New York City, New York - Sunday Evening

[hoorayimrich]

Rhodey
"Are you insane? We just got finished dealing with Gene!" Rhodey asked over the comms. They were somewhere over Florida, going at a pace that the War Machine armor could follow.


Tony
Tony stared resolutely at his display in the helmet, not thinking about Gene or his father or however long it would take to get him back. Not at all. "Yeah, and now Stane is apparently making meetings with Hammer Multinational."

Thank you, CNN for covering the actions of a billionaire that made Tony feel almost down to earth in comparison.

"And when did Justin take over the company?"


Rhodey
There was a sigh on the other end of the line at that. "Not long ago. It was all over the news, Tony. But that's really not the important part here. We need to recuperate."


Tony
"And we will!" Tony let him know, peeling away from the column they were travelling in. "Once I do a little recon. I'll meet you in New York, okay?"


Rhodey
"Tony!"


Tony
Okay, so maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to leave Rhodey out like that. But this was just going to be observing, nothing dangerous. And if it was dangerous... Rhodey wouldn't be in harm's way. He really could not handle that right now, thanks.

And besides, his armor could cover the distance in a fraction of the time that the War Machine could. Maybe he should look into balancing the offensive capabilities with flight systems a bit better. But, there wasn't time for that now. He watched the ever blonde, ever smarmy form of Justin Hammer through the security cameras in place at Stark International as the man made his way up to the building, waving to the press as though he was an actual celebrity.

He kicked the jets into high gear, silently watching the timer on how long before he could arrive. It was better than replaying Peru over and over in his head. Again.



Stane
"Mr. Hammer is waiting for you, sir," Trisha, who had been Howard Stark's secretary and was now Obidiah Stane's said, standing meekly in the doorway.

"How long as he been waiting now?" Stane asked, looking away from the window with a grim smile. "Nevermind. Make him wait another ten minutes before sending him in."

He was a petty, petty man.


Justin
Before the she could make it through the door, the ever smug form of Justin Hammer appeared, shoving her forcefully to the side as he made his way into the room "It's not polite to keep people waiting, Obidiah. Especially not your future employer."


Stane
"Don't bother getting comfortable, Hammer. You're not staying."


Justin
Justin gave him a sad little pout at that. "Why do you have to be so pig-headed, Stane? In a year, Tony Stark will take over and you'll be selling t-shirts in the lobby."


Stane
"We'll see about that," Stane replied, lip curling up into a sneer. "If you think I'm going to let some snot nose, wet behind the ears punk take over the company I've spent half of my lifetime to acquire, you're out of your mind. I worked to get what I own. Unlike your... rather questionable inheritance."


Tony
Outside the building, Tony hovered. He'd already hacked all the security systems, so none would pick up on him being there. Now it was just a matter of staying out of sight from the people inside. Easy as pie.

Even if that did mean holding his tongue as the two inside discussed his father's company as though they had any right to it. As though he wouldn't put up a fight to keep it.


Justin
Once the charming little conversation ended with a security escort out of the building, Hammer was back down to wave graciously at the press who had followed him there.

And not just because he'd had his personal assistant tip all of them off to the meeting. Really.


Tony
Something pinged in the lower corner of the display within the helmet, drawing Tony's attention away from spectacle below. An alert he'd never really expected to see again after his suit had gone all stalker with a crush on him.

"Whiplash..." His eyes went wide as he tracked the movements of the supposedly dead man.


Whiplash
Once Hammer was in his ridiculous limousine, Whiplash moved. It wasn't as though anyone around could have stopped him, of course. He was a bad-ass cybernetic murderer for hire.

It was a Marvel thing.

He released the whips, shooting one over at the vehicle to flip it up into the air with one sharp tug. Why yes, yes he had gotten some upgrades. Why did you ask?


Tony
Well then. Iron Man was just going to have to catch that--okay, it was pretty ridiculously over the top--limousine before it could hit the ground. The suit sent up red flags, reminding him of the damage suffered over the past week as he carefully set the car back down. It could handle this. It had to handle this.

He'd have to think about that later, now he suddenly had those goddamn whips wrapped around his chest. Oh, he'd forgotten just how painful that was even with the armor protecting him from the majority of the damage.


Whiplash
"Iron Man," Whiplash rasped, jerking his arms to toss Tony into a light pole. "You have no idea how much I've looked forward to this."


Tony
"Can't say I feel the same," Tony ground out, forcing himself to his feet. So, maybe Rhodey had a point about taking some time to recover before throwing himself into danger again.

He stumbled once before he caught himself, shooting at Whiplash before he had a chance to dodge.


Whiplash
Not that he needed to dodge. Whiplash had no problem deflecting the repulsor blast to go back on Iron Man, knocking him against into someone's car.

Well. Sucked to be that insurance provider.

He turned his head, catching Justin Hammer attempting to run away. Tsk. Really? He wasn't a murderer for hire for nothing, you know. "Justin Hammer," he rasped as he ran over, grabbing the man by the shoulder and pulling him up onto what appeared to be a flying disc. "Resistance would be... fatal."


Tony
'Resistance would be fatal'? Seriously? Worst line ever.

Tony was up and moving, slamming into the disc before it got too high off the ground. He ignored Whiplash for the moment in order to scoop Justin up out of the air before depositing him on the ground.

Igniting the jets again, he was in the air again and slamming into the man. They skittered across the street for a moment before Whiplash abruptly came to a stop and Tony... didn't. Oh god, he needed to stop hitting cars at high velocity.


Whiplash
Well, look at that. Iron Man was prone and helpless.

Whiplash climbed to his feet, lashing out at the man again and letting the whips slip around the other man and spark until he heard Iron Man scream in pain.


Tony
Electrical Systems in overload, the suit informed him, cutting into the pain for a moment.

"I KNOW. I CAN FEEL IT HAPPENING," Tony shouted, promising himself that he would destroy the program if he got out of this alive. He twisted in place, firing at Whiplash in order to break free.

Once the whips disengaged--ohthankgod--he took off to find Hammer before this got out of hand. Because clearly it wasn't already. He once again scooped the man up and took off to find a spot to deposit him where Whiplash wouldn't follow. Somehow that ended up being the top of a building. Look, just go with it. He wasn't exactly at the top of his game right now.

"You should be safe here. Are you okay?"


Justin
Hammer brushed his jacket off, leaning into Iron Man's personal space before he responded. "I am, thanks to you," he said in the same way he might a reporter he was giving an in depth interview with "That was impressive. Why don't you work for me as my bodyguard?"


Tony
Tony eyed him for a moment behind the safety of the helm. "Sorry, I'm not the bodyguard type."


Justin
"Then why don't you sell me the armor. Every man has his price, after all..."

Seriously. Justin Hammer.


Tony
"Not Iron Man," Tony replied, taking off to find Whiplash. And to get away from Justin. He'd always been strange, but this was pushing it.

No, the thought about how easy it had been to get Hammer away from Whiplash hadn't really crossed his mind.


Stane
The reason he gave up on Hammer so easily might have been due to the fact that he now held Obidiah Stane and was zooming away from Stark Tower at high speed.

"Let me go, you freak!" Stane could be heard screaming. Because he wasn't good with this kidnapping thing, okay? Not good with it at all.


Whiplash
"I would love to drop you a thousand feet over Wall Street, but alas..."


Tony
"Oh, come on!"

Could he have five seconds to get his bearings? No? Ugh.

Tony took off after them, weaving between buildings in an attempt to come up on them without Whiplash noticing.


Rhodey
Not that it was necessary to go the stealth routine when someone in oversized, grey armor joined in on the chase.

"What did I miss?" Rhodey asked, falling into a little two person formation with Tony.


Whiplash
"...hold on," Whiplash informed Stane, looking back at the newcomer.


Tony
"I'll hit him high, you catch Stane low," Tony replied, taking advantage of the distraction to knock Whiplash off his stupid flying disc with a repulsor blast.


Rhodey
Rhodey, like a trooper who had dealt with Tony far too often to yell at him for acting before he could think, dove low to catch Stane before he could splatter on the ground.

He'd yell at Tony was this was over and done with, thanks.

"Stay put, Stane," he told the man, leaving him on the top of a building. It seemed to be the thing to do.


Stane
"Where am I supposed to go?!" he demanded.


Tony
Tony would totally... think about laughing at that later.

Once he was done kicking Whiplash's ass for getting him into a fight the moment he got back to New York. He slammed into the man before he could clamber back onto the disc, hitting the side of a building and bouncing off. Okay. Ow again. His ribs and head and... everything... kind of hated him right now.


Whiplash
Whiplash hit him back, clinging to Iron Man's armor for balance as the disc came back to him. He didn't let go then, though. Instead he pushed until they hit another building, sparks flying as metal scrapped over the brick and concrete before he let go.


Rhodey
"Hey!" Rhodey hovered over the building where Tony appeared to be getting his ass handed to him by Whiplash. "Leave him alone!"

He was so getting the hang of this hero thing.


Whiplash
Ugh, the other one.

Whiplash flicked one of the whips, causing the tail ends to detach and fly off right in War Machine's direction.


Rhodey
...whiiiich promptly embedded themselves in the chest plate of Rhodey's armor. And beeped ominously.

"That can't be good."

The explosion that followed proved him right. And caused him to drop like a very, very heavy suit of armor that no longer could fly. Which is what it was.


Tony
By the time Tony got back to his feet, Whiplash was already taking off on that disc of his and Rhodey was in a crater in the middle of the street.

Go after the criminal or help Rhodey...

He was down on the street, pulling Rhodey up before he could second guess himself on the matter. "Are you okay?"


Rhodey
"I feel like someone drop-kicked me off the moon," Rhodey grumbled, uneasy on his feet for a moment.


Tony
"C'mon, we can't lose him," Tony said, taking off after Whiplash. Who had grabbed Stane again.

Seriously? He gave up on Justin way easier than Stane.


Rhodey
"On it," Rhodey said with a sigh, taking aim at Whiplash so Tony could play hero with Stane.


Stane
"NOT AGAIN!" Why was he always falling to certain doom? Whatever had he done to deserve this?


Tony
He was just lucky that Tony was there to catch him before he hit the ground. Damn his hero tendencies.

"Well, look what the stork dropped," Tony said, keeping an eye on the situation with Whiplash and Rhodey. The suit was good for that when he had to focus elsewhere. "What a big boy you are!"

It was possible that this was the least traumatizing thing to happen to him this week. He was going to cling to that for a moment, thanks.


Stane
Dear god, Stane was going to end up with an aneurysm at this rate. "I demand you put me down right now. You metal moron."

And he wasn't terrible clever at the moment. You wouldn't be either, thanks.


Tony
"And it talks too. Awww, aren't you cute? I think I'll call you... pickles."

He went low, going through all the readouts to find where Rhodey had managed to disappear to. He didn't have time to do this right now. "Alright, Stane," he said, coming up on a moving truck before landing on the hood. He dropped Stane down there, waiting for just a moment to make sure he wasn't about to fall off. "Hold onto your toupee and... don't look down."

Sage advice.


Whiplash
Oh, was Iron Man having a moment with his hostage? Too bad.

Whips wrapped around him, sparking against the metal of the suit before yanking him back and onto the road. This time, however, the whips didn't disengage. They detached from Whiplash's hands, wrapping fully around Iron Man's torso to keep his arms in place.

"Your destruction is now, Iron Man," Whiplash said, dropping to the ground a safe distance from everyone's favorite hero. "The last time we met, I never got a chance to use this."

He flicked his wrists again, sending the remaining pieces of whips he had at Iron Man. Like with War machine, they sunk into the chest plate with ease.


Tony
"Ohcrapohcrap," Tony said, struggling to pull free. He saw what kind of damage those things had done to the War Machine armor. He'd designed that to handle way more punishment than the Iron Man armor could. "Rhodey, I need help here!"

Warning: Power levels at 12% and dropping.

"Eject! Eject!"

Warning: Invasive detonation in three, two, one...

The explosion that followed was truly impressive.

[[NFB, NFI, though OOC is always love! Preplayed with... myself.]]