In another part of the Pentagon, a soldier reported, "Sir, Air Force One has been attacked."
"There are gunshots inside the aircraft, and the temperature is rising rapidly."
A commanding officer approached and demanded, "Get me the footage."
"Images are being transmitted, sir."
Soon, the soldier displayed the footage, showing the Iron Patriot flying out of Air Force One.
The officer, puzzled, asked, "Is that Rhodes?"
Meanwhile, Savin had removed the Iron Patriot suit, knocked the President unconscious, stuffed him inside, and set the suit on auto-return. Savin, equipped with a directional TNT explosive, prepared to parachute out of Air Force One.
As he reached the side of the cabin to execute his explosive exit, he spotted what seemed to be the Mark 42 suit outside the window and decided to take a closer look.
The next second, a repulsor blast hit Savin, sending him flying.
Savin stood up and looked around but saw no one. The Mark 42 suddenly appeared from behind, grabbed him, and pinned him against the cabin door.
Tony, raising his right hand, demanded, "Where is the President?"
"Speak up."
Savin's body began glowing orange as he calmly replied, "He's not here."
In an instant, Savin's glowing arm grabbed Tony's, causing the suit to overheat.
With Tony unable to fight back, Savin taunted, "Looking for a fight in the tin can?"
Savin then raised his other hand, holding the TNT remote, and pressed the button, saying, "Speaking of which, time for some fishing."
"Boom!"
The tail section of the aircraft exploded, causing rapid decompression. Officials and flight attendants were instantly sucked out of the plane.
Tony tried to retaliate with his other hand, but Savin grabbed it, causing both arms of the Mark 42 to overload. As the suit was about to collapse, Tony rerouted power to his chest reactor.
"Boom!"
A laser beam shot from Tony's chest, creating a massive hole in Savin's chest and piercing through the wall behind him.
Savin, leaning against the wall with a gaping hole in his chest, slowly lost consciousness.
To ensure Savin wouldn't regenerate like last time, Tony fired another laser shot at Savin's head.
"Boom!"
Savin's head exploded, splattering blood and gore everywhere.
"Damn it, I don't believe you can come back from that."
With Savin neutralized, Tony flew out of the cabin and had Jarvis scan the area.
"How many people are in the air?"
"Thirteen, sir."
Tony asked, "How many can we carry?"
"Four, sir."
Tony accelerated towards the falling individuals, first grabbing a nearby flight attendant.
"Don't panic, relax," Tony reassured her. "Is your name Heather?"
Just then, Air Force One exploded in mid-air, causing the flight attendant to scream, "Oh my God, no!"
Tony shouted, "Listen to me, see that person?"
"I'm going to glide past them. Just grab on."
"Got it?"
Without waiting for a response, Tony flew towards the target.
Hearing the attendant's screams, Tony added, "I'm going to electrify your arm so you can't let go."
"You can do this, Heather."
Quickly, Tony grabbed a second person and said, "Easy, right? Eleven more to go."
"Remember that game where monkeys form a chain? That's what we're doing."
Jarvis reminded him, "Altitude is 18,000 feet."
"Everyone, grab the person next to you."
Soon, they formed a chain of thirteen people. Tony accelerated upwards to counteract the downward force, ensuring a safe descent into the ocean.
Watching the thirteen people safely land in the water, Tony scanned them to confirm they were unharmed and sighed in relief.
The survivors, being elite professionals, all knew how to swim. Relieved, they waved and cheered at Tony, "We did it!"
Tony nodded, "Great job, everyone. Excellent teamwork."
Then Tony said, "Jarvis, our work isn't done. We need to rescue Rhodes..."
Before he could finish, the Mark 42 turned and crashed into an oncoming truck on a bridge, disintegrating on impact.
Back on the speedboat, Tony, seeing the control interface shut down, complained, "Where did that truck come from?"
Tony stepped out of the cabin.
Kankuro asked, "Did you rescue the President?"
Tony shook his head, "I didn't see the President, just saved the others on the plane."
Kankuro asked, "With the armor destroyed, will you still join the fight?"
Tony replied, "No worries, I have a Plan B."
"Keep heading towards the target. I need to capture Killian myself."
Tony then communicated with Jarvis, "Jarvis, is it time?"
Jarvis replied, "The house party protocol, sir?"
"Exactly!"
…
Back at Tony's mansion ruins, workers were clearing debris with cranes lifting massive stones.
Suddenly, the ground opened, revealing numerous Mark suits. One by one, the suits launched into the sky, flying to support Tony Stark.
…
Meanwhile-
Pepper Potts learned about the changes at the ruins of Tony's mansion and sought out Charles Doyle.
"Mr. Doyle, a large number of Iron Man suits flew out from Tony's mansion ruins."
"Could he be in danger?"
Seeing the anxious Pepper Potts, Charles reassured her, saying:
"Don't worry, he will be fine."
"With those suits heading out, you should feel more assured of Tony's capabilities."
"Besides, with Jiraiya and Kankuro there, Tony won't be in any real danger."
"Just wait here calmly for his return. If I'm not mistaken, they will resolve the situation with Killian by tonight."
Hearing Charles Doyle's words, Pepper Potts felt relieved and waited patiently for Tony's return.
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