At night, Tony Stark and Yinsen were playing chess.
"You haven't told me where you're from yet," Tony asked.
Yinsen stared at the board, holding a dice in his right hand, and replied, "A small town in Gemilla. It's a very nice place."
"Do you have a family?" Tony continued.
"Yes. I'll see them as soon as I get out of here. What about you, Stark?" Yinsen replied.
Tony paused, looked at him, then pursed his lips, grabbed a chess piece and placed it on the board. His voice turned quiet.
"I have no family."
"No?" Yinsen asked, then nodded thoughtfully. "Then you have everything... but nothing."
Tony lowered his head, smiled bitterly, and looked at Yinsen without replying.
A loud "bang" cut the silence.
The two men looked at each other. Tony immediately put a finger to his lips, signaling Yinsen to stay quiet.
They listened closely.
Muffled voices echoed outside: "Enemy attack! We're under attack!"
Gunfire and explosions soon followed—bang... bang... bang!
"I heard someone yell for Stark. Where are you?" someone shouted.
And strangely, music started playing.
"Sounds like someone came to save you," Yinsen said with a smile. "Seems you're not as alone as you thought. But… why is there music? Did I hear that right?"
"Maybe," Tony muttered, though his thoughts immediately went to Pepper Potts.
Meanwhile, Alex Ray and his group—plus a dog—were approaching from the other side.
Half an hour earlier—
"Woof... I smell a bunch of living people in the valley ahead," said Dogpool, tail stiff, eyes sharp.
"That must be the militants' base. Let's pick up the pace. I'm not spending another night in this desert," Alex Ray said, adjusting his windbreaker.
"Damn right we found them! Took us long enough! Time to show them the might of Lord Deadpool!" Deadpool declared, unsheathing his twin katanas and spinning them dramatically.
"Step back and enjoy the show!"
"Move it. I'm going ahead," Pietro grumbled, goggles already in place. He was clearly annoyed after an entire day of desert travel. He'd completely forgotten Alex's earlier instruction—no superpowers.
With a whoosh, Quicksilver vanished.
Alex calmly pulled a pair of tactical goggles from his coat. "See you down there," he said, leaving Deadpool and Dogpool staring after him.
"Hey! Take us with you!" Deadpool whined. "Damn it, why don't I have a power like that?" "Woof!" Dogpool barked in solidarity.
Deadpool threw his katana to the ground, stomped on it twice, and complained some more. But seeing there was no choice, the man and the dog quickly took off running to catch up.
Ten minutes later, panting and drenched in sweat, Deadpool and Dogpool finally spotted Alex and Quicksilver reclining on a rock, each with a Coke in hand, chatting as they overlooked the valley below.
"Here," Quicksilver tossed two Cokes from his backpack.
Deadpool and Dogpool barely caught the bottles before tearing them open.
Pssst—click.
"While you're enjoying your drinks," Alex said, pointing down into the valley, "see those soldiers with the red scarves? They're the ones who kidnapped Tony Stark. He should be in that cave down there, the one at the very back."
"Wade, you and Dogpool are the distraction. I'll go in and extract Stark. Pietro—just cue the music. Cool?"
"Burp… no problem," Deadpool said, letting out an exaggerated belch.
It was too loud.
The soldiers below immediately noticed. "Who's there?! Who made that sound?!"
Weapons were raised as militants started moving toward the sound.
Alex and Quicksilver both gave Deadpool a long, unimpressed look.
Deadpool just gave a thumbs-up. "Heh. My bad."
"Well, now that they've noticed us… time to roll," Alex muttered, pulling his goggles into place.
"Showtime!" Deadpool yelled, leaping up with his blades in hand. "Your granddaddy Deadpool is here! Tony Stark, are you in there?!"
He pulled the pins on two grenades and lobbed them down. "Fire in the hole!" Then he whipped out his pistols and jumped.
"Enemy attack! We're under assault!" the militants yelled, opening fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Quicksilver calmly adjusted his goggles, took out a Bluetooth speaker, and pressed play.
Time slowed.
The world blurred.
Explosions became surreal, light and sound suspended midair. Even Deadpool and Dogpool froze mid-leap like they were caught on a paused screen.
"Sweet dreams are made of this~"
It was Quicksilver's signature track—"Sweet Dreams"—one Alex had insisted on playing. In his opinion, fighting with superpowers lacked soul without it.
"Who am I to disagree~"
Alex and Quicksilver raced past the frozen Deadpool and Dogpool in a blur.
Quicksilver couldn't help himself—he adjusted Deadpool's posture mid-air, crossing his legs and lining the tip of a katana right between his eyes.
Alex chuckled and began redirecting all incoming bullets away from Deadpool and Dogpool. Sure, they could take a few hits and survive, but why let them suffer?
Then, with a wave of his hand, he untied the red scarves from the enemy soldiers' heads and neatly rewrapped them around their wrists.
"I've traveled the world and the seven seas…"
"Everybody's looking for something…"
He sprinted into the cave's depths, heading for the final chamber. In front of him stood a large, locked metal door.
Alex raised his right hand, fingers crackling with red energy.
He extended his palm. The metal groaned.
Slowly, Alex curled his fingers inward. The thick door twisted, groaning under the pressure until it folded in on itself like wet cardboard.
"Some of them want to use you…"
"Some of them want to abuse you…"
With a loud crash, the door collapsed inward.
Inside, two men sat motionless. One had a glowing arc reactor in his chest—Tony Stark. The other, older with a white beard and wearing a worn cap, was Yinsen.
On the ground lay the half-assembled Mark I armor.
Alex let out a breath. The timeline was holding—Iron Man was still being born.
Both men were frozen mid-conversation, still under the effects of Quicksilver's time distortion.
After confirming their identities, Alex released his power.
Time resumed.
Stark blinked, startled. Yinsen turned toward the twisted wreck of the door.
And the music continued to echo through the valley.
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