237Back with Tony, he was trying desperately to reach his lover. "Pep, I got you. Relax, I got you. Just look at me! Honey, I can't reach any further and you can't stay there. All right? You've got to let go. You've got to let go! I'll catch you, I promise." Tony pleaded, reaching out for Pepper as much as she could, but the crane came unstable and she dropped, Tony unable to reach her. "No!" Tony yelled as Pepper fell to the ground and into the flames below.
"Pepper, no!" Everyone cried out.
"That poor woman. She simply followed Tony and tried to do the right thing. She didn't deserve the fate she received." Ozpin said sadly.
"She never should have been in this situation in the first place. She should have been safe at the mansion, but he insisted on moving her so he could have his precious trophy! His callous nature got her killed!" Ren said angrily.
"Tony's got to take him out now. Make him pay, Stark." Ruby said in a surprisingly dark tone no one expected from her.
"A shame. I would've caught her." Killian said.
"YOU'RE THE ONLY REASON SHE WAS IN THIS MESS!" The entire audience screamed at once.
Tony and Killian ran towards each other. Killian jumped up to attack, but Tony slid under and armored up. Killian punched Tony in the face, but it barely fazed him and he returned the punch. However, Killian ripped off a piece of the right arm and deflected Tony's hand when he attempted to blast him with a repulsor, then backhanded Tony and ripped a piece from the midsection. Tony grabbed Killian and attempted to slam his face into the railing, but he held himself back and ripped off the left arm of the suit. The two then punched each other's fist, staggering them both, but Killian hissed in pain at the effect, before rushing in and ramming into Tony, sending him onto a lower platform, before jumping down after him. He then raised his fist to impale Tony.
"Come on, Tony! You totally got this!" Yang cheered.
"Break his everything!" Nora yelled.
"Break out those blades again!" Neo advised.
"Eject." Tony yelled, the armor letting him out before he was impaled. He fell through the air for a moment, before another suit caught him and he slowed his descent to a stop, before flying back up and tackling Killian, flying high into the air. They landed on a much higher platform and resumed fighting, Tony trying to blast Killian with repulsors, but the terrorist managed to evade them and close the distance, ripping into the midsection before Tony threw him back into a winch system. He blasted at Killian again, but he still dodged the attack, grabbing Tony's hand and turning it to his own face as he fired another repulsor, knocking him off the platform, but a large jet on the back of the suit stopped him and allowed him to get back on the platform, kneeing Killian in the chest, then face with help from his boot jet, then backhanded him with help from that hand's repulsor. He then delivered a back kick, but Killian caught the leg and severed it, Tony fortunately freeing his leg just in time.
"Yes! That's it! Use your arsenal to its full potential!" Winter cheered.
"He's also noticeably putting more skill into his attacks." Ren noted.
"Well, hopefully that skill leads to a kill." Coco said.
They were all then shocked at how close Tony came to losing his leg. "Whoa! That was WAY too close!" Blake said, a bit nervously.
"Clever of him to add in a system to detach limbs of the suit it the limb inside is in danger and can be ejected to save it." Penny praised.
The terrorist then hit Tony in the face with the leg, grabbed him, flipped him and slammed him to the ground. Tony got up and attempted to blast him with a repulsor again, but Killian caught the hand. "Well, here we are on the roof." Killian declared as he sliced the suit in half, Tony ejecting before being killed once again.
"Mark 42, inbound." JARVIS informed his creator.
Tony was amazed at this. "I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns." He said, holding his arm out. The suit flew to Tony, but hit a piece of metal and fell apart. Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said.
Everyone was amazed when the faulty armor proved itself by getting back to Tony on its own, but quickly facepalmed as it crashed.
"You really didn't deserve her, Tony. It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect." Killian declared.
"If you think she wasn't perfect, that's only proof YOU didn't deserve her!" Emerald snapped.
"Exactly. Pepper accepted Tony for who he was and he did his best to ensure she was safe and happy... with the occasional slip-up. But you believed you could make her better instead of accepting her. To think that way about anyone shows how arrogant and callous he is. And Stark needs to take him out." Glynda declared.
"Wow, that was really insightful, Ms. Goodwitch." Ruby said, earning a smile and nod of thanks from her teacher.
He then jumped down to face Tony, who stood up and raised his hands for Killian to stop. "Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait! Slow down! Slow down! You're right. I don't deserve her. Here's where you're wrong. She was already perfect." Tony declared.
Killian advanced to finish off Tony, but the billionaire motioned to the suit and it flew on to Killian, pinning him back against the floor above the one they were currently on as he glared at Tony, full of hatred as his face glowed even brighter. "Jarvis, do me a favor and blow Mark 42." Tony requested.
"No!" Killian began to scream, before the helmet encased his head, silencing him. Tony the quickly ran away and leapt off the platform as his newest suit exploded with his enemy inside it.
"Yes! Know you are trapped inside the armor that empowered your enemy, but it will only serve to be your tomb and cry out in fear as you meet your demise!" Weiss declared, going psycho mode and laughing evilly.
"I think we can let that go this time because we were all probably thinking the same thing." Pyrrha admitted.
"Finally. It's over." Velvet sighed in relief.
Tony slid down the crane and leapt off, landing in a suit missing an arm in a leg, which fell to the ground, sliding and tumbling until it broke apart, leaving only Tony's left arm and leg covered. Tony then watched the destruction fall around him, including parts of the Mark 42, helmet included. Tony watched it for a moment, as if expecting Killian's head to pop out, but the faceplate simply popped off to reveal an empty helmet. However, in the background, Killian could be seen rising from the flames, charred and breaking apart in some places, but still in one piece, very much capable of continuing.
"No..." Ozpin said in shock.
"Impossible!" Ironwood said.
"That's just not fair! Why won't he die!?" Jaune said, now panicking a bit.
He walked towards Tony, his flesh held together by flames. "No more false faces. You said you wanted the Mandarin. You're looking right at him. It was always me, Tony. Right from the start. I am the Mandarin!" Killian declared. However, someone hit Killian and he flew to the side. It was Pepper, glowing orange and breathing heavily, but very much alive.
"She's alive!" Everyone cheered happily.
"And she's kicking butt!" Nora cried out happily.
"Make him pay for everything you had to suffer through because of him!" Cinder told the strawberry-haired girl.
Tony was shocked at this. Pepper was expecting him to say something, but a response wouldn't come to mind. "I got nothing." He admitted. Suddenly, the repulsors on a nearby suit powered up as it picked up an Extremis target in front of Tony and moved to protect him. Also, Killian got back up, STILL somehow able to keep going. "Jarvis, subject at my 12 o'clock is not a target, disengage!" Tony cried out in fear and panic, but got no response as he realized his earpiece had come out.
"Crap! They can't hear him without that!" Neo cried out.
"Run, Pepper! Run!" Weiss desperately warned her.
"It's too late! The suit will catch her in no time! She's done for!" Penny yelled in alarm.
Pepper suddenly turned to him furiously. "What? Oh, what, are you mad at me?" He asked. Pepper ran towards Tony and stepped on his knee, using it as a platform to jump and flip in the air, punching through the chest of the Iron Man suit and destroying it. Killian stormed towards the two, so she swung her arm through the suit, equipping its arm to her own and sending him flying with the spinning back fist. This sent Killian flying back through the air while spinning wildly, Tony exclaiming in surprise. Killian crashed to the ground and a missile rolled to Pepper's feet, which she kicked towards The Mandarin and used the arm's repulsor to blow it up point blank in Killian's face, instantly vaporizing him.
"YES! DIE!" Cinder yelled, the entire rest of the audience working to calm her down this time.
"Still, it is nice to see the shit-eating grin of his wiped off the face of the Earth." Qrow admitted.
"And Pepper was the one to do it! Girl power!" Yang cheered, the other girls voicing their agreement.
"Honey?" Tony called to get her attention.
"Oh, my God. That was really violent." Pepper said in surprise.
"You just scared the devil out of me. I thought you were..." Tony explained.
"I was dead. Why? Because I fell 200 feet? Who's the hot mess now?" Pepper questioned.
"It's still debatable. Probably tipping your way a little bit. Why don't you dress like this at home? Hmm? Sport bra. The whole deal." He asked.
"I wouldn't mind seeing you in a get-up like that." Coco said teasingly to Velvet.
"Coco!" The bunny girl chastised her girlfriend/leader.
"It's stylish, practical and just the right amount of revealing." Neo agreed.
"She gets it!" Coco yelled, pointing at the former mute.
"You know, I think I understand why you don't want to give up the suits. What am I going to complain about now?" She wondered.
"Well, it's me. You'll think of something. Come here." Tony said, reaching out for her.
"No, don't touch me." She warned him.
"Don't worry about it." Tony tried to calm her down, moving closer.
"No, I'm gonna burn you." She pleaded.
Tony grabbed her arm gently, proving that, indeed, she wasn't hot enough to burn him. "No, you're not. Not hot." He assured her.
"Well, she is hot, just not in that way." Blake said.
"Oh! I didn't even have to trick you into saying something like that this time!" Yang laughed.
"Sh-shut up!" Blake snapped.
"Hey, you're just speaking facts. Nothing wrong with that." Emerald told her.
"Am I gonna be okay?" Pepper explained.
"No. You're in a relationship with me. Everything will never be okay. But I think I can figure this out, yeah. I almost had this 20 years ago when I was drunk. I think I can get you better. That's what I do. I fix stuff." Tony assured her.
"And all your distractions?" Pepper asked.
"Uh... I'm going to shave them down a little bit." Tony assured her, before calling JARVIS. "Jarvis. Hey." He called the AI.
"Shave them down? What, as in get rid of them?" Weiss questioned.
"I REALLY hope he only means he's stop making so many. I mean, he just lost a bunch for this battle, that should be plenty!" Ruby said.
"She wishes for him to have a life without danger. For her, that would ideally mean no longer being Iron Man." Penny pointed out.
"Yeah, I don't see that happening." Neo said, shaking her head.
"All wrapped up here, sir. Will there be anything else?" JARVIS asked.
"You know what to do." Tony declared.
"The Clean Slate Protocol, sir?" JARVIS questioned.
"Screw it, it's Christmas. Yes, yes." Tony confirmed. Pepper and Tony hugged and Pepper looked up to see the Iron Man suits blowing up. "Okay, so far? Do you like it?" He asked.
"Noooooo!" Ruby and Ironwood cried out at the same time.
"All those poor, beautiful suits, gone! Tony, how could you! They were your precious creations! I can't even bear the thought of losing Crescent Rose! I could never destroy it!" She sobbed.
"You complete idiot! Those suits were technological Marvels that could have countless practical uses in other areas and you elect to just destroy them! Unforgivable! An absolute disgrace!" Ironwood roared.
"Something tells me they'll be at this for a while." Qrow said, earning nods from the others.
"It'll do." She agreed as the two of them shared a kiss as the suits continued to explode like fireworks.
"Aww, that's sweet, at least." Nora said, barely audible over the crying Ruby and furious general.
"It's been clear for a while, Pepper has questioned if Tony needs Iron Man more than her. Now she knows." Ren declared.
"Whoa, that's deep." Yang said, impressed.
"And so, as Christmas morning began, my journey had reached its end. You start with something pure, something exciting. Then, come the mistakes. The compromises." Tony spoke as clips of Maya and Killian from the past were shown, before the Vice President was seen being led away as Rhodes watched on in disappointment.
"They trusted him and he let them down. He burned them. That's unforgiveable." Qrow said bitterly.
"And sadly, we will likely have to do the same to Leonardo." Glynda said.
"At least this man was doing it for his daughter. Lionheart only wished to save himself." Ironwood said bitterly.
"We create our own demons." Tony declared as Trevor was being let out of a car by the police, countless paparazzi taking photos of him.
Trevor actually smiled at all the attention he was getting, seeming to forget that he was under arrest now that he was in the spotlight. "Oh! Great to see you!" He greeted one of the paparazzo, trying to go over to them, but he was roughly yanked back by his cuffs. "Oh, bloody hell!" He complained.
"You dolt! Did you actually forget you were under arrest when you saw the cameras?!" Weiss asked.
"I've heard of tunnel vision or being blinded by the spotlight, but that's a new level of stupid." Neo agreed.
"So, in other words, this guy." Coco said, making the others laugh.
A surgeon was seen putting on a mask before he and a team of other surgeons were seen working on Tony, who gave a thumb's up to Pepper and Rhodey before he was put under. "But then I thought to myself, 'Why stop there?' Of course, there are people who say progress is dangerous, but I'll bet none of those idiots ever had to live with a chestful of shrapnel. And now, neither will I. Let me tell you, that was the best sleep I'd had in years." Tony said as the doctor's were, at last, removing the shrapnel from his chest, letting it be pulled up to a magnet directly above Tony's open chest. Tony was then seen putting a beautiful necklace around Pepper's neck, wearing a lovely white suit as she wore a beautiful black dress.
"He's only NOW getting the operation?!" Ren questioned.
"That hardly makes sense. He should have had it done as soon as he got back from Afghanistan." Velvet said.
"The technology wasn't available. The reactor took up a lot of his chest space, even took out some of his sternum. It's only through Extremis that he was able to recover from the surgery afterwards." Katana explained.
"Well, I'm just glad he's happy and healthy now. And it looks like he and Pepper are closer than ever." Blake said with a smile.
"There's still not smut scenes, Blake." Katana said.
"I don't want that!" Blake insisted.
"Am I the only one that thinks the magnet directly above Tony's chest is a bad idea? What if something hits it or it powers off and all the shrapnel falls right back in?" Yang wondered.
Back in the hospital, Happy finally woke up, gasping and coughing, a nurse quickly checking on him. "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." She assured him repeatedly.
"No, look." Happy explained, pointing to the TV.
"Yay! Happy's awake!" Ruby said.
"Thank goodness." Velvet sighed in relief.
"You know, in a weird way, Happy really was the hero of this story. He's the only real reason Tony got involved." Jaune noted.
"Indeed. While he may have only based his suspicions on paranoia and his own doubt of everyone, there's no denying it came through for our heroes in the end." Winter said.
A school bus was shown as Harley got off it, heading to his garage. Upon entering, he was shocked and amazed to find it stocked with all the science equipment he could ever hope for, along with a car, a miniature version of DUM-E, a new and improved potato gun and a replacement for his sister's watch. All this accompanied by a card reading "Potato Gun Mark II. Your pal, The Mechanic".
"Awesome!" Ruby said.
"Amazing! My father's lab has nearly anything he could ever ask for and yet even it lacks some of the things Tony has gotten for this child!" Penny said, amazed and starry-eyed.
"And look at that car! Tony knows how to pay people back!" Yang said.
"Dang. Now I wish I could do him a favor." Emerald said enviously.
Tony was then seen walking to the end of a cliff, pulling the Arc Reactor out of a paper bag and throwing it into the ocean. "So, if I were to wrap this up, tie it with a bow, or whatever... I guess I'd say my armor, it was never a distraction, or a hobby. It was a cocoon. And now, I'm a changed man." He explained with thrilling music playing as he knelt down near a pile of leaves and uncovered a key, which he kissed, before tossing into the air and catching it. "You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys. One thing you can't take away..." He continued as he got into his car and looked himself in a mirror. "I am Iron Man." He declared, before the credits rolled.
Everyone was shocked by this. "Are you an idiot! Even if it no longer kept you alive, that arc reactor was a precious resource and nearly limitless source of energy!" Ironwood shouted.
"And isn't he supposed to have a connection with it because Pepper saved it for him?" Nora asked.
"No, it's not the first arc reactor, that was a new one. Just like he did after he was done with it the first time, he made another stronger one to power the magnet and his armor." Katana explained.
"But how can he be Iron Man without the suits? Just like I can't be a Maiden without the power." Cinder questioned.
"Well, if this movie has taught us anything, it's that Tony is more than just a suit. Just like you and the other Maidens are more than just the power you have. Everyone has the potential to be more than the sum of their parts." Ozpin reminded her.
Tony was then seen sitting in a chair in some kind of public place, apparently talking to someone. "You know and thank you by the way. For listening. Plus, something about just getting it off my chest and putting it out there in the atmosphere, instead of holding this in... I mean, this is what gets people sick, you know. Wow, I had no idea you were such a good listener." He praised the person he was talking to.
"Good, he's finally talking to someone about all this. I should've spoken to you guys about the White Fang sooner. Maybe then I wouldn't have exploded on Weiss like I did." Blake said.
"All of us have issues that are tough to talk about. What's important is that we get pas those issues and talk about it, so we can help each other past them and ease their burdens." Ruby said.
Ozpin smiled at this. "Well said, Miss Rose." He praised.
"Yeah! Don't let anybody say my sis ain't wise!" Yang declared, hugging Ruby.
"To be able to share all my intimate thoughts and my experiences with someone, it just cuts the weight of it in half. You know, it's like a snake swallowing its own tail. Everything comes full circle." He began to ramble as it was shown he was speaking to none other than Bruce Banner, who was sound asleep. "And the fact that you've been able to -help me process..." Tony continued, before Bruce dropped his pen, waking him with a small start, but that small start was enough for Tony to pick up, making him stop and look over as Bruce rubbed his eyes. "Are you with me?" Stark asked.
Everyone was shocked to see the Hulk's alter ego here. "Dude, where have you been through all this?!" Jaune cried out.
"Exactly! The Hulk probably could have taken all those Extremis punks himself!" Cinder agreed.
"Really, all the Avengers should have mobilized when Tony was presumed dead." Pyrrha noted.
"Some of them had their own things going on." Katana said simply.
"I think the big thing you're all forgetting here is that Tony came to Bruce, one of the few people he truly likes and can confide in, as well as being one of Bruce's few friends and yet he fell asleep listening to Tony's story where he reveals he has severe anxiety and panic attacks." Ren pointed out.
"That IS messed up when you put it like that." Coco admitted.
"Indeed. Mr. Banner does NOT seem like a good therapist." Penny agreed.
"Sorry... I was, yeah. We were at, uh..." Bruce lied, trying to recall the last thing he remembered.
"Are you actively napping?" The Iron Avenger questioned.
"I was... I... I drifted." Bruce stammered.
"Where did I lose you?" Stark asked.
"Elevator in Switzerland." Banner admitted.
"Really, dude?" Jaune said, a bit disappointed by the hero.
"Jeez, I've had drinking buddies who listen better than him while their drunk off their asses!" Qrow said, also somewhat irked by the Gamma specialist's lack of attention.
"I may be cold, but I'm not that downright uncaring." Winter agreed. There have been times when she's sat and listened to the pleas and woes of her subordinates.
"That's why we have professionals and, while Dr. Banner may be a genius, it's clear that is not where his profession lies." Glynda agreed.
"So, you heard none of it?" Tony asked in disbelief.
"I'm sorry. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm not a therapist. It's not my training." Bruce explained.
"So?" Tony questioned.
"I don't have the..." The alternate side of the hulk explained.
"What? The time?" Stark hounded him.
"Temperament." Banner corrected.
"I suppose that is true. The last thing anyone would want would be for him to become impatient or annoyed with the story and become the Hulk." Ironwood explained.
"But I thought he had control over that?" Pyrrha asked.
"Well, it's also pretty clear he can lose control if he's not in the right headspace. Like if he's sleepy or annoyed. Or someone's messing with his head." Emerald reminded her.
"You know what? Now that I think about it... Oh! God, my original wound. 1983, all right?" Tony moved to a new story.
"Yes." Bruce acknowledged, but was already drifting.
"I'm 14 years old, I still have a nanny. That was weird." Stark explained Banner's head soon fell back and he fell asleep again.
"Well, it certainly had it's issues, mostly Tony being a total dolt from lack of sleep, but it was certainly entertaining." Weiss admitted.
"Yeah! I loved seeing all the Iron Man suits and all the cool stuff they could do. Just too bad they were all destroyed." Ruby said, sniffling a bit.
"It's alright, Ruby. I recorded designs from all of the suits, so we may be able to recreate them." Penny added.
"Not to mention they did say Tony would return in the credits, so we're probably going to see new suits in the future." Ironwood pointed out.
"It was pretty good. I just wish that all the villains weren't using my Semblance, but better." Cinder stated.
"It was really shocking and a bit disturbing to see Tony having those panic attacks. They hit a little close to home for me, but it was great seeing him overcome them." Blake pointed out.
"And Tony proved he can kick just as much butt out of a suit as he could in one." Yang added.
"Yeah. He was almost as good of a spy as me. Almost." Neo agreed.
"So, they got one of them HISHE parodies for this one, too?" Qrow asked.
"As a matter of fact, they do." Katana confirmed, starting it.
A/N: Thank you for reading and as always, I hope you enjoyed this!
Also, just a reminder from the last chapter, making sure this gets out there, but I've come up with a new challenge! The Joestar line watching JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. There's a few fics of others watching the show (mostly RWBY and MHA), but there's absolutely no fics of JoJo characters reacting to anything, so I figured this would be a good place to hopefully jumpstart some fics of that nature.
The main idea is this: all of the JoJo's are brought in to watch the series, so Jonathan can see his lineage and all the other JoJo's can see the adventures that came before theirs, occasionally bringing in people important to that part of the story (for example: George Joestar and young Speedwagon in Phantom Blood, old Speedwagon, Ceasar and Lisa Lisa in Battle Tendencies and the Stardust Crusaders in... Well, Stardust Crusaders) to have their additional commentary and see scenes they weren't around for and/or oblivious to.