Fire Vs Iron

THE END BEGINS

The mansion stands like a beacon of light against the dark night sky, the music pumped out the open windows and the liquor ran freely, a party at the Stark mansion was not one to be missed. Party goers revel in the free food and free gossip, rumors abounded of how the Stark boy was starting up his own company with those two girlfriends of his, but there may be something more going on with one of them or with both.

For the most part the party was a lively one, two figures could be seen arguing quietly in a corner. One was a tall blonde, slim and willowy wearing a tight red dress just past her knees with sliver sling back heels. The other was more petite, dark haired with purple steaks, in short black mini dress and a Jean jacket, with worn in high tops. Their argument was getting heated and the blonde looked around as they attracted more on lookers.

"Do you want to keep you voice down, Emmy" Pepper hissed as people started looking their way

"Why,Pep?" Emmaline asked, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes "I dont give two shits who hears me!"

"Well  I do" Pepper grabbed her arm and dragged her into a corner further from the party goers "This is Tonys big night, he's going to announcing the start of his own branch of Stark Industry, focusing on security and protection. You are really telling me that you are leaving us tonight of all nights?"

"I know this is Tonys big night" Emmaline stated, thinking that it was her big night too considering she had helped Tony create the base of the security system "Im leaving Pep, being the CEO of a big company is your dream not mine, Tony picked you for that, Im just a behind the scene girl, I did my part and now I'm going to see the world"

"Thats just ridiculous! This was our dream, all three of us, is this because Tony asked me out instead of you?" Pepper asked incredulously "He and I have more in common, Emmy, our goals are more similar that's all."

Emmaline cheeks glowed red with embarrassment, Pepper really had some nerve, she could believe that she was throwing a stupid crush she had on Tony years ago in her face. "Seriously Pepper, it has nothing to do with who he picked or didn't pick to date, he's a playboy anyway so it doesn't matter." She knew she'd gone too far when Peppers cheeks paled.

"Im sorry, I didn't mean that" Emmy said and ran a hand over her face "This conversation is going no where, Im leaving Pep, I need to see the world, to be something more than a third wheel to the power couple of the century. Im sorry, Pepper, but im leaving" Emmaline turned her back on Pepper and walked away.

"Fine just go!" Pepper yelled after her "Dont come back here after you fall on your ass!" With that Pepper turned her back  and walked away to find Tony and tell him what was going on.

Emmaline just walked through the throng of people ignoring onlookers and whispers aimed her way, she stepped outside and took a deep breathe of fresh air, her heart ached at the thought of leaving Pepper and Tony behind but she just couldn't be around them right now, she needed space and freedom to be herself, she turned back and looked up at the mansion one last time.

The night air was rocked with an explosion of brick and wood, Emmaline was propelled back several feet into the air and hitting the ground hard. She lay on the side of the road, her vision blurry and her ears ringing, staring at the stars in the night sky that were peeking through the smoke from the explosion. Slowly getting to her feet she looked at the burning mansion with horror, men and women ran from the destroyed building as dark vans pulled up and men in swat gear jumped out, some holding AK-47s, gathering up those who ran from the building.

Emmaline shook her head and ran towards the mansion screaming Peppers name, only to be stopped by one of the geared up men who forced her back and kept forcing her back no matter how much she fought to move forward, it wasn't until she looked around that she noticed they weren't helping people but ushering some into the van at gun point and by force. She started to panic and try and pull away but it was too late, the man in front of her smiled wickedly and bashed her head with his gun, the last thing she saw was the white full moon and then nothing but black.

Emmalines head throbbed like a bad tooth, she ached all over and she tried to move but couldn't, oh god, was she paralyzed from the blast? She slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times against the bright lights blaring in her face. "What the hell?" She said out loud and looked down at her arms imprisoned in metal bars.

"Take it slowly my dear" Said a male voice from the shadows "You took a strong blow to the head"

"Where the hell am I?" Emmaline yelled and immediately regretted it as it made her head hurt more "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing yet my dear" The voice chuckled "But rest assured you are going to be part of history here" He gestured as he encompassed the whole room, for the first time she saw that she wasn't alone there were at least a dozen men and women strapped to metal tables and held by metal bars. The room seemed to be a cement basement, surrounded by medical equipment and computers.

"What the hell is this place?" She whispered and started to panic when someone in white scrubs came closer with a syringe, for the first time she saw and felt the iv line in her arm, "What are you doing to me?"

The man leaned forward and she finally saw his face, illuminated by the lights, he looked to be in his fifties with white hair in a bun and long beard, on his hands were several gold rings. He wore army style clothes in military green and his eyes seemed to glow a fiery orange red as he smiled at her.

"Making you a part of history!" He signaled for the personal to administer the syringes, she fought against her restraints to no avail as they injected the liquid. It seemed to burn her from the inside out, straight into her very bones, she screamed and hers mingled with the others. One man next to her began to convulse from the liquid that was injected, he looked to be burning from the inside out. The orderly's grabbed his metal rack and began to roll the man into a separate room behind a metal door, they shoved him in and slammed door. A loud explosion rocked the room, Emmalines pain intensified until she passed out again.

The next two years were filled with experimentations and unspeakable torture until one night Emmalines powers grew beyond her captors and she burned the facility to the ground, with everyone inside. Emmaline roamed aimlessly for another year gathering as much info as she could on The Mandarin and his reign of terror. When she hit a dead end she knew that she had to return to where it all began, she packed what little belongings she owned into her backpack, along with her laptop and a couple file and hitching a ride she made her way back to her past.