Extremis

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It was night at the Roxxon Norco, a large ship.

Pepper was inside, strapped to a table.

Killian walked closer, smiling. "Hi."

Pepper was breathing heavily in pain. "You think they're gonna help you?" She shook her head. "They won't."

"Having you here is not just to motivate Tony and Jax Stark," Killian told her. "It's, um... well, it's actually more embarrassing than that. You're here as my, um..."

Pepper realized what he was getting at, disgusted. "Trophy."

Killian chuckled, nodding. "Mm." He walked toward where Ellis was kept. "Good evening, sir." Pepper was horrified. "Welcome aboard, Mr. President." He led Ellis upstairs. "Ever hear of the elephant in the graveyard? Well, two years ago, the elephant in the room was this scow."

Killian showed him where they were.

Ellis realized. "This is the Roxxon Norco."

"And, of course, you'll remember that when she spilled a million gallons of crude off Pensacola, thanks to you, not one fat cat saw a day in court," Killian told him.

"What do you want from me?" Ellis asked.

Killian smirked. "Uh, nothing, sir. I just needed a reason to kill you that would play well on TV. You see, I've moved on. I found myself a new political patron, and this time tomorrow, he'll have your job." He walked past Ellis toward a guard. "String him up."

Killian walked away, leaving.

The guard walked toward Ellis to take him away.


    🚀      


Tony flew aboard the ship, landing on the ground.

Many of the guards outside drew their guns, aiming at Tony, firing.

The bullets had little to no affect on Tony.

Tony fired at them with light rays, making them fall.

Ana and Rhodey climbed aboard the ship, guns drawn, taking fire from the firing guns at the walls and crates.

They saw where Ellis was in the Iron Patriot suit, strung up to where he couldn't move.

Rhodey was horrified. "Oh, my God. Tony, he's strung up over the oil tanker. They're gonna light him up, man."

"Viking funeral," Tony told them. "Public execution."

"Yeah, death by oil," Ana told him. "Tony, you get to Pepper. We'll get the President. Just buy us a little time to get up there."

Tony continued to fire at the men that were firing. "Copy that."

Ana ran across the way, up the stairs to the oil tank.

Rhodey followed her. "What do I do?"

"Stay on my six, cover high, and don't shoot me in the back," Ana answered. Men on the stairs fired toward them. Rhodey and Ana fired at them, taking them out. Rhodey shot out glass in the process. More men ran down toward them. Rhodey and Ana took cover. Ana looked at Rhodey sarcastically. "You really killed the glass."

"You think I was aiming for the bulb?" Rhodey asked. "You can't hit a bulb at this distance."

Ana stood from cover, turning to shoot the light bulb from where they were, shattering it, ducking down again. She looked at Rhodey, tilting her head.

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