Miami, Florida
"You know, this is like taking stalking to a whole new level," Maya whispered as she looked to her father. Tony about fell off his tree branch at her sudden words and quickly caught himself before sending a glare in her direction.
"Yeah, but technically we are trying to save the world, so it kind of evens out," Tony argued as he looked through a pair of binoculars and at the gate in front of him. "Still stalking," Maya muttered under her breath.
Tony ignored her and brought the binoculars down. "Okay, so there's just a few guards and one of them has a dog. Easy enough," Tony muttered before looking to Maya. "Okay, kid. You stay here while I go on in, that way you can be lookout."
"You're just trying to get rid of me," Maya pouted. "I am not!" Tony tried to argued, but one look from Maya had him looking away with a sigh. "I'm only trying to keep you safe." "I want to help," Maya insisted. "Besides, I'm safer with you than I would be out here with no protection."
Tony looked up at his daughter to see her giving him a smug look. "You're hesitating because you know I'm right," Maya said in a sing-song voice. Tony rolled her eyes as the corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. "Yeah, yeah. You can come with, but you've got to stay with me, okay?" Tony asked. "Got it," Maya said.
Tony put the binoculars into his bag before saying, "Okay, kid. Let's go." Maya nodded and the two Starks quickly climbed down the tree before running across the yard. Tony jumped onto the top of a small wall before grabbing Maya's hand and pulling her up.
Together the two hopped onto the ground before sneakily making their way over to a staircase where one of the guards was standing with his back to them. Maya handed her father a rope which he then swung before wrapping it around the guard's legs and bringing him to the ground.
The guard hit his head against the staircase causing him to be knocked out almost instantly. Tony then shot something at another guard's neck instantly distracting him. Tony went ahead and kneed the guy in the stomach while Maya grabbed the taser from the backpack and turned to tase another guard who was trying to sneak up on them.
The two guards then fell to the ground while the Starks looked at each other. Maya grinned as she held up the taser and Tony winced before saying, "Yeah, I'm just going to take that from you now." "What, why?" Maya whined, but one look from her father had her going quiet.
The two Starks kept moving along and Tony stopped Maya once they caught sight of two more guards standing a little ways away. Tony took a small Christmas ornament out of the bag before handing it to Maya. "Care to do the honors, kid," he said.
The girl smiled at him before taking the ball and tossing it over to where the guards were. The guards turned to look at the object with frowns on their faces. One of them picked the ornament up only for it to explode in his hand, the glass shooting up and into his face as he fell to the ground with a groan.
The other guard was instantly on high alert and turned in the direction of the Starks, but Tony knocked him down instantly. The guard fell into the small water fountain that was there and Maya smirked before tossing another Christmas ornament into the water as well.
The two Starks then walked away as the ornament exploded behind them. Tony put a hand on Maya's back before pulling her in the direction of the house. They walked through one of the back doors and Maya scrunched up her nose at the sight of the unkept house.
They slowly walked around the house, hoping to find someone, and stopped once they came upon a room with a woman and a man in it. "Why is it so hot in here? I told you to put it at 68," the woman complained.
"My fault again," the man scoffed. "Let me tell you something, sweetheart. I am not your personal air con. . ." The man fell silent as Tony put a glove on top of his head which instantly electrocuted him until he fell to the ground unconscious.
"He was annoying," Maya said as the woman looked at the two Starks with wide eyes. Tony sent his daughter a look that told her to be quiet before he reached over and picked up the gun that was lying on the table.
The woman held her hands up so that they resembled a gun before she mimicked a gunshot. Maya gave her a confused look while Tony just hushed the woman.
Tony and Maya left the woman in that room and began making their way around the house until they came across a room that had a bunch of small screens that were playing videos of the Mandarin. Maya furrowed her eyebrows and walked further into the room, confused as to why this room looked as if it were set up like some kind of TV set.
Tony made sure that Maya stayed behind him as they walked forward. The two paused behind a big piece of metal and looked around it to see that there was a bed that looked like it had someone sleeping in it.
Tony held a finger up to his lips to signal for Maya to be quiet and she nodded before the two slowly crept towards the bed. Tony held the gun up and pushed Maya behind him before reaching forward and pulling back the covers.
However, instead of being met with the face of the Mandarin, the two Starks came face to face with two very frightened looking women.
They looked at the two with frightened eyes and Tony quickly hushed them, but he was cut off by the sound of the toilet flushing. Tony's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed Maya before hiding behind the head of the bed while the two women laid back down.
"Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes," a voice said before letting out a loud laugh. Maya peaked her head out slightly and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sight of the Mandarin coming out of the bathroom acting like anything but who she thought he was.
"Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" he asked. "That's me," one of the women said. "Ah! Nessie," the man said before throwing a fortune cookie at her. Tony and Maya both shared a confused look.
"Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?" the man asked. "There's some guy and his kid over here," one of the women said, but the Mandarin didn't seem to hear her.
"They're made by Americans, based on a Japanese recipe," the man said. Tony, having heard enough, cocked the gun before stepping out from behind the bed. He pointed the gun at the man before exclaiming, "Hey!"
"Bloody hell. Bloody hell," the man said as he put his hands up. "Don't move," Maya told him. "I'm not moving," the man insisted. "You want something? Take it. Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."
"What?" Tony asked confused. "Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?" the Mandarin asked as he looked to Tony. The Starks and the women looked at him confused.
"Heard enough. You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy," Tony said. "Where?" He yelled making the man jump in fright. "Where's the Mandarin? Where is he?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the man said as he tried to walk away. "He's here. He's here, but he's not here." The man sat down on a chair while the Starks looked at him confused. "He's here, but he's not here."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked. "It's complicated. Hey, it's complicated," the man said. "It is?" Tony asked in an annoyed voice. "It's complicated," the man insisted.
"Well uncomplicate it," Maya told him. Tony looked back at the women in the bed and nodded his head toward the bathroom. "Ladies, out. Get out of the bed. Get into the bathroom," Tony said.
The women got up from the bed and began making their way to the bathroom. Tony backed up slowly but kept the gun aimed at the guy who claimed to be the Mandarin. "Sit," Tony told him.
"Ew!" "Oh, Jesus." The women exclaimed as they started to walk into the very bathroom that the guy had told them not to go into a little bit ago.
Maya crinkled up her nose in disgust before giving the women an apologetic look. "Sorry," she told them before her and Tony closed the door. They locked the door before turning back around to see the Mandarin crawling across the floor.
Tony and Maya shared a look of disbelief before Maya gestured towards the man. Tony got what she was saying and shot at the floor a foot away from the Mandarin. The guy jumped back in surprise before hurrying over to the chair again and sitting down.
"My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery," the man told them. "What are you? What are you, a decoy? You're a double, right?" Tony asked as the two Starks walked towards the man.
"What, you mean like an understudy?" Trevor asked me with a hint of hurt in his voice. "No, absolutely not." Tony held the gun up at him and Trevor held his hands up. "Don't hurt the face!" He exclaimed. "I'm an actor."
"Judging by the look of my father's face, you've got. . ." Maya pretended to look down at a watch that was definitely not there before shrugging and saying, "About a minute to live. Fill it with words."
"It's just a role. 'The Mandarin,' see, it's not real," Trevor told them. "Then how did you get here, Trevor?" Tony asked. "Well, I, um, had a little problem with, um, substances. And I ended up doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do," Trevor explained.
"Next?" Tony asked while Maya stared at the man confused. So what he was saying was that the Mandarin was just an act. But if that were true, then who blew up their house and almost killed them?
"Then, they approached me about the role, and they knew about the drugs," Trevor said. "What did they say? They'd get you off them?" Maya asked. "They said they'd give me more," he said excitedly. "They gave me things. They gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things."
Trevor's eyes closed and before either of them knew what was happening, the man before them began to snore. Tony and Maya blinked before Tony asked, "Did you just nod off?" He looked to Maya. "Did he just nod off?" Maya chuckled softly and put a hand over her mouth. "I think he did," she muttered in disbelief.
"Hey," Tony said as he kicked the man's foot causing him to sit up suddenly. "Oh, and a lovely speedboat. And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions," Trevor told them before he mimicked an explosion.
Tony let the gun drop to his side. "'He'?" Tony asked almost in pain making Maya give her father the confused look this time instead of Trevor. "Killian?"
"Killian," Trevor nodded. "He created you?" Tony asked. "He created me," Trevor said. "Custom-made terror threat," Tony said. "Yes. Yes. His think tank thinked it up," Trevor told them before standing up and going to mess with something.
"The pathology of a serial killer. The manipulation of Western iconography," Trevor said in the accent of the Mandarin. "Ready for another lesson?" He held a beer can out to Tony who shook his head.
Trevor stood there for a second before holding the can out to Maya. Tony gave him a look before shoving his hand away from his daughter.
"Blah, blah, blah. No. Of course, it was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life," Trevor said. "Your performance?" Maya questioned. "Where people die?" Tony asked.
"No, they didn't. Look around you. The costumes, green screen. Honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. And when I was, it was movie magic, love," Trevor told them.
Maya gritted her teeth as her thoughts went over to Happy. "I'm sorry, but we've got a best friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up," Maya said as she stood up and stared at the man in anger.
Trevor looked to her sadly, but didn't get a chance to respond before Tony was by her side now looking just as poised off as she was.
"So you're gonna have to answer for that. You're still going down, pal," Tony told him. Trevor's eyes flickered to something behind the two and Maya immediately tensed up.
Tony was quick to turn around and went to hit whoever it was only for his arm to get stopped by the very man that he thought he had killed. The man hit Tony in the face and he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Dad?" Maya said in a panicked voice. She turned around and her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. "I thought you were dead," she muttered in disbelief. "Sorry to disappoint, kid," the man said and before Maya could do anything else, something hit her on the back of the head and she was out.
"Okay, Trevor," The man said as he looked to Trevor. Trevor tore his gaze away from the unconscious Starks and looked up at the man,
"What'd you tell them?"
- - -
Maya woke up with a large gasp. She was in a cold sweat and it felt as if she couldn't breath. She gasped for air as her eyes frantically searched around her. Where was she? What was going on? Where was her father?
"Maya?" a voice whispered in disbelief and the girl's eyes quickly darted over to the other side of the room where the voice had come from. Tears filled Maya's eyes and she whispered out, "Pepper?"
Pepper had tears of her own in her eyes as she watched Maya struggle against her bindings as she tried to get to her. "It's me," Pepper assured her. "What's. . .what's going on? Where are we?" Maya asked confused.
Pepper shook her head. "I don't know, honey. Hey, but you need to remain calm okay? Take in a few deep breaths. It's all going to be okay," Pepper told her. Maya nodded and closed her eyes as she took in a shaky breath.
A laugh echoed through whatever dark room the two were trapped in before a voice said, "Now, now, Pepper. Lying to children? How unkind of you." Maya's eyes shot open and she began to breath heavily again as a man walked out from the shadows.
His gaze fell upon Maya and he grinned before saying, "Don't listen to her, Maya. There's a good possibility that everything won't be fine. For you two at least." "Who the hell are you?" Maya asked as she struggled against her bindings. "And what do you want?"
"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Aldrich Killian. I'm. . .a friend of your father's," Killian said even though Maya knew that he was anything but a friend. He slowly made his way over to the girl before he snapped his fingers.
People in white coats rushed into the room, some of them going over to Pepper while others went over to Maya. "As for what I want," Killian said as he grabbed Maya's jaw with his hand. His eyes flickered over her face and he gave her an evil grin. "I want your father."
"You can't have him," Maya said behind gritted teeth. "Oh, I think he will find that I can be quite persuasive. Especially when he sees what's happening to his little girl," Killian spat.
Maya gulped slightly before she felt one of the scientists grab ahold of her arm. She tried to struggle, but another one steadied her arm while the original one brought a needle to her arm.
"What-? What are you-?" Maya started to say, but she couldn't get anything else out because she was suddenly being injected with some type of serum.
It felt like her body was going up in flames and a painful scream left her lips as she twisted and turned. "Maya!" Pepper yelled, but she was soon injected with the same stuff causing her to let out a scream as well.
Killian smirked and looked between the two. "Tony will come running to me in no time," he assured them.
And with that, he turned and walked out of the room with the scientists leaving Pepper and Maya with their agonizing screams.