"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern-day Heart of Darkness. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant," the reporter on the TV said, showing hundreds of people walking across the dessert befoe cutting to terrorists shooting guns and setting off bombs.
I could feel myself feeling sicker and sicker every second I watched this. I clutched my Panda Bear animal closer to me as I watched the newscast continue on.
"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings. AS you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees. Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia or murdered by them. Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop. A child's simple question, "where are my mother and father?" There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."
I am cut off from my stare at the TV by the sound of glass breaking downstairs. I immediately reach for my remote to turn off my TV, run over to grab the gun that Nat gave me for my birthday, and run downstairs to make sure my dad is alright. I take the safety off and hold my gun down towards the floor in both hands as I creep downstairs. When I see that nothing is wrong, I start moving towards the stairs to dad's workshop. I make it halfway down the stairs when I realize that it was dad's windows that I heard. I stare at all the glass on the floor in shock and continue down the stairs to see dad standing with the arm of his suit on, and he looks angry. I set the safety on my gun again and held it in one hand at my side as I stared at him.
"Get your earpiece on, we have work to do," He said simply as he went to go and change.
I nodded at him and tread lightly over the glass before walking over to his computer desk. I placed my earpiece on and started typing on the computer to get the suit ready for dad. I looked over as dad walked out in a skin-tight black suit and walked over to his landing pad. I hit a few buttons on the keyboard, causing it to open up and start placing the suit on dad as he stood on it. Once he was done, the mask was placed on his face and he flew out without a word. I activated my earpiece and dad's face popped up on my screen along with what he sees as he flies. I knew where he was wanting to go without him telling me. I set a course for Gulmira, hoping he can stop the monsters who have our weapons.
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I watched as dad landed in front of one of the men. He stood and he started shooting at dad, the gun not affecting him because of his suit. Dad walked towards him and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying back into one of the buildings. Dad used his repulsor and shot one of the other men through one of the walls of another building. Another man started shooting at him, causing dad to turn and shoot him backward. He turned again and used both his hands to shoot a guy backward into some Stark Industries boxes.
He then turned to the truck they were forcing the women and children into. When he turned, he saw the remaining men holding the women and children against them with guns to their heads while shouting threats at him in different languages. Dad lowered his hands and used the targeting system in his suit to locate the heads of all the men. Once he did so, bullets popped out of dad's shoulders and shot through each of the men's heads. They all dropped to the ground, leaving all of the women standing and hugging their children.
Everything was silent before a young boy ran to his father and all the women started cheering and hugging their children tighter. Dad then walked away over to another building. I furrowed my brows in confusion at what he was doing before he punched through the wall and pulled a man through it and threw him on the ground. He must have been the leader of the men that were there in the town.
Dad started his repulsors and started hovering above the ground before he looked at the people of the town. "He's all yours," He told them before he flew away from Gulmira and back home. He flew a few feet and targeted some Jericho missiles that were nearby. He went to shoot them as he flew, but all of a sudden he was knocked from the sky and fell to the ground.
"Dad," I called out worriedly.
The screen went in and out a few times before it turned back on and dad started moving. He climbed out fo the crater he created when he landed and looked at the tank that shot him down. He stared at it for a few seconds before it shot another round at him, causing him to step to the side as the round shot past him. Dad then shot a small missile from his arm and began walking away as the tank exploded behind him. He then started getting shot at by more men again, so he started his repulsors and started hovering above the ground. While he did so, he used the targeting system to aim for the Jericho missiles. He used his repulsors and shot at the missiles, causing them to explode and kill all of them men surrounding them. Afterward, he flew away, leaving Gulmira in the dust.
"Alright, dad, get home now. I don't want you flying in that area for too long. The US Military could mistake you for an enemy weapon or plane," I told him.
"Got it," He sighed as he sped up a bit.
After a few seconds, I heard dad's phone start going off from next to me. "Uh, dad, your phones ringing."
"Who is it," He questioned me curiously.
"Uncle Rhodey," I told him, looking at the picture on the front of it.
"Put him through," He told me.
I did as he asked and listened as he and dad talked.
"Hello," Dad answered him.
"Tony," Rhodey answered back.
"Who's this," Dad asked him, causing me to roll my eyes at his behavior.
"It's Rhodes."
"Sorry, hello?"
"I said it's Rhodes."
"Speak up, please."
"What in the hell is that noise," Rhodey questioned him urgently.
"Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down."
"Yeah, well, I need your help right now."
"It's funny how that works, huh?"
"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were held captive," Rhodey explained to him, causing me to widen my eyes and start hacking into the military database to see if they were tracking dad right now.
"Well, that's a hot spot. Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh," Dad said as an excuse.
"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony," Rhodey questioned him suspiciously.
"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon," Dad told him, causing me to bring my hand up and hit myself in the forehead at his stupidity.
"I thought you were driving," Rhodey said suspiciously.
"Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog," Dad said lamely.
"Seriously," I whispered to myself in disbelief before I hacked into the military and let out a cry of success.
"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about," He questioned dad.
"Oh, shit," I said, a pit in my stomach forming when the cameras pulled up showing the military tracking dad's movement.
"Nope," Dad said simply.
I widened my eyes as the camera zoomed in farther on dad's figure and Rhodey spoke up. "Okay, good, 'cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."
"Oh, no," I said as dad hung up on Rhodey.
I watched as dad started flying in a different direction to try and lose the planes that were now following him.
"Dad, your gonna have to speed up if you wanna try to lose them," I spoke up as I kept looking between all of the computer screens in front of me. Dad engaged his thrusters to full power and began flying faster. I watched in shock as one of the pilots behind him released a missile.
"Dad, you have a missile on your tail," I warned him.
"JARVIS deploy flares," Dad told him.
The suit released all of the flares inside it, causing them to crash into the missile and set it off. Dad began falling from the sky a few feet before his thrusters reactivated and he started flying again. The planes then started firing their guns at them as dad swerved to try and avoid them.
"Deploy flaps," Dad said, causing him to fall back and the planes to fly right past him.
"They lost sight of you. They don't know where you're at. So whatever your doing, keep doing it," I told dad as I kept watching the camera feed.
"Oh, thank god," Dad said in relief.
"I'm calling Uncle Rhodey," I told dad, pulling my own phone out.
"Hello," Rhodey said into the phone.
"Hi, Uncle Rhodey, it's dad," I said hesitantly.
"What, Allison, what are you talking about," Rhodey questioned me in confusion.
"I'm sorry, it is dad. You asked. What you were asking dad about is dad," I explained to him.
"No, see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that," Rhodey scolded me.
"This is not a piece of equipment. Dad's in it. It's a suit. It's him," I shouted at him. "I'm putting dad through."
Next thing I know, dad is flying through the air and slams into one of the wings of one of the planes, causing it to fly out of control.
"Dad, are you alright," I questioned him urgently.
"I'm fine, but that pilot isn't," Dad reassured me before flying to the pilot to help him.
His parachute in his seat jammed, causing him to be unable to deploy. Dad flew to his aid quickly.
"Dad, you've been re-engaged. Start executing evasive maneuvers," I warned him.
"No, I'm going to keep going," He argued with me.
Dad made it to the pilot and punched the holder of the parachute on the side, causing the chute to deploy and start lowering the soldier to the ground. Dad started flying away and I sighed in relief and leaned back in my chair.
"Ally, you still there," Rhodey questioned through the phone.
"Hey, yeah, thanks," I sighed in relief.
"Oh, my God, your father is a crazy son of a bitch," Rhodey said in relief. "You two owe me a plane. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, well, technically, he hit me," Dad said with a chuckle. "Now are you going to come by and see what Ally and I are working on?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better. Now, what am I supposed to tell the press," Rhodey questioned dad and me.
"Uh, training exercise. Isn't that the usual BS," Dad questioned Rhodey.
"It's not that simple," Rhodey argued with dad.
"Uh-huh, sure," I said, unconvinced before hanging up on Uncle Rhodey. "Now get back here so we can get you out of the suit and make repairs."
"Okay, mom," Dad said sarcastically as he made his way back to the house.
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"JARVIS, prepare the landing pad to remove dad's suit," I commanded as I took my earpiece off.
"Yes, Miss Stark."
Dad flew into the garage and slowly landed on the pad, it then started opening up and the drills came out to remove his suit. Dad was groaning in pain as JARVIS worked to remove his suit. I just sat off to the side and laughed in amusement at the scene playing out in front of me. I listened as dad groaned and JARVIS scolded him like a parent.
"It is a tight fit, sir. Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."
"Be gentle. This is my first time," Dad told him sarcastically with a groan, causing me to laugh even harder. "I designed this to come off so..."
"This is the most entertaining thing to happen to me in a while," I said with a chuckle.
"Ow, hey. I really should be able to..." Dad trailed off.
"Please try not to move, sir," JARVIS told him.
I continued laughing until a voice spoke up that caused me, dad, and the robotic arms and drills to freeze in place.
"What's going on here?"
I looked to my left at Pepper who kept looking between my dad and me before she continued staring at my dad in horror at what she was seeing. I looked up at dad, and he looked between Pepper and me a few times before he shrugged at her.
"Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught Ally and I doing."
"Are those bullet holes," She questioned the two of us in shock.
I kept looking at dad wide-eyed as he looked between Pepper and I before his eyes landed on Pepper again and he blurted out the first thing that came to his head that would get the attention off of him.
"Ally has a gun!"