####
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
Ororo returned to the school and reported everything to Charles just as it had transpired. Of course, she omitted the part where she caught him in that bathroom.
"I should have gone to talk to him," Jean voiced, feeling deeply guilty for what had happened. "We need to tell him that it wasn't me who did it."
"It doesn't alter the fact that what he said holds weight. His concerns are justified; Magneto's threat remains very real," Hank chimed in and looked at Charles. "Coming out in the open now would only jeopardize us further if Magneto decides to strike on a grand scale."
Ororo continued from there. "He said he will contact us again, once he has a solid plan."
"He's become deeply mistrustful of us now," Charles remarked, a hint of melancholy in his tone. "I've sent Raven to reach out to Magneto, hoping to bring him to the negotiating table. For us to achieve acceptance, the mutants must present a united front."
"What if he refuses? What then? Are we just going to roll over?" Hank asked, his voice tinged with urgency. "We can't let him manipulate us and jeopardize the future of all mutants. This is our one shot, Charles. Tony's not bound by religious constraints, impervious to lobbyists, and he's indifferent to bipartisan nonsense."
Charles looked at his old friend, already aware of what he wanted. But he still asked. "What do you suggest? We kill Erik?"
"We should if he continues on this path!" Hank replied in a split second. "You know his ideology is flawed. You know mutants can never defeat humanity. You know there are monstrous beings out there comparable to what's inside Jean."
Charles looked down silently at that mention. Back in his younger days when he was more adventurous, he had on many occasions swept his psionic senses across great distances. On many occasions, he had to retreat with haste or face guaranteed death.
"I'll… make a decision soon. Let's wait for Raven's response first."
Hank didn't push him further and left the room.
Charles then looked back at Ororo. "Stay in touch with Mr. Stark until Raven is back."
This time Ororo didn't feel as repulsed by that idea. She silently nodded and left the room.
####
Sokovia,
Tony flew over the skies of the small, troubled nation of Sokovia. His boosters made less sound than usual, and his armor had a great many upgrades including the outer shell which was taken from the Destroyer Armor of Asgard. Turns out, it was incredibly strong against energy impacts and blunt force. Only using the metal shard that Ororo gifted him was he able to cut the Asgardian armor.
It had been three months since the Thor incident and he hadn't left his top-floor apartment in Stark Tower for even a day. Working non-stop on a dozen projects, he fully indulged himself in his dopamine-inducing creations.
"Alright, Jarvis. We're not here to level the country—just testing. Keep the power at twenty percent, alright?" Tony reminded his AI child. Along with the new armor shell, he had also innovated on the Arc Reactor and made it slightly more efficient. On top of that, he created smaller, less powerful Arc Reactors and placed them strategically all over the new suit as it could handle an intense surge of energy.
Heck, even Tony felt afraid of going full power this time.
"Sergeant Mary Alice Walker is right below you, Sir," Jarvis informed Tony, having hacked into the military prison system. After the run-in with General Ross, Tony had ordered Jarvis to sweep into the entire Department of Defense on every level and report him on every suspicious expense and military operation. This time, he was in Sokovia to save a squad of US soldiers from the Sokovian prison.
Shwooooo!
Like a rocket going down, Tony dived straight downward toward the roof of one of the buildings in the prison complex. He didn't stop, nor did he plan to. Testing the durability of his new suit, he slammed into the concrete roof.
BOOM!
The metallic clank resounded, and the roof caved in, leaving a massive hole in it. He fell down right into one of the holding areas of the prison—not even a scratch on his suit.
Sweet Asgardians! I gotta pay them a visit someday. Tony marveled at the suit's integrity. Heck, not even the shine was lost. Let's test the weapons system then.
"Nepřítel!"
"Nepřítel!"
Trrrrr!
Instantly the soldiers nearby unloaded their AKs on Tony. Every single bullet struck Tony, and yet none of the bullets were able to scratch him. He remained in place like an unmoving boulder, staring amusedly at the soldiers.
I don't wanna pulverize them.
So, Tony walked towards them like a behemoth. In the new Iron Man suit his height was almost seven feet tall.
Clank!
He knocked a metal fist on their faces and sent them flying. Sure, it broke their noses and teeth, but they were still alive at least.
Trrr!
Soon enough many more soldiers found him. The alarms also started to blare, red beacons illuminating the doors and ceilings. He didn't worry one bit and slapped, smacked, or kicked his way through the prison complex, trying to find the American soldiers.
Leaving a long trail of broken, swollen, and unconscious bodies, he soon reached a control room with a lot of screens. Using Jarvis, he analyzed all the cameras and quickly found the American soldiers.
Ting!
Pa!
Slapping and kicking, he went all the way to the most guarded part of the prison and broke through the walls with a minor blaster beam.
"Holy smokes! That's efficient and powerful!" He loved the upgrades. "Alright soldiers! Time to go—"
Tony swallowed back his words as soon as he flashed some light into the dark, guarded room. There was a lot of blood on the floor and a mess that he reckoned was someone's organs. At the end of the room, there were two figures tied to the walls with chains. A man, without his right arm and left leg, then on the right was a woman—Mary Walker—completely nude, bruised in places best left unspoken.
It's hard to love humanity. Tony sighed and walked closer to the two victims. Slightly angry, and more enraged by the lack of retaliation from the US government. The file said the squad had been captured a few months ago. Out of many, only these two were left it seemed—not in a good condition.
"Jarvis, set the output to fifty percent," Tony ordered and moved to free the two prisoners. They were barely conscious, mumbling nonsense. So he had no way but to put the man on his shoulder and hold the woman in his arms.
During his retreat, he faced retaliation from all sides as the Sokovian army mobilized itself. Tony stopped being gracious and used his blaster like a strobing spotlight in a rave. Bodies pulverized alongside their weapons and walls behind them.
On his way, he covered the two soldiers he carried with a piece of cloth and walked out of the prison. Facing a blockade ahead, he simply sent out a conventional but extremely powerful rocket.
BOOM!
The fire and smoke formed massive clouds visible for miles. By the time the dust settled, Tony was gone and arriving at the nearest NATO base.
It wasn't easy to fly with two unconscious bodies, but he managed and landed in the middle of a training ground. After handing the bodies to the medics, he waited for the commander of the base to show up just so he could record his face in case the two he saved were to 'disappear'.
Without having any exchange, he flew away to return home. It wasn't that he felt shocked by what he saw since he already knew what goes on in wars and war-torn nations. What made him annoyed was how little was done to make the wrongs right.
"Jarvis, let's crank it up to eleven. Full power!" Tony blasted the boosters at full speed, breaking his own record. "Also, I need you to compile this whole mission—oh, and don't forget the military files you stumbled upon. And make sure to gather all those ignored SOS requests sent to the Pentagon. Tag the names of the officers who thought sweeping this under the rug was a brilliant idea. Finally, send it all to the media outlets I've been feeding."
The game of politics was simple. If you want to rise up, you gotta pull others down first.
"Done, Sir."
"Now play me some jazz while I fly."
______________________
Check out Tony X Darcy Lewis & Tony X Aunt May NSFW ART and advance chapters at P@treon.com/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens.
NSFW Art Commission Open!!! DM on Discord: https://discord.gg/W5FdB6WXaP