Marvel : Copycat System

---

When Kai and Yinsen returned to the villa, Tony was dealing with some unexpected problems.

After seeing Kai and Yinsen leave, Tony had happily soared into the sky, breaking the sound barrier as he flew back toward the United States.

However, Tony's flight path — combined with the recent destruction of a military base near his old captivity site — caught the attention of Edwards Air Force Base in California.

"Contact the Department of Defense, CIA, Navy... anyone," the officer at the base ordered. "See if this is one of theirs."

"Sir, they all said it's not theirs."

"I want answers. Give me the clearest image of the target. Now get Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes from the Weapons Development Department here — immediately!"

Moments later, Rhodey arrived.

"Why can't I see it on the radar?" Rhodey asked.

"Because its radar cross-section is too small."

"Is it a stealth aircraft?"

"No, sir. It's very small — I'd guess a drone."

Hearing this, Rhodey remembered Tony had been tinkering with something recently.

"Let me make a phone call."

Rhodey stepped aside and dialed Tony's number.

Tony, still mid-flight, picked up.

"Hello, who is it?"

"Tony, it's me — Rhodey. What's making all that noise over there?"

"Oh... I'm driving a convertible."

"Tony, one of our arsenals just exploded — not far from where you were held captive. And our base radar picked up an unidentified object in that same area. Did you build some new tech I should know about? If so, you better tell me now before they shoot it down."

Just then, Tony spotted two fighter jets closing in behind him.

Tony dodged their first attack, weaving to avoid missiles. When one missile locked onto him, Tony ordered Jarvis to deploy countermeasures, barely avoiding the blast. Desperate, Tony called Rhodey again — this time on his personal phone.

"Rhodey, it's me!"

"Who is it?" Rhodey asked, playing dumb.

"Come on, it's me — Tony!"

"No, listen," Rhodey warned. "This isn't a game. You can't send civilian equipment into our combat zone. Do you understand?"

"This isn't just some equipment," Tony said. "I'm inside the suit. This *is* me!"

Rhodey froze in shock.

Meanwhile, the two jets started to return to base, but one pilot suddenly spotted Tony clinging to the underside of a plane's wing.

"There's something stuck to your plane. Roll over! Shake it off!"

The plane tilted, sending Tony spinning off, but he accidentally clipped the wing in the process. The damage forced the pilot to eject.

As the pilot parachuted down, his chute jammed, refusing to open.

Seeing this, Tony rocketed over and managed to yank the parachute cord just in time, saving the pilot.

Back at the base, Rhodey sighed with relief.

"Tony... you crazy idiot... you owe me a plane, you know that?"

Tony laughed. "Actually, it hit *me*."

Meanwhile, Kai — who had asked Yinsen to monitor Tony through comms — got an update that Tony was on his way home. So, Kai and Yinsen went to Tony's underground workshop to wait.

Sure enough, after a while, Tony arrived — battered and still in his bullet-riddled Mark III suit — landing right on the disassembly platform.

"Ahh... ahh!" Tony groaned as the suit came apart with the help of Yinsen and Jarvis.

Kai smirked. "Hey, isn't this Tony? Looks like you got beaten up by a fighter jet! Look at those bullet holes — wow!"

Hearing this, Yinsen turned to Tony.

"Tony... you weren't actually beaten up by a jet, were you?"

Having worked on the suit, Yinsen knew how durable it was. Yet the damage told a different story.

"Oh, come on," Tony grumbled. "I wasn't *beaten up*. I actually took down two F-22s — not the other way around!"

Kai chuckled. "Oh really? Didn't you call Rhodey to clean up your mess? That's what happens when you skip the portal ride and fly home solo without telling anyone."

Just then, Pepper came downstairs and spotted the damaged suit.

"What's going on? Are those... bullet holes?"

"Oh no..." Tony muttered under his breath. "Not Pepper too..."

Kai overheard him and couldn't resist. Instead of helping Tony, he grabbed Yinsen and quietly slipped upstairs.

"Let's get out of here before we're dragged into this," Kai whispered.

Tony watched in disbelief as Kai and Yinsen vanished up the stairs, leaving him to face Pepper alone.

After a lengthy — and painful — conversation, Tony finally calmed Pepper down. But she firmly warned him not to pull another stunt like that again.

Upstairs, Kai and Yinsen received the evidence that Gear had gathered.

Gear had hacked into Stark Industries' servers and uncovered proof that Obadiah had betrayed Tony, secretly selling weapons to terrorists.

Kai showed the evidence to Yinsen.

"Look at this, Yinsen. It was Obadiah who sold those weapons."

"What? Let me see!" Yinsen snatched the documents and scanned through them, his face darkening.

Moments later, Tony and Pepper came upstairs together.

Tony was asking Pepper to sneak into Obadiah's office to investigate his terrorist connections.

"Hey, Tony," Kai called out. "No need for Pepper to go. I've already got the proof right here."

___