Chapter 5: Fire and Flight
The cavern was no longer a makeshift workshop; it had become a slaughterhouse. Muzzle flashes ripped through the suffocating darkness, strobing the scene with sudden, terrifying flares of light. The echoes of the gunfire were deafening, the sound bouncing off the stone walls until it became a physical pressure inside Adam's ears. The interior of the cavern was thick, clotted with the acrid bite of gunpowder and the greasy reek of burnt fuel, each panicked breath searing Adam's lungs.
His Stamina hung at 40%, a critical, razor-thin edge. His limbs were heavy with fatigue's deep throb, and his head pounded like a war drum. Yet, survival's fire burned brighter, a fierce, desperate need that drove him into the fray's heart.
The Mark I charged. Tony was a blunt, terrifying force in its silver, boxy shell. Pistons screeched under the immense, sudden torque, and the stone floor trembled violently under the suit's colossal weight. Guards scattered like autumn leaves in a hurricane, the suit swinging its massive, crude fist and crushing any resistance with unthinking, mechanical cruelty.
Raza's screams—sharp, commanding, and laced with absolute, murderous rage—cut through the din, but were constantly swallowed by the suit's metallic roar. His silhouette barked desperate, frantic orders from the cave's mouth, his face twisted with the primal fury of a predator losing its prey.
"Why this chaos? This is not just an escape; it's Iron Man's birth. I am the glitch, the unstable variable, but I am the one keeping this beautiful, terrifying moment alive. I have to keep them focused on Tony."
Adam darted to the side, his boots slipping precariously on the grit and spent casings. His heart hammered, a frantic drum against his ribs, as he desperately tried to guard Tony's blind spot—the Mark I's clunky, exposed back. He fidgeted with the frayed threads of his sleeve again, a last-ditch effort to steady nerves that were fraying like old rope. His eyes scanned frantically for immediate threats, for any weapon that could penetrate the suit's crude armor.
"Why me? Fanboy turned bodyguard. My job is simple: survive, and for God's sake, don't stack any more bodies. Yinsen's watching me."
He focused his will, the intent surging for non-lethal control. He spotted Guard G frantically attempting to reload a heavy machine gun—a threat that could shred the suit's joints with sustained fire. The Push he initiated was a controlled gust, not a storm, a surgical application of force. The man flew backward, impacting a stack of oil barrels with a loud, clattering crash. The barrels rolled, the man groaning, alive but useless.
"Why hold back? Guilt's at 30%. I can't break the chain. I can't step closer to the villain arc the system mocks me with. I have to be better."
Suddenly, a terrifying glint of light flashed in his peripheral vision. Guard H was on him, knife extended, lunging with feral intent for Adam's side. The threat of contact was immediate, primal, and unavoidable. Panic sparked like a live wire, and the system's hum flared instantly, a sharp, metallic sting of ozone flooding his nose.
[UNTOUCHABLE LAW ACTIVATED. INTENT DETECTED: HOSTILE AND IMMEDIATE. FATAL PUSH EVENTS: 2. PUSH INITIATED.]
The moment was instantaneous, a pure, terrifying reflex. The Guard's chest simply caved, a wet, sickening crunch of bone and tissue. He slammed the stone wall next to the fissure, his helmet rattling, his body crumpling instantly, lifeless. The coppery reek of fresh blood flooded the thick interior of the cavern, sharp and shocking against the haze of gunpowder.
Adam's stomach lurched, bile rising hot in his throat. Guilt's knife twisted violently, and his hands trembled, clenching his sleeves to bloody knots. His vision swam wildly from the sudden, uncontrolled drain of power and the paralyzing shock.
"Two kills. My hands are stained. I'm not Iron Man—I'm the grim reaper. This isn't heroism; it's instinctual, lethal self-defense. I couldn't stop it."
"Why lethal? Because instinct is a traitor. The system's primary function overrode my restraint. And now guilt is my jailer. I feel sick."
The system's holographic grid bloomed, runes dancing a frantic blue, static prickling his skin with incredible intensity. A new display slammed into his sight with electric clarity.
[SKILL UNLOCKED: MIRROR PUSH LV. 1. STAMINA DRAIN: 20%. FATAL PUSH EVENTS: 2.]
[GUILT: +10%.]
[NEW TOYS IN THE APOCALYPSE, PUSHER. MIRROR PUSH GRANTS CHOICE. USE IT. OR DON'T. I'M JUST CODE, BUT I'M WARNING YOU.]
His Stamina crashed violently to 20%. His legs buckled beneath him, his head splitting with a migraine as the fatigue spiked. The cavern's relentless heat seemed to sear his skin, the gunpowder choking his lungs, the atmosphere alive with chaos's pulse.
[POV: Tony Stark]
The kid was a ghost, a blur of motion at his back. Tony could hear the thud-clatter of bodies without any visible push, a silent, deadly anomaly. He saw the guilt flash in Adam's eyes—wide, terrified, and instantly remorseful—despite the snarky quips. His hands were shaking violently, like he was carrying a weight heavier than the very suit Tony was piloting.
"Why's he breaking down? That power's no tech, no Stark invention. It's raw, primal, and it's bleeding him dry. What the hell is he hiding? He's going to collapse, and I won't be able to get him."
The arc reactor hummed, a steady, physical pulse that anchored Tony as he swung the iron arm, crushing Guard E into the rough stone wall. The thud was sickening, swallowed instantly by the screams and the gunfire. Tony's focus was split, one part on the tactical fight, the other on the kid's rapidly failing physical state.
"He's saving my ass. He's my literal edge. He's bleeding for it. I owe him. I owe him big. I have to get him out of here."
Tony smashed his foot down, crushing a discarded rifle. He took a heavy, grinding step toward the fissure, the exhaust flames scorching the stone behind him.
[POV: Adam Reed]
Through the haze of pain and fatigue, Adam saw Raza. The Ten Rings leader had finally lost his tactical patience. He was standing exposed, aiming his rifle with cold, focused intent at the Mark I's vulnerable leg actuator—the joint Yinsen had been working on. A snarl twisted Raza's face, the look of a predator scenting blood.
Adam's will surged, but Yinsen moved faster. The doctor, silent, serene, stepped deliberately into the open, away from the suit, away from the immediate safety of the wall. His hands were raised, not in surrender, but in profound, heartbreaking defiance. His humming was soft—a lilting lullaby in the chaotic storm, his glasses catching the forge's final, dying glow.
"No. Yinsen. Don't. Don't be the hero. Not you. I can still save you. I still have a Push left."
"My friends have escaped," Yinsen said, his voice thin but completely unshaken, cutting through the gunpowder's haze with piercing, terminal clarity. The sound was surprisingly loud, silencing the immediate fighting.
"Don't waste your bullets on me. Their freedom's worth more than my life."
His eyes locked directly on Adam, profound and unyielding, a silent, terrible command etched in his gaze: Live free, Adam. Carry the guilt, but survive.
"Power's a heavy chain, Adam! Don't let it crush you. Live free!"
"Why his sacrifice? He is the heart. The calm center. And I am failing him. My power is useless if it can't save the man who taught me how to breathe again. I was too slow."
Raza's sneer flashed, a moment of savage triumph. His rifle barked, the sound sharp and terrible. Bullets tore through Yinsen with wet, sickening thuds. Blood's coppery scent overwhelmed everything, and the doctor's body crumpled slow, a quiet, horrifying fall in the chaos of the gunfire.
Adam collapsed to his knees, his jaw clenched so hard he thought his teeth would shatter. Grief was a paralyzing ice, a heavy, crushing weight that far exceeded any Stamina drain. The cavern's echoes swallowed his silent, choked scream.
"He's gone. I let him fall. I couldn't save him. Power is utterly useless if it can't save the ones you care about. I'm a joke, a fraud."
"Why me? I'm the glitch. I'm the one who shouldn't be here. And now, the one true good man is dead because I hesitated. Because I was afraid of the guilt."
Tony roared—a terrifying, metallic sound that shook the cave harder than the ignition. The Mark I charged, instantly transforming into a beast of pure vengeance. Pistons screamed as Tony barreled blindly through the guards, ignoring the incoming fire. But Raza, seeing his window, signaled a final, desperate move. Guard H—a fresh soldier on a ledge—shouldered an RPG. Its distinctive hiss was a death knell, aimed directly at the Mark I's exposed arc reactor.
"Why now? No. Save Tony. Honor Yinsen's last command. Be the spark. I have a choice now. I have the new skill. I have to try."
Adam scrambled to his feet, his head splitting with fatigue, a desperate, impossible clarity washing over him. He visualized the rocket's vector, the line of its flight, and willed the Untouchable Law to not just repel, but reverse its path. Energy surged violently through his bones, an immediate, searing drain.
[MIRROR PUSH USED. STAMINA: 5% (-15%).]
The rocket paused. The space around it shimmered violently, creating a terrifying, visible wave of force. Then, with a sound like tearing silk, it shot backward, slamming into Guard H and vaporizing him in a blinding, white-hot explosion. Debris rained down, dust choked the volume, and the blast's heat seared Adam's already-aching face like a brand.
[FATAL PUSH EVENTS: 3. GUILT: +10%.]
He hit the ground, the shockwave throwing him violently against the wall. Guilt spiked to a sickening 45%. The system's voice cut sharp and mocking through the smoke.
[NICE SAVE, PUSHER. GUILT'S GOT YOU. YOU'RE ALMOST AT THE HALF-POINT. DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL, OR YOU'LL BREAK.]
"Why save him? Yinsen is gone. But Tony is the light. He is the future. I have to keep that light burning. That is my purpose here, my final, blood-soaked justification."
Tony's jets roared, the primitive propulsion system tearing a jagged hole in the ceiling of the outer cave. The Mark I ascended into the cold desert night, a terrifying scar of metal and defiance, leaving Adam utterly alone in the crushing chaos, next to the body of the man who saved him.
He crawled toward Yinsen, his body operating on pure instinct, Stamina at zero. But the pillar next to him groaned—weakened by the RPG, cracked by the original ignition. It gave way. The rubble slammed down, a torrent of stone, dust, and metal burying him instantly in a crushing, suffocating dark.
"Three kills, one loss. I'm alone, buried in my own power. My phase failed. I'm trapped, and I deserved this grave."
"Why untouchable? Even Yinsen is gone. I couldn't even hold his hand to say goodbye. Touch is my curse. Isolation is my grave. I can't move. I'm fading."
The isolation bit sharp, a profound, lingering ache. Survival's tax had been paid in blood and fear, justifying Tony's desperate rescue. The dust motes swirled in the residual glow, like the ghosts of the cave. The system's faint, dying hum was a fragile thread in the absolute void, the scent of dust and Yinsen's blood clinging to his throat.
MORE POWER STONES == MORE CHAPTERS
To supporting Me in Pateron .
Love [ Mavel : With Untouchable System ]? Unlock More Chapters and Support the Story!
Dive deeper into the world of [ Mavel : With Untouchable System ] with exclusive access to 35+ chapters on my Patreon, plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $5/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes like [ Game Of Throne ,MCU and Arrowverse, Breaking Bad , The Walking dead ,The Hobbit,Wednesday].
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
👉 Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!