[Malibu Mansion. Living Room. 11:00 AM.]
"You have a giant bunny in the hallway," Maya Hansen noted, accepting a drink from Sebastian.
"It's a stuffed animal," Tony corrected, pacing nervously. "It's for Pepper. It's a gesture."
"It is a six-foot-tall fire hazard," Sebastian murmured, refilling Maya's glass. "But the Young Master insists on grand gestures to mask his guilt."
"I'm not guilty!" Tony argued. "I'm just... hospitable."
Pepper walked in, looking furious. "Tony, our bags are packed. We are leaving. You gave our address to a terrorist on national television."
"Pepper, relax. It's a bluff. He's not gonna—"
Tony stopped. He looked at the TV screen. The news channel was showing a live feed of the coastline.
Wait.
Tony looked out the window. He saw three helicopters approaching low over the water. They weren't news choppers. They were military-grade birds, painted black, with missile pods on the sides.
"Incoming!" Tony yelled.
"What?" Maya asked.
WHOOSH.
A missile streaked from the lead helicopter.
"Sebastian! Save Pepper!" Tony shouted.
He raised his hand to summon the Mark 42.
BOOM.
The missile hit the main support pillar of the living room. The explosion was deafening. The floor tilted violently. Glass shattered everywhere.
Pepper and Maya were thrown backward into the debris.
Tony was hit by the shockwave, sliding toward the crumbling edge.
"Mark 42! Get to her!" Tony commanded, pointing at Pepper.
The armor plates flew off the prototypes downstairs. They didn't assemble on Tony. They flew to Pepper, locking around her body, encasing her in gold and red steel.
"Tony!" Pepper screamed from inside the helmet.
"Get her out!" Tony yelled.
A second missile hit. The ceiling collapsed.
Sebastian stood in the center of the chaos. A heavy concrete beam fell toward Maya Hansen. Sebastian caught it with one hand, tossing it aside like a twig.
"Stay down," Sebastian ordered Maya.
He looked out the shattered window. The lead helicopter was hovering right in front of the house, preparing a second volley.
Sebastian straightened his tie. His eyes burned fuchsia.
"Rude," Sebastian hissed.
He ran.
He didn't run away from the danger. He ran toward the cliff edge.
"Sebastian!" Tony screamed.
Sebastian leaped. He cleared the thirty-foot gap between the burning house and the helicopter. It was an impossible jump.
He grabbed the landing skid of the helicopter with one hand.
Inside the cockpit, the pilot's eyes went wide. "Target is... wait, there's a guy on the skid!"
Sebastian pulled himself up. The wind whipped his coat. He punched through the reinforced glass of the cockpit.
"I believe you are trespassing," Sebastian said pleasantly.
He grabbed the pilot by the tactical vest and threw him out the other door.
The helicopter spiraled out of control. Sebastian jumped off the spinning bird just as it crashed into the second helicopter.
KA-BOOM.
Two birds down.
But the third helicopter fired a barrage of missiles directly into the foundation of the house.
[Inside the House]
The floor gave way completely.
"Tony!" Pepper (in the suit) tried to reach him, but the suit's programming forced her to fly out to safety.
Tony fell.
He fell into the basement, surrounded by his other suits exploding. The entire mansion—the concrete, the glass, the cars—slid off the cliff face.
Tony tumbled toward the ocean.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! Any suit! Now!"
The Mark 42 (having safely deposited Pepper outside on the lawn) flew back. It slammed into Tony in mid-air, locking onto him piece by piece.
Clank. Hiss. Snap.
The faceplate locked just as Tony hit the water.
He sank. Debris rained down on top of him. A massive piece of concrete pinned the suit to the ocean floor.
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. flickered. "Flight systems... engaging."
The repulsors fired underwater. The suit tore itself free, rocketing up from the depths. It broke the surface and shot into the sky.
"Get us back to the fight," Tony gasped. "Get Sebastian."
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, his voice distorting. "Flight plan... pre-set. Protocol... Tennessee."
"What? No! Override!"
"Systems... failing. Narcolepsy... mode... active."
The suit didn't turn back. It shot straight up into the stratosphere, carrying an unconscious Tony Stark away from Malibu at Mach 5.
[The Cliffside Ruins]
Smoke rose from the twisted metal and concrete scattered on the beach below.
Pepper Potts sat on the grass, coughing. "Tony?"
Maya Hansen crawled out from behind a rock, shaken but alive.
Sebastian Michaelis walked out of the smoke.
He was... messy.
His tailcoat was torn at the shoulder. There was soot on his face. His white gloves were stained with oil and blood.
He stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the ocean. He saw the bubbles where the house used to be. He scanned the horizon. He saw the faint vapor trail of the Mark 42 disappearing to the east.
He closed his eyes. He reached out with his senses—the contract bond.
It was faint. Distance. Massive distance. But still there. The Young Master was alive.
"He is gone," Sebastian said, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Gone?" Pepper scrambled up. "Is he... is he dead?"
"No," Sebastian turned. His eyes were no longer glowing. They were pitch black, devoid of light. "He has fled. Or been taken."
Sebastian looked at the one remaining helicopter flying away in the distance. He looked at the devastation of his home. The kitchen where he made tea. The workshop. All gone.
He pulled a silver pocket watch from his ruined vest. The glass was cracked.
"They broke my kitchen," Sebastian whispered.
The air temperature dropped ten degrees.
"Miss Potts," Sebastian said, putting the watch away. "Call S.H.I.E.L.D. Secure the perimeter."
"Where are you going?" Pepper asked, terrified by the look on his face.
Sebastian began to walk down the driveway, toward the road.
"I am going to find the man who ordered this," Sebastian said. "And I am going to peel him apart, layer by layer, until I find where he is hiding the Young Master."
He stopped and looked back.
"Do not wait up for dinner."
[End of Chapter 22]
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