"Oh, shit! I'm in trouble now," Rhodes muttered, shooting Tony a resentful look. He still remembered the hell he went through explaining things to the media back then.
Now, thanks to The Sky Screen, the truth about the F-22 incident was bound to come out. And those relentless reporters? They'd definitely be coming for him again.
"Hey! I already paid for that F-22!" Tony immediately defended himself, knowing exactly what was going through Rhodes' mind.
At the time, he hadn't planned on revealing his identity, which was why he had asked Rhodes to help cover it up. But after all this time, The Sky Screen had gone and exposed it anyway.
"It's not about the money, Tony!" Rhodes groaned, rubbing his temples. "I—ugh, forget it!"
That accident had made certain people in the Air Force the butt of jokes for months. Fortunately, Tony was both a billionaire and literally a world-saving superhero, so it hadn't become too big of a scandal.
But now?
Now, he was the one about to be in trouble.
People watching The Sky Screen had already started guessing that the "UFO" detected by the Air Force was Tony. And sure enough, the next moments confirmed their suspicions.
[The "UFO" that had alarmed the Air Force base was none other than Tony, soaring through the sky at high speed in the Mark II.]
[Rhodes entered the command room, where the base supervisor took off his glasses, giving him a serious look.]
["We've confirmed the target," the supervisor reported. "We cross-checked every known database—nothing."]
[Rhodes turned to the sergeant. "Any aerial reconnaissance assets nearby?"]
["We have an airborne warning system and a Global Hawk drone available," the sergeant replied promptly.]
["Did this thing just appear out of nowhere? Why didn't radar pick it up earlier?" Rhodes demanded.]
["Sir, its radar cross-section is extremely small," a soldier explained.]
["So, it's stealth tech?" Rhodes asked. His gut told him otherwise, but he needed confirmation.]
["No, sir! Based on its size, we suspect it's a drone."]
[The supervisor turned to Rhodes. "Lieutenant Colonel, how do you want to proceed?"]
[Rhodes hesitated for a moment before deciding to take the direct route. "Let me make a call."]
[Tony, still flying at high speed, answered his phone. "Hello?"]
["Tony! It's Rhodes!"]
["Sorry, who is this?"] The wind was roaring in Tony's ears, making it difficult to hear.
["I said, I'm Rhodes!"]
["Speak up!"]
[Rhodes frowned. "Why is there so much background noise?"]
["Oh! Yeah! I'm in a convertible!"] Tony blurted out the first excuse that came to mind.]
[Rhodes didn't think much of it. "Alright, I need a favor."]
["Wow! Didn't expect you to ask me for help," Tony teased.]
["Yeah, well, I didn't expect it either," Rhodes admitted. "One of our weapons arsenals exploded—near where you were detained."]
[There wasn't direct evidence linking Tony to it, but knowing him, Rhodes had his suspicions.]
["That place is a hot zone. Looks like someone's helping you clear out your old stockpile," Tony quipped.]
["Why do you sound out of breath?" Rhodes suddenly noticed something off.]
["No reason! Just… jogging through a canyon!"] Tony quickly lied.]
["You just said you were driving!" Rhodes pointed out, instantly suspicious.]
["Yeah, I drove to the canyon first! Now I'm jogging in it!"] Tony covered up one lie with another.
[Rhodes narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you don't have some new tech you forgot to tell me about?"]
["Nope! Absolutely nothing!" Tony denied immediately. He really didn't want to explain right now.]
[Before Rhodes could press further, a soldier shouted, "Sir, we found the target!"]
["Prepare Whiplash One for interception!" the supervisor ordered.]
[Rhodes sighed. "Well, we found a UFO… and we're about to shoot it down."]
[Tony, still mid-flight, suddenly noticed two F-22 Raptors trailing behind him.]
["Uh-oh… I should probably get off this highway."] He immediately hung up on Rhodes and banked left.]
[The two jets locked onto him instantly.]
["Whiplash One, do you have visual confirmation?" Rhodes asked over the radio.]
["Not sure what it is, sir."]
["Have you attempted communication?" the base supervisor inquired.]
["No response, sir!"]
["Engage the target."]
[Tony, still unaware that he was on the Air Force's kill list, was busy trying to shake off the jets.]
["Full power!" Tony shouted. The thrusters roared to life, and he immediately broke the sound barrier, pulling away at an insane speed.]
["The target is accelerating past Mach 1!"] a pilot reported. "Locking onto it now!"]
[A moment later, an air-to-air missile fired from the F-22's belly, heading straight for Tony.]
["Missile inbound!" Jarvis warned.]
["Deploy countermeasures!"]
[The Mark II released flares, confusing the Sidewinder missile and causing it to detonate mid-air.]
[The explosion's shockwave sent Tony tumbling downward. The pilot immediately reported, "Target deployed jammers!"]
[Still disoriented, Tony struggled to regain control, barely restarting his thrusters in time. But before he could escape—
BRRRTTTT!
An F-22's machine gun fired a burst, and several bullets struck Tony's armor!]
[Tony yanked his arms forward, activating an emergency brake in mid-air.
"WAIT! LOOK OVER THERE!" he suddenly shouted.]
[The two pilots, instinctively reacting, swerved away in evasive maneuvers. But when they looked back—
Tony was gone.]
["Sir, we've lost the target!"]
["Satellite imaging can't find it either!"]
["This isn't a drone!" a pilot said firmly. "No drone can move like that!"]
["What the hell was that?" the base supervisor muttered.]
["I don't know, sir. But whatever it was… it's gone."]
...
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