[Tony sipped his drink while casually scrolling through his phone. At this time, smartphones were still small-screened, and the person he was video chatting with was none other than Obadiah Stane.]
["Obie! Why aren't you asleep yet?" Tony asked with a smirk.]
[Obadiah, lying in bed shirtless, sighed. "I can't sleep without knowing the results! So? How did it go?"]
["Everything went smoothly. Looks like we're going to make a lot of money this time," Tony replied, clearly pleased with himself.]
[Hearing this, Obadiah grinned in satisfaction. "Hey! Good job, kid! See you tomorrow, alright?"]
["By the way, why don't you ever wear the pajamas I got you?" Tony teased, unaware that Obadiah had no intention of letting him see the sun rise again.]
[With that, he climbed into a military Humvee and hung up the call. Just as he was settling in, Rhodes approached, intending to join him—but Tony stopped him with a playful grin.]
["Sorry, buddy! This is the Happy Humvee! That one over there? That's the Angry Humvee! See you at the base!"]
[Denied entry, Rhodes had no choice but to get into the last vehicle, which would ultimately save his life.]
[Moments later, the convoy was ambushed—the very opening scene of Tony's nightmare.]
[In a hazy trance, Tony drifted in and out of consciousness. He saw flashes of a makeshift operating room, the sensation of hands pulling something from his body, and a doctor placing a strange device onto his chest.]
"Yinsen..." Tony's eyes shut tightly as the memories of captivity resurfaced. A pang of regret hit him—he had failed to save Yinsen, his true savior.
Sensing his change in mood, the others in the viewing space remained silent, not daring to interrupt.
"Serves you right!" Wanda scoffed as she watched Tony suffer. Pietro, standing beside her, nodded in agreement.
To them, Tony Stark was one of the men responsible for their parents' deaths. Seeing him wounded and helpless gave them a twisted sense of relief.
"What is that? A magnet?" First-Gen Spider-Man squinted at the screen, puzzled. He turned to the first gen Gwen for answers.
She examined it carefully before nodding. "Yeah, it looks like a magnet. But what's it for?"
"Maybe it's to control him—like, a bomb attached to his chest, so he can't escape?" Uncle Ben guessed.
"No way, that doesn't make sense," First-Gen Spider-Man countered. "Tony's already injured, and he barely looks like he can move. Why would they bother putting a bomb on him when he might not even survive?"
"Besides, bombs don't look like that," he added. "That thing seems to serve a different purpose."
[Tony finally regained consciousness after an unknown amount of time. His head was spinning, his body weak. He reached up and yanked a thin tube from his nose, grimacing at its length.]
[Thirsty, he struggled to grab a nearby cup, only to knock it over in his weakened state.]
[That was when he noticed another person in the room. A man was casually shaving in front of a small mirror, seemingly indifferent to Tony's presence.]
[Tony turned away, reaching for the kettle this time. But in doing so, he accidentally tugged at something attached to his chest.]
["If I were you, I wouldn't mess with that," the man said calmly.]
[Tony turned his gaze downward, realizing for the first time that wires from a car battery were connected to his chest. He gave one a small tug—only to feel a sharp pain.]
[Panic flared in his eyes as he clutched his chest, feeling something foreign beneath his skin. With hurried fingers, he tore away the bandages, revealing a strange device embedded into him.]
[The man, still shaving, whistled nonchalantly before finally introducing himself.]
["What did you do to me?" Tony demanded, staring at the device in the mirror's reflection.]
["What did I do?" The man let out a dry chuckle. "I saved your life. I did my best to remove all the shrapnel, but some of it is still dangerously close to your heart."]
["Here, take a look." He picked up a small glass vial, shook it, and tossed it to Tony. Inside, tiny metal fragments rattled against the glass.]
["Many in my village have suffered similar injuries," the man continued. "We call them the living dead. Because in about a week, those fragments will find their way into your heart."]
[Tony's fingers tightened around the vial. "What is this?" he asked, eyeing the contraption on his chest.]
["A magnet," the man answered simply. "It's powered by a car battery. It keeps the shrapnel from piercing your heart."]
[Processing this, Tony zipped up his shirt and finally took in his surroundings. His eyes landed on a security camera in the corner of the room.]
[Following his gaze, the man smirked. "That's right. Smile! We've met before, you know. Bern, at a technical conference."]
["I don't remember," Tony muttered, still disoriented.]
["Of course you don't," the man chuckled. "If I had been as drunk as you, I wouldn't have remembered anything either. Not to mention trying to teach a class on integrated circuits."]
[What Tony didn't know was that another man, Aldrich Killian, had also been slighted by him at that same conference—an encounter that would later come back to haunt him.]
["Where is this place?" Tony asked warily.]
[Before the man could answer, loud noises erupted outside the iron gate.]
[Eyes narrowing, the man suddenly became serious. He leaned in close and whispered urgently: "Stand up. Now." Then, without waiting for a response, he yanked Tony upright.]
["Do as I do—quick! Hands up!"]
[Tony, confused but compliant, raised his hands just as several men entered. He immediately noticed the guns in their hands—Stark Industry weapons.]
["Those are my guns… How the hell did they get them?" Tony murmured in shock.]
[Eyes darting toward him, the man hissed, "Don't talk! Just follow my lead!"]
[One of the armed men, the apparent leader, spoke in Arabic: "Welcome, Tony Stark. You are the most famous… and deadliest murderer of all!"]
[Through the mysterious viewing space, the audience could understand every word—but the Tony Stark on screen did not.]
[The man beside him translated helpfully: "He says it's an honor to meet you. He wants you to build a missile—the Jericho Missile. A weapon of mass destruction."]
[The leader handed the blueprints to the man, who then showed them to Tony.]
[Understanding their intent, Tony's expression hardened. "I won't do it."]
[The next second, the leader grabbed Tony and shoved him headfirst into a nearby water trough. He thrashed desperately, coughing and choking as he struggled for air. But his captors were merciless. When they finally yanked him back up, gasping and dripping, Tony was barely able to stand before he was forcefully dragged away.]
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