章 48: Breaking Out
-Kamar Taj, Kathmandu, Nepal-
-February 13, 2009, 1245h local-
"Mordo. Is everyone else, ok?" The Ancient One asks as Mordo walk towards her. It's a weird feeling for her, asking the well being of her disciples. The brief contact they had with the Fox was enough to blur their immediate future, making her blind even with the use of an Infinity Stone.
"Yes, Ancient One..." Mordo replied with a small bow. "No more additional casualties. I was the last one to leave..." He continued. "I also sent a few masters to retrieve the bodies or at least as much as they can get without alerting the fox."
"Thank you." The Ancient One replied.
Mordo accepted his Master's gratitude. The pair stood over the balcony overlooking the training fields where the sorcerers are calming themselves down—seeing your colleagues ripped apart with the real threat of following the same fate is enough to stress anyone out. Especially the apprentices who have never experienced real-life combat.
Mordo was looking at the sorcerers' shaken expression when he decided to break the silence and asked the question that's been bugging him ever since the mirror dimension.
"Can we fight him?" Mordo asked in a silent whisper.
"Of course, we can fight him..." The Ancient One replied. "But that's not the right question to ask." She added.
"Can we win?" Mordo amended his question.
"I'm not sure..." The Ancient One confessed. "There are just too many unknowns about him, but from what I saw, we would need an army of Masters specializing in detection and combat to have a winning chance." She explained.
Mordo had to agree with his Master's assessment. Their whole encounter with the Fox was just a series of surprises and fuck ups. He's sure that The Ancient One noticed that the Fox was only playing them evident by his calm demeanor throughout the whole confrontation.
"We should've marked the location of their apartment." Mordo let out.
They only found the Fox by a group of five eldest masters sending their consciousness to the newly opened chakra network and finding anything that's out of place. A dangerous venture that cost them the lives of four of the masters that turned to stone, but the radical idea bore fruit. The last one was able to find an anomaly. A self-contained source of chakra that has emissions barely, but it's presence alone was enough to distort the natural chakra network around it, just like a black hole. A massive invisible force of nature that alters the space around it.
The master was able to open a portal to the Fox's location before his limbs turn into stone. Too bad they didn't try to find out where the exact location was geographical. All they know was that it's somewhere in New York. And with the knowledge of the Fox with runes, they might be able to find him like that again.
"We can't do much about what happened in the past. We can only prepare for the future." The Ancient One advised before a novice recruit came running towards them. The Novice gave them a bow of respect before reporting.
"The Masters that just came back from the Mirror Dimension wanted to report something." The Novice reported.
The Ancient One and Mordo looked at each other with worry. They wouldn't call for The Sorcerer Supreme without a significant reason. It is more concerning if it has something to do with the bodies of the sorcerers.
"Tell them that we would be right by..." The Ancient One ordered. The novice bowed again before leaving. She released a sigh and looked towards Mordo. "Let's go. I want to finish to know what could be worse than having somebody ripped apart." She said before starting to walk to the hospital wing.
Mordo followed behind The Ancient One while calming himself down using one of Kamar Taj breathing techniques. His mind was running to different scenarios of what could have happened with the apprentices and masters.
When they finally entered the morgue, he counted 27 tables with bodies covered with mystical white fabrics that would preserve the body as long as its covering their body.
The Ancient One walked towards the masters with Mordo following close behind.
"Is this everyone?" The Ancient One asked, referring to the bodies.
"As far as we can tell, Yes..." A master answered for the group. "We counted 22 apprentices and five masters. We have retrieved most of their bodies, but some parts just can't be recovered like most of the abdomen for some of them." He explained.
"At least we can give them a proper burial..." The Ancient One said with a sad voice. "What did you want to tell me about the bodies?" She asked, wanting to get to the point of the conversation.
The master had to open rubbed his forehead, dreading the conversation. He extended his arms behind him to one of the other masters, which promptly handed him a sack bag.
"We took this bag to gather all the valuables they might have.." The master explained while handing it over to The Ancient One.
The Ancient One took the bag and opened it, seeing that there's nothing inside.
"This is empty..." The Ancient One retorted, thinking why would they give the bag to her until she realized a crucial detail and looked at her hand and the other Masters. "Where are there sling rings?" She asked in a whisper.
"They have nothing on them except for their clothes." The master replied, already knowing how dire is the situation.
"Is there any sign of the Fox still in the mirror dimension?" The Ancient One inquired.
"No, but we're not looking for him since we want to keep some distance from him." The Master explained which The Ancient One understood and supported.
"We must assume that he can get out of the Mirror dimension in the future if he's not out already." The Ancient One stated.
The group was silent, contemplating the disaster if the Fox could bounce around the world. The cunningness and the skill of the Fox are extremely worrying already.
"We need to make sure that the next timeline nexus must happen." The Ancient One asserted.
"What is the next event?" Mordo asked from the sidelines.
"We need to make sure the sleeping soldier wakes up..." The Ancient One replied. "Captain America needs to be found."
-Stark Industries Main Office, New York-
-February 13, 2009, 0900h local-
Obadiah Stane. The business mogul and a father figure of Tony Stark. He's a 6'1, blue-eyed, 65-year-old man who has one of the best business-oriented minds in the world. He was a friend and rival of Howard Stark, Tony's father. They met each other through Maria Stark, who Stane once dated. When the Starks died in a car accident in 1991, Stane stepped up and held the company together until the Golden Child, Tony Stark, can take over the company again. Stane was pushed to the sidelines and later became a business partner to Tony's growing company.
Of course, he didn't like that he was now only receiving scraps from the multibillion-dollar company, but he didn't become known as a business mogul for not thinking stuff through. He waited for his time, making connections, and preparing moves for the future.
The first thing Stane did was to build up his war chest for an eventual takeover. Good thing he has the perfect way to do it. Being in the weapon's manufacturing industry, it's easy to find people with less than stellar reputations.
Stane started fudging data to give some buyers more than they bargained for as long as he was given a cut. This side business snowballed into a highly profitable business that caters to the lowest of the low; corrupt governments, tyrants, and terrorist groups.
The moment Stane has enough money to raise his stock share from 10% to 51% to have a majority share, he enacted the second stage of his plan, removing Tony Stark, and he has the perfect opportunity to do it, Tony's trip to Afghanistan. He only heard about it through the grapevine since Stark has been weirdly keeping a distance from almost everyone for at least three years, even him. He has never placed a foot on the Stark Mansion in Los Angeles at the same time frame.
Stane called Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar or simply Raza. A 5'9, 40-year-old, an Afghan man, who also happens to be the general of the Ten Rings, one of the most vicious terrorist cells. Their job, kill Tony Stark. He made some moves to make sure Tony is in the best possible situation for an ambush, but it seems it didn't work out since they captured Tony Stark and some guy he didn't know about.
Raza started extorting him for more money when they found out how valuable was the target. Stane was debating with himself if he should just pay or get rid of Raza to tie loose ends. The choice seems to be clear, but there's seems to be a more problematic development.
"What do you mean he got away!?" Stane shouted to his three-level encryption phone.
"I didn't say he got away. I said he disappeared." Raza replied. A few hours ago, the camera feed from Stark's jail cell failed, prompting the guards to call him over. He ordered his men to enter the room to check out what's the problem, but no matter how much they push through, they can't get in. It took them almost ten minutes to push through the door, which suddenly lost all its resistance. When they got in, no one was inside. Of course, he tried to find them but to no avail.
"That's the same thing! I thought you are at least a competent, but it seems you're as useless as the rest of them!" Stane shouted. He would've continued with his tirade if his secretary's voice didn't blare through the speakerphone.
"Mr. Stane. Your 9oclock has arrived." The secretary said.
Stane rubbed his forehead to settle down the headache that's forming.
"Fix your fucking mess, Raza. Kill him, and I'll double the deal." Stane ordered.
"Triple." Raza replied.
"Fucking Terrorists..." Stane said to himself. "Just do it." He said before ending the call.
Stane took a calming breath and pushed a button on the phone.
"Send them in." Stane said to his secretary.
A few seconds later, an unassuming man in a suit walked into Stane's office. The man walked towards him and extended his hand.
"Good morning, Mr. Stane. I'm Agent Coulson from SHIELD." Phil introduced himself.
Stane hid his momentary panic. An agent coming to him is never a good sign if Tony's 'kidnapping' happened just a few hours ago, but he played it cool. Still, Phil Coulson recognized the panic.
Stane held onto Phil's hand and shook it.
"SHIELD? Never heard of it." Stane replied genuinely before releasing Phil's hand.
"That's the way we like it..." Phil replied with a smile before adopting a more professional look. "I'm here to determine the possibility of Mr. Stark to cut a deal with his kidnappers to save himself..." Stand walked over to the liquor table and poured himself a drink. "Have you already been informed that Mr. Stark has been kidnapped?" Coulson continued when Stane remained silent.
Stane swirled his drink, taking a moment to formulate his answer.
"Tony is a one of a kind man. A mind that comes only once every century. Nobody can deny that..." Stane drank a swig from his glass. "But there's something that comes with that, a stubbornness no one can match and an ungodly amount of skill to piss someone off..." He added, unconsciously channeling his frustration about Tony's disappearing act. "So I'm saying it right here and now. There's no fucking way Tony would betray his country." He finished.
Phil stood there for a moment, studying Stane's words and nuances.
"That's all I needed to hear..." Phil said while pulling out a calling card from his inner jacket pocket. "You can call me using this number if you have anything else to say..." He continued while handed over the calling card. "I'll leave you to your business, Mr. Stane. Thank you for your time." He said before walking out of the office.
Stane looked over the card before drinking everything in his glass with one shot.
Phil, on the other hand, started dialing a number on his phone. He waited for someone to answer before starting to talk.
"Stane knows something."
-Northern Afghanistan-
-February 13, 2009, 1930h local-
The group appeared at the only blind spot in the room from the CCTV's, although it's a tight fit, especially with Tony in his armor.
Naruto grabbed Tony's helmet and pulled him closer.
"Remember. Show them no mercy because they will show you none of it. They would rather kill you than exposing themselves..." Naruto said while staring straight into Tony's eyes. "If you want to marry Pepper in the future, which I say you're crazy if you're not planning on it, and get home to Morgan, you need to push your emotions aside temporarily and deal with all that crap later. You get me?" He finished.
Tony internalized everything Naruto just said. He acknowledges and agrees with everything, but it's never easy to make a soldier out of a man. It took him quite a while before Naruto noticed that Tony is finally in the correct mindset to do it.
"I'll be waiting outside maybe a kilometer away, so go wild." Naruto said before disappearing.
Tony checked his gear, which Frank and Yinsen followed.
"Why didn't Naruto just give us the gear after we busted out of here?" Yinsen asked. He's been thinking about it since right before they left Tony's garage.
Yinsen's question stopped Frank's checking out his gear.
"Motherfucker." Frank let out, which caused Tony to chuckle.
"Come on. We still need to bust out of here..." Tony said, getting the group's attention into focus. He worked his way in front of them. They are now starting to hear shouting coming from outside the door. Somebody probably saw the massive armor suddenly appearing inside the cell. "Ready?" He asked.
"I'm just waiting for your sorry ass." Frank replied from behind the Tony while simultaneously cocking his rifle.
"I'm good." Yinsen answered.
"Alright. Let's wreck us some terrorists." Tony declared before marching a few feet in front of the door while keeping a little bit of the side.
Frank moved forward and planted a few charges around the door. He walked behind Tony again, waiting for the perfect time to blow it. The vault style door handle started to turn, and Frank knew this was the ideal time. He pushed a button, and colossal explosion propelled the door outward, immediately taking out a few terrorists at the other side.
Tony marched forward while keeping his arms aimed and swiveling around, looking for any threat that might suddenly show up at the corner. He stepped over the bodies while resisting the urge to look down. He can feel the slippery wet floor with some steps feeling more squishy than the others.
When Tony reached the downed door, he has no choice but to look down so he could step over it. But it quickly became apparent that it's a bad idea. He saw a man with multiple contusions to his face. It was all deep enough that he could see the skull. He could also see a semi-solid gel flowing out of a deep crack by the side of his head.
Frank saw Tony slightly panicking, so he started knocking on his armor.
"Keep it together now. Panic later." Frank said with authority. Trying to keep Tony's focus on the task at hand. It worked, though, since Tony started walking forward again.
As soon as they turned the corner, Tony was immediately assaulted by a rain of gunfire. He started firing the machine gun on his arm towards the group with Frank shooting too while using him as cover. Yinsen stayed behind the corner.
The terrorists didn't even stand a chance with the Tony and Frank combo. The pair mowed down everyone they come across with Yinsen lagging, making sure that the duo didn't miss anyone.
The trio moved in that formation until they reached a large cavern with multiple corridors. A large group formed a firing squad with a few of them carrying machine guns. As soon as Tony went into the firing squad's view, the team opened fire at them. Tony had to backtrack against the hail of bullets.
"Fucking hell!" Tony exclaimed. He's not sure if his armor could handle all of it.
Frank gave their group a fighting chance with his quick thinking when he tossed two flashbangs toward the firing squad. When the gunfire stopped, Tony rushed forward and gunned down the team while simultaneously using the flame thrower.
Tony something at the corner of his eye, which caused him to be alarmed.
"RPG!" Tony shouted.
Frank made a quick turn and shot down the man with the RPG. Tony's flamethrower caused it to blow up caving in some corridors.
"The corridor to the left! Go! Go!" Frank shouted, pointing Tony to where they should head next.
As the group moves out of the cave, Yinsen had to use his gun a few times to shoot at some enemies they missed during their first run through.
Tony could finally see the exit, and he was surprised by what he saw. Aside from another firing squad set up around the cave opening, he also recognized several different size cases marked with his company's logo.
Like the last time, the firing squad opened fired at them, but Tony didn't back down this time. He let the armor absorb the abuse with Frank occasionally shooting down men with RPG or grenades.
"Our Turn." Tony said with an excited tone before he emptied his guns and flame thrower ammo. Making sure every weapon from his company is burned or destroyed.
Frank followed Tony's example and opened fire on everyone while letting occasionally tossing grenades and C4 packs to the weapon cache.
By the end of it all, the open space in front of the cave is flames, bodies, and craters. Tony's group walked around the fires and started walking towards the open desert. Frank took the lead, followed by Yinsen and finally, Tony. This setup is used so that if anyone coming after them would aim at the armored man first before anyone else.
Tony couldn't resist but turn around when they're quite some distance away and saw a mesmerizing sight. Tall flames are rising up high, illuminating the night time sky.
"That's just one of them." Tony said to himself, thinking how much Stark Industries' weapons are in the hands of other groups like this.
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