Stark Industries, Section 16
The heavy blast doors buckled inwards. Coulson's SHIELD team fanned out into the cavernous Section 16 vault. Center stage, bathed in harsh industrial light, stood the Iron Monger armor, its stolen heart blazing. Obadiah Stane, entombed within, turned slowly, the heavy servos whining. Technicians fled.
"SHIELD! Stane, power down the suit and surrender!" Coulson's voice was calm but carried undeniable authority. He gave a subtle hand signal, directing two agents to escort Pepper, clutching the data drive, back towards the relative safety of the secured corridor. "Unit B, ensure Ms. Potts is clear!"
Stane laughed, a harsh, metallic grating sound. "Walking into my house and giving orders? Bold." The minigun on the suit's right arm spun up. "Let's negotiate my way."
A hail of bullets tore through the air. Coulson and his team dove for cover. "Fallback!" Coulson ordered calmly into his comm, pulling a bleeding agent behind a generator housing. "Non-lethal ineffective. Hostile is heavily armored. Establish hard perimeter, await support!"
Meanwhile,
Arthur navigated the rapidly forming cordon, the Stark Tower looming ahead, smoke curling from its upper levels. The Bentley handled the chaotic streets with fluid grace. "JARVIS, report Tony's status," he commanded, his voice even.
"Mark III airborne, Arthur," JARVIS replied. "Currently operating at nineteen percent power capacity. Estimated combat viability: severely limited."
"Understood." Arthur smoothly cut through an intersection. His focus was absolute.
Stark Industries, Section 16 / Lower Levels
A crimson and gold meteor smashed through the ceiling, landing hard between Stane and Coulson's tactical retreat. Iron Man stood, helmet tilted, repulsors sputtering.
"Cleaning crew?" Tony's voice crackled, strained. "Or did somebody order takeout?"
"Tony!" Stane bellowed, turning his massive suit. "Just in time for the fireworks!" He raised his arm, rockets deploying.
"Sorry Stane, dropped my invitation," Tony retorted, raising weakened repulsors.
The two suits collided. Tony, quick but underpowered, weaved through Stane's sledgehammer swings. His repulsor blasts felt like firecrackers against the Monger's hull. Stane's minigun ripped open again, forcing Tony into a desperate energy shield that visibly dimmed the light in his chest.
"JARVIS, find me an 'off' switch!" Tony grunted, dodging a blow that cracked the floor.
"Targeting sensors on the helmet assembly remain the most viable weak point, sir."
"Easy for you to say!" Tony fired a concentrated blast at the Monger's head. Stane staggered, roaring, and fired a missile. Tony intercepted it, the explosion sending both suits reeling. Coulson seized the moment, his team fully evacuating the compromised vault level.
"Power at twelve percent, sir."
"Yeah, starting to feel that!" Tony yelled. He saw Stane recovering. No more dancing. He poured power into his boot jets, tackling Stane upwards through the ceiling in a brutal, uncontrolled ascent. Floor after floor gave way above them in a cascade of concrete and steel, bursting through the lobby before continuing skyward.
Stark Industries, Ground Level / Service Corridors
Arthur arrived as the shockwave from the upward breach rattled the building. He exited the Bentley, calmly assessing the chaos. He spotted Agent Coulson near the main entrance, directing his agents and overseeing Pepper being escorted to a secure vehicle. Relief flickered – she was safe.
"Coulson!" Arthur called out, striding purposefully through the emergency personnel, his suit immaculate despite the surrounding destruction.
Coulson turned, recognizing Arthur, a flicker of wry acknowledgement in his eyes. "Mr. Steele. Never a dull moment with your client, is there?"
"Predictability isn't his strength," Arthur replied dryly. "They've gone rooftop. Stark's power levels are critical." He accessed the building schematics JARVIS fed to his corneal overlay. "The main Arc Reactor control room is sublevel C. Fastest route is through the Sector Gamma service corridor."
"Hold on, Steele," Coulson began, but Arthur was already moving, calculating angles and probabilities. Stane needed to be stopped. Tony needed support. Overloading the reactor was the only logical play or that's what had worked in the movie timeline.
He moved quickly through the damaged but less chaotic service corridors, bypassing the main elevators. Emergency lights cast long, flickering shadows. JARVIS fed him real-time updates on Tony's depleting power. He rounded a corner leading to the sublevel access stairwell and stopped dead.
The Iron Monger suit stood blocking the corridor, having apparently taken a slightly different, more destructive path upwards. Stane must have paused. The massive helmet turned, its optical sensors focusing on Arthur.
"Steele," Stane's distorted voice boomed, dripping with contempt. "The architect of my troubles. Come to gloat? Or are you going to throw another injunction on me? I am afraid that will not workout this time you damn pest."
Arthur remained perfectly still, his face impassive, assessing the threat. Tier 2 reflexes versus tonnes of weaponized steel. Unwinnable. "Merely ensuring my client's assets are protected, Stane. Which you are currently damaging."
"Your client?" Stane laughed, a harsh, grating sound. He raised the minigun arm, the barrel spinning up. "Your client is finished. And so are you."
Before Stane could fire, a section of the ceiling exploded inwards. Iron Man crashed down, tackling the Iron Monger hard against the corridor wall, metal screaming.
"Picking on the guy in the expensive suit, Obie?" Tony's voice crackled, strained but sharp, through his external speakers. "Doesn't seem fair." He fired a point-blank repulsor blast into the Monger's chest, sending Stane staggering back.
Tony turned his helmet towards Arthur, who hadn't moved an inch. "Arthur? Seriously? What the hell are you doing down here? Trying to negotiate with him?" The exasperation in his voice was clear even through the speaker. "This isn't a deposition!"
"Analysis indicated this route provided the fastest access to the necessary controls," Arthur replied, his tone unchanged, already moving towards the sublevel stairwell entrance Stane had vacated. He subtly tapped his temple, indicating his comms link to Tony. "You need an advantage. I'm going to provide one."
"Controls? What contr-? Oh." Tony seemed to realize Arthur's plan. "The big one. Right. Okay, fine! Just… try not to get blown up before you get there, okay?" He turned back as Stane recovered, firing another repulsor blast to cover Arthur's descent. "Some people." Arthur disappeared down the stairs without a backward glance.
Tony refocused on Stane. "Okay, Tin Man. Let's finish this!" He launched himself at the Iron Monger again, driving them both further upwards towards the roof.
Stark Industries Roof/Upper Atmosphere
Iron Man and Iron Monger crashed through the glass dome above the main Arc Reactor facility, landing hard amidst shattered panels and twisted metal on the catwalks below. The massive reactor core hummed beneath them, bathing the ruined space in an ethereal blue light.
Tony scrambled back, suit systems flickering red. "Sir, impact damage severe. Power at nine percent."
"Noted!" Tony grunted, dodging a heavy stomp from Stane that buckled the catwalk.
"Impressive toys, Tony!" Stane mocked, advancing slowly, his heavy footfalls shaking the structure. "But you couldn't run this company, and you can't beat me!" He fired his arm cannons, the blasts forcing Tony further back towards the edge of the platform.
Tony looked desperately at the humming core below, then up at the night sky. An idea – a reckless, familiar gamble – sparked. He needed to level the playing field, negate Stane's raw power advantage. "Okay, you metal Gorilla," Tony shouted, firing his boot jets. "Let's take this upstairs!"
He rocketed vertically, pouring precious energy into a full-power ascent, bursting out of the ruined dome and climbing straight up into the cold, thin air above Los Angeles.
"Running away?" Stane roared, his own powerful jets igniting. The heavier Iron Monger lumbered into the sky, surprisingly fast, pursuing Tony relentlessly.
"Just changing the venue!" Tony shot back, pushing higher and higher. The lights of the city spread out beneath them like a glittering map. "Come on, big guy! Keep up!"
"Sir, altitude warning," JARVIS cautioned. "External temperature dropping rapidly."
"Yeah, I remember this part," Tony muttered grimly. He watched his HUD, tracking Stane's ascent. The Iron Monger, less refined, less tested, was already showing signs of strain in the extreme cold. Frost began to spiderweb across Stane's bulky armor.
"What is this?" Stane's voice crackled, laced with confusion and sudden panic as his suit's joints began to stiffen. Warning icons flashed across his internal displays – warnings his engineers hadn't accounted for. "My systems... they're freezing!"
"Funny thing about titanium alloys at thirty thousand feet, Obie," Tony called out, performing a tight loop around the struggling Monger. "They get brittle. And systems tend to ice up if you don't build in countermeasures. Little design flaw you missed."
Stane roared in frustration, firing wildly. His movements were sluggish, his targeting systems lagging. "MAIN POWER FLUCTUATING," a synthesized voice blared inside Stane's helmet.
"Power levels critical, sir," JARVIS reported to Tony. "Five percent."
"Time to go down," Tony decided. He dove, pulling Stane with him using a tractor beam. The Iron Monger, partially frozen and unresponsive, fell like a stone. They plummeted back towards the Stark Tower, shedding ice as they descended into warmer air. Stane's systems sputtered back online just as they crashed back through the ruined dome, landing hard on the catwalks once more.
Arc Reactor Control Room (Sublevel C)
Arthur reached the control room. Consoles hummed. JARVIS highlighted the emergency purge controls on Arthur's overlay.
"Arthur, Sir's power levels critical," JARVIS reported urgently through his earpiece. "Armor integrity failing rapidly after re-entry stress." Damn it, Tony, hold on.
,
"Understood, JARVIS," Arthur replied aloud, his voice betraying no emotion, fingers moving surely over the console. "Advise Tony: clear blast radius immediately. Initiating Emergency Purge sequence on my mark."
Tony lay tangled in wreckage, suit systems flickering warnings across his HUD. Stane landed nearby, shaking off the last of the ice, fury radiating from the massive suit. "Clever trick, Tony! But you're out of power, and out of time!" He advanced, cannons ready.
"Sir!" JARVIS's voice cut through Tony's helmet. "Mr. Steele is initiating Emergency Purge protocol from the main control room! Advise immediate evacuation of the superstructure!"
Tony looked down at the swirling energy, then at Stane lumbering towards him. Flying clear wasn't an option. "Tell him, 'Do it!'" Tony yelled into his comms, bracing himself.
"Mark," Arthur said calmly. He flipped the safety covers off Alpha and Beta and slammed his palm down onto the Emergency Purge button, holding it firmly. Alarms shrieked as the core output spiked exponentially on his monitors. The lights in the control room flickered violently.
A massive surge of pure energy erupted upwards, engulfing the roof in blinding white light. The concussive wave hit both suits. Stane, caught directly above the core, roared as his suit overloaded, internal explosions ripping through the armor before he plummeted into the heart of the exploding reactor.
Tony, thrown violently sideways, crashed onto the edge of the ruined roof, his suit sparking, systems dying. The old reactor, overloaded, sputtered and went dark. He lay still, the world fading.
Arthur was thrown back against the console wall. He pushed himself up, ears ringing, watching the energy readings slowly stabilize. He saw Tony's vital signs flatline on his tablet feed for a terrifying moment before stabilizing at critical low. Alive.
He tapped his earpiece. "Coulson?"
"Steele," Coulson's voice came back, remarkably calm. "Status report. We registered an energy event that just about blinded our sensors."
Arthur straightened his suit jacket, brushing off dust, his voice regaining its clinical calm. "Threat neutralized via core overload, Agent. Confirm Ms. Potts is secure?"
"Potts is secure and clear of the structure," Coulson confirmed. "What about Stark?"
"Incapacitated. Rooftop," Arthur reported. "Recommend immediate medical extraction. Expect... significant structural damage."
"Copy that. Medical inbound. We'll secure the scene," Coulson replied. "Steele... nice work." The line clicked off.
Arthur allowed himself a single, steadying breath, leaning back against the still-warm console for a moment. He looked down at the scuff mark on his thousand-dollar suit jacket. "Note to self," he muttered dryly to the empty room. "Hazard pay. Definitely need to factor in hazard pay."
A/N.
Tin Man in a Tin Can tries to kill a man with a stupid plan. Terrible line I know...it was intentional.
My first fight sequence, even though heavily used existing scene but it still gave me a bit of confidence to write original scenes going forward.
'Author dancing like an idiot, turns sees you and flees while screaming like a bird'.