Iron Wolf

Chapter 17~ Life's A Stage

Melody's POV

"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report," Dad said, on the phone.

"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?"

"How much have you had?" I asked.

"Two or three bowls."

"Can you still see straight?" Dad asked.

"Sort of."

"That means you're fine. Give me Jarvis. Jarvis, how are we?" Dad asked.

"It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence, I say the wrong cranberry. And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."

"What are we talking? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?" I asked.

"Actually, sir, it's in Miami."

"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is," Dad said, looking at me.

"Um, it does say Miami, Florida."

"Okay, first things first, Dad's going to need the armor. Where are we at with it?" I asked.

"Uh, it's not charging," Harley said and Dad pullled over, breathing heavily.

"Dad, relax. We'll figure this out like we always do," I said.

"Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42."

"What's questionable about electricity? All right? It's my suit, and I can't... I'm not gonna... I don't wanna... Oh, God, not again," Dad said.

"Tony? Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York."

"Right, and then you just said it by name while denying having said it," I told him.

"Okay, um, uh..."

"God, what am I gonna do?"

"Just breathe. Really, just breathe. You're a mechanic, right?" Harley said.

"Right."

"You said so."

"Yes, I did," Dad affirmed.

"Why don't you just build something?" Harley asked.

"Okay. Thanks, kid," Dad said and we were off.

Timeskip

Melody's POV

With the janky thing Dad had built, it wasn't very hard for us to infiltrate the Manderian's mansion.

"Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes. Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" The Mandarin asked.

"That's me."

"Ah! Nessie. Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?"

"There's some guy over here," Vanessa said but the Mandarin kept talking.

"They're made by Americans, based on a Japanese recipe."

"Hey!" Dad said, pointing a gun at him and the Mandarin raised his hands.

"Bloody hell. Bloody hell."

"Don't move," I growled.

"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it. Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."