Still Defiant! SI-OC [Marvel/DC]

52: Ambush

Moments earlier.

With the sound of the electric guitar resonating through the speakers of his new workshop, located at the top of his still incomplete Stark Tower, Tony nodded his head to the rhythm of the music while simultaneously controlling various projections with his hands, a new design slowly coming to life before his eyes.

After his success in defying death and "creating" a new element to replace palladium, Tony felt inspired once again. Not that he hadn't had ideas before, of course, but when your life seems like it's about to end, the desire to work certainly diminishes quite a bit.

That was why he hadn't been thinking too much about the distant future until he realized he actually had a distant future.

Since then, he had been like an old supercar that had its engine replaced and was now running at full power as if it were new. Every idea, every project he once thought would never see the light of day due to his previously short life expectancy was now back on the workbench, with Tony pouring all the effort and passion into them that a true genius could show when they really tried.

To say he had been busy would be an understatement. If not for Jarvis—and partly Pepper—he probably wouldn't have slept more than two hours a day.

Even so, above all else, there was one thing he had wanted to work on more than anything.

Mark 4

Not long ago, he thought Mark 3 would be the end of the road, his last masterpiece before heading to hell—because, of course, a life full of debauchery surely wouldn't lead anywhere better.

But with the new arc reactor powered by the Badassium core, he knew it was time to take the next step.

"Alright, Jarvis, give me the results of the tests," At his command, Jarvis displayed the data as well as several videos on the projected screens surrounding Tony.

The videos showed different images of a bluish piece of fabric placed on a mannequin, subjected to various forces: fire, electrification, sub-zero temperatures, and even tests with real weapons, such as high-impact rifles, grenades, and missiles.

"It seems that the information Mr. Daniel presented to us is completely accurate regarding the 'Element V's' capacity to withstand extreme forces, sir."

Element V

Some time ago, when Daniel and Tony were just getting to know each other and the superhero had asked him for help, "the thing" Tony had received as payment was a raw sample of Element V, along with basic information about the material and its functions.

To say that Tony had been interested would be an understatement. After all, one of his secret projects was the creation of a metal or material durable enough to replace the Earth's common metals and effectively withstand colossal forces that other materials could not naturally endure.

This research had been put on hold due to the development of his energy shields, as well as the life-threatening situation he had been involved in.

Of course, that didn't mean he had forgotten about it. In fact, he had recently started working on it again for the Mark 4, which was why he had been running tests and conducting investigations on Element V.

'It's truly ingenious, thinking that something like this could be achieved with the correct use of chemical components.'

Although Tony was an expert in many fields, he had never really been interested in chemistry, much less in polymer synthesis or how it could lead to the creation of synthetic fibers more durable and resistant than "ordinary" metals. Seeing the potential of this area firsthand made him realize that even he still had much to learn.

"Alright, since the tests have shown its effectiveness, it's time to get to work. Take the compression suit designs I finished yesterday and start production—I want at least twelve of those in my wardrobe by tomorrow," he ordered, and his faithful virtual assistant got to work immediately.

At first, Tony hadn't thought much about what he should wear under the armor, usually just keeping on whatever clothes he happened to be wearing at the time.

His fight against Graviton had changed that idea.

His energy shields had proven to be far from infallible—the gravitational pressure had cut through them as if they didn't exist. Feeling himself being crushed by his own armor was not something Tony had enjoyed in the slightest.

This was, in part, one of the reasons he had decided to resume his research into creating a new type of metal.

If such powerful enemies kept appearing, Tony needed more than just one type of protection—he needed everything within his reach to avoid becoming a glass cannon.

With that in mind, he had taken Element V and started designing a high-tech compression suit that would protect his body even inside the armor.

'Not only that, but my ability to withstand G-forces will also improve; I'll be able to move much faster without it affecting my physical condition too much.'

Along with the energy shields and the new damping system he would incorporate into the Mark 4, surpassing his old speed record was more than possible for him.

'That only leaves my reflexes as the last remaining issue,' Tony thought, frowning slightly.

His mind could work very fast, extremely fast, but his body, on the other hand… was far from being able to keep up. Until now, he had relied on Jarvis's assistance as well as motion prediction systems to aid him in high-speed maneuvers, but the faster he went, the less precise he became.

Not to mention combat. Flying in a straight line toward a specific destination was one thing; fighting at that same speed was something entirely different.

Combat speed and travel speed, two things that seemed identical at first glance but were not. Flying through the sky, Tony could travel at Mach 10 without any issues.

In combat, his speed was reduced by more than half…

Sure, he could use short bursts of speed to catch the enemy off guard, but such a move had clear disadvantages. He couldn't change direction mid-flight or perform tight, complex maneuvers like Defiant could without risking self-injury.

At least, not with the Mark 3.

But the Mark 4 would be different.

'A direct neural interface to control the armor might be the solution,' the idea came to his mind, but he didn't decide to make it his main focus right away. After all, if he went down that path, sooner or later, he would reach a point where he might have to work directly with his brain—something that, if he were honest, didn't excite him much.

Even if it could be the only solution to his reaction and reflex problems, there were many things that could go wrong if he wasn't careful, which also made achieving any results in the short term unlikely.

Another factor to consider was that his knowledge in the neural field wasn't deep enough.

'Maybe… I'll need some help if I decide to go for it.' What a joke—Tony Stark, unparalleled genius, needing help. His past self would have found the mere thought ridiculous. But his present self didn't, not since it was with someone else's help that he had been able to save his life.

Tony now understood the utility and benefits that working with someone else could bring.

Even if a part of him still believed he could do it alone.

In the end, the arrogance and ego deeply ingrained in his very bones were not things that could vanish overnight.

'I'll think about it later; it's still too soon.' The new armor was still in its initial stages. Maybe in half a year or a year, he would have everything he thought he needed to build it, but for now, the Mark 3 was still enough.

In this world, Tony had chosen to prioritize quality over quantity. Therefore, each Mark armor he designed couldn't just be slightly better than the previous one—it needed to be a true qualitative leap in its capabilities. Or at least, that's how he saw it.

Looking at the still-incomplete design projected in front of him, Tony couldn't help but wish it was already finished and assembled. His impatience was still something he needed to work on.

'Maybe I could make a prototype… I wonder if Daniel would be willing to have a practice fight to test it.' Tony had wanted to test his armor's capabilities against the hero for a long time, but after everything that had happened since meeting him, he had finally decided against it. He had already gathered enough information about Daniel's abilities to know that the Mark 3 was still far from comparable.

But maybe the Mark 4 could get closer.

As Tony worked, lost in his thoughts, something changed in the environment, and Jarvis was the first to notice. The artificial intelligence detected strange movements that it couldn't analyze properly, as the building's security system was still under construction.

Even so, that didn't stop it from going into high alert, even if it could only be a mistake in its sensors.

"Sir, I'm afraid something is happening."

"Huh?" Tony blinked in confusion. "Jarvis, if you're being vague on purpose, it's better you tell me now." Despite saying that, he didn't hesitate and started walking toward the part of his workshop where his armor was resting.

But he wasn't fast enough.

Before he could fully react, the glass of one of the nearby windows shattered suddenly, and a figure shot in from the outside of the building, closing the distance between them in an instant.

A gloved fist slammed into Tony's face with enough force to deform metal and turn stone to dust. The billionaire's pupils shrank at the unexpected attack, but even greater was the surprise of his attacker when the blow didn't crush his skull and reduce his head to a bloody mist as intended.

Instead, it struck a translucent blue energy layer that blocked most of the attack, though not entirely, and this became clear when Tony's body was sent flying several meters until he crashed into a nearby wall, easily breaking through it from the impact.

A cloud of dust rose, and from it, Tony clumsily rolled across the ground until his back collided with another wall.

"Shit!" Tony coughed, reaching up with his hand to his face, feeling the blood trickling down his nose with his fingertips.

'That could've killed me!'

Tony had never been so glad to be as cautious as he was now.

A while ago, when Fury and Natasha had barged into his home in Metropolis like they owned the place, Tony became acutely aware of how defenseless and unprepared he was without his armor nearby. At the same time, an old paranoia, born from his time in Afghanistan, resurfaced with full force.

He'd already been kidnapped once—he didn't need to experience it again.

With that in mind, he got to work, and in a short time, he developed something to protect himself even without his armor nearby: a defense system based on his energy shield technology, powered by the Arc Reactor in his chest.

It wasn't perfect, of course. Without his armor, he didn't have the dozens of projectors and sensors necessary to create full coverage around every inch of his body. In fact, he only had three main projectors along with their respective sensors: two on his wrists in the form of bracelets, and a larger one on his chest, built into the frame of his Arc Reactor.

This limited his protective range, but even so, it was enough to keep all his vital areas safe from most conventional human weaponry.

'And apparently from stronger things too,' though perhaps that was thanks to the new Arc Reactor and its greater energy production capacity.

Whatever the case, Tony couldn't help but mentally pat himself on the back for coming up with something like this so far in advance.

His genius truly was unmatched.

Before Tony could continue shamelessly praising himself, the wall behind him exploded, and two blurred figures lunged at him. Not only that, but from different parts of the building, emerging from the shadows, more and more figures appeared, quickly surrounding the floor he was on.

Tony tried to resist, but even though he now had an energy shield around his body, he was still just a normal human. His attempt at resistance was quickly overwhelmed, and before he could say a single word, another punch to the face nearly made him see stars.

A knee to his stomach made the dinner he'd eaten just a few hours ago threaten to come back up the way it had gone in. Unable to help it, Tony was forced to drop to his knees.

Then he felt two pairs of hands trying to rip the reactor from his chest. The blue light of his energy shield flared brightly, while at the same time, another light—a yellow-orange glow—appeared, as if trying to combat it.

The light came from the bodies of his attackers, growing increasingly visible despite the dark clothing they wore. Waves of intense heat began to emanate from them.

'I've seen this before!' Tony gritted his teeth, anger bubbling up inside him as the identity of his attackers became clear.

For a moment, there was a stalemate—Tony unable to fight back, and his enemies unable to take what they seemed to have come for. But suddenly, the scene was interrupted by an almost deafening crash. Faster than the human eye could follow, a metallic figure rushed in, and with a swift motion, those holding Tony were sent flying across the room as if hit by a speeding truck.

The Mark 3, controlled by Jarvis, stood protectively in front of Tony.

"You took your sweet time, Jarvis," Tony complained as he got back on his feet, cautiously looking around and finally noticing the other figures surrounding him.

"Apologies, sir. Clearing the path to you was a bit more problematic than expected."

Hearing this, Tony understood immediately. 'So they went after the armor too.' The objective seemed clear, and although he had anticipated attempts to steal his technology, this was undoubtedly too brazen.

"I thought the Ten Rings had learned their lesson, but it seems it wasn't clear to you. Not only did you kidnap me, you also destroyed my company's building, and now you're attacking me in my new home?! This time, you've completely crossed the line! And how the hell did you even get up here?! This is the damn 97th floor!"

Of course, his words received no response. His silent enemies lived up to their appearance, merely staring at him coldly despite the heat radiating from their bodies.

'Damn it, since when did fighting fire terrorist ninjas become the least strange thing I've experienced in my life?'

The only thing left for him was to experience an alien invasion, and nothing could surprise him anymore.

Licking the blood inside his mouth, Tony felt the sweat dripping down his forehead and the pounding of his heartbeat echoing in his ears.

"Well then, shall we begin?" As his words fell, the tense silence that had been flooding the place shattered, and in an instant, everyone moved.

The members of the Ten Rings charged at full speed, trying to prevent him from entering his armor. But this time, they didn't manage to intercept him in time—or rather, they failed to intercept Jarvis, who skillfully controlled the suit, closing the distance between it and Tony in less than a second.

With the sound of machinery activating, the armor covered Tony from head to toe, igniting its new arc reactors powered by the Badassium core.

Iron Man was ready for battle.

Without hesitation, the thrusters on his back roared to life at full power, and without caring about the destruction he might cause, Tony slammed directly into two of his attackers head-on, crashing through several walls with their bodies.

In no time, the entire building descended into chaos. Flashes of blue and yellow light flooded the place as flames began to spring to life.

Tony used his repulsor rays to send some of them flying, but there were too many, and soon he found himself caught in hand-to-hand combat that made the entire area tremble.

"Jarvis, analyze their attack pattern!" At his command, the suit's predictive system sprang into action, and in just a few seconds, Tony shifted from being on the defensive to effectively counterattacking.

With a quick movement, he dodged one of the incoming blows and grabbed the arm of his attacker. Without hesitation, he performed a throw, slamming the man against the ground with enough force to crack the concrete and send them both plummeting directly to the floor below.

"That's for punching me in the face!" Tony said, standing over the fallen form of the Ten Rings member. Then, he lifted his leg and slammed it into the man's stomach with great force.

"And this is for almost making me throw up my dinner!" With his vengeance taken, Tony lifted his head to see the others fearlessly throwing themselves down through the hole he had made in the upper floor.

'They're so damn annoying!' Tony didn't know exactly what these guys were or why their bodies radiated so much heat and could regenerate from the injuries he inflicted, but he did know he had to be careful not to kill them by accident.

Not just because he wanted to interrogate them, but also because he remembered what happened when they died. He had no interest in blowing up the building he had just purchased.

Of course, saying it was easier than doing it—especially when you were in the middle of a fight where you were outnumbered.

Tony kept trying to knock them out, but their resilience was beyond any normal parameters, and soon those he thought he had already defeated were back on their feet, fighting again.

"Enough!" Without hesitation, he extended his palm, striking one of them in the stomach and sending him flying through a window. Then, he fired a full-power repulsor ray that pierced through his body, killing him instantly.

BOOM!

The explosion lit up the night sky over New York.

The fight paused momentarily, and Tony turned to face the remaining members of the Ten Rings, the eyes of his armored mask glowing with a cold light.

"I only need one of you alive."

His words seemed to amplify the murderous intent that filled the air. Then, the battle resumed, and soon more and more explosions began to flood the sky, with the newly named Stark Tower lighting up like a torch in the darkness.

When it was all over, only one member of the Ten Rings remained alive, both legs severed at the knees.

With heavy steps, Tony approached him, ready to prevent him from committing suicide. But before he could act, an unknown phenomenon occurred, causing the sensors in his armor to go haywire.

'What the hell?' Tony watched in astonishment as the air distorted and a purple vortex began to form above the fallen Ten Rings member, like a portal to another world. For a moment, Tony thought his enemy would use it as an escape route, but instead, something shot through the portal at incredible speed—a dark blade that pierced cleanly through his enemy's chest, killing him instantly.

"No!" he shouted, but it was too late.

A final explosion engulfed the top of the building in a blinding flash that wiped out more than one of the upper floors entirely.

When the glow finally disappeared, the only thing left in the place was a stunned Tony, floating in his armor amidst the flames and smoke.

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Note:

let's talk a bit about today's chapter. Writing Tony is always fun, but also complicated. When I write him, I tend to get carried away a bit, making some things drag out longer than they should, hehe.

Still, I think this has helped lay the groundwork for one of the future conflicts I've been working on. In case it hasn't been clear yet, the Mandarin leading the Ten Rings in this world is the "real" Mandarin, and his rings are the real deal (the ones even comparable to the Infinity Stones), so we definitely have a true supervillain here, and it'll be interesting to work with him!

(As if that weren't enough, he has an army of "ninjas" enhanced with Extremis.)

Everything will be explained in due time. I don't want to say too much since I don't like spoilers, but it will definitely be exciting.

Please leave your comments and opinions—I always enjoy reading them!

Remember that You can already find the next chapter of this story on Patreon ( patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D