire armored body over Pepper, pulling her into a tight, crushing embrace.
BOOM!
The C4 detonated, turning the corner of the warehouse into a fireball. Tony relied entirely on the Gold-Titanium alloy's defense to absorb the catastrophic shockwave and the shrapnel.
Once the flames rolled over his back and dissipated, the faceplate snapped open. Tony pulled Pepper up, checking her frantically. Aside from being covered in dust and trembling violently, she was completely unharmed.
"Tony..." Pepper gasped, clutching his metal shoulders. "Rhodey... the other screen..."
Tony looked at her in dead silence. The guilt in his bloodshot eyes was overflowing.
"Go," Pepper sobbed, pushing against his chest. "Go check on Rhodey! I'm fine here! Go!"
Having just ripped her from the jaws of death, Tony's protective instincts screamed at him to stay. He held onto her tightly, refusing to move until the wailing sirens of the NYPD surrounded the warehouse.
Only after he personally watched Pepper get secured into the back of a heavily armored police cruiser did he step away. Through the cruiser's reinforced glass, Tony and Pepper locked eyes. Tears streamed down her face.
The faceplate snapped down. Iron Man soared into the sky once more.
[The Bronx - Warehouse District]
By the time Iron Man finally reached Rhodes's coordinates at the northern edge of the city, the sky was glowing with emergency lights.
The warehouse was entirely cordoned off by dozens of police cruisers, fire trucks, and an absolute swarm of aggressive news vans.
The arrival of Iron Man—landing heavily on the wet pavement outside the police tape—sent the ravenous media into a complete frenzy. Microphones and cameras were shoved mercilessly toward the armor.
"Mr. Stark! Are you really a thief?!"
"Stark, why didn't you argue with him? Why did you kill the Russian directly?!"
"You're no superhero, you're a murderer!"
"Why did he have your technology, Tony?! Did you assassinate him to silence him?!"
Ivan Vanko's death was not the end of the Joker's plan; it was merely the opening act.
The media, completely unaware of the horrifying hostage countdown that had forced Tony's hand, only knew what they had seen broadcast live on the Expo screens. They saw Tony Stark, faced with a man accusing him of intellectual theft, offer zero defense and execute him in cold blood.
The shining, untouchable reputation Iron Man had built over the last year vanished in an instant. The court of public opinion had already convicted him of murder and corporate espionage.
"Mr. Stark," a voice cut through the shouting reporters.
A high-ranking NYPD Captain, pressing an earpiece into his ear, ducked under the police tape and approached the armor. His attitude was cautious, but very respectful. The media only cared about their ratings, but the NYPD still heavily relied on Stark Industries funding.
"Mr. Stark, you may need to come with us to the precinct," the Captain said softly. "It's about the Flushing incident."
Inside the armor, Tony didn't say a single word. He didn't even look at the Captain.
His glowing blue eyes were locked onto the entrance of the smoking warehouse.
Two paramedics were rolling a heavy gurney out through the loading bay doors. A thick, black body bag was zipped tight over the remains.
The Iron Man armor suddenly whirred to life, violently pushing past the Captain and the crowd of officers blocking the way.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony whispered, his voice cracking. "Run an infrared biometric scan."
A faint blue laser washed over the black body bag.
Without a doubt. The skeletal measurements, the dental records, the residual thermal signature...
It was James Rhodes.
Inside the airtight, invincible armor, Tony Stark couldn't breathe. He didn't know what expression to make. He didn't know how to move.
He just stood there in the flashing red and blue lights, entirely hollow, watching as the paramedics loaded his brother's body into the back of the coroner's van.
.....
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