Genre (s): Fanfiction/Fantasy

Written When? 12th Grade

Prologue

Fongafale, Tuvalu, a tiny island in the South Pacific, which was located halfway between Hawaii and Australia, had a much darker secret to it than most people thought. It was something that had the power to destroy all of civilization.

The night was dead and silent, with nothing more than the gentle slap of waves on the beach. A dark, shadowy figure appeared on it. Her name was Teuila, a young girl who just recently returned from her expedition across the world's five oceans.

Her bare feet made not a sound as she slowly approached the end of the beach where the lagoon met the ocean. Through the shadows covering her body, she lifted her hands. Gold magic that looked like ticking clocks appeared in them, and she focused her attention on the rough ocean below her.

As the light in her hands grew brighter, a great roar came from the water's surface.

Teuila threw them down and punched it. A bright, blue light appeared in the ocean under her, as well as a pair of glowing, blue eyes.

The song of a Ginkgo Toothed-Beaked Whale exploded into the still atmosphere.

The water under Teuila's hands started to twirl like a whirlpool. It took on the form of an unusual device–a device that looked familiar, like it belonged to someone, someone who had to wear it in order to keep shrapnel away from his heart.

Teuila cracked a sinister smile when she saw the light in the water. She told the glowing eyes within it, "The time has come. Our world is going to be saved, and we're not going to let anyone stand in our way."

Teuila fell to her knees in the sand and edged her hand closer to the figure in the whirlpool. The glowing, blue eyes followed every movement she made. "Our only hope," continued the young girl as she studied the figure, "is the arc reactor." Without another word, she smacked her hand down on the image. Boom! There was great flash of light, and then–

Malibu, California

Tony Stark woke up with a start. He shot up in bed, as a wave of pain engulfed his chest. The arc reactor in it started to glow.

Terrified, Tony unbuttoned his pajama top and pulled the two halves apart. He peered down on the glowing chest piece, which flickered on and off for a few seconds. It then just stopped. The pain left Tony's chest, but he did not remove his frightened eyes from the arc reactor. All he could say was, "Oh, God," and then he flopped back down on his pillow.

Iron Man:

Suit of Water and Ice

Chapter 1

TSPPIR and Doctor Strange

That morning after breakfast, Tony went straight to work. He locked himself up in his workshop and tried to figure out what it was that caused his arc reactor to hurt him. The pain had subsided, but it was insane when he got up that morning.

"What seems to be the problem, Jarvis?" he asked his computer system, as he pulled up a holographic image of the chest piece. "Is it the element again?"

"No, sir," Jarvis's robotic voice answered. "There seems to be another energy source controlling it."

"What kind of energy source?"

"Unanswered. I'm running some scans right now to see what it could possibly be."

"Could you hurry it up? I don't want this to malfunction. This is the only thing keeping me alive."

"I understand, sir. Just give me a little time to work."

"Very well." Tony hopped down from his chair and headed in the direction of the workshop's exit. He rested his hand over his chest piece the entire way there.

He tried to make it look like nothing was worrying him when he made it upstairs. He casually sauntered over to the kitchen and fixed himself a glass of water.

Pepper Potts soon joined him. In her hand, she held the morning newspaper. "Tony, have you read this?" she angrily asked.

"What?" Tony took a sip from his water and turned his back to his assistant.

Pepper smacked the paper down on the kitchen counter. She pointed to the main story, Iron Man is a Menace. "It says here that recent sightings of Iron Man show him flying like a ballistic pendulum in the sky. It's almost as if something's off with him. According to civilians, Iron Man has almost caused enormous casualties. What on Earth have you been doing lately, Tony?"

Tony shrugged. "It's a new flight mechanic I've installed. With it, I am able to fly longer distances and hopefully into space."

"Tony,–" Pepper scrunched up the newspaper and tossed it into the trash can at the end of the kitchen counter, "I can't help but to agree with this paper. You're getting too cocky with this whole Iron Man business."

"Someone has to keep Stark Industries alive," Tony explained. He finished his cup of water and headed into the living room.

Pepper followed him. "Yeah, but putting innocent people's lives at stake... That's not cool."

"Pepper." Tony stopped at the door that led to downstairs and placed his hand on it. "It's called life. All superheroes face difficult challenges like this."

"Are you saying you don't mind if people are hurt?"

"No, but if they are, it's not my fault. They should have moved out of the way quicker. Hm?"

"Are you all right?" Pepper peered worryingly into Tony's face. "You're looking a bit pale."

"Everything's terrific. Excuse me. I have to finish with my new invention."

"Sure. Just to let you know, Nick Fury is going to be here later. He says it's important, and he needs to speak with the Avengers."

Tony chuckled sarcastically and turned to face his assistant. "Pepper, there is only one Avenger here." He pointed at himself. "Me." Then just like that, Iron Man opened the door and disappeared downstairs again.

Above, Pepper shook her head and closed the door behind him.

Tony waited until he heard her footsteps vanish. Inhaling a breath of air, he fell onto his backside and leaned his back up against one of his cars. He suddenly did not feel that well anymore. Once he made sure no one was looking, Tony lifted up his jacket and shirt and studied his chest piece again. It started to glow again. Jarvis was wrong. It had to be the palladium. There was only one way to find out.

Tony lowered one of his hands and tried to take the chest piece out. However, he couldn't.

Tony yelled as another wave of excruciating pain took over his entire chest. The arc reactor shocked him. By then, he sweated up a storm. What was wrong with the device? Strange things like this didn't start to happen until about a week ago, and he still had no answers to his questions. All Tony knew was that Iron Man's reputation was at stake, and he had no idea what to do about it.

***

Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.S. (also known as the Avengers), knew when a new threat was on its way. That time, it was probably going to be one of the most difficult ones yet.

Nick stood at the end of Malibu Beach and studied the open ocean. He ignored the fact that the waves were soaking his shoes. He did not pull his attention away from the sparkling water. After a few minutes, he heard something behind him.

It sounded like a whoosh, and following it was a voice. "Nick Fury?"

At the sound of the voice, Nick froze for a few seconds. Turning, his one eye landed on a caped, bearded man who stood in front of a portal.

"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange. You called me?" asked the mysterious figure.

***

At Tony Stark's estate, Tony hauled himself into the car and listened to Jarvis, who, after a few more scans of his arc reactor, found something.

"Sir, it looks like the additional energy source that is robbing the reactor of its power is coming from an island in the South Pacific."

"Which island?" Tony wanted to know, as he went through the different holograms in front of his face.

"Tuvalu, sir."

"Tuvalu?"

"That's what it looks like." A holographic image of Fongafale in Tuvalu showed itself to Tony. A robotic hand pointed at it. Jarvis carried on with his explanation. "From this island in particular. Fongafale."

"Why Fongafale?" Tony questioned.

"There is an old legend that an underwater–" The robot wasn't able to finish, because Pepper came in and interrupted everything.

Tony quickly muted him and changed the holographic images of Tuvalu to holographic images of newspapers instead.

Pepper came within reach of him and said, “Tony, Nick Fury is upstairs now, with someone else, and he wants to speak with you. What do you think is going to happen if you just sit here? When Nick comes, it usually means a threat is coming.” That was when she noticed how pale and sweaty Tony was. “Are you sure everything’s okay? You do not look good at all.”

“I’m fine. I’m just thinking,” Tony answered. “Tell Fury I’ll be up there in a minute.”

“Okay. If you say so.” Pepper gave Tony’s shoulder a pat and headed for the exit. Before heading back upstairs, she peered over her shoulder to check on him. She then opened the door and started up the stairs.

Below, Tony patted his chest and took a deep breath. The arc reactor gave off a few short flickers before fading. Once he was ready, Tony opened the car door and got out. He forced a feeble smile and started back upstairs himself.

Just as Pepper said, Nick Fury waited in the living room. On the couch next to him was Doctor Strange.

He levitated in midair. It looked like he was meditating.

A question mark appeared above Tony’s head when he saw him. “Stephan Strange? Is that you?”

“Shh,” Doctor Strange ordered. “I’m looking into the future.”

Tony could not believe who he was looking at. Was this indeed Doctor Strange, the man who fought alongside him and Peter Parker when Thanos collected the six Infinity Stones? It sure was.

As the man thought about this, he heard Nick Fury. “Mr. Stark, it’s good to see you again.” Coming within reach of bewildered Tony, he offered him his hand for a handshake.

“Huh?” Tony asked, still in a bit of a trancelike state. “Oh yes. It’s good to see you, too, Mr. Fury.” He sheepishly shook Nick’s hand, but eyes did not leave Doctor Strange.

When Nick let go, he placed his hands on his hips and gestured at the couch with his head. “Have a seat. We have much to talk about.”

“I’ll get some tea,” Pepper offered. With that, she sauntered into the kitchen.

Doctor Strange opened his eyes and floated to the ground. He and Tony sat on the couches at the same time. Tony sat on the couch closest to him, and Stephan sat on the couch across from him.

Nick Fury plopped down in a leather chair, which rested at the head of the table.

As soon as Tony’s backside hit the soft leather, he gulped and nervously drummed his fingers on the coffee table.

Stephan merely crossed one leg over the other and crossed his arms. He focused his attention on Fury, but Tony kept his eyes glued to his drumming fingers.

He wanted to tell everybody what was going on with him, but like always, he could not bring himself to. No way. He was excessively nervous. Tony literally felt like a rattlesnake was slithering all over his body. For the time being, he just listened.

Nick wasted no time. He jumped right into the explanation. “Mr. Stark and Mr. Strange, I am here today on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.S. While Thanos may be defeated, there is still plenty of danger throughout all of Earth. Just recently, S.H.I.E.L.D.S. learned about a growing threat in the Pacific Ocean. Particularly in the South Pacific Ocean near Funafuti, capital of Tuvalu.”

“Funafuti?” Doctor Strange questioned, rubbing his beard with one hand.

“It’s on Fongafale,” Tony piped up without even thinking.

As he said that, Pepper reentered the room carrying a tray of tea and cookies. She set it down on the coffee table and pushed Tony’s nervous hand away so there was room.

He continued to drum his fingers.

Tony’s response offended Doctor Strange. He said in an irritated voice, “I know where Fongafale is, Stark. I’m not stupid. Sorry. Please continue Mr. Fury. What is this growing threat?”

“A beast of water and ice,” was Nick’s response. “A beast that has the power to destroy the entire world.”

As soon as he said that, Tony accidentally smacked the handle of one of the spoons on the tea tray. It flew across the table, in the direction of Strange.

However, before it could hit him, he lifted his hand and stopped it with a little bit of magic. Clenching his fist, the spoon glowed red-hot and snapped in two pieces. Snap! It fell to the floor and landed with a plop.

Tony just stared.

Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, and Pepper Potts glared at him. “What is your problem, Tony?” Pepper asked through clenched teeth. “You look like you’ve just seen a horror movie.”

Tony started to stutter. “I just, um, feel this isn’t necessary. I mean, what I’m trying to say is, um, let’s see, um–Thanos has been defeated, yeah? So, um, well, um, the-the world has, um, been rid of evil, right?”

Steam literally started to float above Doctor Strange’s head. He tightened his face muscles even more. “Let me tell you something, Stark. I am going to break your party boy face if you say ‘um’ one more time. The world is never going to be peaceful, no matter what you do. Is your cockiness the reason why your Iron Man duties are going ballistic, and why you don’t care if people are hurt or not?”

“No,” Tony quickly answered, scratching his sweaty temple. “It’s just, uh... Well, what could be a greater threat than Thanos? What is the worst thing a beast of water and ice can do? If such a thing existed, why is it in the South Pacific Ocean and not in the Arctic or Antarctic?”

“The beast is not alone,” Nick explained. “It is being controlled by a Polynesian. This Polynesian has powers that are similar to yours, Mr. Strange. If she gains full control over the beast, then one of two things will happen: the world will be plunged into an eternal winter or multiple tsunamis, large enough to destroy entire countries, rise from the ocean floor. If something isn’t done fast, then we can say goodbye to civilization for good.”

“How is the Polynesian controlling the beast?” Doctor Strange wanted to know.

“She’s using some kind of energy source,” Nick answered. “I don’t know what, though. That remains unanswered.”

The second his words left his lips, another wave of pain engulfed Tony’s chest.

He smacked his hand over his arc reactor, which started to glow again.