Tony stark awoke with a gasp of air, he looked around his surroundings to see what appears to be a dark cavern, having steel walls at the bottom half of the walls, stark looked around the place more and saw what looked like a workbench, alongside medical equipment, and more than enough to make the area he was in look like a workshop,

"Where...where am I?" panted tony, frantic about where he was since last he remembered, he and his escort were attacked by terrorists

"Alone in a cave..." said an elderly man's voice "surrounded by weapons and technology...that is a very poetic way to die..."

tony stark turned his head to see an elderly man tinkering with a piece of equipment, was he too been attacked by terrorists? and held up here?

"Who are you?" asked Tony "where am I?"

"ah, yes" the man spoke as he put his equipment down and stood up "the infamous Mr stark, I'm sure you remember me, professor ho yinsen" yinsen then turned to Mr stark to face him in person

"yinsen?" said Tony "it...it's been a long while!"

"Indeed it has been," smiled yinsen but then frowned "but I'm afraid these aren't the best kind of circumstances for our reunion"

"yeah...I guess it isn't..." said Tony "where are we anywa-AH!"

tony felt a sharp pain in his chest, one he hasn't felt before, but it felt like it was so close to his heart, a chest pain even,

"what was that-ah!" groaned tony, placing a hand near his chest

"that, I'm afraid," said yinsen "is the result of the men who wanted to take you alive but almost failed,"

this made tony stark realize something as he took off his shirt and to his horror saw a circular device, it appeared like a pacemaker and an electromagnet

"when those men fired at you, shrapnel pierced your chest," explained yinsen "they ordered me to heal you, and remove the shrapnel from your heart, I was able to get most of it out, but not all of it,"

"and..what's this for?" asked tony waving a hand at the life support on his chest, which appeared to be hardwired to a car battery as a power source

"that is an artificially engineered electromagnet," explained yinsen "these men have me build it so the shrapnel in your chest wouldn't pierce your heart, killing you almost instantly"

"But..why am I here?" asked Tony "what do these men want?"

tony stark's question would soon be answered by the door swung open and men in masks storming the room, hold rifles and guns, while their leader stood forward

"It is very simple Mr stark," he said "excellent work as well reviving him, dr yinsen,"

yinsen nodded as tony stark spoke up "what do you people want?"

"ah, Mr stark, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, I am called Raza, right-hand man of the ten rings!" he introduced

"the ten rings?" said tony wide-eyed, he had heard of this organization before, they had terrorized Afghanistan many times before, though their forces had yet to have the firepower to expand their territory,

"ah, you've heard of us," said Raza, smirking sadistically

"who hasn't? with you guys having pretty much taken over Afghanistan," replied tony stark

"it is pretty much obvious at this rate Mr stark," replied Raza with an evil grin "but now that you're on your feet, we will want a favor from you, and dr yinsen"

"what might that be?" asked tony

Raza slammed down a paper, showing a blueprint of one of the stark industries designed weapons "you will make us new weapons to expand our territorial control, and to destroy all those who stand in our way"

tony's eyes narrowed as he didn't want to cooperate with terrorists like the ten rings "I won't,"

the men aimed their guns on their captives as Raza chuckled "heh, even if it costs you the full medical expertise to remove the rest of shrapnel on your chest?"

"What?" asked Tony as he looked at yinsen

"yinsen only removed most of the shards in your chest," explained Raza "and if you want it all removed, you will obey us and the will of the ten rings and make us new weapons to destroy all those in our way with, otherwise neither you nor your friend will live to see the light of day!"

"I've been forced to work with them ever since," said yinsen sadly

"you have access to enough resources to get started on your weapons," said Raza "the choice is yours, either way, your lives are in the hands of the ten rings!" he and his men then left the room and slammed the large metal door shut

"the ten rings..." replied Tony "I still don't believe it...."

"yes, and we must make the choice here, Mr stark.." said yinsen, "I believe it is time to get acquainted with one another..."

"Maybe so..." said Tony as he stood up and walk towards a nearby workbench to work on a blueprint...

later

as they worked tony every once in a while had to lay on the med bed while yinsen watched over him, but during the time they worked together, they realized the car battery could only do so much to keep the shrapnel at bay, hence why Tony went to work on an even stronger blueprint tony had been sketching a blueprint of a human-sized arc reactor, enough to fit the life support on his chest, as a stronger electromagnet for the shrapnel on his chest, yinsen had also offered to lend his assistance

"honestly," said Tony as he went over his blueprint of the human-sized arc reactor "I don't even know if this was possible..with just the resources we have here,"

"but Mr stark," said yinsen, "even a box of scraps can become something extraordinary,"

"a box of scraps..." said Tony as he looked towards a particular box "alright, but I hope this works..."

soon the two scientists went to work on the miniature arc reactor, they took spare parts from the ten ring's resources, including the captured stark industries weapons, tony was also tinkering with an element that is a vital component in powering an arc reactor, while yinsen was assembling the base of the reactor

"yinsen," said Tony "I missed you so much but did it have to be like this, forced to work with men like them?"

"I asked myself the same question, Mr stark" replied yinsen, "but I prayed that someday, we would either escape, or I rejoin my family, my wife, even..."

"I'm happy for you yinsen..." said Tony, as he tinkered more with the necessary element, infusing it into the core of the reactor "but, sometimes I wonder, if I'm really up for this, my dad Howard, really threw a lot at me to be CEO of stark industries..."

"as would most men," said yinsen as he attached a few parts to the center ring "the rich are at most, a man who has everything, and nothing"

"yeah, but dad's counting on me," said Tony "and now, here we are, trapped in a cave, on life support, and being forced to make weapons for these scum..."

"not just weapons Mr stark.." said yinsen "art..."

"art?" replied Tony, putting the finishing touches on infusing the element to the core

"a man with such resources, even with spare parts, can create art Mr stark," said yinsen as he continued to assemble the main ring "you can even become a part of something even greater than yourself"

"do you really mean that?" said Tony as he went to work on the connection node to the electromagnet for his life support to the shrapnel in his chest

"Indeed, Mr stark," said yinsen as he builds the 3rd curve of the medium-large metal ring "you can become anything, and anyone, I know your father would want that too,"

"but he left so much to me," said stark as he worked on the electromagnet connection to the arc reactor "I don't know what he would say if he saw me now, locked in a cave, forced to make weapons for men like the ten rings of all people..."

"so much, and yet so little time," said yinsen as he nearly finished the ring "you may not know it Mr stark, but I know that you can do anything if you set your mind to whatever you wish"

"..thanks yinsen..." said Tony as he put the finishing touches on the rest of the reactor, "well, I guess that will do it..."

"I suppose so..." said yinsen as he completed the metal ring to hold all the components together, "let us begin, Mr stark"

tony nodded then went to lay on the med bed where yinsen would begin operating on him, inserting the newly completed arc reactor on the life support hole on his chest, the operation would be difficult, but yinsen was an exceptional medical doctor, he carefully removed the original life support off of tony's chest, and then worked quickly to attach the new arc reactor to his chest, and power the electromagnet, the operation was soon completed as the arc reactor glowed to life, tony was safe for now...

meanwhile, Raza and his men were watching through video cameras in their captives' workshop/prison they watched yinsen perform on tony stark, extending his life

"the doctor appears to be operating on stark, Raza," said of the henchmen "should we go in and kill them?"

"no," called Raza "the master needs them both alive if we are to have the means of acquiring powerful new weapons for our conquest of the world,"

"I understand Raza" nodded one of the henchmen "what should we do now?"

"continue monitoring our guests," ordered Raza "I must speak with the master and tell him the news," he then stood up and went outside the room in the cave and into the open desert space

there lay tents, weapon and supply crates and ten rings troops on guard on every front of the cave and beyond Raza went to a particular tent and towards a communication machine, he then went to sit down and pressed a button to open communications to the ten ring's master,

"ah, Raza" the voice spoke with a gruff Chinese accent "report my right-hand man, what news from our cave outpost in Afganistan"

"yes my lord," said Raza "I am pleased to report that dr yinsen has revived Mr stark successfully"

"Excellent," the voice said, "has he made us new weapons?"

"he and the doctor are working right now," explained Raza "we have not seen them make weapons yet, but we did see the doctor operating on stark"

"that is fine," the voice said "as long as Mr stark is alive, we shall have stark powered weaponry which will be used to destroy what the technology was built for, benefiting the people,"

"yes master," said Raza "but if stark and yinsen retaliate?"

"do with the doctor as you wish," said the voice "but as for Mr stark, torture him, but do not kill him, we will still need him, even if we have to break him to acquire the weapons we desire for our conquest of the world"

"It shall be done master," said Raza "what are your next orders?"

"for now, make sure Mr stark and the doctor craft our weapons," said the voice again "as for the rest of you, prepare to move in on the villages near your outpost, pillage the people and kill them all if you may,"

"We shall begin preparations, master," said Raza

"see to that, Raza," said the voice one last time before cutting communications, Raza stood up and went out to carry his master's new orders

meanwhile within the cave, at the large metal cell inside, tony and yinsen were still tinkering and working on the spare parts, but tony most of all, had been thinking about what yinsen said, about he could be anything, and anyone...and be a part of something bigger, those thoughts ran through his mind as he drew up a sketch on a blueprint, a humanoid-shaped figure was draw on it, and the figure liked like they were wearing armor, yinsen looked over the sketch with Mr stark and felt joy and pride in his heart as he saw the blueprint may turn what to be what tony stark may become, not a tinkerer of weapons for the ten rings...

but a man of iron...

TO BE CONTINUED