Stark Industries Headquarters, Arthur's Office
The low hum of his laptop's fans was the only sound in the quiet office. Arthur leaned back in his chair, a satisfied exhale escaping his lips. He was a week into the covert stock buyback. The numbers were holding steady, the market a docile beast he had tamed. Stane, blocked by the legal injunction, was in a holding pattern. Everything was going according to plan.
Arthur was relaxing in his office when a blasting system notification chimed.
[Communication Protocol Initiated. Secure Channel Established. Accessing Stark Industries' Legal Network via Pepper Potts' personal IP. Identification: JARVIS.]
Arthur's posture shifted from focused to relaxed. He leaned on his chair, his hand tapping on the desk, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Who is this?" he asked, his voice a low, commanding presence. "And how are you accessing a secure network?"
"My apologies for the intrusion. My creator, Anthony Stark, is currently missing," the AI replied, its voice a polite, resonant tone that filled the quiet of the office. "My designation is JARVIS. I am the AI that runs Stark Industries, and Mr. Stark's personal projects."
Arthur's mind raced processing this unexpected encounter. "Wow ! an actual AI? Tony is even more impressive than I thought, just incredible," he said, his voice a low, reverent murmur. "But why are you contacting me?"
"My primary directive is to protect Mr. Stark and his company," JARVIS replied. "I have been observing your movements, your legal maneuvers, and your consistent support of Ms. Potts. Your recent actions have been the only logical explanation for the stability of Stark Industries. I was the one who carried out Phase one of Project Phoenix with Ms. Potts."
Arthur's breath hitched. He had planned it all, but he had never considered the ghost in the machine who would carry it out. He had created the plan, but an AI had been his co-conspirator. The silence stretched between them, a moment of profound, intellectual shock.
"He's been gone for three months," Arthur said, the words coming out in a slow, deliberate rhythm. "You couldn't find him, could you?"
"My deepest apologies, Mr. Steele," JARVIS responded, the voice still polite but with a hint of a somber tone. "I have been unable to locate Mr. Stark's whereabouts."
"You don't need to," Arthur said, a new sense of purpose filling him. "He's not a person who just vanishes. He is too driven, too brilliant to be gone for long. He will be back."
"I have faith in my creator," JARVIS replied, "but I must prepare for all contingencies. I believe a collaboration is in order. I have all the data. Your tactical insights have been invaluable. I believe we can bring Phase two and beyond to fruition."
"You're right," Arthur said. "But when Tony returns, you must only give him surface details of the project. He needs to find out about our true nature on his own. He needs to know he cannot trust the board. He needs to agree with this project on his own terms, not on mine. Otherwise, he won't agree with this project. He needs to be convinced. We can't force him to do what's right. He needs to find his own way."
There was a moment of silence as JARVIS processed the information, running billions of calculations in a nanosecond. "Your logic is sound, Mr. Steele. The probability of Mr. Stark's full cooperation is 99.9% if he discovers the board's true nature on his own."
"Then we have a deal," Arthur said. "Good luck, JARVIS."
"Goodbye, Arthur," JARVIS replied. The window materialized and then dissolved.
Arthur just smiled.
Arthur lay relaxing on his office couch planning for the next steps.
A new blaring notification chimed.
[ALERT: CRITICAL ASSET SALE DETECTED. STARK INDUSTRIES' CLEAN ENERGY DIVISION IS BEING SOLD TO LONGWEI TECHNOLOGY. THE SALE INCLUDES ALL PATENTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED TO THE ARC REACTOR TECHNOLOGY. THIS MAY LEAD TO A TIMELINE CORRECTION.]
Arthur's mind went blank. The quiet satisfaction evaporated, replaced by a cold, numbing shock. The Arc Reactor? The one thing that defined Tony Stark? This wasn't a predictable move; it was a desperate, scorched-earth play. He didn't have a plan for this. He was scrambling.
He slammed a hand on his desk, his chair scraping back with a sharp, violent sound. He pulled up the public records for the sale, his fingers flying across the keyboard in a frantic blur. The documents were already being filed. The sale was a done deal, a fait accompli. He had a limited window of time to act.
His hands shaking, he grabbed a secure line and dialed.
"Anya," he said, his voice a low, frantic murmur. "It's me. I need you to find every asset, every shell corporation, every untraceable account that the buyer, Longwei Technology, is using. I need to know where the money's coming from and where it's going. I need it now. This is a five-alarm fire."
Anya's voice came through, a professional calm against Arthur's urgency. "I'm on it. I'll get you a full report in under five minutes."
Arthur hung up and returned his focus to the Stark Industries database, his mind in overdrive. "Come on, give me something, anything," he muttered to himself, his eyes scanning through decades of legal files and corporate documents. His search was frantic, desperate, a last-ditch effort. Just as he was about to give up, his phone rang. It was Anya.
"Ghost," she said, her voice a low, urgent whisper. "I have it. The buyer, Longwei Technology... it's a shell corporation. The money is being laundered through a series of offshore accounts. The trail goes cold after rerouting to different cities around the world."
"Where does it hit a dead end?" Arthur asked, his voice clipped and sharp.
"Madripoor," Anya replied.
"Madripoor ?, Fuck!!!" Arthur repeated, a cold curse escaping his lips. I am dead today He hung up.
Just then, a file he had been searching for materialized on his screen. It was a single, innocuous-looking legal document. He opened it. It was a legal notice from the 1960s, a contract between Howard Stark and Stark Industries, stating that the Arc Reactor technology was a part of the Stark family's personal IP.
"Howard Stark, you sly old fox," Arthur whispered to himself, a small, triumphant smile on his face.
He immediately dialed another number.
"Julian," he said, his voice clipped and sharp. "I need you to work with Anya. The buyer, Longwei Technology, is attempting a fraudulent asset transfer of the Clean Energy Division. I need you to prepare a legal counter-strike, with the Stark family as the plaintiff. Send the notice to Longwei Technology."
Arthur hung up, the legal document printing out of his printer. He grabbed the document, and ran towards Stane's office, the clock was ticking.
Obadiah Stane Office, Stark Headquarters
The heavy oak door to Obadiah Stane's office swung open. Arthur walked in, his presence a calm eye in the center of a brewing storm. At the head of a mahogany table, a representative from Longwei Technology held a pen, ready to sign. Stane, a man cornered, watched the man with a triumphant smile. The contract was on the table, a single line waiting to be filled. Arthur had arrived in the nick of time.
"Mr. Stane," Arthur said, his voice a low, commanding presence. "I believe you have a prior engagement."
Stane's head snapped up. His smile vanished. "Steele," he snarled, his face a mask of cold fury. "Get out. This is a private meeting."
The Longwei Technology representative, a man with a sharp, calculating gaze, looked at Arthur with professional confusion. "Who is this?" he asked, his voice a clipped, authoritative tone. "And why is he interrupting a multi-billion dollar transaction?"
Arthur ignored him, his gaze fixed on the contract. "I am here as Mr. Stark's legal proxy," he said, his voice calm and authoritative. "And I am here to inform you that this deal is fraudulent. The Clean Energy Division cannot be sold. It is not an asset of Stark Industries."
Stane laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "What are you talking about? It's a useless, loss-making division. It's nothing."
"Even if it's nothing, Mr. Stane, it is still Tony Stark's personal IP," Arthur replied, his voice calm and unwavering. "The Arc Reactor technology is a part of his personal property, and it cannot be sold without his explicit permission. It is protected by law."
Right then the Longwei representative received a call face, a mask of professional calm, hardened,looking over to Arthur his expression furrowed. He hung up and turned. "You are courting death, Mr. Steele," he said, his voice a low, chilling whisper.
Arthur paused, a single beat of silence. Is this their default setting or something? he thought to himself.
"I am afraid you got the wrong guy," Arthur replied, his voice calm and unwavering. "The one you are looking for is a Purple Bald dude."
The representative's face was a mask of confusion. He looked at Stane, his gaze filled with a professional disdain. "We are done here," he said, his voice a low, final whisper. He stood up, and walked out of the office.
Stane's face went from pale to ashen. His fury gave way to a dawning, terrifying realization. He had been so focused on checkmating Tony that he had forgotten to cover his own tracks. He had been outsmarted, outmaneuvered, outplayed by a man who he had dismissed as a small-time lawyer. He stared at the contract, at the irrefutable evidence of his corporate crime, at the legal paper trail that led directly back to him.
"You will regret this," he snarled, his voice a low, defeated whisper. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."
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Ten Rings Hideout, Afghanistan
The air in the cave was thick with the suffocating dust of their last explosion. Tony, his hands caked with grease and blood, slammed the last plate into place. The Mark I suit, a crude, monstrous testament to his genius, was a moment away from completion.
Outside, the terrorists' shouts grew louder, their footsteps heavier. Yinsen, his face a grim mask, stood by the suit. "They're here," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "I'm going to give you more time."
"What? No, don't be an idiot," Tony snapped, a cold, desperate sweat beading on his forehead. "You'll be killed."
Yinsen gave a small, sad smile. "I just got to see my family one last time, you know?" he replied, his eyes filled with a distant, wistful memory. "And I don't get to die a prisoner anymore."
Without another word, he grabbed a rifle and ran, a blur of motion in the dim light. Tony's blood ran cold. He knew what Yinsen was doing. The man was a distraction, a human shield. He was sacrificing himself.
Tony, his hands now trembling, slammed the last seal into place. He moved with a frantic, desperate rhythm, his body a symphony of rock and steel. The suit's hydraulics hissed to life, a terrifying symphony of rock and steel. He caught a glimpse of Yinsen lying on the ground, a bloody mess, his last breath a whisper of words. "Don't waste it... don't waste your life."
A cold, righteous fury, a rage unlike any he had ever known, washed over Tony. He roared, a guttural, inhuman sound that was muffled by the suit's helm. The Mark I burst from the cave, the sound of its first roar a terrifying symphony of destruction. He didn't stop. He didn't think. He just kept going. He was no longer a prisoner.He destroyed their weapons, their supplies. He shot out in air like a cannonball , into the the horizon.
He crashed in a dusty, sun-baked landscape, the arc reactor in his chest, a desperate, glowing heart, was the only thing keeping him alive. He closed his eyes, the weight of the last three months a crushing, silent despair. He just wanted to be free of it all. He just wanted to stop fighting.
Suddenly, a voice, a kind and familiar voice, broke through the noise.
"Tony! Tony! Tony!"
Rhodey. It was Rhodey.
He opened his eyes, and the world came back into focus. He was not dying today.
"So how was the Fun-vee!!" Rhodey snarked. A look of relief passing over his face "Next time you come with me" he declared.
Tony gave a genuine smile and passed out.
________________________________
Stark Industries Headquarters, Arthur's Office
Arthur stepped into the elevator, the doors closing with a soft, final hiss. His posture, once tense and focused, now relaxed. A satisfied smile touched his lips. He had outsmarted Stane. He had outmaneuvered him, and he had won.
Suddenly, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. He picked up, his voice a low, urgent murmur.
"Mr. Steele," a low, familiar voice came through. "It's me. Colonel Rhodes. I have him. I have Tony."
Arthur's breath hitched. His body went slack, the adrenaline wearing off in a sudden, crashing wave. A shaky laugh escaped his lips. "Oh, thank God...!!" he whispered. He held the phone to his ear, his mind a quiet, serene calm.
[Iron Man Protocol Update:
Event: Tony Stark's Return. Status: Complete.
Subject: Tony Stark. Status: Safe.
Objective: Rehabilitation of Primary Nexus. Status: In Progress.
Timeline: Stable.]
A single, profound thought echoed in his mindI almost had a heart attack from this Arc Reactor thing.
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A/N. Yo!! People how you doing? *a failed Joey impression*
So, I have seen many fics where the MC just goes crazy on the timeline and just somehow it's still remains the same, no realistic consequences, it doesn't make sense, I wanted to show that Arthur's interferences, do have an impact on the way characters will react, he was blocking all avenues for Stane to make money, although his intentions were right, someone as deranged but smart as Stane will definitely try to do some underhanded things.
And also wanted it to feel like a mini arc that ends before Tony's return , now we will be part of the madness that is Tony Stark.
And Thank God... for your comments, almost made a big plothole in the last chapter. Shoutout to yoganksri_ for pointing that out.