Desire is a poison.
It erodes the hearts of people who should be upright and kind.
Just like Killian.
He should have been grateful. On that desperate night, if it weren't for Watson Wick's intervention, he might have jumped from the hotel roof.
He had once admired Tony Stark—admired his confidence, his talent, and his wealth. He wanted to be just like him.
The New Year's Eve celebrations painted the streets of Bern in shimmering light, but on that frigid rooftop in 1999, the only company was the wind. It was a cruel, biting thing, whispering mockeries in his ear. He had risked everything for a single promise from the man he idolized, a man who played with futures as easily as he played with technology. But the minutes stretched into hours, and Tony never came. As midnight struck, the fireworks blooming below were a bitter salute to his foolishness—a New Year's gift of pure, undiluted despair.
That despair became his crucible. Killian walked down from the rooftop and found the one person willing to help him: Watson Wick.
He began to frantically build his power. When he found Maya Hansen and her research, he was ecstatic. He hated his own frail appearance, so he became one of the first to be injected with the Extremis Virus.
He became powerful.
And when a cripple's illness is cured, the first thing he throws away is the crutch that supported him for so many years.
Killian couldn't wait to become independent. The title of shareholder, belonging to the man who had built his empire, became a glaring reminder of his past weakness. He wanted to be the sole master, to stand before Tony Stark and personally show him what he had missed.
His ambition and desire twisted him, making him more and more extreme.
Just like now. He had kidnapped the President.
President Ellis, wearing the Iron Patriot armor, was hung amidst the oil tanks on the pier. Killian saw Tony and Rhodes infiltrate his domain, and his arrogance swelled.
He waved his hand, and the Extremis Soldiers were dispatched.
***
Tony and Rhodes moved with practiced flexibility, slipping deep inside the pier structure. Rhodes poked his head out and saw the President suspended in the air.
"Kind of like a Viking funeral," Tony commented dryly.
A knot of suspicion tightened in his gut. The timeline made no sense. They had alerted the Vice President the moment the threat was confirmed, giving him a clear window to act. And yet, the President had been taken. It was too clean, too simple.
He met his partner's gaze and saw the same grim logic reflected back. This wasn't a failure of intelligence. It was a setup. The smiling, simple-minded Vice President was anything but.
As they moved to rescue the President, they were quickly discovered. Tony opened fire, spraying bullets wildly as they ducked behind cover.
"See? I hit it," Tony said.
Rhodes nodded, agreeing. "You're pretty good at breaking glass."
Tony wasn't convinced. "I was aiming for the light bulb."
He tried to save face. "It's hard to hit from this distance."
Without a word, Rhodes stood up, aimed, and shot the light bulb clean out. He ducked back behind cover and gave Tony a look.
Tony shrugged. His wild shooting had emptied his clip. "I'm out of ammo, give me a clip."
"Clips aren't universal, Tony."
Rhodes refused to waste a single bullet on this guy. Tony looked bewildered, wanting to argue that he literally worked in this industry, but Rhodes wouldn't budge. In the end, Tony still didn't get the clip.
He needed to scout the area. Tony quickly popped up. Hmm, too fast, didn't see clearly.
This time, he slowed down and saw them—Extremis Soldiers, glowing with an ominous orange-red light, advancing on their position.
Rhodes was ready for a fight. "I really miss my armor," he muttered. Using a pistol against these things felt almost comical.
Hearing this, Tony nodded in strong agreement.
"You're right," he said. "We need backup."
He estimated the time in his heart; it should be about right. Jarvis had previously confirmed that the debris from his collapsed villa had been cleared.
So now, it was time for a grand reunion.
Tony looked at the night sky outside the pier, a smile playing on his lips. "Look."
Rhodes looked and was completely stunned.
"Th-that's...?"
He saw, in the night sky, tiny dots of light that looked like stars.
Tony's brows were raised with pride. "Yes."
Rhodes was dumbfounded, asking again, his voice full of disbelief, "Those are all...?"
"That's right." The response was still Tony's simple and decisive voice.
One after another, a legion of armors flew towards them from a distance. Those white star-like lights were the arc reactors of his Iron Legion.
Dozens of suits, all different models, mobilized by Jarvis, hovered over the pier.
Surrounded?
Now I'm surrounding you.
The Extremis Soldiers looked up at the swarm of armor, each one of them suddenly facing a formidable enemy.
Tony patted Rhodes' stunned arm with a hint of self-satisfaction. "Merry Christmas, buddy."
He strode out, like an orchestra conductor, and commanded, "Jarvis, target the heat signatures of the Extremis soldiers for a destructive strike."
Above the pier, dozens of Jarvis's voices replied in unison.
"Yes, sir!"
The Iron Legion locked onto all the Extremis Soldiers.
"What are you waiting for? Christmas?" Tony raised his hands, announcing the start of the festival. "Send them to heaven."
The suits, having received the order, launched their attack.
The crisscrossing beams of energy and concussive blasts sent the Extremis Soldiers flying. But they weren't pushovers; one soldier leaped onto the back of a suit and tore its arm clean off. The armor responded by accelerating straight into the ground, turning the multi-million-dollar suit and the soldier into a fiery explosion.
Rhodes finally understood what Tony had been doing in the villa all this time.
Tony directed the chaos. "Perfect timing." A suit landed behind him, assembling around his body.
Rhodes was eager to try. "Yeah, exactly. Can I have one?"
He had forgotten refusing Tony a clip, but Tony hadn't. He teased, "Sorry, the size isn't right. This is custom-made."
Rhodes was dumbfounded again. "What do you mean?"
"It means I'm here to protect you." The faceplate closed, and Tony flew off, leaving Rhodes alone in the middle of the mechanical mayhem.
Fortunately, Jarvis was a thoughtful butler. A suit descended, picked Rhodes up in princess carry, and flew into the sky.
It would have been better to just let me wear it, Rhodes thought.
***
Each armor displayed its might. Some were equipped with massive drill arms, while others could perform splitting attacks. Some could bear dozens of tons, acting as mobile pillars. All the numerous models Tony had created out of his anxiety were now on full display.
John, who had Apparated onto a high gantry, felt like he had stumbled into a large-scale technology exhibition.
"Biological evolution versus mechanical ascension," he mused, watching the battle between the super-powered soldiers and the legion of suits.
An Extremis soldier spotted him. Seeing he wasn't one of them, the soldier attacked without hesitation, a burning punch aimed at John's back.
John glanced over his shoulder.
"Protego."
The punch hit an invisible wall as if striking a steel plate. The soldier was flung backward at three times the speed he came, smashing into the gantry crane and being pulverized on impact.
John then glanced below and saw the President still hanging there. Rhodes was running to rescue him, with two Extremis Soldiers in hot pursuit. Rhodes, a sharpshooter, fired a single, perfect shot that severed the suspension rope, then used the surrounding containers for cover as he took out the two soldiers.
He was about to rush over and save the President.
John saw this and didn't particularly care about saving him. But to prevent Tony from reneging on their deal, he decided to intervene.
Rhodes, flying toward the President, was getting closer and closer. Just as a reassuring smile was about to form on his face, a figure appeared abruptly in front of him.
A person had suddenly materialized before the President.
Immediately, the steel cables binding the President's hands came undone, and the President began to freefall. Rhodes fell with him.
Just as both were about to plunge into the sea of fire below, the ground itself seemed to become an invisible, soft bed, stopping them in mid-air. Rhodes' eyes widened; even the flames couldn't harm them.
Before the President could recover from the shock, he heard John's voice.
"Mr. President, I believe you are safe now."
Rhodes looked over. John was standing in the fire, not only unharmed but with his clothes not even scorched.
With his feet back on solid ground, Rhodes looked at John. John, feeling no guilt about stealing his rescue, just shrugged. "You can say thanks later."
Rhodes retorted, "If it weren't for you, I would have gotten there just now."
"But I still saved you," John said with a smile. "And by the way, tell the Secretary of State I don't like people who break promises."
Rhodes was about to say something else, but John disappeared with a loud crack.
"You look amazing, Mr. President," Rhodes turned to the President, not forgetting to flatter him. "But I need my armor back."
With the armor, Rhodes, as a soldier, prioritized the President's safety. Although this fire was strangely not harming them, it wasn't a place to linger.
Picking up the President, Rhodes took him away from the battlefield.
After Rhodes left, John waved his wand, sending soldiers who got too close flying. He looked up at Tony, who was running wildly under the moon, with Killian chasing him from behind.
A suit of armor flew over to block Killian for him.
Killian, glowing orange-red, raised his hand like a blade and sliced the armor clean in half.
Tony was startled, sped up, and shouted as he ran, "Give me a suit of armor, Jarvis!"
"See? The inferior product of mass production," John commented from his perch, watching him being chased.
Tony still found an opportunity to put on a suit and began to fight Killian hand-to-hand. But after a few moves, he was disassembled again.
Chased from the ground floor to the top, Tony changed several suits of armor. The only gain was that Killian's clothes were torn, revealing a tattoo of a dragon on his chest.
Knocked down again, Tony fell.
"Mark 42 has arrived at the battlefield."
Hearing this, Tony looked back and sighed, "Rare indeed, a prodigal son returns."
To his anticipation, the mighty Mark 42, flying in with great fanfare, tripped over a railing and disassembled again.
Killian watched with amusement. He walked down, about to grab Tony.
Tony reacted quickly, turned around, and pointed at Killian with the focus of a master swordsman.
All the disassembled parts of the Mark 42 flew towards Killian, enveloping him completely.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Jarvis."
"Help me destroy the Mark 42."
Hearing this, Killian let out a roar from within the armor.
Tony turned and leaped down.
A huge explosion erupted from behind him. Immediately after, a raging fire and intense heat melted the metal.
Killian was engulfed by the explosion, and Tony was also caught by the blast wave.
(End of Chapter)
***
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