Iron Man [Book 2]

Test Run

The next day, after making the metal frames, Stark was ready to test the rockets. Being suited up, and the camera rolling, we were ready to begin.

"Day 11, test 37," he announced to the camera. "Configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety, along with Lily."

He then turned to the robot he calls, Dummy.

"If I'm not on fire, and you douse me again, I'm donating you to a city college."

"Nice and easy this time, Stark," I told him.

He nodded.

"I'm gonna just start with one percent thrust capacity."

He counted down.

"Three, two, one."

He pressed a button, and the rockets fired. He was hovering about a foot off the ground. Not being on the ground, made him wobble, but he didn't stay hovering for long. He did it for a minute, before turning the rockets off, and landing on the floor.

"Nice job," I complimented. "You didn't crash into anything."

He smiled sarcastically at me.

"Let's do that again," he said, ignoring me. "Let's do 2.5. Three, two, one."

He pressed the button, and he hovered about two feet off the ground. He wobbled a bit, and floated around over the mat. Still new, and holding his hands in front of him, he began to fly backwards. He moved to the wall by the entrance.

"This is where I don't want to be," he noted, getting nervous.

"Need help?" I asked, worried he might hurt himself.

Before he could answer, he began to hover over his cars.

"Not the car!"

He began to fly to the other side. The force from the rockets blew papers off the table he passed over.

"Stark?" I called, coming closer.

He held his hands in front of him again, and he began to fly back to the mat.

"Could be worse," he told me. "We're fine."

He hovered, maybe three to five feet off the ground, over the mat. He brought his arms and legs together, keeping them straight, and he stopped moving. He slowly powered down the rockets, bringing him back to the ground, before landing on the floor with a thud.

I nodded, impressed.

He looked at Dummy, and saw that he was aiming.

"No!" He ordered it.

Dummy lowered its arm, as if it was upset.

"You can fly," I stated. "Not bad."

He stood in the middle of mechanical arms, and they put the pieces of the suit together. He grabbed the face plate, and snapped it into place.

"You there, Jarvis?" He asked.

"At your service, sir."

"Engage Heads Up Display."

Since Jarvis was in the suit, I couldn't hear his response, but I could guess on what it was.

"Import all preferences from home interface."

After checking a few more details, and securing the metal pieces, Stark was ready to give the suit a test run.

"Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening on ground control."