The party part 2

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"Mr. Stark, you have to watch the news channel right now!" Pepper rushed into the room just as he was about to unzip his pants.

One of the girls screamed as the door burst open.

"Jesus H Christ!" He shouted.

"It’s there on every channel…you have to see it! It’s very important that you see it immediately." She spoke quickly. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

He still had one hand on his zipper.

Even his bodyguard, Happy, was beside Pepper, he was sweating hard.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked them loudly,

"It’s better to show you!" Pepper took this as an opportunity to walk towards the bed. For a second, he thought she was going to jump in with the other girls.

She grabbed the TV remote from the side stand and pointed it towards the empty wall.

The wall parted ways and the TV slowly entered.

"Happy?" He asked as Pepper fiddled with the channels.

"A huge news story broke... it’s going to hit us hard, Tony, really hard."

"Here!" Pepper alerted him to the TV.

The TV headline read: Tony Stark, American Hero? Terrorist Sympathiser?

_________________________________________________________________________

"What in the hell is going on?" He shouted at Obadiah Stane. Obie was one of the few people he could truly trust. Well, you could have trusted, but that’s not the case anymore!

They were in his meeting room.

"You were double dealing…shit do you have any freaking idea about the shitstorm that’s coming our way! OBIE, listen to me when I’m speaking!"

Obadiah Stane snapped out of his daze and finally looked him in the eyes.

"I’ve had every single government agency in this country calling my private cell for the last two hours! NYPD, FBI, CIA…shit even a no name agency called SHIELD, or something, is asking me for a meeting. They’re all asking me if I knew what you were doing?"

He still couldn’t believe the man who took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew about the weapons business would break one of the cardinal rules.

"YOU DO NOT DOUBLE DEAL! Jesus, I can’t believe you would break the golden rule in our business!" He couldn’t control his anger.

Usually, it’s always Obie shouting at him, but now weirdly the roles were reversed.

His mentor was silent…simply content to stir his martini.

"Obie?" He called him again, but he didn’t say anything. Obie just continued looking at him.

"Fire me." He said in a hushed tone.

"What?" He was getting irritated; the lack of sleep didn’t help. He might be hearing things.

"I said fire me! I did this, and I’m not going to make excuses. I saw that weasel Justin Hammer cozy up to the military brass, and I felt us losing our edge-"

"So, you deal with terrorists?" He asked exasperatedly.

"They’re not terrorists, despite the media coverage, but... none of that matters now. You have to fire me. The public won’t care about any excuses you give, they just want a head, my head!"

Everything was unraveling, the world was going insane.

"I can’t fire you…you…we’re a team, Obie…just relax for a few seconds-"

"Kid, I appreciate it and believe me it’s been an honor but if you keep me they’re going to crucify you. Believe it or not, I actually promised your father that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’m not going to let you take the fall for me!"

He was speechless.

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A day ago, everything was going perfectly smoothly, now his entire world is upside down. Obadiah Stane, his mentor and a second father figure, was going to be sacked. His and the company’s reputations were in jeopardy now. Their stock was plummeting with each passing second as the national media covered this story. The investors and the board were demanding answers. All the while, that prick Justin Hammer was doing the rounds with the media, smearing his name.

It can’t end this way…there has to be some solution, something that could calm the public.

Obie spoke up,

"There’s nothing to be done, Tony. As long as I’m affiliated with the company, there will be questions. You’re going to call a press conference the first thing tomorrow. You’re going to announce that Stark Industries will be parting ways with me. You will denounce me to the whole world and make me out to be the sole villain."

He had a knot in his stomach when he heard Obie speak.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go; this wasn’t part of his calculations.

"I think we need to take our time with our response-" He tried calming Obie but was only interrupted again.

"Jesus, Tony, don’t you understand that if you don’t get rid of me right now, everything that we built…. Everything that your father built will go to the shitter!"

He knew that.

He knew that but still he didn’t want to sacrifice Obie. If that’s what it meant to be a prudent businessman, then he didn’t want to be one.

"I’m not going to give up on my friend when he needs me at his weakest…No…we’re going to wait this one out!"

Obie actually broke out in laughter at his childish refusal. He wiped a lone tear away and said, "Kid…I appreciate that. I really do but if you don’t fire me then I’ll just quit."

"Why? Let's work this out…Maybe Rhodey can help us out. There’s got to be some way out of this…all I need is some time to figure out this puzzle."

His bald-headed friend put his whisky on the table and got up to leave.

"Anthony. I’m proud of the man you’ve become. But we have to face reality, and the reality is that we don’t have time to outscheme the people responsible for this."

He opened the briefcase that he brought with him to the room, took out a file, and handed it to him.

"My letter of resignation and other tips about some clients." He said with a smile.

Obie walked to where he was standing and grabbed his shoulder, "Do me proud kid. I know you’ll take this company to heights that your father couldn’t…I know that you’ll make me proud."

He couldn’t help but slightly tear up at that.

"I…I don’t think I can run this place without burning it down in a week."

Obie chuckled and said, "You’ll be fine, kiddo!"

"They’ll come after you…you know that right? All the agencies from here to Timbuktu will be watching you like a hawk. They probably have you on some kind of a no fly list."

"I know but don’t worry too much about me. Anthony, call the press ASAP and announce it." Giving his chest a slight tap.

Obie walked out, leaving him with the file.

He sat on the office chair, defeated. His enemies had won, they won!

His eyes turned to the muted TV that was playing.

Justin Hammer's smug face was in the right corner. He couldn’t read lips, but if he could guess that the son of a bitch was smearing him and Obie.

"You win this round, Hammer. We’ll see about the next one though." He said coldly as he turned off the television and drank from Obie’s glass.

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A few hours later

"Mr. Mandarin, when’s the best you can get me outta here?" He knew that the Mandarin was a man of his word. Yet he couldn’t help but worry.

The little act might have fooled Tony, but in truth, he was terrified. He was sure that the US DOJ and Army was going to litigate his ass until he was penniless or worse locked up until he was 200. Sure, the evidence might be shaky and could be argued. But if they really wanted to nail his ass they most definitely could.

The Department of Justice didn’t play around when it came to matters of national security... Especially after that attack on that high school.

"Rest assured Mr. Stane, I am a man of my word…my men are on their way to pick you up. Stay hidden and quiet, we’ll move you to one of my private resorts in Vietnam."

He let out a sigh. But then he quickly remembered about their deal,

"Oh...and the Job at Tiě Industries?"

"In time Mr. Stane, once enough time has passed and your name is cleared. I’ll install you as the CEO of China's most powerful manufacturer. Your military contacts will prove invaluable. I have no doubt about that but for now you must focus on getting out of the United States first. I can’t guarantee your safety as long as you stay there."

"Yes…you’re right. Thank you for all of this, Mr. Mandarin. I don’t think I could ever repay you."

There was a small pause and then The Mandarin spoke, "Don’t worry you will."

The call cut after those ominous words.

A shiver ran through his spine. He was starting to get doubts about all of this, but then he remembered that his only other alternative was Tony Stark.

He wouldn't trust his car keys with the party boy. Oh, make no mistake he was a genius alright, but could he take on the government, the press... No, the boy would crumple like soft tissue.

He wasn’t strong enough to do that, he could engineer his ass off, but mental strength was never one of his strong points.

Besides the goody-two-shoes would want to play it fair and square. Now was not the time to be playing fair and square.

Stark Industries was dying anyway; it might not show up on the profit and loss statement. The top military brass didn’t trust Tony to run the company. It was only a matter of time before this entire thing collapsed.

Now was the perfect time to make a lateral move.

Despite everything this was the right time to jump ship. In time he’ll realize his dream of being CEO, albeit not for an American company. Then again, the future is in the Asian markets.

If he could leverage his opportunity, he might be in an even better situation than before.

"Sorry Tony…. I appreciate you trying to defend me, but I want to prioritize protecting my own hide. I can’t do that with you by my side. So good luck and good riddance."

He heard a knock on his door, and for a second he was afraid it was the authorities.

"Mr. Stane… We’re here to pick you up, you have a plane to catch."

"I’ll be there in a second!"

‘Yes…my fortunes will change soon and to hell with his godforsaken country!’

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Under all the chaos, Tony and the entire world didn’t take notice of the little news story that was on every paper.

[Mike Pondsmith, DA, shot in a robbery]

The entire political landscape of New York City was going to be completely shaken. No one, not a single soul in the city, could have anticipated the destruction that was heading their way.