Chapter 8: Breaking Out of the Siege
Tony stared impatiently at the slowly advancing progress bar on the computer. The sound of the terrorist outside the workshop was getting closer than he would've liked.
The terrorists were almost at the door, but the progress bar still hadn't completed. Tony estimated that it would take another minute before it could finish.
Tony was a little heartbroken. Was escaping with Li Yue his only choice? The Mark I armor wasn't only built for escape but also for revenge. The damned terrorists had detained him for three months. He wanted to use his armor as a statement to them: "Who do you think you are to provoke the genius inventor Tony Stark?"
The Stark Industries weapons outside the cave were also a problem. Tony wanted to destroy them with his own hands. But it seemed that he would have to give it up for now; the terrorists were too close, and his armor was too far from completing the activation. He would be a sitting duck against the terrorists' guns; escaping with Li Yue was his last option.
"Tony, you can keep waiting for the armor to activate. I will help you buy time," Li Yue said to Tony, who was strapped within the armor with only the helmet open.
Li Yue saw and understood Tony's reluctance. He prepared to delay the terrorists for Tony.
"Li Yue...Thank you. Don't you try playing hero; you have to return safely." Tony was very moved by Li Yue's words. The only other person who had moved his heart was Yinsen, who had left him alone with the same excuse: to buy him time. Li Yue's similar action shook Tony's heart even further.
Li Yue looked at Tony's somber words and expression. He felt like a family being sent to a battlefield. He helplessly said to Tony, "I'm only stalling for time, not fighting them for you. Don't talk as if we're going to die here."
Li Yue didn't wait for any more words from Tony and teleported away. He then reappeared at the entrance of the cave a few seconds later, carrying a massive boulder with him. The door was blown apart by an explosion, replaced by a gaping hole. But now, it was completely blocked by the boulder.
"Alright, those terrorists should be delayed for a while. Your system should finish loading in time."
Li Yue could activate his ability multiple times in a second. The only reason that he was away for several seconds was because he wasted time picking boulders of the right size to block the cave. He couldn't move the boulder with his hands, but he could teleport it with him.
"Are you hitting on me? I'm Tony Stark, you know. You're going to do a bit more than that," Tony said jokingly, but his heart wasn't as light as his words. Li Yue's action had deeply shaken him once again; Li Yue had easily moved a boulder weighing at least several dozen of tons without even breaking a sweat.
"The program shouldn't take more than twenty or thirty seconds. I'll use this armor to beat them all up, so you can hide behind me as my personal cheerleader, hah." Tony's sarcasm and narcissistic personality returned as he relaxed a bit from the reduced sense of danger.
"Haha..." Li Yue could only smile at Tony's narcissism before silently waiting for the program to finish.
The terrorist outside the workshop had arrived at the entrance, but they were baffled at the boulder that inexplicably appeared in front of them. Where could this massive rock come from? And it conveniently blocked the entrance to the workshop. One of the goons went back outside to report to their boss, while the others just stared blankly at the rock with their guns in their hands.
Time passed quickly, and the program was finally completed. Tony felt the mechanical system in his armor come to life. He excitedly said to Li Yue, "It's my show next. I'll make those terrorists regret being born."
Tony then walked off from the armor's harness with heavy steps, but he stopped in front of the boulder blocking the door. He helplessly looked back at Li Yue.
"Can you move this thing?" Tony asked quietly, almost in a whisper.
Li Yue could barely hold his laughter when he saw Tony's meek, defeated face, but he still came to Tony's side and touched the rock.
"Are you ready? A group of terrorists is waiting right outside, Mr. Stark," Li Yue confirmed one last time.
"I've spent the last three months preparing for this moment. I wouldn't miss the first drive test of this armor for the world," Tony declared confidently, his fists clenched.
Li Yue nodded at Tony, then disappeared along with the boulder.
As Li Yue mentioned, a group of terrorists was standing by at the entrance to the workshop, waiting for orders. To their surprise, the rock that blocked the entrance suddenly disappeared. Two terrorist goons even rubbed their eyes in disbelief, but the rock really did disappear—replaced by a towering steel giant that slowly approached them.
Some of the terrorists were startled enough to shoot at the steel giant, but to their horror, their bullets seemingly couldn't damage the steel giant at all.
With steady and horrifying steps, the steel giant arrived in front of the terrorists. Some of them escaped, but the few that failed to react in time were knocked down to the ground with a swipe from Tony, never to get up again.
Tony felt confident about the strength of his armor after dealing with the group of terrorists. He continued onwards through the cave.
Li Yue returned in time after sending the rock away to see Tony's majestic armor showing off its capabilities. It was as if an adult was beating down a bunch of children; Li Yue felt that this was more entertaining than movies.
Tony's mighty armor easily defeated all terrorists that stood in its way with a single punch. Hilariously, when Tony used too much strength and got his armor's arm stuck in the rock, one of the terrorists stopped running away from Tony and aimed a pistol at Tony's head. The ricochet instantly killed the terrorist, and the sight almost made Li Yue break out in laughter.
Tony finally arrived at the mouth of the cave, and waiting for him was the bald terrorist leader with a rocket launcher. The bald leader immediately fired when he saw Tony emerging from within the cave.
With a rocket heading right at his face, Tony had no time to celebrate his success in clearing the cave. He tried to dodge the rocket, but it was too late.
Li Yue followed Tony all the way through the cave to account for unknown dangers. Tony safely navigated these caves and escaped in the movie plot, but there's no guarantee that everything would go as planned. Lo and behold, something different did occur. In the movie, Yinsen warned Tony about the bald man, which allowed Tony to dodge the fatal blow. But Li Yue had whisked Yinsen away. Without warning, Tony couldn't dodge the rocket fired by the bald man.
Fortunately, Li Yue had been watching Tony closely. When the bald terrorist fired the rocket, Li Yue immediately grabbed Tony and teleported right in front of the bald terrorist leader.
Tony had already resigned himself to being hit by the rocket when his surrounding suddenly changed. The rocket that almost hit him was replaced by a person: the same bald man that had tried to kill him.
Tony used all his strength to punch the bald terrorist, sending the stunned man flying. Tony then fired a missile from his arm at the man.
Boom!
The bald man died with a bang.
Li Yue was shocked when he saw the bald man die. This significantly changed the plot of the movie, where the bald man survived despite being injured. But Li Yue didn't have time to think about the consequences.
"Tony, a group of terrorists is waiting outside the cave. I will bring you behind them, so you can use the flamethrower against them," Li Yue said to Tony, sensing the terrorists with his sixth sense.
"Alright, let's do that! Also, Li Yue, thank you for what you just did. I owe you my life," Tony immediately agreed to Li Yue's plan. He was shaken by the near-death experience. By saving him, Li Yue gained Tony's full trust and friendship.
Li Yue said nothing more and teleported Tony outside to meet the group of terrorists pointing their guns at the cave.
"Li Yue, you can leave me for now. I have my own way out," Tony said to Li Yue. He considered Li Yue as a friend now, so he felt responsible for Li Yue's safety. Tony was safe within his armor even as the battle raged around him, but Li Yue might get hurt, so Tony wanted Li Yue to escape first.
Li Yue thought for a moment and nodded to Tony. He couldn't guarantee that the violent explosion wouldn't hurt him, so he would be better off waiting for Tony in a safer place.
"Be careful, Tony."
"Don't worry; I still love my life. I will give you a taste of a rich man's life after this is over. You'll never want to go back," Tony replied with a grin.
Li Yue disappeared shortly after Tony finished speaking.
"That ability is really convenient," Tony commented enviously. Li Yue's ability never cease to amaze him.
"Well, it's time to finish this!" Tony said while looking at the crates of weapons with the "Stark Industries" logo on them one last time before turning on the flamethrower.
The streams of flames that shot out from Tony's arms scorched the surrounding air. He aimed the flamethrower at the weapon crates, igniting the contents. The terrorists finally realized that Tony had somehow appeared behind them and raised their weapons to fire at Tony.
Tony ignored them and continued using the flamethrower to burn all Stark Industries' weapons in the base. After igniting most of them, Tony hastily flipped a switch in his armor, escaping the fiery explosions to the sky.
"Oh yeah! The great Tony Stark is back!" Tony shouted while flying.
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