# Chapter 12: I Am Iron Man
Tony's voice came through, unusually serious. "Lin, I need you at the mansion. Press conference in a few hours, and I want to discuss something first."
When Lin Chen arrived, he found Tony in his workshop, staring at the Mark II armor 3D blueprint with a troubled expression. Pepper was there too, organizing files nervously.
"Coffee?" Pepper offered, though her hands were shaking slightly.
"I'm shutting it down," Tony announced abruptly. "Stark Industries weapons manufacturing. All of it."
Lin Chen had been expecting this, but Pepper's reaction was immediate shock. "Tony, you can't just—the board will never—"
"The board doesn't get a vote," Tony interrupted. "I saw my weapons in the hands of the people who kidnapped me. Weapons that were supposed to protect people being used to kill Americans. It ends now."
He turned to Lin Chen. "You own one percent of the company. That makes you a shareholder. I wanted to tell you before the press conference."
"The stock will crash," Lin Chen observed calmly.
"Probably by forty, maybe fifty percent," Tony agreed. "Stark Industries' value is largely tied to military contracts. When I announce this, investors will panic."
Pepper looked horrified. "Tony, this will destroy the company's market value."
"I know it," Tony replied. "Because I'm going to revolutionize clean energy with arc reactor technology. When investors realize that potential, Stark Industries will be worth more than it ever was as a weapons manufacturer. It'll just take time."
"Risky play," Lin Chen admitted. "But I like your confidence."
"Speaking of which—" Tony tapped his chest where the arc reactor glowed. "I've been working on a more efficient version. The one I built in the cave was crude but functional. This new design is cleaner, more powerful, and—"
A knock interrupted them. Happy Hogan entered. "Boss, Obadiah's here. Says it's urgent."
Tony's expression darkened slightly. "Tell him I'm busy."
"He says it's about the board meeting. They're moving up the vote."
Tony sighed. "Fine. Send him down."
Lin Chen noticed the tension in Tony's shoulders. "You don't trust him."
"He's been acting strange since I got back," Tony admitted quietly. "More secretive. More... aggressive about company direction."
---
Later That Day - Stark Industries Press Conference
The conference room was packed. Tony stood at the podium, looking remarkably casual for someone about to destroy billions in shareholder value.
"I never got to say goodbye to my father," Tony began, his usual swagger replaced with genuine emotion. "There were questions I would've asked him. How he felt about what his company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts."
He paused, looking directly at the cameras. "I saw people killed by the very weapons I created to defend them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."
The room fell silent.
"Effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries until such time as I can decide what the future of the company will be."
Chaos erupted. Reporters shouted questions, board members looked stricken, cameras flashed everywhere.
Obadiah Stane, standing in the back, watched with barely concealed fury.
Lin Chen, observing from the side, immediately messaged Daisy: *Stark stock about to crash. Buy everything you can at the bottom. Use $200 million.*
Within hours, Stark Industries stock had plummeted 47%. Daisy executed the purchases flawlessly, acquiring massive amounts of shares at bargain prices.
---
One Month Later - Stark Mansion
Tony was in his workshop, sitting to relax after refining the Mark III. He'd been working for hours.
Obadiah Stane walked in, holding a small cylindrical device.
"Taking a nap?" Obadiah asked, his tone oddly flat.
"Always," Tony replied, not looking up. "Listen, about today—I know it was a shock, but—"
"Breathe," Obadiah interrupted. "Easy, easy..."
Tony tried to turn, but his body suddenly locked up. Paralysis spread through his limbs as the device in Obadiah's hand emitted a barely audible frequency.
"You remember this, don't you?" Obadiah asked conversationally, holding up the device. "taser. Stark Industries helped develop it back in the nineties. Temporarily paralyzes the nervous system. Quite effective."
Tony's eyes widened in horror as his body refused to respond to his commands.
"Tony, Tony, Tony," Obadiah said, shaking his head sadly. "You had everything. The company, the weapons contracts, the respect of the military-industrial complex. And you threw it all away with your guilt-ridden conscience."
He walked closer, looming over Tony's paralyzed form. "I tried to guide you. Tried to keep you focused on what matters—profit, power, market dominance. But you insisted on this ridiculous crusade."
Obadiah reached down toward Tony's chest, pressing his fingers against the arc reactor housing. "The truth is, Tony... I've always been in your shadow. Your father's shadow. Everyone sees Stark Industries as your company, when I'm the one who kept it running all these years."
With a hiss of releasing pressure and Tony's muffled groan of pain, Obadiah yanked the arc reactor free from his chest.
The glowing blue light that had been keeping Tony alive was now in Obadiah's hands.
"But with this," Obadiah said, holding up the reactor admiringly, "I don't need you anymore. I can build my own suit. Better than yours. More powerful. And when I present it to the military, they'll see who the real genius is."
Tony's vision was already darkening, his heart struggling without the electromagnetic regulation preventing shrapnel from reaching it. He tried to speak, but only managed a choked gasp.
"It's nothing personal," Obadiah said, turning toward the door. "Just business. You understand business, don't you, Tony?"
He paused at the doorway. "Oh, and that weapons shutdown? The board's going to overturn it tomorrow. I've already secured the votes. Stark Industries will continue exactly as before—just without you."
Obadiah left, taking the arc reactor with him.
Tony lay on the floor, each breath becoming harder, his chest burning where the reactor had been torn free. His vision tunneled, consciousness slipping away.
With the last of his strength, he crawled toward his workbench. His fingers found the glass case—a display Pepper had made containing his very first arc reactor, the crude Mark I version built in the cave.
The inscription read: "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart."
Tony's hand shook violently as he reached for it. He missed once, twice, his coordination failing as his brain starved for oxygen.
On the third attempt, he smashed the glass.
The old reactor tumbled out. Tony grabbed it, fumbling with the connections, his vision going gray at the edges.
Click.
The Mark I reactor engaged. Blue light flooded back into his chest cavity. Tony gasped, color returning to his face as the electromagnetic field stabilized.
"JARVIS," Tony croaked, still lying on the floor. "Track... Obadiah..."
"Sir, Mr. Stane's vehicle is heading toward Sector 16 of the industrial complex."
Tony's expression hardened as strength returned to his limbs. "He's powering up the Iron Monger. Get the Mark III ready."
"Sir, your current reactor is operating at sixty-three percent efficiency compared to the stolen unit. Extended combat is inadvisable."
"Noted," Tony said, standing on shaky legs. "Prep the suit anyway. I'm not letting that bastard get away with this."
---
Stark Industrial Estate - Sector 16
The massive Iron Monger suit powered up with a deep, thrumming hum. Arc reactor energy—Tony's arc reactor—flowed through its systems, bringing the behemoth to life.
Obadiah stood in the cockpit, feeling raw power at his fingertips. The suit was enormous, nearly twice the size of Tony's Mark III, with weapons systems that could level a city block.
"Now this," Obadiah said to himself, flexing the suit's massive arms, "is what real power feels like."
His sensors detected an incoming signature. Red and gold armor, flying fast.
"Perfect timing," Obadiah smiled coldly. "Let's see if the student can match the master."
The Iron Monger burst through the building's roof with explosive force, rising to meet Tony's approach.
Tony arrived in seconds, repulsors charged and fury in his voice. "Obadiah! Land that suit now! It's over!"
"Over?" Obadiah's laugh boomed through the Iron Monger's external speakers. "I'm just getting started! You threw away a weapons empire, Tony. I'm going to rebuild it—better, stronger, and without your moral weakness holding it back!"
The Iron Monger's massive fist swung with devastating speed.
Tony tried to dodge, but the Mark I reactor's reduced power made his movements sluggish. The punch connected, sending him spinning through the air like a missile.
He crashed through a billboard, recovered mid-flight, and fired repulsors at the Iron Monger's chest. The beams scorched the armor but barely dented it.
"Is that all you've got?" Obadiah taunted. "My suit has three times your armor plating!"
They collided in mid-air, grappling like titans. The Iron Monger's superior size and strength gave it the advantage, grabbing Tony and hurling him toward the ground.
Tony recovered just before impact, firing thrusters to redirect his trajectory. He came around for another pass, launching a volley of micro-missiles.
The explosions peppered the Iron Monger but caused only superficial damage. Obadiah retaliated with his own missile pods, filling the sky with deadly projectiles.
Tony's enhanced reflexes, powered by his arc reactor and JARVIS's assistance, allowed him to dodge most of them. But his power levels were dropping fast.
"Sir, power at thirty-seven percent," JARVIS warned. "The Mark I reactor cannot sustain combat operations at this intensity."
"I know!" Tony snapped, firing repulsors at the Iron Monger's joints, trying to disable mobility systems.
But Obadiah had learned from Tony's designs. The Iron Monger's armor was too thick, too well-protected.
"You were like a son to me!" Obadiah roared, catching Tony with the Iron Monger's massive hand and crushing him against a building's wall. Concrete crumbled under the impact. "And you betrayed everything we built!"
"You sold weapons to terrorists!" Tony shot back, breaking free with a maximum-power repulsor blast that drained his reserves dangerously low. "You tried to have me killed!"
"It was business, Tony! Just business!" Obadiah's Gatling gun spun up, filling the air with thousands of rounds.
Tony's shield held, but barely. The impacts drained more power from his already failing reactor.
"Sir, power at eighteen percent. Emergency reserves activating."
The fight escalated, both suits climbing higher into the sky. But Tony's reactor was failing faster than he'd anticipated. The Mark I simply couldn't provide enough sustained energy for prolonged combat.
Obadiah sensed the weakness. "You're running out of power, Tony! I can see your reactor fluctuating! When it dies, so do you!"
He fired a concentrated barrage, every weapon system firing simultaneously.
Tony tried to evade, but his thrusters sputtered. The blast caught him full-force, sending him plummeting from the sky.
"Sir, reactor at seven percent. Flight systems offline. Brace for impact."
Tony crashed into the ground with tremendous force, the Mark III armor embedded deep in the cracked pavement of the industrial estate. His arc reactor flickered, barely functioning, the Mark I design never meant to handle this kind of stress.
Obadiah descended, landing with enough force to create a crater. The Iron Monger towered over Tony's prone form, weapons systems targeting his downed enemy.
"It's over, Tony," Obadiah said, his voice carrying a note of finality. "You lose."
Tony struggled to move, but his suit had no power left. The display inside his helmet showed cascading system failures. He was completely defenseless.
"Goodbye, son," Obadiah said with false sadness. "Thank you for the technology. I'll put it to much better use than you ever could."
The Iron Monger's arm weapons charged—a lethal combination of missiles and energy weapons that would obliterate Tony entirely.
---
Ground Level
Lin Chen had been watching the battle from a safe distance with Pepper, who was horrified by the violence and Tony's obvious defeat.
"We have to help him!" Pepper cried, trying to run toward the crash site.
Lin Chen gently held her back. "Stay here. I'll handle this."
He moved with enhanced speed, crossing the battlefield in seconds as Obadiah prepared to execute Tony.
The Iron Monger fired.
A cluster of micro-missiles streaked toward Tony's helpless form, their contrails bright against the night sky.
Lin Chen appeared in front of Tony, raised his fist, and punched the incoming missiles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions were tremendous, fire and shrapnel filling the air. Pepper screamed from her position. When the smoke cleared, Lin Chen stood completely unharmed.
"What—" Obadiah's voice cracked with disbelief through the Iron Monger's speakers. "What the hell are you?"
"Someone who's had enough," Lin Chen replied, his voice cold and steady.
The Iron Monger turned its full arsenal on this new threat.
Gatling guns roared to life, missiles launched, repulsor blasts fired—everything Obadiah had, unleashed at maximum power.
Lin Chen walked forward through the onslaught.
Bullets bounced off his skin like rain. Missiles exploded against his body and dissipated harmlessly. Energy beams washed over him with no effect whatsoever.
His physique rating of 2147.6 made him effectively invulnerable to conventional weapons. The Iron Monger's firepower, devastating as it was, simply couldn't harm him.
"Impossible!" Obadiah screamed, panic entering his voice. "Nothing human can withstand that! You're not human! What are you?!"
Lin Chen didn't answer. His enhanced speed carried him to the Iron Monger in an instant.
His fist, backed by hundreds of tons of force, struck the Iron Monger's chest plate with surgical precision.
CRACK!
The sound was like a cannon shot. The titanium-tungsten alloy armor—designed to withstand tank rounds and missile strikes—crumpled like aluminum foil.
The entire massive suit lifted off the ground from the impact, flying backward and crashing through a concrete support pillar before tumbling to a stop fifty meters away.
Obadiah's screams echoed from inside the suit, injured by the violent impact despite the armor's protection.
Lin Chen didn't give him time to recover. Moving with his enhanced agility, he appeared beside the downed Iron Monger and tore into the chest plate with his bare hands.
Metal screeched and groaned as it bent. Reinforced panels designed to withstand explosions were peeled away like paper. Within seconds, Lin Chen had exposed the cockpit.
Obadiah Stane stared up in absolute terror, blood running from his mouth and nose where the impact had caused internal injuries. The stolen arc reactor flickered in the damaged systems around him.
"Please," Obadiah gasped. "Please... I'll give you anything... money, power, technology... whatever you want..."
"You tried to kill my friend," Lin Chen said simply, reaching in.
"No! Wait! We can make a deal! I have resources! Connections! I can—"
Lin Chen's hand closed around Obadiah's throat. One controlled squeeze, just enough force applied to the right location.
Crack.
Obadiah Stane's struggles stopped instantly, his neck broken cleanly.
Lin Chen reached into the Iron Monger's power core and carefully extracted Tony's arc reactor. The advanced Mark II design was undamaged despite the violence of the battle.
He walked back to where Tony lay in his crater, armor smoking and systems dead. Pepper had rushed over despite the danger, helping Tony remove his helmet with shaking hands.
[DETECTED! Mark III Armor Technology Knowledge. DO YOU WANT TO PICK UP?]
[Y/N]
Lin Chen mentally selected Y.
[DING! Mark III Armor Technology Knowledge ACQUIRED]
Tony's face was pale, the Mark I reactor in his chest flickering weakly. "Lin... you just..."
"Here," Lin Chen said, handing Tony the stolen arc reactor. "I think this belongs to you."
Tony stared at the glowing device—the same one Obadiah had ripped from his chest hours earlier. His hands trembled as he took it.
"He was going to kill you," Lin Chen said calmly, helping Tony remove the failing Mark I reactor and install the Mark II. "I don't apologize for protecting my friends."
The new reactor clicked into place. Blue light flooded Tony's chest with renewed intensity, power flooding back into the Mark III's systems.
Tony took a deep, grateful breath as his suit came back online. "You killed him."
"Yes."
"Just... tore through a suit designed to be indestructible and killed him with your bare hands."
"Yes."
Tony looked at the destroyed Iron Monger, then at Lin Chen, then back at the wreckage. "That's it? You just one-shot the Iron Monger and killed Obadiah Stane?"
"The suit was damaged from your fight," Lin Chen replied with a slight shrug. "And he was trying to murder you. The response was proportional."
Pepper, still processing everything, helped Tony stand. "I'm just glad you're alive," she said quietly, though her voice shook.
"Thanks to Lin," Tony acknowledged, looking at his friend with genuine gratitude and a touch of awe. "Okay, I seriously need to think about your power levels later. Because that was genuinely terrifying."
Lin Chen smiled wryly. "Right now, military and media will be here soon. You need a story."
---
The Next Day - Press Conference
Lin Chen sat in the back of the packed conference room, watching history unfold.
Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided Tony with a cover story—Obadiah had gone rogue, there was a malfunction with the prototype suit, Tony had tried to save him but failed. Clean, simple, defensible.
Tony was supposed to read the prepared statement and walk away.
But this was Tony Stark.
"Yeah, I've been better," Tony said in response to a reporter's question. He glanced at the cards Coulson had provided. "The truth is..."
He paused, looking at the cameras, then at the expectant faces filling the room.
Christine Everhart, the reporter Tony had history with, called out: "Mr. Stark, there's been speculation that you're involved in the deaths. That you have some kind of bodyguard—"
"I'm not my bodyguard," Tony interrupted, setting down the cards.
"Then what happened? How did Obadiah Stane die?" another reporter pressed.
Tony stood silent for a moment, clearly wrestling with his decision.
Rhodey, sitting beside him in full military dress uniform, whispered urgently: "Tony. Just stick to the cards."
Tony glanced at his friend, then back at the sea of reporters and cameras. A slight smile crossed his face—that characteristic Stark expression of someone about to do something reckless.
"The truth is..."
He took a breath, threw away the cards, and looked directly into the cameras.
"I am Iron Man."
The room exploded. Reporters surged forward shouting questions, cameras flashed like strobe lights, and pandemonium erupted as the implications hit everyone simultaneously.
Lin Chen watched with satisfaction. The public reveal was earlier than some timelines, but this was always who Tony was—someone who couldn't hide in shadows, who needed the world to know what he stood for.
After the chaos subsided and security cleared the room, Tony found Lin Chen waiting outside.
"Well," Tony said, loosening his tie, "that's done. No going back now."
"You never were good at hiding," Lin Chen observed.
"True. But hey, at least now I can work on the suit openly. No more sneaking around pretending I'm not Iron Man." He paused. "You know someone is going to have opinions about this."
"When don't they?"
Tony laughed. "Fair point. Listen, I meant what I said before. You saved my life twice now—once in Afghanistan, once from Obadiah. That makes you probably my best friend, which is sad commentary on my life, but there it is. If you ever need anything..."
"I'll keep that in mind," Lin Chen replied. "And Tony? Congratulations. You just changed the world."
Tony's expression turned serious. "Let's hope it's for the better. Iron Man is out there now. No secret identity, no deniability. Just me, in a suit, trying to make up for all the weapons I built that killed people."
"You'll do fine," Lin Chen assured him. "You're Iron Man. Act like it."
---
That Night - Driving Back to New York
As Lin Chen drove Tony's gifted sports car back to New York, he reflected on everything accomplished.
His total wealth now exceeded $650 million with the Stark stock purchases that would skyrocket once investors understood arc reactor potential.
More importantly, the age of heroes had officially begun. Iron Man was public. The world knew superheroes existed.
His phone buzzed. Message from Daisy: Boss, you need to see this. Strange seismic activity detected in Queens. Massive energy signature.