Tony was a man of opprortunity, a man of dreams. Tony stark was a man of principals...all of which only he could understand. He was a free man, thats what he would like to think of himself. At the moment he was anything but busy.
Every week for extended hours he would leave the confines of his 2 billion dollar corporate Headquaters and Laboratory for a place that not even his most trusted aids knew of. A place that reflected his mind, a place that isolates him from all himself. A place 450 miles away and 60,000 feet above his metropolitian empire.
Needless to say he had some help getting up there...
"Tony, sensors indicate that a unidentified heat signal is breaching stand radius."
"Sigh... Switch to long range radar and open comm links- initiate stealth mode."
"Affairmative."
The ever annoying pulse that indicates a mode change filled Iron Man's helmet..
"Scan complete- Intruder identified as a V.T.R.B.S SE-IMA Model XVI Mark II. Status: Friendly"
"Great, mom's here...armor please disengage Stealth Mode and...and turn up the volume on the MP3 systems, haha".
In the distance a grey suit materialized and continued to pick up speed as it closed the gap between Iron Man and itself. Iron man, on the other hand, slowed down a little and moved from his prone position to a standing position, still moving foward at a speed that made most sports cars pale in comparison.
The other suit of armor, also designed in Stark Industries, by stark himself came to a holding pattern around Iron man. Tony could only smile to himself as he saw the half skull-half helmet insignia on his friends armor. James "Rhodey" Rupert Jones looked scary in his War machine armor. Unlike the royal Red and Gold Iron Man armor, the War Machine armor was a dull mix of Black, Silver, White and Grey. It was a little bigger than the Iron Man armor and with enough weapon systems to make russia look like child's play. The war machine was designed as a weapon to battle the now deceased masters of silence, but Rhodey continued to use it to cover some grounds that Iron Man can't. Not a side-kick, but more like a friend and counterpart that Iron Man needs and has needed in various instances.
"Rhodey! happy birthday man...nice of you to join me"
"Arrgh! shut that damn music off Tony!...and yeah whatever."
"What brings my ugly grey buddy to the pacific ocean on a saturday morning?"
"You! You had a meeting with Reed Laboratories ten minutes ago and you didn't deploy the sensor shields when you decided to take the 'ol tin-man for a spin. Anyone with a good enough radar would have known that you hide the armor in your toilet next to your deoderant."
"Oh yeah, sorry. What are you doing at work in the first place? didn't i order you to take the week off? Rae's gonna kill you if she knows you're at work. What happened to Bahamas?"
"Don't tell me what to do Stark, i'm the responsible one remember? I was picking up the suit when i realized the hatch was open and the tin man's missing, just dropping by to yell at you-as usual"
Tony could only smile in response. Of course Rhodes couldn't see the smile...but best friends have a way of knowing these things. He was proud of Rhodes, he never expected to share his Iron Man identity with anyone, even James found out only by accident. Rhodey had never failed in his duties, never. Not as a friend, or business partner or as The Invincible War Machine, a name which Tony came up with based on the army unit both Rhody and him served in during the Vietnam War.
"Tony, i'll be back on Tuesday and then we'll go over the Octavias Record together. I have a feeling Sue's right about the fusion technology...the WLA in Geonosha seem a little on the edge with the technology in Iranian hands."
"Yes mom, now get the hell outta here and don't call...and why can't you follow Rae in the plane like what all boyfriends do?.
"So says the guy that showed up in armor at last years Defense Summit just to show off the new Gold helmet..."
"Touche`"
"Haha, i'm off Tony, stay outta trouble man"
"Yeah ok."
With that the War Machine's rear repulsors glowed a brilliant blue and before you know it, James Rhodes was blasting off at nearly 300mp/h. A second later the familiar sonic boom indicated that the War Machine had broken the sound barrier.
Once again Anthony Edward Stark was left alone. Just the Invincible Iron Man and the man inside.
