Word count-1526

"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern-day Heart of Darkness. Simple and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of the old Soviet smelting plant." Tony and Cal were sitting in the lab. Tony was still angry whilst screwing something in his suit arm as well as watching the news. Cal was trying to sleep away her anger and had fallen asleep on Tony's shoulder. "Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals known as the ten rings. As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could be proved fatal to anyone who stands in their way." Abruptly, Tony stood up causing Cal to fall to the couch which startled her awake. "With no political will and international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees. Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their millita..." Tony aimed his arm at the light and fired at it. This caused it to break and hang off the ceiling. "Refugees holding yellowed photographs, asking anyone who will stop. A child's simple question 'where are my mother and father?'. There's very little hope for these refugees. Refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help." Out of anger and frustration, Tony shot out all of the glass panes by the door.

Cal and Tony put on their suits and flew to Gulmira. When they neared the place, the ten rings' men were herding up the residents. Bombs were going off, some men were mercilessly shooting families. Men were lined up against a wall whilst the women and children were forced next to a truck. Cal was slightly in front of Tony so arrived sooner. A family consisting of the two parents and a young girl and boy were forced out of their home and the father was forced away. The young boy broke free and ran to his father who also broke away to tell his son to go back to his mother. The boss threw the boy at one of his men so they could put him with his mother, he then proceeded to beat the father on the floor, his family screaming for him. Tony and Cal flew in, mastering the superhero landing. They were both shot at but they took out their assailants and forced them back several feet due to their strong punches and blasts. They turned to the truck, hands raised. The men had guns to the heads of the residents. Cal noted that there was one teenage boy on his own, a woman holding a baby, a woman with her son and daughter who was the family of the man who was previously being beaten and a few families in the truck. Tony and Cal lowered their hands. Cal targeted all of the hostiles and the guns in her shoulders raised and took them out, Tony seemingly having the same idea so the hostiles ended up with two bullets each. The young boy broke free of his mother's hold and ran to his father and the two embraced each other. Cal smiled at the heartwarming moment. Tony walked passed them and approached a wall. He stuck his hand through it and pulled out the boss who had been trying to call someone. Tony threw him to the ground and the civilians gathered around him.

"He's all yours." He said before flying off.

"JARVIS please translate being said to me and everything I say." Cal said. Now to everyone else she spoke their language and to her, they spoke English.

"I'll be back to help you all when you have finished with this." She gestured to the man on the floor before flying off.

Cal soon appeared next to a battered looking Tony.

"The hell happened to you?" She asked, chuckling slightly.

"Got shot by a tank." Cal started laughing.

Soon afterwards, Rhodey called Tony who connected Cal to the call so she could hear.

"Hello?"

"Tony?"

"Who's this?"

"It's Rhodes."

"Sorry, hello?" Cal knew that Tony was faking it because Rhodey's picture was right in front of him.

"I said its Rhodes."

"Speak up, please."

"What in the hell is that noise?"

"Oh, yeah, Cal and I are driving with the top down."

"Hey, Rhodey." Cal greeted.

"Hi, Cal. Well, I need your help right now."

"Its funny how that works, huh?"

"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've just got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive."

"Well, that's a hot spot. Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?"

"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?"

"I'm not I was just jogging in the canyon."

"I thought you were driving."

"Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog."

"Tony, if you're going to jog you wouldn't be out of breath yet."

"Shut up, Cal."

"You sure you don't have any tech in that area that I should know about?"

"Nope!" Cal then heard a voice on Rhodey's side of the phone.

"Bogey spotted!"

"Okay, good. 'Cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."

Two raptors came up behind the Starks making Cal internally panic.

"That's our exit."

They tried their best to dodge the raptors.

"Inbound missile." JARVIS alerted them both.

"Flares!" They both shouted.

The flares came in contact with the missile and it blew up, sending the Starks flying forward. Tony's suit started flickering as he tried to regain altitude. He eventually managed to fly properly again and the two tried to fly off. The raptors then started to shoot at them.

"Deploy flaps." The two flew backwards, behind the Raptors. Both Tony and Cal latched on to the belly of one of the raptors. Tony proceeded to phone Rhodey back.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rhodey. It's us."

"Its who?"

"I'm sorry, it is us. You asked. What your asking about is us."

"No, see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?"

"It's not a piece of equipment. We're in them. They're suits. It's us!" Tony exclaimed as they tried to keep their hold on the jet. The men in the raptors soon realized that they were on them on it started to roll, trying to shake off the bogey. Tony and Cal flew backwards and hit the other raptor's wing causing it to go to the ground. He ejected from the raptor but there was no chute to save him. Cal and Tony raced towards his and punched out his chute.

"Tony, Cal, you guys still there?"

"Hey, thanks."

"Oh, my God, you crazy son of a bitch. You guys owe me a plane, you know that right?"

"Yeah, well technically, he hit us." Cal replied. "Now are you gonna come by and see what we're working on?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no. The less I know, the better. Now, what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Training exercise. Isn't that the usual BS?" Cal asked.

"It's not that simple." Rhodey shortly left the call.

"Hey, Tony? I'm gonna go back and help those civilians." Without waiting for a reply, Cal flew off, back to Gulmira.

The people had just finished with the boss as Cal landed.

"Everybody please come here." They all went to her. "Anybody who's injured, please come closer." Only a few people moved. The teenage boy from earlier and a few men. After sorting everyone out, they mainly only had a few scratches and sprains but nothing too serious, Cal told them that she would help them all get to the outskirts of Gulmira where there were people who would assist them further.

She made a few trips to there and back so no one had to make the 15-mile hike. Once everyone was safe with the people who would help, Cal went to fly off until she felt a small tug on her arm. She looked down and saw a young boy, he pulled her to the group that she had just saved. They told her to leave her suit so she did so. They all gasped when they realized who it was. She smiled and placed a finger to her lips. They all hugged her and repeatedly thanked her for what she had done. She went back to her suit.

"What do we call you?" A man said, holding tightly to his family. Cal then realized that she needed to quickly think of a superhero name.

"The Dragon." She cringed slightly at the name that she had picked, but the people seemed impressed and took a liking to the name. She waved goodbye and flew off.