The night air around Stark Industries shimmered with tension. The world outside was oblivious—cars rolled along the Pacific Coast Highway, waves crashed into the shore—but inside the complex, secrets and betrayals boiled toward eruption.
Brendon moved like a shadow, a silent tether between Pepper and the danger unfolding. His presence was quiet but deliberate—steadying her when nerves threatened to betray her calm, steering her subtly away from dead ends, from blind spots, from Sector 16.
"Brendon, this way," Pepper urged, glancing back. Her heels clicked against the polished floor as she followed Coulson and the SHIELD agents. The agents carried themselves with confidence, but Brendon's instincts screamed.
"Not that sector," he said, tone low, controlled. His hand closed gently but firmly around her arm, halting her momentum.
Pepper blinked, startled. "What?"
Coulson turned sharply. "Miss Potts, we need to proceed. This area—"
"—is a tomb waiting to be filled," Brendon cut in. His gaze, calm but cutting, shifted to Coulson. "You want Obadiah? Fine. Do your job. But you're not dragging Pepper into that slaughterhouse."
Coulson's jaw flexed. "We need a witness."
"You'll get one," Brendon replied coolly, pulling a sleek silver card from his pocket. The insignia of AEGIS pulsed faintly across its surface—an authorization Stark hadn't even seen yet. "But she stays out. That's final."
Pepper stared at him, equal parts relieved and unnerved. Coulson hesitated, calculating, then nodded once. "Fine. We go in."
The agents pushed forward into Sector 16. Pepper, her hand trembling faintly, leaned toward Brendon. "What are you—"
"Buying you ten minutes," Brendon murmured. "Stay close."
The Monster Unleashed
It happened in an instant.
The reinforced doors of Sector 16 exploded outward, SHIELD agents flung like ragdolls across the concrete. Pepper's scream cut through the night as one agent crashed through glass, another slammed into a steel girder. Coulson staggered back, blood tracing down his temple.
And then—Obadiah Stane emerged.
The Iron Monger.
The monstrous suit of iron and greed lumbered into the open, its massive form dwarfing even Stark's most ambitious prototypes. Hydraulic pistons hissed, glowing lines of unstable energy pulsed through its frame. Its eyes glowed with artificial menace.
From the loudspeaker embedded in the armor, Stane's voice bellowed, guttural and self-satisfied. "You think you could take it all away from me, Tony? I MADE YOU!"
Pepper stumbled back, terror etched on her face. Brendon calmly slid a pair of sleek, jet-black glasses over his eyes. The AEGIS interface flickered to life across the lenses, scrolling streams of data and a live uplink.
"Tony," Brendon said, voice smooth, steady. "Showtime."
The Clash
The night split with the roar of repulsors. A red-and-gold blur streaked from the skies and slammed into Iron Monger with thunderous force. The ground cracked beneath the impact as Tony Stark, clad in the Mark III armor, wrestled his surrogate father straight into the parking lot.
The two titans collided like gods in a mortal world. Metal screamed against metal, sparks erupted as repulsors clashed against stolen tech.
"Obie!" Tony's voice thundered through his helmet's speaker. "You don't get to rewrite my life with your dirty hands!"
Stane's laughter was cruel, grating. "Without me, you'd still be drinking yourself into oblivion!" His massive fist swung, shattering a row of parked cars like toys. "You are NOTHING without me!"
"Funny," Tony grunted, blasting a repulsor into Stane's chest, forcing him back. "I was about to say the same about you."
Brendon's Watch
From the shadows near Pepper, Brendon's gaze flickered with calculated calm. The glasses fed him every angle, every energy spike, every vulnerability in the Monger suit. AEGIS whispered probabilities in his ear, but Brendon didn't intervene.
Not yet.
This was Tony's fight.
Pepper clutched his arm, whispering urgently. "He'll be killed—"
Brendon shook his head. "No. He's stronger than he knows. Let him finish this."
Still, his body was tense, ready. If the scales tipped too far, he would move. But this was a reckoning Stark had to face with his own hands.
To the Skies
The battle raged, tearing across the lot. Tony's armor dented under Monger's brutal blows, sparks flying. A bus crumpled under their struggle. Fire spread across the asphalt.
Then, with a sudden surge of power, Tony tackled Obadiah backward, repulsors igniting full force. The two armored titans blasted upward, breaking through the cloud cover, leaving the world behind.
The atmosphere thinned, the stars burned cold above. Ice began to creep across the Iron Monger's armor, frost clawing at its surface.
Inside his cockpit, Stane snarled. "You think you've won?"
Tony's voice was grim, hollow. "You forgot to ask how I solved the icing problem."
The Monger suit seized. Systems froze, hydraulics groaned. The stolen reactor's power lines flickered and failed.
Stane's rage turned to panic. "No! No, damn you!"
But Tony didn't release him. He held him there, for a heartbeat longer, until the glow in Monger's chest guttered. Then, with one final push, he let go.
Obadiah plummeted.
The Fall
The Iron Monger slammed into the ground with apocalyptic force. Concrete split, flames erupted, and the suit crumpled in on itself like a crushed tin can.
But unlike canon, there was no reactor to save him. The crude, unstable device sputtered and died. The armor peeled away like broken skin, exposing the man inside.
Obadiah Stane lay there, body broken, blood trickling from his mouth. His chest rose in ragged, failing gasps.
Tony descended, armor hissing as he landed near the wreckage. For a long moment, he just stood there, helmet tilted down, watching the man who had once been his father figure.
Stane's eyes flickered open, hazy but still sharp with defiance. "Tony… you… ungrateful… child."
Tony's jaw tightened. His voice cracked through the modulator, low, trembling with fury and grief. "You were supposed to protect me. My family. And all you cared about was your empire."
Stane coughed, blood bubbling. His hand twitched toward Tony, but it lacked strength. His voice was a whisper now, venom spent. "The world… will eat you alive."
Then the light left his eyes.
The Aftermath
For a long time, Tony didn't move. His armor's HUD displayed warnings, damage reports, rising vitals—but none of it registered. All he saw was the man lying broken before him.
A man who had once tucked him into bed after his parents' funeral.
A man who had cheered his first inventions.
A man who had taught him to read balance sheets and play politics.
A man who had betrayed him.
"Sir," Jarvis prompted gently in his ear. "Are you—"
"Don't," Tony said sharply. His voice cracked. He swallowed, forcing steel into his tone. "Just… don't."
Brendon's Quiet Role
From across the lot, Brendon's glasses dimmed as AEGIS confirmed Obadiah's vitals flatlined. He slipped them off, folding them neatly as Pepper rushed forward, her heels clicking desperately against the cracked concrete.
She froze when she saw Stane's body.
"Oh my god," she whispered.
Brendon placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Don't look at him. Look at Tony."
Tony finally turned, his faceplate lifting. His eyes were shadowed, distant, his usual spark dimmed under the weight of betrayal. Pepper's breath caught. She had never seen him look so… old.
For once, Brendon didn't speak. He simply stood there, silent, anchoring the moment with his presence.
A Jaded Tony
Back at the villa, later that night, the silence was unbearable.
Tony sat in his workshop, armor half-dismantled around him, staring at the arc reactor that now glowed faintly from his chest. A glass of scotch sat untouched on the table.
Brendon leaned against the workbench opposite him, arms crossed. He didn't press. He didn't offer platitudes. He just waited.
Finally, Tony spoke, his voice hollow. "He was family."
Brendon's gaze was steady. "And family can betray you worse than enemies ever could."
Tony looked up, bitterness sharp in his eyes. "You sound like you've lived this before."
Brendon shrugged faintly. "Different world. Same mistakes."
Silence again. Then Tony exhaled, running a hand over his face. "You know what's funny? I thought putting this suit on would make me invincible. Turns out it just makes you heavier when the world drags you down."
Brendon's lips quirked faintly. "Then don't let the world drag you. Make it chase you instead."
Tony snorted. Almost smiled. But it didn't reach his eyes.
The chapter ends not with triumph, but with a man staring into the abyss of betrayal, knowing he'll never look at power—or trust—the same way again.