Glitter & Gold

Iron Queen: The Rise of a Hero - Part 3

After the solemn mood, everyone turned to see that the dark screen had lit up after Toni Stark's declaration.

3 MONTHS LATER is printed on the screen before it reveals Toni Stark in a bulky, almost-complete version of the Iron Man armor while Yinsen was helping place pieces of the armor onto her body.

Shuri's eyes widened as she took in the design and she turned to face Tony Stark and asked, "You only made that in a cave?"

Harley hearing the emphasis on 'that', narrowed his eyes at the girl because princess or not, no one gets to disrespect his Mechanic except for him.

Seeing Harley about to stand up, Tony placed his hand on his kid's shoulder and pushed him back into his seat.

"I did indeed, Princess," Tony replied with a paparazzi smile.

Shuri raised her eyebrow, "I'm impressed. And I don't say that to a lot of people, Dr. Stark."

Tony's smile became more genuine when he replied, "Well get ready to cringe, Princess. It'll take a few more years before I get to the better versions of my suit."

Shuri grinned in return, a gleam in her eyes.

"I still believe you to be a woman destined to either rule the world or destroy Dr. Stark," Yinsen said once his eyes met the blue shine of the arc reactor.

"Do you guys also have a secret world domination plan?" Penny asked as she turned to Rhodey and Pepper. 

Pepper raised an eyebrow, elegantly, "Are you implying you haven't finished yours?"

Rhodey only chuckled, "Is your mother also excluded from the process like our Tony is?"

Penny only smiled at the pair.

Toni chuckled, "Dr. Yinsen, only time will tell what my purpose in this world will be after I escape with this suit."

A murderer, Wanda wanted to hiss but held her tongue after she saw the tiredness in Toni's smile.

Yinsen stopped in his task (fastening the shoulder of the armor down) and met Toni's doe brown eyes, "I only hope that you show more of your heart to the world after escaping."

Rhodey clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder and nodded to Yinsen's statement, Tony did use his heart more after Afghanistan.

After speaking, Yinsen went to return to his task but the next words of Dr. Stark had frozen him, "And what if my heart dies in the future? Do you still expect me to be kind to the world Yinsen if the world would be the one responsible for killing my family?"

Toni Stark's icy tone had frozen everyone on Team Cap's side of the room before they stared at the woman's daughter, only to find her unphased.

At the looks she received, Penny asked no one in particular, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Your mother just admitted that she'd turn supervillain if-" Rogers was cut off by Penny.

"If what?" Penny asked as she stared down at the blonde man, "Her family was taken from her? Who wouldn't, is the question you're meant to be asking, Rogers. If your family died, would you still save the world when it's the reason you lost your family? Isn't that what you did, I mean, if this is your reaction to my mother's declaration, I will love watching your reaction to the actions you committed to keeping Barnes safe?"

With that being said and Penny not wanting to listen to Rogers, she turned back to the screen to watch Yinsen's reaction.

"I believe that everyone is deserving of forgiveness and second chances, Dr. Stark," Yinsen said as he avoided Dr. Stark's gaze and quickly fastened the shoulder onto her armor.