The materials Will and Tony had demanded started arriving one after another.
"A coffee maker? Seriously?" Tony asked, taking it out of the box. "How did you even convince him?"
Will shrugged. "How are we supposed to concentrate without coffee? And you're the one to talk, asking for a washing machine."
"True that."
"At least I didn't demand an AC unlike someone."
"It's hot in here," Will defended. "No wonder the people here don't mind blowing themselves up. They're not afraid of the heat."
Tony tried to control it but ended up laughing.
"You don't seem so sad and suicidal anymore," observed Will.
"I was never suicidal. I wasn't sad either. You saw it all wrong," the genius insisted.
"Well it's a good thing you were not. If you want to die, at least die like a man, after right your wrongs."
Tony went silent after that.
"I was wrong about you, Osborn," he said with a sigh in the silence.
And that's about the closest thing to an apology that you'll ever get from Stark.
"About what? My company not selling arms? Me being incompetent? Or me being an evil villain like my dad?" Will asked with a grin.
"Alright, don't push it now."
While they were joking around, the doors were blown open. But this time, it wasn't for another delivery, it wasn't Abu either coming to check on them either.
It was a lean, sharp-featured man with a bald head, close-trimmed beard, and piercing eyes that gave him a calculating, ruthless presence.
This was Raza, the leader of this branch of terrorists.
The man surveyed the room before turning his glare to Will.
"Grab him."
The men grabbed Will by both arms, others pointing their guns at him.
"Do you take me for a fool? You don't need half of these things to make weapons." He asked in accented English.
Will still remained perfectly calm, meeting Raza's gaze evenly.
"Do you know who we are? We're heirs of Billionaires. Do you know how we have grown up? We've grown up with luxuries you can't imagine as part of our daily lives. Our bodies and brains simply can't function in such poor conditions.
So, you can take away all the things you find unnecessary but I'll advise you not to have much confidence in what we build."
Tony also nodded immediately.
"Weapons, really delicate. One mistake, all go boom, or no boom at all," he said, also making hand gestures to Raza, as if explaining to a one year old.
Raza glared at the two of them.
"You have one month. If you can't make it by then, you'll meet God."
"Done."
After the terrorists left, Will and Tony bumped fists.
[Aura +100]
"You really aren't scared of them?" Tony asked, impressed by Will's composure.
"What's there to be scared about? Even my dad is a lot scarier."
Both the Billionaires got to work.
First they had to disassemble all the missiles to extract the Palladium. This work alone was quite an effort.
After that, it was smelting the metal into various parts they were going to need.
"Do you not get tired?" Tony couldn't help but ask after seeing Will still working non-stop like a machine.
"That's what she said." Will answered, getting an eyeroll. "Well, I have been training my body since I was 6. I know all forms of hand-to-hand combat and I've also completed various special forces training courses. You should already know that."
"Yeah yeah, no need to show off. Didn't you still get captured? What's the use of all your training?"
Will said nothing to that. Time will clear it up.
….
26 days later…
Will and Tony were busy, clanking away in their workshop.
A bright blue light was shining through Tony's vest.
That's right, they had successfully developed the Arc Reactor.
It had taken some time, and some trial and errors, but they did make it happen in the end. After that, the rest was the simple and fun part: Making the suits and weapons.
Will was also working on a hoverboard installed with a circular ring glowing with cold blue light. Of course they made two Arc reactors, one for each.
Beside him were the rest of the White Knight equipment: the spherical grenades, the launchers, the sword and the shield.
"Alright, this is done," said Will, putting aside the glider.
He then started working on another device which looked quite peculiar. Unlike their other high tech weaponry, this one was just metal thorns and wires.
"What are you even going to do with that?"
Will grinned. "Trust me, you don't wanna know."
"You're right, I don't."
Tony shrugged, getting back to giving finishing touches to his Iron Armor Mark 1, which involved final assembly and movement calibration. But, Will could notice that he was quite absent minded.
"Don't be distracted. We can't afford any mistakes now."
"I just can't focus," Tony said, putting down his tools.
"What's the matter?"
"Well, now that we're so close to escaping, I just can't figure what to do after I leave this place."
Will could understand that. In the original plot, Tony was here for 3 months, which was more than enough to fully think things through.
But this time, with Will's help, they completed the same work within just a month.
Will put down his tools as well. "This is not like you. I thought you were quite decisive in doing things."
"Well, what would you do?"
"If I realized just how much death and destruction my ignorance has caused and wanted to turn a new leaf? For starters, I'd stop selling to wrong buyers."
"That doesn't curb the problem. Even the US government might be involved in reselling. You know how they do anything for oil."
"Then shut down the weapons division. With Arc Reactor tech, you can just venture into clean energy projects. In front of it, the oil that the government always has a hard on for is just primitive waste."
Tony shook his head.
"First of all, Arc Reactor doesn't only belong to me, it belongs to you as well. So I can't market it. And even if I got you on board, I can't go around selling Arc Reactors, which are like mini nukes. As for selling only energy, that will also ruffle enough feathers that our lives will become extremely annoying."
"Hey, I didn't do much, you know. You can keep the ownership," Will offered.
But Tony shook his head firmly.
"No, without you there won't be any arc reactor. And even though I hate to admit it, you might have actually made it on your own someday. So, are you on board or what?"
"Well, I tried. But an Osborn never refuses free money twice." Will shrugged, a smile appearing on his face. If Helen saw him right now, she'd recognize this expression.
It meant another that person had been thoroughly manipulated and would still have to thank Will for it.
"Since I'm on board, it makes things much easier for you. We won't sell arc reactors. Oscorp has patents for specialized energy cells that can store a lot of energy in a short space. The kind we use in gliders. If we use the clean energy of the Arc reactor to charge them, it'll form a complete loop. "
"Rather than selling Arc Reactors or energy directly, we can sell those cells and manufacture all kinds of products that run on those cells, like automobiles.
"All automobiles will be re-charged by energy stations run by our companies, like gas stations. The change will be so subtle that the government won't even notice and until we have replaced all petrol and diesel based vehicles with our own smart vehicles.
"We can also manufacture electronic devices using those cells. Stark Industries also already has a footing in electronics and automobiles too, so it'll just be right."
Tony was a little stunned. "You really thought of everything."
"Of course. Unlike you, I've known this thing's potential for a long time. Obviously, I have the corresponding plans."
While they were talking, the door was forced open once again.
This has become a regular occurrence, with Abu and Raza checking on them now and then — but this time, things didn't follow the usual pattern.
Aside from carrying the guns, the terrorists were also carrying a video camera, Tripod and other equipment.
Without any warning, they grabbed Will and Tony and roughly tied their hands behind their back.
Seeing the equipment, Will had somewhat figured out what was happening, and he had to say, he was intrigued. He had only seen this on tv before.
'Interesting.'
"Hey! What are you doing?! Stop!"
"Beat them up."
Tony tried to struggle but was quickly beaten up and Will, who hadn't even done anything, was caught in the barrage too, though he managed to shield himself well.
Raza gazed at them expressionlessly. "There are orders from above. The two of you are to be executed immediately."
It seems that Will's guess was right. They were going to be executed, classic terrorist style.
"What?! Why?! It's not even 30 days and we haven't even completed your weapons yet! You stand to gain nothing from this," Tony protested.
Slowly approaching Tony, Raza lowered the billionaire's vest, revealing the arc reactor.
"The so-called weapons you two have built. I showed their pictures to Mandarin, in hopes of gaining praise. Turns out, you guys have been fooling me," he said, anger apparent in his eyes.
"You're building this not for our use, but to escape. You two can't imagine what a great embarrassment you have caused me."
Will's brows furrowed. Mandarin?
Wasn't he supposed to be just a hoax?
The actual Mandarin, a very dangerous supervillain, only existed in Iron Man comics. In movies, he was just a fake persona created to scare people.
'Damn it, don't tell me he is real.'
Will needed to get to the bottom of this.
Seeing that Tony's struggles were growing more desperate, Will had to nudge him to stop.
"Calm down. I have a plan," he whispered.
A while later, Will and Tony were lined up in front of the camera, their hands tied behind their backs. Armed terrorists surrounded them, their faces covered.
And a banner with Ten Rings insignia hung in the background.
"It's up. The news channels picked it up," said the henchman.
The terrorists were going to broadcast the execution live. How were they doing it?
Through Youtube live broadcasting feature… created by yours truly.
With the faces of the two long-lost Billionaires, the video quickly gained traction, being broadcasted on all media channels. Even the president's council was alerted.
Since everyone thought it was some sort of ransom call, the live broadcast wasn't shut down so as to not agitate the terrorists.
With viewers reaching millions, Raza finally stepped into the frame.
"We are the Ten Rings, led by the Al-Masih (God's Prophet) Mandirin."
"Our purpose is to rid the world of their fake rulers."
"The Empires today are built on the bones of the poor, their crowns forged from the suffering of our children. They are nothing but shadows, puppets dancing on the strings of corruption. We are the hand that severs those strings.
"The world will not bow to false messiahs. It will be united — not under the illusion of false democracy, but under one true ruler. The one who holds the Ten Rings, who wields power not given by man, but taken from the heavens themselves.
"Today, we present to you, the sacrifice of two of these false rulers: Tony Stark and William Osborn, to show that everyone is equal in the eyes of God."
Raza spread his hands and one of the terrorists played the track of the prayer that resounds here everyday.
It was not the usual islamic prayer, but a twisted version of it, the one that had been modified to fit their twisted ideals.
Raza gestured to Abu, who lifted his AK and aimed at Will and Stark, ready to personally execute them.
"I've wanted to finish you two for a long time," said Abu.
But at this moment, in the face of death, Will smiled. "It's not my day today."
A circular object rolled over between them.
In the next instant, a flash of light erupted, temporarily blinding everyone.
Before the explosion even happened, a nail had buried itself deeply inside Abu's skull. Then continuous gun shots resounded, quickly followed by screams of terrorists.
When the light cleared, Will and Tony had moved behind cover and only 3 of the more than 20 terrorists were left alive, firing blindly.
And the ridiculous loud and annoying prayer was still resounding throughout the room.
Three bursts of gunfire and they went down as well. And one shot went to the loudspeaker, bringing silence to the room.
Will got up, holding a rifle he had taken from the nearest terrorist. More than 20 bodies were littered in front of him, all dead.
Everyone except for Raza.
The tough leader was on the ground covering his head, his hand which was holding the gun now bleeding.
Realizing that the gunshots had stopped, he got on knees and fumbled around blindly, trying to find his rifle.
Will slowly walked over and stepped on his hand that just found the Ak.
"Streaming my own death on my own platform? You guys really have a sense of humor."
Will kicked him.
"You want to take over the world? Are you doing it by bombing in the small towns and villages here? By killing defenseless women, children and elderly?"
Will kicked him with each sentence.
Tony also walked out, having somehow freed himself as well.
He looked at the dead bodies in shock, each one only having gunshot marks in their head.
"Seriously? Every single guy? What is this, some Olympic sniping event?"
"Now tell me again that my combat training is useless," Will deadpanned.
"Fuck, I'm done contradicting you." Tony finally gave up.
Navigating through the dead bodies, he made his way over to the camera and blinked. "Wow, it's still on."
"Damn it," Will immediately hurried over. He looked into the camera. "Hey everyone, nothing to see here, just two random guys acting in self defense."
But inwardly, he was just thanking Abu and Raza for this set up as he watched his Aura value soaring rapidly in real time.
What Will did just now has given him a huge aura boost.
This trip was turning out to be so worth it!
Suddenly, more gun shots and loud yelling was heard from outside, and the connection was also cut off abruptly, ending the stream.
It wasn't a surprise. Other terrorists on the base might have been watching the stream as well. And there was also the monitoring room, which could see everything happening here through the surveillance cameras.
"Stark, start the escape plan." said Will as he shot the surveillance camera and began barricading the entrance.
He then proceeded to cover Raza in the mesh of wires and metal thorns that he had been working on.
Will flipped the switch and the mesh contracted, piercing through Raza's flesh, causing Raza to scream. But this was just a prelude.
Will duct-taped his face and flipped another switch. This time, electric current flowed through every thorn, every wire, and every metal fibre, causing Raza's body to twitch uncontrollably like a fish out of water.
Will turned it off before the terrorist could die and then turned it on again.
He repeated the process several times while also shouting out threats of killing Raza in different languages if the terrorists tried to break in.
Will finally turned his attention fully on Raza, removing the duct take.
"Answer every question I ask."
Raza nodded immediately, his body still twitching from the aftershock.
"Have you seen Mandarin?"
"Y-es."
"Have you seen him use his powers? What kind of powers does he have?"
"Yes…I've seen him… decimated hundreds of lives… with a flash of his ring. He can fly… he can read minds. He is… the god's messenger," Raza's glazed eyes showed a hint of fanaticism and worship. "You… do not have long to live."
'This is bad.'
Will's fears had come true. It seems that this world has the comic book Mandarin.
Will hadn't thought it would be the case, mainly because Ten Rings wasn't a terrorist organisation like this in comics, it was just what Mandarin liked to call his underground empire.
"You have the bomb that blew up the New York Police station. Who sold it to you?"
When Raza didn't respond, Will had to give him another shock to remind him why he agreed to answer in the first place.
The metal fibres are directly targeting the terrorist's pain receptor nerves. This level of pain is something that even Will is never willing to bear with his Willpower.
"I don't know… I really don't… They just call themselves… AIM. They didn't reveal anything else."
Will received another shock. If it really was AIM who built that bomb then the situation is fucked up.
The AIM of the movies was a simple organisation of Aldrich Killian, developing only the extremis virus. But the AIM of the comics was entirely different.
It was a group of mad scientists whose dedication is to acquire and develop power through technological means to overthrow the governments of the world.
It made sense for an organisation like that to be able to develop the plasma bomb which requires a high level of scientific proficiency.
So, the mystery was solved, and Will and Gwen had a target for revenge. But Will was not happy at all.
AIM and Mandarin… Government toppling level threats from the comics had appeared in the world which he thought was based mainly on movies plot.
"Let me… go… I can plead for you…"
"Let you go?" Will looked down at the terrorist leader. "Just like you were going to, right?" He said, twisting his neck.
Information on Ten Rings: Check
Information on 9th precinct bombing: Check
Arc Reactor Technology: Check
Aura Farming: Check
The work here was done. It was time to go home.
....
A.N.: Like it so far? Throw in the powerstones whenever you have them lying around