[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019a79b9-88cc-76dc-b53c-f2a072816244.webp[/img][/center][COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][INDENT]The door to the hall flew open as Tony Stark barged in, arms laden with a box of t-shirts, blueberries spilling everywhere as the dishevelled man entered the room. A hush fell over the room as Tony entered. He placed the box on the floor before scooping up the blueberries and making his way into the main chamber. 

Rhodes was doing his best not to show embarrassment as Tony walked into the room while several other ranking officers watched the eccentric billionaire as he opted for a seat in the middle of the arc-shaped table.

[color=#b94642]“Sam, Tad, you’re both looking well.”[/color] Stark broke the silence, addressing General Lane and General Ross first. 

[color=#ffffff]“If this man is no longer supplying the United States military with weapons to root out these insurgents, might I ask why he’s privy to this conversation?” [/color] General Lane began, [color=#ffffff]“Don’t get me wrong, AmerTek makes a hell of a weapon, but I miss the weight of a Stark in my hand.” [/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“With all due respect, General,”[/color] Rhodes interjected, [color=#9fc5e8]“I asked Mr. Stark to sit in as a civilian consultant. After all, he’s the only known person who has met the Mandarin and lived.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Allegedly.” [/color]General Ross retorted.

[color=#b94642]“That’s exactly what I was going to say,”[/color] Stark exclaimed, [color=#b94642]“How’s your daughter?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Stark, I’m warning you,”[/color] Thaddues Ross rumbled, turning his full attention to Tony. [color=#ffffff]“You so much as say her name, I’ll put you back in a cave myself. But next time, no one will find you.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“General Ross, perhaps we should refrain from antagonizing Mr. Stark further.”[/color] 

[color=#b94642]“Sam, how are your daughters?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Far away from you,” [/color]Lane replied, [color=#ffffff]“Colonel, he’s your man if he continues to act out of line.”[/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“Yessir,” [/color]James replied with a small salute before looking at Tony.[i][color=#9fc5e8] “What the hell?”[/color][/i] He mouthed at Tony, who shrugged a response before tossing a blueberry into the air and catching it with a loud and exaggerated bite. It had already been a long day, and his patience for this briefing had worn thin. 

Plus, he had t-shirts to burn.

[color=#ffffff]“Approximately one week after the attack on New York, the Ten Rings became active again, particularly interested in residual energy signatures that had appeared over the Eastern hemisphere. We believe that the terrorist cell led by the man known only as ‘The Mandarin’ has identified a new weapon source. Given what we know about him, which admittedly is limited, we know the Mandarin and by extension, Ten Rings seek objects of power, such objects which have been showing up at an alarming rate given the influx of extranormal individuals.”[/color] General Ross began.

[color=#ffffff]“Let the record show in attendance today is Antonio H. Stark.”[/color] Stated General Lane before turning his view on Stark. 

[color=#ffffff]“Mr. Stark, we’d like to know more about your time captured by the Mandarin. It’s our understanding he was having you build him something.”[/color] Lane asked as Tony exhaled heavily. 

He could already feel the darkness around the edge of his vision again threatening to drive him right back into a tunnel. His feet suddenly ached, the feeling of the rod against them reverberating through his tibia and into his femurs. The smell of his own flesh burning under hydrochloric acid as it was poured on his back. 

The torturers knew exactly the amount of dilution to use to get the results they wanted. But they also knew how to use it effectively. Tony had watched a man forced into a tub of it alive, drowning as his lungs were burned from the inside out. 

[color=#b94642]“He wanted me to build a weapon to end all weapons.”[/color] Tony finally answered.

[color=#b94642]“A weapon you only had to fire once.”[/color]

His hand came up to his chin, rubbing against the stubble before he brushed against his large mustache. Running the same hand through his loose, slicked back curls, Tony took a deep breath before continuing to speak.

[color=#b94642]“The Mandarin doesn’t care about destruction; he cares about control.”[/color] Tony stated, [color=#b94642]“He’s not looking to blow the world up; he’s looking for a way to rule it. He’s a megalomaniac, not a nihilist. He wanted an instrument of fear, something that would make entire governments take a knee before him.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“And you built him this weapon?” [/color]

[color=#b94642]“No,”[/color] Tony replied, [color=#b94642]“I built a means of escape.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“You mean the mobile weapon suit?”[/color]

[color=#b94642]“The suit was not a weapon; it was a means of defense and escape,”[/color] Tony argued. 

[color=#ffffff]“Obedeiah Stane managed to weaponize it, did he not?” [/color]

[color=#b94642]“What does that have to do with the Mandarin?”[/color] Tony countered, [color=#b94642]“Am I not here to talk about the Mandarin?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“It’s pertinent to our interests.”[/color]

[color=#b94642]“The suit is gone. I suggest you move on as well.”[/color] Tony replied to Ross. [color=#b94642]“If Ten Rings is mobilizing, then you need to-”[/color] 

Tony was cut off as Lane slammed a fist down on a desk. The screen behind him changed to a live broadcast showing tanks moving through the streets of a foreign city. Gunmen walking on each side of the vehicle, the familiar logo of the Ten Rings had been hastily sprayed onto the tank’s armour.

His face crinkled in disgust as he watched the live footage. Children separated from their mothers, fathers executed on the spot. 

The Mandarin already had a weapon that he had to fire once.

Fear.

[color=#ffffff]“This is coming to us live from Bialya, Ten Rings has made actions of war but we have no way to intervene.”[/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“Sorry, Tony, I thought if you saw this, if you could see a way that weapons could help…”[/color] Rhodes said as Tony stood up from the table, kicking his chair away.

[color=#b94642]“That you could guilt me into backsliding on everything?”[/color] He shook his head, [color=#b94642]“No, I’m done here, we’re-”[/color] He motioned at Rhodey, [color=#b94642]“done here.”[/color] 

[color=#ffffff]“Stark, you can’t hide in the forest forever!”[/color] Ross roared as Tony slammed the door open.

[color=#b94642]“I need a damn drink.”[/color]

Storming out of the chamber, he nearly knocked Hank Pym over. His anger flared more at the sight of Pym, grabbing the other man by the collar before socking him across the jaw.

Pym hit the floor with a thud as Tony stood over him.

[color=#f4cccc]“I thought you gave up on violence, Stark,”[/color] Hank smirked, wiping blood away from his split lip. 

[color=#b94642]“Go to hell,”[/color] Tony replied, storming out of the hall while Rhodes helped Pym back to his feet.

[color=#9fc5e8]“On behalf of-”[/color]

[color=#f4cccc]“Save your breath, I don’t need an apology from Stark or his lackey. I’m here to do my presentation.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Ah, Mr. Pym, come inside,”[/color] Ross stated, shaking Hank’s hand before Sam followed suit.

[color=#ffffff]“We’re very excited to hear about ‘Yellowjacket’.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]