Chapter 11: Reactor's Loss
The sprawling mansion's silence was not peaceful, but a profound, sterile void. The steady, comforting Hum of the arc reactor, which had been a constant for Adam since the cave, was gone, replaced by an antiseptic, metallic, suffocating chill that clung to the workshop's still, heavy air.
Adam's Stamina was already sitting low at a worrying 35%, and Guilt had climbed to 60%, his hazel eyes wide and swimming with a sickening, raw panic as he sprinted from the hall. His boots pounded against the polished marble, the sound echoing harshly, his heart hammering in his chest like a trapped beast demanding release.
Tony lay crumpled on the workshop floor, a horrifyingly vulnerable sight. He was clutching his chest, the arc reactor's familiar blue glow utterly dead, its exposed metal cold and inert. Tony's gasps were shallow and ragged, his skin pale as ash, the sterile halogen light casting harsh, unforgiving shadows across his pain-etched face. Adam's skin prickled; a faint, sharp sting of ozone, the system's low, frantic Hum, was buzzing in his skull like a storm's immediate, critical warning.
"Why him? Stane isn't just betraying him for a company; he's stealing his life support. He's killing him. I failed the countdown."
"Why now? The board's been set for the final game, and Tony's life is the only stake that matters. I have to move, but I can't touch."
The Intent Sensor flared violently, a massive, crimson vector slicing through Adam's vision, pinpointing Stane's distant, hostile presence—a sickening, powerful pulse of Betrayal/Theft, Critical Urgency.
[INTENT SENSOR ACTIVE. THREAT DETECTED: STANE. URGENCY: CRITICAL. Recommended Action: Protect Host Life Support.]
Adam skidded to a stop beside Tony, his knees hitting the cold, oily floor. His hands hovered, centimeters above Tony's chest, terrified to touch, the system's hum a live, shrieking wire in his bones. The sheer panic was overwhelming—he knew the script, but seeing it was a thousand times worse.
"Tony! Hold on—stay with me, you idiot!" His voice cracked, raw with a desperation that tasted like iron, sweat beading instantly on his brow as he frantically scanned the workshop. Tools glinted under the harsh lights, useless.
"Pepper! JARVIS! Emergency battery—now!"
Tony Stark was suffocating. Pain was an immense, iron vice, crushing his chest, squeezing the oxygen from his lungs. The arc reactor's sudden, dead weight was a betrayal colder and heavier than the marble floor. His fingers clawed weakly at his damp, sweat-soaked shirt, his breath shallow, his vision blurring, the blue light of the holo-screens fading to a sickly gray.
"Obie. Why, Obie? You were family. We built this whole damn company—now you're stealing my actual heart? You pathetic, greedy bastard."
Adam's voice sliced through the pain, desperate, but somehow grounded, his shadow flickering in the sterile light. The kid's eyes were wild, but his focus was absolute, a kid fighting a war that shouldn't be his.
"Why's he here? He's risking everything. The debt I owe this kid is now my literal life. He can't touch me, but he's the only one here."
Tony gasped, his voice a faint, weak rasp, but still sharp with intent. His trembling fingers pointed vaguely toward the reinforced safe vault behind the main workbench.
"Battery… the prototype… in there. Hurry, kid. Please."
Pepper Potts burst into the workshop like a whirlwind, her heels clicking a staccato, frantic beat on the polished marble. Her subtle vanilla perfume was a fleeting, soft scent in the chaos of oil and fear. The sight of Tony crumpled, the dead reactor a black hole in his chest, was a physical knife to her heart. His gasps were ragged, pitiful.
"Why Obie? I knew he was jealous, but he built this whole company with Tony. How can he tear it apart? It's not just business, it's murder."
Ignoring the vault, she spotted the backup power source—a large, heavy car battery she'd seen Tony use for early tests, shoved carelessly in a corner. Wires trailed from it. She grabbed it, the weight jarring, sparks spitting briefly from the terminals as she dragged it, her hands trembling fiercely but held steady by sheer, cold purpose.
"It's Stane, Tony! I found files in his office—a shell company, his signature. He's taking everything." Her voice was tight, thin with suppressed grief, but blazing with a sudden, cold fury.
"His betrayal runs so deep. Tony's heart is his empire, and Stane is stealing both. The monster."
Adam's face, pale and streaked with sweat, was sharp with urgency. His presence was a shield, an unwavering focus she didn't understand, but instinctively trusted.
"He's fighting for Tony, for both of us. How does he keep going, looking like he's about to collapse himself?"
"Pepper, check the files," Adam commanded, his voice surprisingly steady despite the rapid pounding of his heart. He snatched the thick, heavy cables from the car battery, expertly hooking the positive and negative terminals to Tony's chest plate. A weak, flickering blue light returned, the Hum returning, feeble but alive.
"I'll secure the hall. Get the data."
Adam initiated Phasewalk, the quantum cold searing through his body like ice water being pumped directly into his veins. His body shimmered, slipping through the reinforced workshop door, his Stamina draining instantly, the holographic grid's hum faint but aggressively sharp in his vision.
[PHASEWALK USED. STAMINA: 30% (-20%). WARNING: ACCUMULATED PHASE FATIGUE. Next Phase: Extreme Risk.]
"Why the drain? I'm pushing too hard, too fast, but Tony is still dying. There is no other way to secure the perimeter without touching."
The hallway was quiet, save for the rhythmic, dull clicking of the security feeds on a nearby monitor. But a shadow shifted—Guard E, one of Stane's hired, heavily-built enforcers, his boots silent on the carpeted floor, moving with cold, professional intent. Intent Sensor flared red: Hostile/Disrupt, Detain Hostile Target.
Adam phased back, the dizziness spiking immediately, a profound vertigo that made his vision swim. He slammed his palm against the cool marble wall, using its rigidity to steady his swaying body.
"Why now? One slip, one moment of uncontrolled wobble, and I'm useless. I need to be precise. Non-lethal."
Guard E stalked into the office space, a suppressed pistol drawn, the cold, black barrel glinting under the dim emergency lighting. His voice was a flat, cold drone.
"Mr. Stane wants those files, ma'am. And the kid. Come along quietly."
Adam stepped instantly in front of Pepper, shielding her, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his fragile ribs. The Intent Sensor blazed, screaming: Hostile/Immediate Threat. Defense.
"Bad day for personal space, pal," Adam grit out, his voice low, vibrating with tense effort. His fingers convulsed, twitching the sleeve threads.
"Why him? Protect her. Protect the files. No kills. Focus the energy. Control it, Adam. Control it all."
He channeled his will, focusing the quantum energy into a precise, horizontal strike aimed not at the guard's center of mass, but at the heavy, plated boots and the ground beneath them. The resulting, controlled burst was a loud THWUMP, a low frequency wave, not a punch. It slammed the guard back, his thick, steel-toed boots scuffing a long, ugly scratch across the priceless marble. The man crashed into a decorative suit of Renaissance armor—a heavy, resonant CLANG—before hitting the floor with a metallic grunt. He was alive, winded, stunned, his weapon skittering away, a cloud of fine, plaster dust swirling in the air.
[PUSH INITIATED. FATAL PUSH EVENTS: 3. GUILT: +5%. GUILT: 65%.]
"Why the cost? Even non-lethal still hurts him. I still took a piece of his free will, of his body's autonomy. I'm still a danger to everyone. The numbers are still climbing."
Adam's hands shook uncontrollably, sweat dripping from his chin. The system's hum was a sharp, accusing sting, and the sudden smell of ozone mixed with the metallic, coppery tang of the guard's faint blood in the still air of the hallway.
"Personal space, please. Why can't I stop hurting people, even when I try to save them?"
Pepper, her face wet with fear but resolute, clutched a printed file to her chest. Her voice, though shaky, was firm with conviction.
"Port of Los Angeles—Warehouse B-7. Stane's building his own suit. He needed the core reactor from Tony's Mark I—the prototype. He needed his heart to power his war machine."
"Why her resolve? She's fighting through paralyzing terror, fueled by love and betrayal. I'm just the shield, the messy power that can't be thanked or touched."
Tony struggled to haul himself to a seated position, the car battery's weak Hum an immediate, vital lifeline, his chest aching with every movement. His eyes, fixed on Pepper and Adam, blazed with a cold, desperate, incandescent rage.
"Happy, get the car," he rasped, his voice raw and gravelly, his hands gripping the battery's wires like they were his last tether to life. "No security. We're going after him. Now."
"Why Obie? You want my heart? Come take it from me. I'll rip it out of your stolen tin can myself."
Adam, still swaying faintly, grabbed the nearest heavy, non-explosive object—a fire extinguisher, its metallic weight cold and grounding in his trembling hand. His jaw was clenched so tightly it hurt, his eyes haunted but resolute, a kid forced to carry the crushing, final weight of a full-scale war.
"Why's he still here? He's physically breaking, but he's my only edge. I can't fight the Monger without that kid. He's my chaos factor."
Adam staggered back to the workshop floor as they prepared to move , a fleeting, agonizing pause before the storm. Guilt was a heavy, suffocating blanket, and the metallic air felt thick with oil, fear, and Stane's impending betrayal.
"Why be untouchable? I'm saving Tony's life, keeping his heart beating, but I'm losing myself to the system's relentless isolation."
"Why fight? To keep his heart beating, to stop a kill on my ledger. To prove I can save them without losing what little humanity I have left."
JARVIS's voice cut through the chaos, urgent and precisely detached, a final, chilling alarm bell.
"Sir, Mr. Reed. The Port facility is now fully active. Large-scale power consumption detected. Immediate pursuit is critical. Time is a non-linear variable that must be immediately compressed."
Adam looked at the fire extinguisher in his hand, then at the frantic, determined faces of Tony and Pepper. The chase was on, and he was already running on the critical fumes of his power and his will.
MORE POWER STONES == MORE CHAPTERS
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