LA
–Alex Warner–
"Thank you," he nodded at the waitress bringing him his drink. A fun side effect of having chakra and the enhanced physique that came with it, was that he needed a lot of booze to get drunk, and even if he did get drunk, all he needed was a few cycles of chakra to remove that effect.
To summarise, he was one mean party animal. Or, so he thought. Alas, the very first time he went to a club, to socialise and party, his senses were hit with pretty unpleasant sounds, smells, and that brought his vibe down to zero.
Sure, he could essentially ignore most of it, but that was to be done only when he was on some sort of serious mission or for training. He wanted to have fun, but apparently, that was not for him. So, he just decided to spend a couple of days here, eat and drink enough to kill a normal human, and then move on, just like he was doing for the past six months.
His very first stop had been Hawaii, and while the beach and the people were nice, the main attraction of that particular vacation was the Volcano and the volcanic ash that came from it. See, he had no hand signs, no knowledge of jutsus, and no theory about chakra. He just had this mental intuition that over time, as he learned more about the world, he would also get more use out of his chakra, which was such a strange thing to learn about.
That there was a voice somewhere in his head, that guided him towards the next step in using his chakra. He knew about the chakra control training, walking on trees and on water, and how little or excessive chakra could result in explosive impacts, needing a precise amount to stay stuck.
A simple fact that he could exploit only because he was far more durable than a normal ninja, even, and had the corresponding chakra to match. Maybe he really was an Uzumaki. No verbal tick found yet, though.
In Hawaii, he learned more about the Earth, its properties, but aside from minor changes in the terrain, like cracking it, and making it sink to a certain degree, he had no success in learning Earth Natured Jutsu. Granted, it was only a month that he spent there, on top of Earth not being his natural element.
Lighting was his element, and he had no idea how he could train that. Maybe getting zapped by lightning would help?
After that, he'd moved on from the US and gone to Mexico, crossing the border with ease, alongside the sceptre. It was a little inconvenient to always travel with that thing, large and bulky that it was, but once he realised that SHIELD had no way of tracking it with his chakra present inside the sceptre, he relaxed, and now, he moved it in a black bag, with his clothes layered on top of it.
It was not perfect, but so far, he had been successful in evading every single checking post, and he drove everywhere! Even minor changes to his looks, and contortion of face muscles and voice changes were more than enough for him to never be identified as the one who stole all those cars.
Since he did not do anything heinous, like kill anyone, he was not that high on the priority list, so he liked to think he was safe for now.
Just as he was about to order another one, he heard the TV anchor say -
"We turn now to live comments from Josh Keller, the West Coast News reporter who confronted Tony Stark earlier today."
He froze, setting down the glass on the table and turning around to look at the news being displayed, as it showed a reporter, visibly irritated, looking at the camera.
"Thanks, Dana. Yes — earlier today, I attempted to ask Mr. Tony Stark a simple question about the so-called Mandarin bombings, and… well… let's just say the conversation escalated."
They then played a clip from multiple angles, of Tony getting in the reporter's face, snatching the phone, looking it over, and then mashing it apart.
"Oof," He couldn't help but audibly comment at the anger on Tony's face as he looked into the camera and blurted out his home address, goading the Mandarin. Now, he knew it was not the real Mandarin behind this. If it was, Tony would not be alive after provoking that particular brand of immortal warlord, but even these fake ones were plenty powerful and resourceful.
"I know, right?" He turned around, the bartender commenting on the news as well, wiping down the glasses absentmindedly at the same time, "You know people forget because he wears a shiny suit these days and saved the world once, but Tony Stark is hardly a paragon of humility and patience."
He smirked, nodding in agreement, as the man, not taking the hint, continued to talk, "I mean, how could decades of pompous arrogance be removed in just years. Sure, the man's been through some rough times, but it is very hard for people to change. Now, the man's gone ahead and put everyone around him in danger. That just reeks of arrogance. Even if he could somehow protect them, the fact remains that he is but one–"
"I think you've made your point," He interrupted the man, who, by the looks of it, was gearing up for a long spiel about Tony Stark and all his character flaws. His concerns were valid, but it just sounded condescending to him. Also, he did not have time for this.
So, slapping a hundred on the table, he walked out, destination already clear in his mind, "I suppose I could take a quick pitstop."
Stark Residence. Malibu.
__xx___
He groaned, as he hit traffic within the first few minutes of getting in the car. The car dashboard kept adding minutes to the hours it was already going to take to reach Tony's house, which was kind of wild to think of.
If Stark Residence, an iconic Malibu mansion of sorts, was already present as a destination in a public navigation system, then it meant that Tony blasting his address on social media alone would not have resulted in the attack.
It was Tony lashing out, seeing one of his dear friends hospitalised, that led to the Mandarin attack. Also, it was very stupid of the man not to have a reinforced bunker installed in the whole Mansion. It would have been the best of both worlds. A flashy exterior, built on a cliff, to show luxury for the rest of the world, and have a bullet proof bunker installed in the basement that he could use to hunker down.
The fact that he and Jarvis both did not detect the helicopters until it was too late was just bullshit in his opinion. A man like Tony Stark, hell, any nerd worth their salt and that much money would have installed radar in their tech mansion. Especially someone like Tony, who had a shit ton of military contacts, even after shuttering his weapons division.
He could have just as easily installed a high grade early warning system, and greased some palms to make sure the government did not go after him for that.
He shook his head, glancing at the duffel bag sitting on the passenger seat, innocent looking but housing one of the most dangerous artifacts of the universe, kept contained only by the machinations of an eldritch alien commanded by a much stronger alien.
His chakra was somehow being used by the Mind Stone itself to fight off the corruption that the Other put on the sceptre, or at least that's what he thought was happening anyway. So far, the sceptre had also displayed the ability to store his chakra somehow, masking its energy signature so much so that despite being in California, and a mere 40 miles from Tony Stark's house, he was not detected by SHIELD or any number of other alphabet soup agencies or their equivalents for other countries.
He could just ditch the car, it was not like he had any emotional attachment to it, but what then? He could not fly, no matter how much he wished to do so, and running was an option that seemed viable since he could run at pretty ridiculous speeds only if he was running without carrying anything.
And no offense to Stark, but risking an Infinity Stone just to bypass traffic was not a mistake he was going to make.
So, waiting it out in the traffic it was. It was a good thing it was a small car with its AC still working, allowing him to isolate himself from the horns and curses, and oh, the exhaust fumes.
__xx__
The drive up to the Stark Residence, as per the map, was through twists and turns, slowing down his speed, but he thought he was making good time, since some illegal maneuvers allowed him to definitely shave off 10 minutes, at the very least.
"Oh, shit!" Apparently, he was wrong, as the sound and the lights of missiles hitting the cliffside house flared off his windshield. The front tyres squealed as he floored the accelerator.
He winced as the second set of missiles hit the house, though he could not see much because he was now looking at the house from the entrance. Speaking of the entrance, it was somehow open, saving him the trouble of just ramming the car into it.
Within seconds, he was out of the car, the duffel bag in one hand as he leapt over the garden and burst through the window, reaching a site of absolute destruction, broken glasses, fire, and screams.
He turned to the side to see a brunette screaming while looking at the fire. "Go!" He snapped at her before carefully moving to the fissure that seemed to have opened up in the middle of the large, formerly opulent hallway of the house. Apparently, the part built on solid land was separating from the part built on stilts.
The fissure was only widening, and the flooring on the other side was crumbling, as he ducked abruptly, the soaring form of Iron Man missing him by an inch. He got up, ready to get the hell out, only to freeze as the suit disassembled itself, revealing the beautiful face of one Pepper Potts, before the parts flew past him, right back into the fiery remnants of Tony's house.
Sighing, he jumped straight into the fire. Throwing the duffel bag, he hefted the sceptre in one hand, the weight perfectly balanced in the palm of his hand as he let chakra flow into the metal, the sceptre somehow feeling elated at the extra chakra.
Ignoring that, he jumped from his spot, as another support column crashed into his previous position. The sound of repulsors allowed him to spot Tony jumping? For some reason, the repulsors continued to fade in and out of operation, allowing him to boost himself but not fly.
Before he could alert the man to his presence, he jumped up, right into the crumbling ceiling, as it was only his instincts that allowed him to dodge the barrage of gunfire that hit his previous spot.
"Fuck!" He cursed, voice muffled by being sandwiched in the various layers of a floor. Pussed off, his chakra flowed through his body as he crushed the ceiling around his head, landing on a fiery log, as he jumped once more, at the edge of the crashing floor, and with one smooth motion, aimed the sceptre's tip, which was already glowing with barely restrained blue light, and fired.
The helicopter moved to dodge, but it was already too late, the energy projectile hitting its centre mass, blowing it up in a spectacular explosion. He didn't even mind the bruise forming because of a stray bullet hitting his leg, as he watched the first helicopter blowing up in the sky.
Apparently, that spooked the other helicopter as he watched, almost in slow motion, as another missile, on top of the barrage of machine guns, hit Tony's side of the crumbling mansion. He stuck himself to the flooring, but that was no good because the entire thing was collapsing on itself. He jumped twice, covering good distance, smashing a beam in his way, but that cost him a split second, as a small support beam hit Tony, in the head, and the suit went down with the rubble.
"F*ck!" He cursed once more, shaking his head, as he held the sceptre close to his hand, using chakra to stick it. He made to jump after Tony, only to flinch as bullets hit him centre mass, staggering him. Well, he only tilted back because his feet were stuck to the floor using chakra, that was moving towards the ocean.
Glaring at the flying bastards, the sceptre responded to his will as he blasted the fuckers out of the sky. Righting himself immediately after, he jumped into the ocean, to rescue Tony.
The man might have his flaws, but no one deserved to die drowning