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Vanko threw his head back and laughed, the sound distorted and ugly as it echoed through the ruined hall.
"Now listen carefully," he said, eyes glowing as the drones finished positioning themselves. Weapons snapped down, barrels aimed—not at Iron Man or War Machine, but at the civilians cowering below.
"Lower your weapons," Vanko sneered, "and let me go… or they die."
The message was brutally clear.
Tony and Rhodes exchanged a look.
"What?" Tony muttered. "That's his plan?"
Rhodes' eyes narrowed as his HUD filled with civilian life-sign markers—hundreds of them, packed together, terrified, completely exposed.
"We have to save them," Rhodes said quietly.
Tony clenched his fists.
"And his condition is letting him walk?"
"We don't have another choice," Rhodes replied grimly. "Not fast enough."
Tony's mind raced. Repulsors would be too slow. Targeting that many drones without collateral—
No.
There was one option.
And Ethan had warned him about it.
Rhodes' gaze flickered as the Arasaka interface highlighted a dormant system deep in his armor.
SANDEVISTAN MODULE
STATUS: STANDBY
RECOMMENDED USE: EMERGENCY ONLY
RISK: SEVERE NEURAL AND MUSCULAR STRAIN
"I can't save them all in six seconds…" Rhodes muttered under his breath, counting targets as red outlines flooded his vision. There were simply too many drones, spread too wide.
Before Rhodes could decide whether to use it or not—
The hall exploded with motion.
The doors were torn open.
Not by drones.
By people.
Black-and-red figures poured in from every entrance, every shattered wall, every elevated platform.
Arasaka Guards.
Dozens of them.
No—hundreds.
They moved like a perfectly synchronized organism. As one, they raised their arms.
The air screamed.
Blue-white energy surged outward in a massive, layered wave, slamming into the drones from every direction at once. It was emp shots aimed to neutralize the drones in a instant.
In an instant, the drones went down.
Their weapons locked mid-aim. Joints seized. Targeting optics shattered into static.
The remaining drones attempted to fire at the civilians—but suddenly, the entire group was covered by a glowing blue energy shield. The rounds struck the barrier and bounced off harmlessly, scattering sparks across its surface.
"What?" Vanko hissed.
Tony and Rhodes stared as well.
Around Sharon and Aria, the four Arasaka guards repositioned smoothly. They spread out, forming a wide perimeter as their energy shields expanded and linked together, creating a massive dome-shaped field. At its center stood the civilians—completely protected.
Under the coordinated commands of the Arasaka guards, calm voices rang out across the hall.
"All hostiles neutralized."
"Area secure."
"Civilians, please proceed in an orderly manner."
One of the guards gestured firmly toward the exits.
"All of you, leave one by one."
Shaken but unharmed, the guests began to move. Slowly at first—then faster, as they realized the danger had truly passed. Within minutes, the expo hall emptied.
Soon, only a handful of people remained inside the ruined building.
Sharon and Aria stood calmly at the center.
Nearby were Pepper and her secretary.
On the stage stood Tony and Rhodes.
And encased in hardened foam, glaring with pure hatred—
Ivan Vanko.
The hall fell silent.
"Secure all the drones," Sharon said calmly. "They can be repurposed as good training puppets."
The Arasaka guards nodded without hesitation. They moved with mechanical precision, beginning to dismantle, seal, and pack away the disabled drones as if this had always been the plan.
The sheer efficiency of the operation left Tony—and several others—speechless.
"You can't do that!" Justin Hammer shouted suddenly, panic finally breaking through his composure. "Those are Hammer Industries property!"
He barely finished speaking before several guards turned toward him.
Justin froze.
"…What is this?" he demanded weakly, instinctively raising his hands in surrender.
"Your 'property' just took civilians hostage," Sharon replied coolly. "And you were knowingly working with an international criminal."
She stepped closer, her tone sharpening.
"So at this point, you're not coming out of this looking like a fool."
"You—you're making a mistake!" Justin yelled.
Something invisible struck him.
WHAM.
Justin's body lifted off the ground and slammed violently into a wall, collapsing in a heap.
"I am not," Sharon said flatly.
She lowered her hand—purple energy dissipating around her fingers.
Tony winced.
"…Yeah. That must have hurt."
Rhodes nodded slowly.
"Atleast few broken bones."
Sharon turned her attention to the last remaining threat.
Ivan Vanko.
Encased in hardened containment foam, only his head exposed, Ivan glared at her with burning hatred.
"So," Sharon said, her expression unreadable, "what should we do with you?"
Vanko laughed harshly, grinding his teeth.
"Arasaka… what do you want from me? I never did anything to you."
Sharon replied lightly,
"You just tried to massacre civilians on live television."
She smiled faintly.
"Though," she added calmly, "we're grateful. This turned out to be excellent advertising for our Arasaka Guard initiative."
Ivan glared at her in silence.
Aria tilted her head slightly, her expression completely emotionless.
"We should just kill him. That way, we won't have to deal with another problem like this."
"Whoa, whoa—hold your horses," Rhodes said quickly. "He'll be imprisoned, not killed."
Aria looked at him coldly.
"Last time he was imprisoned, he escaped. What makes you think he won't do it again? There'll just be another Justin Hammer to pull strings and get him out."
Sharon raised a hand slightly.
"Forget it. We're not killing him. Besides, it's not like he can pose a threat to us anymore."
—
In a completely different location, Ethan was watching everything unfold on a large screen.
"Stupid!" he snapped suddenly.
"Why did you plant a death flag like that?"
He ran a hand through his hair, clearly irritated.
"Saying he's 'not a threat anymore'? That's practically raising a giant red flag and painting it in neon," Ethan cursed, glaring at the screen.
He exhaled sharply.
"Damn it… I should've just killed Vanko myself."
He looked away, muttering under his breath,
"Now if he suddenly gets killed after all this—on live TV—it's going to be a mess."
"Argh… damn it," Ethan growled. "I can only let him go for now."
He turned back to the console, fingers flying across the holographic keyboard. Lines of encrypted Arasaka commands scrolled rapidly as he issued a direct override.
A priority signal shot out.
DIRECTIVE OVERRIDE — ARIA
STAND DOWN. DO NOT EXECUTE TARGET.
REPEAT: DO NOT KILL IVAN VANKO.