…
When Tony regained consciousness, he had already been dragged out of the cave—along with the Mark I Armor—by Leon. Even Dr. Ho Yinsen, who had been hiding inside a missile casing, was discovered after Leon conducted a thorough sweep of the area.
After a lengthy and persuasive explanation, Yinsen finally accepted Leon's claim that he was Tony's younger brother.
And when he saw the devastation of the Ten Rings' encampment, he had little choice but to believe it.
It was too brutal.
Most of the Ten Rings militants hadn't even left behind bone fragments. They were simply gone—reduced to nothing. The few remains that could be found were charred beyond recognition.
Not long after—
Tony, who had earlier been knocked unconscious by Leon, finally came to.
"Hiss—my jaw!"
The helmet of the Mark I flipped open as Tony winced in pain.
"Tony, are you alright?" Yinsen hurried over.
"Heh. Well, I'm still alive, at least." Tony gave a bitter smile, then suddenly remembered something. "Where's that lunatic pretending to be my brother Leon? I'm blasting him the second I see him!"
"Big brother, who exactly are you planning to blast?"
Leon had just returned after washing his face.
The early morning sunlight illuminated his sharp, almost devilishly handsome features. For a moment, Tony genuinely wondered how someone this good-looking could also be such a menace.
"Leon, good timing. Some guy was impersonating you just now—wait. Leon? What are you doing here?!"
Tony stared at him in disbelief.
"Because the 'lunatic impersonating me'… is me, you idiot."
Leon smirked.
"But how the hell did you suddenly get this strong?" Tony demanded. "And what's with the outfit? Is this some kind of cosplay?"
"Wait. Don't tell me you injected Super Soldier Serum. That's it, isn't it?"
He paused, frowning.
"No… that can't be right. The Super Soldier Serum doesn't have effects like this. And nine out of ten recipients either go insane or unstable."
Tony rapidly sifted through every classified project and black-ops rumor he knew, trying to pinpoint the source of Leon's power.
Naturally, he would never guess it was because of a system.
"Relax, big brother. I'll explain it properly later. It's a long story."
"Then make it short."
Tony wasn't about to let this slide.
If Leon's new abilities came with side effects—like how the Super Soldier Serum amplifies a person's inner nature—then it had to be dealt with immediately.
Leon was his only brother.
With a sigh, Leon gave a simplified version of the truth: he'd been hit by a truck, nearly died, and somehow awakened extraordinary abilities.
He omitted the Daily Sign-In System.
Everything else, however, was true.
Tony couldn't find a flaw in the explanation.
"Damn it!" Tony's expression darkened. "Who's targeting our family?"
"Let's head back first," Leon said. "The problem might be internal—or someone close to us. Stark Industries has made plenty of enemies."
Tony nodded.
Thinking back to the weapons he'd seen in the Ten Rings' camp—Stark Industries weapons—everything was painfully clear.
Someone had been selling them to Afghanistan without his authorization.
Maybe even…
Tony cut off the thought.
Instead, he changed the subject. "Leon. Can you fly?"
"No."
Leon punched his chest lightly. "Do I look like Superman to you?"
"Good." Tony grinned. "Then let your big brother show you what real flight looks like."
Like an excited child, Tony activated the Mark I's crude thruster system. With a manual ignition switch on the forearm, the suit roared to life—belching gray exhaust as it shot upward.
"Woohoo! We have liftoff!"
"Leon, you see this? A man-carrying flight suit! One of a kind!"
He hadn't risen very high—
Before the cobbled-together propulsion system violently disintegrated midair.
"AAAAAAHHHHH—!"
Tony entered free fall.
Leon covered his face with his hand. "Show-off. Now look at you."
"What do we do?!" Yinsen cried. "If he hits the ground like that, he'll be seriously hurt!"
"What do you think?" Leon replied. "I catch him."
His brother. His responsibility.
Leon locked onto Tony's descent path, bent his knees, and launched himself over ten meters into the air. He caught Tony mid-fall, twisting his body beneath him—
And crashed into the ground.
BOOM!
Even with Leon absorbing most of the impact, the crude Mark I Armor shattered into pieces upon contact.
Leon shoved Tony off him and stood up.
"Great flight. Don't do it again."
"That was just a malfunction," Tony muttered stubbornly. "When I get back, I'll build an upgraded version. Don't come begging to borrow it."
"Hmph. Who needs it?" Leon scoffed. "By then, I might be flying on my own."
That was their usual dynamic—
Neither willing to lose verbally.
Both soft at heart.
"Um…" Yinsen raised a hand timidly. "How are we leaving?"
"All the Ten Rings' armored vehicles are destroyed. Most of them melted."
Tony immediately turned toward Leon.
Leon didn't disappoint. He tapped the Bluetooth earpiece at his ear.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., bring the Jet Sliger here."
"Yes, Master Leon."
Five kilometers away, the Jet Sliger activated. Fifteen seconds later, it arrived beside them.
"You actually brought that thing out here?" Tony stared. "You've got a death wish."
Then he remembered Leon's enhanced durability and decided maybe it wasn't that crazy.
"But the cockpit only fits two people. You designed it for impressing girls. And Yinsen and I can't handle its load capacity at high speed. We'd die."
"Simple," Leon shrugged. "We squeeze. And go slow."
"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke through the vehicle's system, "I am relieved to confirm your safety."
"Oh, J.A.R.V.I.S." Tony placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "Hearing your voice again is the best moment of my life."
Without J.A.R.V.I.S., every day had been suffering.
Soon—
The three of them mounted the Jet Sliger in the most awkward configuration imaginable.
Tony in front.
Leon in the middle.
Yinsen in the back.
"Leon, your gun is poking me!"
"Gun?"
"You—!"
"Let's go. Home."
With their bickering echoing across the ruins, the Jet Sliger slowly departed the devastated Ten Rings camp.
…
Half an hour later—
Rubble shifted somewhere in the wreckage.
A bald man, his body covered in burns, crawled out.
It was the leader of this Ten Rings cell.
He had survived.
When Leon unleashed his Chest Beam, the man had taken cover behind a stone barrier and dove into a trench beneath it. The collapsed rocks had buried him—but also shielded him. He suffered severe burns from the extreme heat, but lived.
He glared in the direction Leon had left.
"Stark… you'll pay for this—"
"For what? No need to wait."
"—?!"
Leon appeared behind him like a phantom.
He thrust both hands into the man's torso—
And tore him cleanly in half.
Blood sprayed across the sand.
Leon scowled.
"Seriously? Couldn't even survive six hours. Useless."
"Because of you, I just lost next month's cover model to Tony."
In truth, the three hadn't gone far.
They'd staged their departure—bait for any surviving Ten Rings members.
While waiting for Colonel James Rhodes to arrange extraction, they had hidden nearby.
Out of boredom, Leon and Tony made a bet:
Were there any survivors?
The wager—next month's magazine cover model.
Leon bet no.
Tony bet yes.
Deadline: before Rhodey's arrival in six hours.
The result was obvious.
Leon had placed too much faith in the Ten Rings.
They let him down.
"Damn it."