Chapter 38: Ziptied on a Bed
Unknown POV:
My phone started ringing. I glanced at my phone. It's Killian. He better have good news.
"Don't waste my time Killian," I said threateningly.
"I have good news boss." He said.
"Spill."
"We've captured Riley and Tony. We already put Extremis in Riley's system." He informed me.
I smirked.
"Very good. I want her delivered to me ALIVE by tomorrow. Am I understood?" I demanded.
"Yes boss. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked.
"I want the big show to happen tonight. And most importantly, before Riley regains her strength take her necklace." I told him.
"Yes boss." He obeyed.
I hang up. I smirked. My plan is working way better than I thought.
Tony's POV
I opened my eyes.
I found myself in a dungeon.
"Ah!" I grunted as I tried moving but couldn't.
I was zip tied up to a bed. I looked and see Maya looking at me with a smile.
"It's just like old times, huh?" She teased.
"Oh yeah only this time its with zip ties." I said with a frown.
"It wasn't my idea." She said shaking her head.
"Ok so you took Killian's card." I said.
"I took his money." She corrected me.
"And here you are thirteen years later, in a dungeon." I said.
"No," she denied.
"Yeah."
"No you're in a dungeon, I'm free to go." Maya said.
"Yeah?" I asked unconvinced.
"A lot has happened Tony. But I'm close." I continued to struggle with getting out of my zip ties.
"Extremis is practically stabilized." She said walking up to me.
"I'm telling you, it isn't!" I exclaimed.
"I'm on the street. People going bang. They're painting the wall. Maya, you're kidding yourself."
"Then help me fix it." She said softly.
She pulls out a name tag. 'You know who I am' was written on it. And there was written formulas at the back.
"Did I do that?" I asked not really sure.
Maya let the name tag drop and she looks at me in disbelief.
"Yes."
"I remember the night, not the morning." I said cheekily.
She continued to stare at me in disbelief.
"Is that what you've been chasing around?" I asked.
"You don't remember?" She asked her voice cracking a bit.
"I can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you." I said.
She tried looking at me with a straight face but I can see her soft side is trying to get to her. I knew it was working.
"I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul." I said.
"Get me out of here. Come on." I begged to her, staring deeply at her eyes.
For a second I thought she'd considered it. But a very annoying voice entered. Maya turned away as Killian spoke.
"Know what my old man use to say? One of his many sayings-" Killian started walking towards me.
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." He said.
"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing are you?" I asked him.
"How can I be pissed at you, Tony?" He asked very calmly.
"I'm here to thank you." He said as he walked closer to me.
"You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever give me. Desperation." I frowned as I stare at him.
"If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well for the first twenty minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour.. I considered taking that one step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean" He said.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse." I replied.
He completely ignored what I said and continued talking.
"But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for more years. Anonymity. Thanks to you it's been my mantra ever since. Right?" He glanced to Maya.
Maya nodded her head unsurely.
"You simply rule from behind the scene. Because the second you give evil a face, a Bin Ladden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people the target." He explained to me.
"You're something else." I muttered.
Killian sat down and opened his brief case.
"You have met him, I assume?" He asked me.
"Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier." I said sarcastically.
"I know he's a little over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a tendan... He's a stage actor." He admitted.
I raised an eyebrow.
"They say his Lear as the toast of Croydon, whatever that it. Anyways, the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day." He said.
"What's next for you and your world?" I asked.
"I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me." Killian rolled three little silver balls on the ground.
He clicked on his remote. A holographic screen popped up. I see Riley tied upright on a table and I could see the pain in her face.
"Desperation," Killian finished saying.
I felt my heart ache as I watch her suffer. This is all my fault. I just want to save her and have her in my arms again. I felt my eyes starts to tear up.
"Now this is live," He said calmly.
"I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say denotation is quite spectacular." I shut my eyes closed and turned my head.
I couldn't handle seeing Riley hurt. It was like my heart is going to burst any moment. I forced myself to look back at Riley.
"But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain." He said.
Killian shut off the screen with his remote and walked up to me menacingly.
"We haven't even talked salary yet." He grabbed me by the throat.
"What kind of package were you thinking of?" He taunted.
I shut my eyes as I see Killian's face started glowing.
"Let him go," I heard Maya say.
I opened my eyes and see Maya holding an injector near her neck.
"Hold on, hold on," said Killian as he let go of my throat.
Killian turned towards to her.
"Maya..."
"I said let him go!" She exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" Killian hissed.
"Twelve thousand CC's. A dose half this size and I'm dead." She threatened.
"It's times like this my temper is somewhat tested." Killian explained to me.
"Maya give me the injector," he said softly.
"If I die, what happens to your soldier? What happens to your products?" Asked Maya.
"We're not doing this, okay," he said still softly.
"What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?" She asked.
I can the fear piercing through her eyes. Killian turned towards me and gave me a smile. He pulled out a gun and shot Maya without even looking.
Her eyes were staring at mine as she placed a hand on her stomach where she got shot. She fell to her knees on the floor. I looked at her with pity.
"The good news is, a high level position has just been vacated," he smirked.
I stare at the ground in shock.
"You are a maniac," I said.
"No I'm a visionary. But I do own a maniac and he takes the stage tonight." He said as he left.