Night fell.
Using the darkness as cover, Lock quietly approached the canyon. Below, hundreds of armed men milled about, the ground littered with crates of weapons. In the center stood a cave, its mouth faintly illuminated by flickering firelight.
With Lock's strength, wiping out the entire group would have been child's play.
But he had no intention of derailing the timeline—or his own plans for the future. Some things had to play out as they were meant to.
He scaled down the cliffside with predatory precision, his fingers hooking into the stone like talons as he moved with the silent grace of a gecko.
Finding the surveillance line, Lock severed it with a quick slice, then connected a small device in under a second. From that moment on, every feed from the cameras passed through his control.
Inside, the gang's leader noticed the brief flicker on the monitor but thought nothing of it. Out here in the wilderness, just having a functioning camera system was a luxury—occasional glitches were to be expected.
The device didn't loop a static image, as movies so often showed—a crude and risky trick. Instead, it introduced a one-second delay, allowing its micro-CPU to replace any frame in real time. Dr. Stern had programmed it to perfection. Lock could walk right in front of a camera, and the recording would show nothing.
Outside the cave, a group of Ten Rings soldiers clustered around a bonfire. Lock's hands hooked into the cliffside above them, and he slipped inside through the cave's upper opening without a sound.
The interior had been sectioned off with crude metal plates, forming a makeshift cell.
Lock pulled out a compact lock-picking tool. The cheap padlock barely put up a fight.
The hinges creaked. Inside were two men.
One was unmistakable—Tony Stark. Disheveled, unshaven, a wire protruding from his chest into a car battery on the table beside him. The other man was Middle Eastern, his clothes worn but his demeanor calm and scholarly. Dr. Ho Yinsen.
In the history of Iron Man, Yinsen's role was pivotal. With his compassion and sacrifice, he awakened Stark's sense of responsibility, turning a self-absorbed playboy into a man willing to protect the world.
Both men froze at the sight of him. They'd been expecting another armed thug from the Ten Rings, not an East Asian stranger.
For a moment, three pairs of eyes met in silence.
Lock broke it first. "Ahem… Tony Stark, right? Name's Lock."
Tony eyed him warily. "You here to get us out? Careful—there are cameras."
One glance told Tony and Yinsen that Lock wasn't with the Ten Rings. The group was a tightly knit, xenophobic coalition—there was no way they'd be working with someone like him.
"Don't worry about the surveillance," Lock said calmly. "Handled. But I'm not here to rescue you. I'm here… to deliver food."
"…What?"
Tony and Yinsen stared at him. A food delivery… here? In the Ten Rings' stronghold?
"Did Rhodey send you?" Tony asked. "Because if so, this is a terrible joke."
"Don't know a Rhodey. But I've got takeout. You want some?"
He unzipped his pack and pulled out cartons. The cell filled with the smell of warm food.
Yinsen hesitated. "We don't have money for that."
"Put it on a tab," Lock said with a small smile.
Tony, less cautious, took a bag. "Cheeseburger? How'd you know I like these?"
Cheeseburgers were Stark's guilty pleasure—something he'd even shared with his daughter, Morgan, years later. After weeks of the same tasteless slop, this smelled like heaven.
Lock had picked them up in a desert-edge city on the way.
Tony took a bite, eyes widening. "This… is the best burger I've ever had. I'm buying the place when I get out."
It was just an ordinary burger, but hunger made it a feast.
Lock handed Yinsen another bag. "Better eat before Stark steals yours."
Inside was a golden, fragrant roast chicken. Tony instantly looked jealous. "Hey, save me a drumstick."
Midway through eating, Tony sighed. "Only thing missing is an ice-cold Coke."
Without a word, Lock pulled two bottles from his bag. "Still chilled."
Tony blinked. "You're seriously just… a delivery guy?"
They devoured every bite, even gnawing at the chicken bones for flavor.
Leaning back, Tony groaned contentedly. "Worth a hundred million. Not that it'll taste this good once I'm free and eating every day."
In his mind, Lock was obviously here to rescue them. The food was just fuel for the escape.
But he was wrong.
Lock packed up the cartons. "One million per meal, right? I'll be back."
Then he stepped out, relocked the cell, and vanished into the night.
"What the hell?!" Tony exploded. "He locked the door?!"
He shouted after him, offering one hundred million… then a billion… but Lock was gone.
Two guards arrived, irritated by the noise.
"Shut it," one barked.
The other sniffed the air. "Smell… roast chicken?"
"You're imagining things."
They searched the cell, found nothing, and left. Tony and Yinsen were left staring at each other.
"Tony… could this be some military friend of yours?" Yinsen asked.
Tony shook his head. "Rhodey's no prankster, not with lives on the line."
Two days later, Lock slipped in again.
This time, Tony didn't touch the food. "What's your game? What do you want?"
Lock thought, I want you to become Iron Man. I want your destiny. But aloud he said only, "You'll know when you're out."
Tony glared. "And how exactly am I supposed to get out if you don't help me?"
"Haven't thought of a way yet?"
"With a car battery wired to my heart? Even if they let me go, I wouldn't make it far."
Lock's eyes flicked toward the pile of missile parts in the corner. "If you can't run… maybe you should fly."
And just like that, Stark's genius clicked into gear. The missile components, meant for the Ten Rings' Goliar missile, could serve another purpose.
Missiles could fly. And so could he.
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A/N: New Fanfic Is Out "Luffy Asked Me To Join His Crew!!!"
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