For the next few minutes, loud sounds of gunshots and bomb explosions echoed in the cave.
Tony had an anxious expression on his face. When he had agreed to be rescued, this was not what he had in mind. He had thought that Ethan would sneak him out using the same method he had used to arrive here.
More the gun shots echoed, more he started to regret the deal he had made, and he could only now hope for the best.
On the other hand, Ethan was on a killing spree. Although it was the first time, he was taking a life, he did not feel much different.
Perhaps it was because, in the past two and half months, he had prepared himself and had altered his mindset to believe that, in order to survive in this world, he would have to kill, or maybe because he still viewed these people as characters from a movie.
Ethan when dealing with these terrorists was not using any of his special-effect powers—such as ice or fire or the diamond of the diamond head—to kill these terrorists.
He was relying solely on his extreme speed and reflexes and was shooting every terrorist with a gun.
With the brain-processing capacity he possessed, it was like a walk in the park for him to take perfect aim. To him, at this speed, all those bullets fired at him and bombs thrown at him were as slow as snails.
It was around seven minutes later when the metallic gate of Tony's cave was once again opened.
The would-be Iron Man flinched in fear. In stepped Ethan with a smirk on his face, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief. Then reality struck him with the weight of what had happened.
He stammered, "You killed all of them? Alone?"
Ethan chuckled, "Told you not to doubt my capabilities."
"Don't back out on your payment," he added with a grin.
Tony gulped in fear and nodded subconsciously. "Follow me," said Ethan.
Tony and Yinsen hurried after him.
On their way outside the cave, the entire cavern was littered with bodies. Blood was splattered on the walls and the floor of the cave, making it a nauseating sight for Tony. After circulating around the cave for a few minutes, the trio finally emerged into the open sky, and Tony felt the prickling sensation of bright sunlight—a feeling he had not experienced in months.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the sunlight. Ethan gestured toward a large satellite communicator and said, "You can use this to contact your friends in the military. I believe they will arrive here shortly."
With that, Ethan started to walk away.
"Hey… you promised to rescue me," shouted Tony from behind.
"I did that. Now, your government can carry you back," came Ethan's voice from a distance.
"Also, don't tell them about me. Anyways, you are good at talking nonsense—feed them any of it," came Ethan's distant voice as he disappeared amidst the mountains.
Tony did not hesitate any further. He did not want to be unlucky and get caught again after he had just been rescued.
He hurried to the communicator, and thankfully, he remembered the correct channels.
He set it up on the device and shouted, "Hello… Rhodey… is it you? Stark here!"
Not long after, a disrupted voice came in, "Tony… Tony… is that you?"
Tony sighed, "Yes, mate. Can you take me out from here?"
"Yes… are you safe? Where are you?" came the anxious voice of Rhodes.
"I am safe, buddy. Check my location from the signal," said Tony.
"Yes… yes… yes… I get it. We will take ten minutes to reach you. Just wait and stay safe."
Tony dropped the device and stood with a deep sigh. The massive anxiety and tension that had accumulated in his body in the past 2 months was finally released.
While waiting, his eyes fell on the large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition belonging to Stark Industries.
"Yinsen, come with me," said Tony as he ran back into the cave.
"Where?" asked Yinsen, but he followed Tony nonetheless.
A few minutes later, Tony, along with Yinsen, arrived back carrying the half-constructed suit of Iron Man.
The suit had its torso and its hands; the head while the legs were still missing. Tony placed the suit on the ground and then sat down next to it. In another few seconds, a burst of flame erupted from the right palm of the suit, and Tony rotated the hands in the direction of the weapons. Every last weapon bearing the name Stark Industries was burned to ashes.
Ethan, who was watching from some distance, muttered, "Something never changes."
His eyes lifted as he noticed the American helicopters nearing Tony's location.
Tony was promptly flown out from Afghanistan toward the air base in Los Angeles, where Pepper and Happy were waiting for him.
"Pepper," grumbled Tony, and the sweet secretary just stopped herself from hugging her boss.
Happy gave his usual cheerful smile. Pepper suggested going to the hospital, but Tony insisted on holding a press conference. He was about to say that he needed a cheeseburger, but then he remembered Ethan.
Ethan had asked for the money to be transferred to him before Tony even mentioned a burger.
"Happy," said Tony, "can you make a little transaction for me?"
He pulled out the card and handed it to his assistant.
"Omni Consultancy Services," Happy read the card in a questioning voice, but Tony did not say anything further.
"How much, sir?" asked Happy.
"100 million," said Tony nonchalantly.
Happy's eyes widened, and Pepper was almost horrified.
"Tony, are you paying any ransom? Is someone blackmailing you?" she almost shrieked.
Tony quickly clarified, "No… no… nothing like that."
"It was just a consultancy service I took. That is the payment," he added.
"What consultancy service?" Pepper insisted, unwilling to let the matter drop.
Tony sighed, "Happy, can you please transfer the money first? It is urgent."
He continued before Pepper could say anything more, "And I will try to explain this thing anyhow. But trust me, this is neither a ransom nor blackmail. I really took a consultancy service."
Though reluctant, Happy nodded and began the transfer of money from his laptop.
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