Body of Iron

For Better or For Worse

Ugh. It was dark. And Sweaty. And Hot. Where was I again?

The Middle East was the last place I remember being. Sweaty and hot I definitely remember, but not so much dark. Perhaps there was some sort of sack over my head.

No, I'd be able to feel that, and at least some light would be filtering in. Okay I was inside somewhere that is completely without lights. Or maybe they're off. Either way, this was not a good situation. I'd been kidnapped. Some sort of attack on the vehicle I was on. Wait a second. Was I going to be put up for ransom. I was worth billions.

I put my arms out and felt an immense pain in my chest. Around my heart actually. Probably a bullet. Brilliant, I had been kidnapped and shot. I tried to sit up and examine the area of pain, but I couldn't move much.

"I would not try to move much yet Mr. Stark." I heard an elderly voice with an accent say to me.

A light clicked on beside me right as I turned toward the voice.

The light shined in my eyes and I gasped. More pain in my chest. My eyes adjusted to the light quickly, and I saw who had spoken to me.

The accented voice had come from a short faced bald man with broken glasses. I started to speak but he shushed me "Mr. Stark, you are in grave danger." I wanted to reply with some sort of sarcastic comment, but then again, I was sort of helpless on a bed, half unable to move. Kind of at his will and mercy. So I held my tongue for once.

"There is shrapnel digging at your heart right now," the man said, pointing at my chest where the pain was. As I looked at my chest area I began to realize what he had meant. There was a circular piece of metal sticking out of my chest, and it was glowing brightly. I widened my eyes and glanced back at the man.

"Listen, you do not have much time, nor do I, we are at the will of the Ten Rings. They kidnapped both of us, and want you to build weaponry for them." The man paused for a moment and glanced at the nearby table with a good amount of scrap metal "My name is Ho Yinsen. I am here to keep you alive long enough so they can replicate a bomb of yours."

There was a loud knock at a door and Yinsen stood up and looked toward the back of the room. He said something about trying his best to keep me alive. I didn't hear much. My consciousness was fading back into sleep. Maybe this was just a bad dream, and I would awaken back in my mansion in the California.

Several hours later, I awoke to more sharp pain in my chest. I jolted straight upwards this time, having full control over my muscles once again. The old man jumped back, obviously alarmed at my quick reaction. "Mr. Stark!" he exclaimed 'You're awake!"

"We need to be fast, if they heard my yell, they'll come to se-" he started to say before the door unlocked and a burly afghan man walked in. He strutted over to the bed where I was sitting up, still sweating profusely.

"You will build weaponry for us Stark," he said in a thick accent. He smelled. Or maybe that was me. "And after you are done, we will kill you."

He glared at me, trying to unnerve me. Apparently he didn't think I was adequately scared as he spat "You will, or we The Mandarin will break your mind until you are clay in his palms!"

He barged out of the room quick after that, not uttering another word. After I was sure he was far enough away, I looked towards Yinsen and said "He was just a little excessive don't ya think?"

Yinsen chuckled and said "We need to get you out of here Mr. Stark. The Ten Rings cannot have your weaponry in their hands."

"Well how do you plan on doing that?" I said sarcastically, while swinging my legs around until they hung off of the bed. I looked at the floor beneath my feet. It seemed to be more dirt than actual floor. At this point I was relatively sure that I was in some sort of desert cave. Fun.

I stood up, much to what seemed the displeasure of Yinsen. I forced my limbs to let me over to the work table. Each step felt like a thousand fires were raging within my muscles. Avoid the pain. That was how I got through most of my life. More usually it was emotional versus physical, but I just kept the same principal.

"How are we getting out of here Yinsen? I doubt we could have much more firepower than they do. A bomb would just take the cave down upon us. You wouldn't have brought up much of any idea such as leaving if you didn't have any idea right?" I said, looking at Yinsen.

"You... do have an idea right?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"Mr. Stark what is something that could protect you from a bullet?" He said, grabbing a piece of metal off of a nearby shelf.

"A forcefield? Or Vibranium? Admantium?" I said, pushing pieces of metal aside.

"Think simpler, what would protect a knight from an arrow in the times before any of that?" Yinsen said, pondering the piece of metal.

I thought about it for a moment. After coming to the realization, I found out just how simple the problem was. "A suit of armor." I said, putting a piece of metal on my arm as a sort of demonstration.

"Correct, and we could make one using the materials given to us here by these terrorists," he said, agreeing with me.

I thought for another minute, before coming across a problem. "How would one of us even move in that armor, this metal is heavy, and there's no way either of us could lift that."

"Well you see, I have your chest-saver being powered by the power of a battery type power I've seen around here. What I'm saying is we use your heart-saver, and more of those batteries to help you lift the suit. It will not be perfect, but it will lead to your escape if done properly."

"Our escape, if done properly you mean." I said, looking at Yinsen. He nodded, but his expression said he didn't believe he was going to get out.

I looked back down at my chest. He had saved me, for better or for worse, so I was going to get him out of here, for better or for worse.