Rising From the Ashes • COMPLETED ✓

7.) Ray of Sunshine: Tony Stark

TONY STARK - IRON MAN

July 10th, 2017, Stark Tower

My current suit is almost done. After the fight with Steve and Bucky and the signing of the Accords, I've made three of them. Working on machinery tends to get my mind off things. It eases my conscience about the past, about the side effects of saving the world. Nigeria, Siberia, Sokovia, New York City, the helicarriers, everything.

Everyday I get hate mail, death threats, and general messages about places the Avengers have destroyed, the lives of at least two hundred and seventy-four innocent bystanders that ended at the cost of millions or billions more. 

In total, we've done nearly five hundred point six billion dollars of property damage. I sigh as I run over the fatal numbers and recycle the shreds of paper on my desk. There's always been a small and steady amount of threats and mail, but it's risen in the past year or so.

People don't usually notice, but when my suits are more detailed, complex, and well-thought out―it means that something had to happen to make it that way. Not just because my technology is expanding; but because I couldn't prevent a problem or solve one. 

When I couldn't save Rhodey from falling, I added a rocket booster to make the suit go three times as fast. I also added parachutes to be in the default blueprint for every suit I make. The same mistake can't happen again. 

Piece-by-piece, I've made the armor more durable and lightweight, and now the time it takes to put on the Iron Man ensemble has been reduced by a little over three seconds. Sometimes three seconds is all it takes. I learned that the hard way.

Over time, my mailbox has gotten less stuffed. I read every single one of those letters, I open every single one of those envelopes. I never throw them away, I only get rid of the residue. 

Over time, people have stopped taking their anger or sorrow out on me and moved onto bashing the government. If it weren't for the nonsensical Accords, I'd be ripping apart the government too.

Parents of the children who died in Lagos don't give me hate. They only send their sorrows, their wishes. They send me descriptions and images of their kids. They send me the futures those young men and women could've had. 

I won't forget the lady at the elevator who gave me the picture of her son after I lectured those Harvard students. I won't forget all the children that I killed. Wanda Maximoff blames herself, but it isn't blood on her hands. I should've stopped Brock Rumlow earlier.

"It's no use dwelling on the past, sir," Friday's voice rings out from the speakers. I jump at the sudden words and shake my head. Sometimes, I still expect JARVIS to talk when I'm silent.

"The past should've been different."

"That may be true, but there is nothing you can do to change the past. Work on the present and change the future, boss."

My head is and has been swirling with all of the things I've read, all of the names of teens who passed away. Friday's words are clearing my foggy mind. After all, she is right. Thinking about what could have happened won't change what did occur. I guess taking out my anger on my suits is the right thing to do. It's preparing for the future.

"Thanks for that, Friday." I massage my forehead, now isn't the time for a headache.

"It is my job to make sure you are doing what is best for you."

As I fiddle with the head of the suit, I can't help but think about the disarray I am, how different life is now. The Avengers are split off, like the wood chips of a construction site. We're scattered across the world. 

The future is unclear. What's going to come to Earth and threaten the safety of humans next? Robots, aliens, mad scientists, corrupted men with a taste for blood and power? Who is going to stop them? 

The Avengers can't, since the Accords have torn an ugly hole in our once invincible team. 

Pepper leaving, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Sam disappearing, Vision and Wanda missing, Clint going back to his family. I have no one to go back to, only my company and my troubles. 

My home seems so much more enormous now that there's nobody inside it except for me, so I stay at Stark tower. Happy is here most of the time as well, managing the business, so I know I can count on him. Who else can I count on?

I think about Peter Parker. He's just a kid, and he did the right thing by turning the Iron-Spider suit down. After he brought down Adrian Toomes, I can tell that his heart and mind are in the correct place. Even for his small stature and age, he's just as noble as Captain America and as worthy as Thor and his hijacked hammer. I could learn a thing or two from Parker.  

"You are eighty-nine percent done with your current Iron Man suit." The Irish AI brings me out of my thoughts again before they spiral into oblivion. She's getting better at sensing when I need some sense.

"Pull up hologram of the pieces I don't have," A couple seconds go by before the image is displayed from a projector above my desk. I'm missing a few parts of the helmet, I need to implement a variety of storage compartments for ammunition, and I have to adjust the boots and fingers. "Thank you. Enhance image and pause." 

I follow the blueprint and start twisting screws in place and welding nitinol plates onto certain areas. Renovations have made my office in the tower even bigger, with enough space and soundproofing to turn it into a workshop.

While I polish the nickel-titanium alloy suits with Clorox and shoe-shine, I can't help but smile a little. Seeing my inventions and Iron Man ensembles at their best gives me a small ray of sunshine in my life. 

And I could do with a little light.

Oh my gosh, this chapter is 1,020+ words long! This chapter dives more into Tony Stark's personality and what he thinks about all of this. He's pretty complex and I hope this shows that. Guilt+shame+richness=Tony Stark, basically. 

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Happier chapters are on the way, but be warned: Things aren't going to stay calm and peppy. 

Next chapter will be in Natasha's perspective! Expect a Shuri POV soon...!