Filled with rage, Tony charged forward, completely unaware that the "actor" he had just left behind was currently discussing the script with the "director."
The Ten Rings terrorists had already received the alarm. Despite being surrounded by crates of RPGs and heavy explosives, they ignored them, opting to aim their standard assault rifles at the cave entrance. Knowing only that Stark had built something to escape, they foolishly believed their guns would be enough to put him down.
Hearing heavy, metallic footsteps rapidly approaching, the gunmen braced themselves. But as the thudding grew louder and louder, a creeping dread seized their hearts. The unknown was always the greatest source of fear. When a hulking suit of iron armor finally stepped out of the shadows, the terrorists were terrified. They screamed battle cries just to bolster their own courage and opened fire.
Unfortunately for them, screaming didn't magically increase the armor-piercing capabilities of their bullets. The rounds sparked harmlessly against Tony's crude armor, not even leaving a dent.
"My turn," Tony growled from inside the mask, having let them empty their magazines.
He raised both arms, and twin streams of roaring fire erupted from the gauntlets, engulfing the armed men in front of him.
These insurgents were used to intimidating unarmed civilians; they had literally retreated when Yinsen blindly fired at the ceiling. Facing a literal fire-breathing iron golem, they instantly broke rank and scattered. Hardly any of them even attempted to fight back.
Tony relentlessly advanced, laying down fire. However, near the camp's exit, a terrorist manned a heavy machine gun emplacement, successfully pinning the Mark I down. Taking advantage of the suppression, another militant flanked Tony and fired a burst into the exposed gears of his leg joints—landing the most critical hit of the entire breakout.
Tony tried to step forward, but his leg was completely locked up.
The situation was turning dire. Just as he prepared to trigger the emergency jetpack to blast his way out, he suddenly noticed the enemy gunfire abruptly stopping. One by one, the terrorists collapsed to the dirt. Twin throwing stars were buried deep in each of their necks.
"Hey, Mr. Stark. Any interest in remembering my name now?"
Dozens of pitch-black ninjas surged from the shadows, silently executing the remaining combatants as Luke casually strolled out of the darkness.
"You? The camera kid?" Tony stared through his iron eye slits, barely able to believe it.
Luke nodded. "Want to commit it to memory this time? Luke, Security Consultant for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."
Tony let out a long, exhausted breath. "Alright, kid. You win. I might actually remember that for the rest of my life."
Luke watched as his ninjas dispatched the last stragglers before melding back into the shadows. Seeing Tony awkwardly struggling to take a single step in his jammed suit, Luke sauntered over with a grin.
"Need a hand?"
"Obviously. Give me a lift, my suit's shot and my legs are locked."
Luke summoned a few ninjas to pry the heavy iron plates off Tony, finally freeing him from his metal prison. Watching the silent assassins melt back into the ground, Tony looked at Luke with genuine curiosity. "Is that a superpower?"
Luke gave a noncommittal nod. Thank God the Marvel Universe already had a precedent for enhanced individuals; otherwise, explaining this would be a massive headache.
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"Right, listen. The body of a friend of mine is still in the cave. Can you have your guys bring him out?" Tony asked, the weight of Yinsen's sacrifice crushing him.
"Uh, we probably don't have time for that. The fires are about to set off their main explosive stockpile. We need to go, now." Feigning absolute urgency, Luke ordered his ninjas to grab Tony and sprint away from the camp, not giving the billionaire a single second to look back.
'Are you kidding me?' Luke thought. If Tony went back and found Yinsen's body missing, he'd have a complete mental breakdown. And Luke definitely wasn't going to actually kill Yinsen just to maintain continuity.
They ran several miles across the desert before Luke finally ordered a halt.
"It doesn't look like anything exploded," Tony noted, looking back toward the distant camp with a frown.
"Must be slow-burning fuses. Either way, we're safe. I'm calling for an evac. A chopper will be here to pick us up soon, so just stay put."
"Alright. Thanks, paparazzo," Tony muttered, too exhausted to argue. Having literally just crawled his way out of hell, his only desires in the world were a long sleep and a long-overdue American cheeseburger.
Luke pulled out his satellite phone and dialed Coulson, telling him to immediately send a rescue team with two cheeseburgers, otherwise Tony Stark might actually drop dead.
Ten minutes later, the rhythmic thumping of rotor blades echoed across the dunes as two helicopters approached.
"Hey! Over here!" Tony waved frantically.
The choppers touched down, kicking up a storm of sand. Coulson and Rhodey hopped out. Rhodey immediately rushed over and pulled Tony into a tight embrace.
"Next time, how about you don't ride in the 'Fun-Vee' by yourself, okay?" Rhodey choked out.
Meanwhile, Luke grabbed a paper bag from Coulson. "Hey, billionaire. Want to buy a cheeseburger for a million bucks?"
Tony's eyes locked onto the wrapped burger in Luke's hand. "Under normal circumstances, I'd sue you for extortion. But right now? Put me down for three."
Snatching the burger, Tony looked back toward the distant valley. Just as he was about to ask Rhodey to send a team in to recover Yinsen's body, a deafening explosion shattered the desert silence. A massive fireball bloomed into a miniature mushroom cloud, completely collapsing the canyon and burying the Ten Rings camp under thousands of tons of rock.
'Well, I guess you really aren't coming back,' Tony thought somberly. He looked down at the cheeseburger in his hand, Yinsen's final words echoing in his mind: Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.
"Hey, kid," Tony said suddenly. "How much money do you think I'd make if I started selling burgers?"
Luke blinked, completely thrown off. 'Wait, what? You're supposed to pivot to clean energy and Iron Man suits! Why are you trying to open a fast-food chain? Was Yinsen's acting so traumatic that it completely rewired his brain?'
Having just ordered his ninjas to detonate the terrorists' stockpile to tie up the loose ends of this little theatrical production, Luke absolutely refused to let Tony become a fry cook.
"Honestly? I think you'd have better luck selling construction materials for children's hospitals," Luke retorted sarcastically.
Tony shrugged helplessly. Considering the kid had just saved his life, he decided to let the sass slide for today.
As the group boarded the helicopters to head home, Luke cast a subtle glance toward a distant ridge, where a lone figure stood watching them leave.
Ho Yinsen watched the helicopters disappear over the horizon. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Tony," he murmured to the wind. "But that kid was just a little too terrifying to argue with."
Remembering how that army of phantom ninjas had effortlessly slaughtered the entire camp in seconds—moving with a lethal synchronization that made elite special forces look like children—Yinsen couldn't help but shiver.
"I suppose he left you all under my command, didn't he?" Yinsen turned around, looking at the fifty Shadow Ninjas standing silently behind him in the desert sun.
"Then let's go save some people. The operating table isn't the only place I can save a life." Yinsen picked up a discarded rifle, the memory of his murdered family hardening his resolve.
"Don't waste your life." He smiled faintly. "Right. That's exactly what I'll do."
From the helicopter window, Luke mentally checked in on Yinsen.
After a brief chat earlier, Luke had temporarily transferred command of fifty Shadow Ninjas to the doctor. However, once those ninjas were destroyed and returned to the shadow realm, Luke wasn't going to send reinforcements. If Yinsen truly wanted to save his country, he couldn't rely solely on a borrowed shadow army; he needed to unite the local populace.
The locals harbored a deep, burning hatred for the Ten Rings. It wouldn't be hard for a good man like Yinsen to rally them into a proper resistance. The fifty ninjas were just a starter pack—a safeguard to ensure Yinsen wasn't killed by a stray bullet in the early stages, and a force multiplier to help him train the militia.
'I don't know how far you'll get,' Luke thought silently, looking out over the endless desert, 'but I hope you achieve your goals, Doc.'