Watching something on TV is one thing, but some experiences need to be lived to truly feel and understand them.
For Tony, this is war, weapons, death, and blood. When all of this was placed right in front of him, Tony Stark transformed from a playboy into Iron Man.
For Blake, perhaps it was a game-like attitude towards crossing worlds, or maybe it was the god-like perspective of knowing what would happen next. The battles in Afghanistan didn't give him any special feelings or beliefs about killing. But this didn't affect his other senses. For example, the first time he saw Tony Stark don the Iron Man suit in real life.
The reality had a much stronger impact than watching the movie.
As he watched Tony's robotic arms help put on the armor, piece by piece, Blake was deeply captivated by the suit, despite it not being painted yet and despite knowing about the more advanced Mark 85 nanotech suit from the movies.
The feet, hands, back, joints—every part had cleverly designed components moving and revealing the glowing blue energy inside.
"This is freaking awesome! Damn, this is every man's ultimate dream!" Blake shouted excitedly.
Yes, this was a man's toy. Compared to this, cars and guns seemed pathetic.
"Don't get too excited, buddy. The ultimate dream is yet to come. You're going to scream at my next move! JARVIS, activate the propulsion system, I want to fly for real!"
"Sir, that would require trillions of calculations first," JARVIS dutifully advised.
"JARVIS, sometimes you have to learn to run before you can walk. Let's do this!"
As Tony finished speaking, the thrusters on the suit's feet burst out with red flames, lifting the suit about half a meter off the ground. After hovering for a few seconds, the thrusters on the palms fired simultaneously.
With a "whoosh," Blake saw a silver flash streak out of the garage and into the sky.
"HO! HO! HO!" Tony's excited voice echoed from outside.
"Blake, you have no idea what this feels like, hahaha! WOO~~~~~" Tony laughed triumphantly.
"Tony, be careful. There's a saying: 'Great joy begets sorrow.' Have you heard of it?" Blake said, a bit enviously.
"Haha! You're jealous, absolutely jealous. I'm Tony Stark! JARVIS, what's the altitude record for the SR-71 Blackbird?"
"Official record is 85,000 feet, sir."
"Alright, Blake, today you're witnessing a new flight record!!!"
Tony cheered, and a streak of light shot through the Los Angeles night sky, heading straight up.
Knowing the movie plot, Blake knew what was coming next. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of a blue and white vintage car in the garage, sipping a drink.
Sure enough, within two minutes, there was a loud crash.
Tony, in the suit, had fallen through two floors, landing right on top of the car in front of Blake, smashing it.
"Sigh!!!" Blake heard Tony's forlorn sigh over the speakers.
"Dummy! Get to work! Spray him!"
Tony's household robot arm, Dummy, slowly moved to Tony's side, raising its modified arm to spray a large amount of fire extinguisher foam all over the suit.
"Shhh~~~~~~"
In the original storyline, Obadiah angrily berated a Stark Industries scientist, saying that Tony Stark built a miniaturized Arc Reactor out of scrap in a cave, while an entire lab of scientists at Stark Industries couldn't even grasp the concept of the large prototype.
In reality, even without the advantage of technology and genius intellect, Tony Stark's sheer hands-on ability, combined with JARVIS and his numerous mechanical arms, equates to the capability of a large-scale production line. After the high-altitude icing incident, it took him only three days to build a new suit of armor. This timeframe even included a full day just for ordering materials and transportation.
Now, the familiar red and gold color scheme was back, complete with thrusters that doubled as laser cannons and the glowing Arc Reactor on his chest. Blake felt a bit dazed for a moment.
There are many superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man and Captain America have the largest fanbases, but if you ask which hero people enjoy seeing the most, many would say Iron Man. From the clunky Mark I in the cave to the Mark II that required mechanical assistance to don, from the suitcase-like portable Mark V to the tracking suit in the first Avengers, from the modular Mark suits in Iron Man 3 to the awe-inspiring nano armor in Endgame, each appearance of Iron Man offers a new visual feast.
"How do I look?" Tony asked, striking a pose as the suit was finally completed.
"Hmm!" Blake, adopting the air of a fashion designer evaluating a model, thoughtfully stroked his chin and nodded. "Quite impressive. Congratulations, Tony. You now look almost as tall as me." He compared their heights with a gesture.
Tony: (╬ ̄皿 ̄)
The incident in Gulmira, including Yinsen's death and the terrorists still heavily armed with Stark Industries weapons, enraged Tony. Before dealing with Obadiah, he needed to eliminate the terrorists himself, which is why he rapidly built the suit. However, because of Blake, Tony had to reconsider his plan of going solo. Originally, Tony didn't intend to involve Blake, thinking he was sufficient on his own and that Blake was no longer a match for him.
This notion ended abruptly when Blake casually crushed some leftover armor materials into a sphere with his bare hands.
"I thought Super Soldiers weren't supposed to be that powerful?" Tony questioned.
Blake, striking a dramatic pose and looking skyward, replied in a deliberately pretentious manner, "I can't speak for others, but I, Blake, am simply this powerful!"
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Once again, reality proves that any attempt at showing off is fleeting and comes at a cost. The two decided to head to the Middle East together to eliminate the terrorists.
However, transportation posed a significant problem. Tony had a private jet, but it was too conspicuous for this covert operation.
A Quinjet? Tony could potentially build one himself, but time was not on their side. With the terrorists still raiding nearby towns in Gulmira, they had to act fast.
Thus, Blake turned to S.H.I.E.L.D. for help again. Since Tony wanted to keep his armor a secret, they couldn't use official channels. So, late at night, two shadows appeared at the entrance of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Los Angeles branch. This wasn't the headquarters or a secret base with critical resources, and it was in the U.S., so security wasn't too tight. With the powerful security system, there weren't even night guards.
Blake quietly took out his ID and whispered to Tony beside him. "Are you sure you can erase the visitor logs and surveillance here? This is my work ID. I don't mind them giving me trouble, but I don't want to lose my steady paycheck."
Only when Tony gave an OK gesture did Blake place his ID on the sensor by the door.
"Beep beep! Insufficient authorization!" The sensor flashed red, and an electronic voice sounded.
"How is that possible?" Blake tried two more times, but it still showed insufficient authorization.
"Let me try!" Tony took Blake's ID. "Intern Agent, alright, cute newbie, let me give it a shot!"
"Beep beep!" Tony sighed, handing the ID back to Blake. "Have you ever been here before?"
"No!" Blake shook his head, bewildered. "I got the location from Natasha!"
"Congratulations on finding a good job!" Tony gave Blake a disdainful look. The armor's arm opened, and Tony pulled out a card connected to wires and placed it on the sensor.
"Good thing I was prepared. JARVIS, show this intern-unable-to-enter department what we can do!"
While S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Washington headquarters might have some elementary AI comparable to JARVIS, the branch here? Not so much! Amid Blake's curses aimed at Nick Fury, JARVIS broke through the security in less than ten seconds.
JARVIS took control of the nondescript building on the outskirts of Los Angeles through the network connected to the door lock.
Each S.H.I.E.L.D. branch is equipped with a Quinjet for rapid deployment. Luckily for Tony and Blake, no one had taken it for a mission. Sneaking through the fire escape to the rooftop, they soon took off in the Quinjet, heading directly to Tony's house on Malibu Beach.
Once suited up, they flew across the Pacific toward the Middle East.
"You know, during World War II, my father flew a plane with Captain America, crossing enemy lines to the enemy's rear, completing a rescue mission."
"I never thought that now, I'm flying a plane with another super soldier to fight terrorists!"
"But my father was just a pilot. This time it's different. I have this!" Tony knocked on his armor.
"Tony, you actually have many ways to combat these terrorists. If you intended to create the armor in Afghanistan to escape, what's the reason now? Is it just to eliminate the Ten Rings?"
Tony was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"My father once told me that to achieve peace, you need to wield the biggest stick. That was my philosophy for making weapons. But since Afghanistan, after that missile with the Stark name exploded beside me…"
"Sigh..."
Tony sighed deeply.
"I thought the weapons I created would bring peace to the world, but I didn't realize that the name Stark brought so much despair to so many. Before that missile exploded, I was lying there. I could see every letter of Stark clearly."
"But I couldn't see its meaning, only despair. I can't even imagine if someone else were in the same desperate situation, looking at the name Stark, what would they think…"
Tony's words left Blake momentarily speechless. Others might not know, but he did—Tony was right.
Take, for instance, Scarlet Witch and her twin brother Quicksilver, future Avengers. They once stared at a Stark-labeled missile for a few days.
"I used to just make sticks. Now I've created one of the biggest sticks in the world."
Tony pointed to his armor.
"I will hold it firmly in my own hands. This is my purpose now—to combat terrorists, eliminate war, and create peace, regardless of nations or politics!"
In a sense, early Iron Man and Black Widow were both atoning for their pasts. As the Avengers evolved, this atonement transformed into a sense of responsibility. Especially after the Battle of New York, when the Avengers took on the mantle of the world's protectors, they began to change.
"Tony, do you know why Nick Fury forced me to join the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division? Damn, curse that name!"
"It's because he has a plan—the Avengers Initiative. To form a team with members possessing extraordinary abilities, who can stand up when the world needs them."
Blake finished speaking and looked directly at Tony.
"It's a good idea. I don't know Nick Fury well, but I know that whether it's the CIA, the KGB, or MI5, regardless of their original purpose—"
"They all end up becoming tools of politics, to varying degrees!"
"If there's a need for someone to step up, I'll be there in my armor. But I don't want to be a sword in someone else's hand!"
Tony agreed with the Avengers Initiative but not with S.H.I.E.L.D.—that was Iron Man's viewpoint.
"Exactly! Tony, that's what I mean! We won't be someone else's stick; we'll hold the stick ourselves!"
Blake turned to Tony Stark.
This time, Tony pondered deeply for a while. Then, he suddenly looked up at Blake and said,
"Just like today?"
"Yes, just like today!"
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You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
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