"Jarvis, scan the area below and let me see what exactly attacked me," Tony said as he flew over the area where the fireball had appeared.
"Certainly, Mr. Stark," Jarvis replied.
In front of Tony, the simulation panel immediately displayed a stream of information, and a three-dimensional cross-section of the ground area appeared before his eyes, continuously searching and analyzing.
"Apologies, Mr. Stark, I haven't detected any weapons or launching devices in the area below," Jarvis reported to Tony after a while.
"What? Oh, you're not trying to tell me that fireball appeared out of thin air, are you?" Tony asked, puzzled.
As Tony spoke, another fireball flew up from the ground.
"Jarvis?" Tony dodged the fireball with a swift sidestep and then asked Jarvis.
"Apologies, sir, I still haven't detected any launching signals," Jarvis answered as before.
"Oh, alright, Jarvis, expand the search in that area," Tony said, frowning. There was clearly a fireball being launched, but no launching signals were detected. How did that fireball reach such a height? This piqued Tony' curiosity.
"Certainly, sir... Sir, I've detected a thermal reaction in that area."
With that, several enlarged images of the ground appeared before Tony. There were two people on the ground, and... a burning wreckage of an F-22 fighter jet.
"Oh, don't tell me that's a missile launched from a crashed fighter jet," Tony said, raising an eyebrow. He didn't suspect that the fireball was created by those two people, as they weren't carrying any devices.
Tony thought it might have been a missile launched due to a malfunction from the F-22 that had crashed after hitting him earlier. But if that were the case, he'd be incredibly unlucky! And how did the F-22 missile evade his radar system?
Before Tony could ponder this further, Jarvis directly dismissed his speculation.
"No, sir, that fireball is composed purely of energy. There's no propulsion device or signal reaction. It couldn't possibly be a missile launched from an F-22," Jarvis voice echoed in Tony ear.
"Right, that fireball didn't explode, so it couldn't be a missile. But if that's the case... this is getting interesting. Jarvis, run facial recognition on those two. I'm going down to meet them," Tony said, turning his head.
As the great Tony Stark, how could he miss such an intriguing event? He was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Certainly, sir."
Tony piloted his suit and flew toward Raiden and Yinsen.
....
On the ground, Raiden was still focused on conjuring another fireball, ready to deliver a violent strike to Tony. But before he could finish, Yinsen quickly grabbed his arm and said.
"Stop throwing it, Tony coming."
"Oh?" Raiden looked up at the sky, where a red-and-gold Iron Man suit was rapidly flying toward them. Raiden flicked his hand, and the fireball in his palm instantly extinguished.
"Well, he's a bit slow, but Tony probably won't recognize us, right?" Raiden said, patting Yinsen shoulder. Yinsen remained silent, merely nodding in agreement.
As soon as Raiden finished speaking, an armored figure landed with a thunderous crash beside them, the powerful thrusters kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough. But he sure makes a grand entrance," Raiden coughed.
"Sorry about that, you two. I just wanted to ask if you've noticed anything unusual happening around here," Tony said, feeling a bit guilty about the dust he had stirred up, and apologized to Raiden and Yinsen.
While Tony was speaking, JARVIS was rapidly scanning the two men.
"Mr. Stark, I haven't detected any weapons or devices on them. However, I also couldn't find a match for their faces in the database. That said, the thinner one on the right has thirty-three potential matches in the database. I'll conduct a further comparison," JARVIS voice echoed in Tony ear.
The "thinner one on the right" naturally referred to Yinsen.
Upon learning that Raiden and Yinsen weren't carrying any weapons, Tony relaxed slightly. Perhaps these two were just refugees drawn here by the fighter jet? After all, refugees in the Middle East rarely have the chance to register their information.
Many of them live and die without ever having an official identity in their own country's system. Tony also observed their clothing—tattered and covered in dust—making them look quite disheveled.
Oh, this idiot completely failed to realize that the dust on Raiden and Yinsen was his own doing.
Raiden and Yinsen exchanged a glance, a hint of amusement in their eyes. Well, it seemed Tony really didn't recognize them.
"Hey, you two. Oh, sorry, do you understand English?" Tony asked, noticing their exchanged glances and assuming his suit had frightened them. He was about to explain but then quickly realized he should confirm if they spoke English.
Raiden turned his head, hiding the laughter in his eyes, and said, "Yes, we speak English."
"Oh, sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you've noticed anything unusual around here? Like weapons or launch platforms or something," Tony said gently.
"Oh, not really?" Raiden glanced back at Yinsen before turning to Tony and asking, "But, would you consider this unusual?"
In Raiden hand, a fireball blazed brightly.
"Bzzzzzz"
The sound of machinery whirring.
"Sorry, you two, but I need you to raise your hands immediately!" Tony suddenly raised his arm, the energy cannon in his palm glowing brightly, while the miniature missiles on his shoulder locked onto Raiden and Yinsen.
WTF! The fireball really did come from these two.
They weren't carrying any devices, so how did they create it? And why would they attack him? Tony mind was filled with confusion. However, these issues... are not important! What matters is...
"Hi, Tony." Yinsen greeted Tony... What matters is how these guys knew his identity!
"Mr. Stark, I have identified one of them. The one standing on the right is Iran's renowned scientist, Yinsen Ho. However, strangely, his current appearance is 80% similar to how he looked in 1995, completely different from his last appearance in 2004," JARVIS informed Tony.
WHAT!
Tony looked at Yinsen in disbelief. He stared at Yinsen for a long time before finally recognizing familiar features in his face.
Tony removed his mask and hesitantly asked,
"Are you Yinsen?"
"Oh, Tony, you finally recognized me!" Yinsen laughed happily.
"My God! You're Yinsen, oh!" Tony exclaimed with joy, a smile spreading across his face. But then he turned to Raiden excitedly and said,
"Holy crap, then you must be Raiden? Oh shit!"
"Alright, buddy, it's me, but I have some issues with your reaction," Raiden said as he hugged Tony.
The three men laughed heartily and embraced each other tightly.
"Oh, Tony, what's this thing? It's so hard," Raiden suddenly felt something hard pressing against him during the hug and quickly asked.
"RAIDEN, WHATEVER YOU DO DONT PRESS IT!"