CHAPTER 15: CRY HAVOC

Remnant, System Unknown

Kingdom of Atlas, Mantle

Polendina Laboratory

March 20th, 57 AGW

Maria Calavera knew that it was at least a few years too early to be getting adjustments to her prosthetic eyes, but her travels across Remnant had taken her back to this place and frankly speaking, she couldn't think of a reason to delay this otherwise routine checkup. Also, she was in need of someone to talk to. Despite going many places around the world, not many people were willing to go out of their way to talk to a cripple.

That was something of a sore point for the silver-eyed woman. It wasn't like she was old and physically debilitated. She still had plenty of years on her. Hell, she wasn't even in her forties yet. Then again, most people hadn't once possessed the title of the Grimm Reaper. Nobody even knew that she was one in the same with that calling and as long as she loved, that would always be so.

Maria kind of needed to go see Pietro. He was one the only few people to have any kind of meaningful relationship with her. She did her best to keep in touch with him whenever possible, but he was a busy man and she knew his time was precious. Between his work for the Atlesian Military and his personal desire to help those in need, she didn't doubt that he was swarmed with things to do.

As she walked along with the aid of a walking stick, she took note of the very clear difference between Mantle and Atlas. The clear separation of the wealthy and the poor was apparent. It had been like this for as long as she could remember. This place was always a reminder of the clear separation between different classes in society. Unlike the hotly debatable divide between humans and faunus, there was no question as to who ruled this place. The signs were all around.

Maria finally located the small and humble place where Pietro conducted his business. When she opened the door, she was expecting many things. A line, nobody at all, or just Doctor Polendina. What she got instead was something quite unusual.

Pietro was there and standing besides him was a young man in his early twenties. That fact by itself wasn't what was interesting, Upon approaching them, the former huntress took in the unknown man's features with her prosthetic eyes.

This was Tony Stark, a name that Maria had been hearing a lot in the past year and she heard everything from glowing praise to outright slander. All of it she didn't believe at face value; she didn't judge people based on what the media said. It was better to meet well-known individuals in person and render her own picture.

And based on just what she was seeing, it appeared that Pietro was quite friendly with his current conversational partner. They must have a working relationship having to do with technology, at least that's what she surmised. The way the two of them were speaking to each other made it clear that no ordinary person would know how to decipher their meaning.

"Is this a bad time?" Maria decided to butt in.

"Ah, a patient!" Pietro lit up upon seeing her. "Please, miss, do sit down. I'll be with you in a moment."

"Don't you remember me?" Maria probably should have expected this. "You gave me these things?"

"Hm." Pietro narrowed his eyes as he regarded her, then his face lit up. "Ah, yes! Maria! It's good to see you, but I don't think you're due for a visit for a while."

"I was in town." Maria reasoned as she took a seat on the reclined patient chair nearby. "I thought I would come see you. I'm still getting used to seeing these things."

"Those things are your eyes?" Mister Stark only then butted into the conversation. "Man, that's a rocking look, C3PO."

What was a C3PO?

"Those prosthetics are some of my best work." Pietro lightly scolded his compatriot. "Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to see at all."

"Still, kind of tacky." The Stark CEO approached her. "It's Stark. Tony Stark."

"Maria Calavela." The woman said in reply. "A pleasure."

She offered a hand and he took a moment to look at it and then he regarded her face before he gave her a shake in reply. His grip was strong, but she had this feeling that he wasn't putting all the strength that he could.

"So, how did you go blind?" Tony was fearless with his question. "You get too close to a Grimm?"

"The Grimm don't concern me." Maria released his hand. "I got these from a mercenary. That was before I killed her."

"Okay then." Tony's uncertainty lasted for all of a second. "So can I take those apart and study them?"

"I need them to see." Maria deadpanned. "And I would prefer not to be completely blind."

"A shame." Tony smirked at her. "It's unfortunate that such a pretty face hides behind those god-awful things."

"...thank you for the compliment." Maria received the comment somewhat lamely.

When was the last time that she had received a compliment from anyone about how she looked? Perhaps ever since she had gotten her prosthetics because she couldn't recall in recent memory of any such thing happening. After so long without being able to see with her original eyes, she had also forgotten about what it meant to be complimented for her looks. In her golden years, she was no stranger to receiving attention from many men.

"Mister Stark, if you would please." Pietro appeared somewhat vexed. "This is a clinic for providing prosthetics."

"Where in your rule book does it say that a patient and a person unrelated to the clinic can't be friends?" That smug look couldn't get any bigger. "Because that is currently the situation?"

"Then maybe I should amend my rules so you specifically can't be overly friendly with my female patients." Pietro gave a mildly serious look, then gave his patient an apologetic look. "My apologies, Maria. Mister Stark means well. He's merely… very fond of women."

"So I've heard." Maria shrugged. "And so I've confirmed it right now."

"Shut down. Ouch." Tony didn't even sound the least bit hurt at being softly turned down. "Well, if we're not going down that route, then maybe I could entertain you both with something else. What if I told you both that I could fix her eyes and get rid of the extra weight?"

"Tony, I know that you're a genius, but do you really need to remind us that you're a braggart as well?" Pietro sighed as he palmed his forehead. "Gods above, you two haven't even known each other for five minutes."

"I was being serious, Gepetto." Tony gave a slightly exasperated look to his fellow inventor. "It would be a serious disservice to Mankind to let that face be obscured by cans of tuna. Just look at that. So ludicrous."

"I'm right here, I hope you two realize." Maria would not be left out of this conversation being that this was about her. "And before I agree to destroy my sight even further, I would like to know what exactly I'm going through."

"Ah ah ah." Tony waved a finger in front of her. "No spoilers yet, sweetheart. Actually, how old are you?"

"Did you seriously just ask a woman that?" Maria gave him a slight frown. "And do you expect me to answer that?"

"Older than me." Tony ignored her disapproving tone while crossing his arms. "I can work with that. I don't discriminate based on age."

At this point, the former Grimm Reaper couldn't decide if she wanted to throttle the CEO or laugh at his attempts to flirt. If any other man said it, she wouldn't take them so seriously, but in this case, there was something different about his words when they were delivered the way they were and with the pose that came with them. In any case, his mouth and his brain appeared to work really fast and she couldn't say that was a bad thing.

"But before I can do anything, I'm going to need all the technical data and her physical." Tony returned his eyes to the Atlesian native. "I can't work with nothing. I ain't a magician."

"Maria, I can't do anything without your permission." Pietro turned to her with an exhausted glint in his eyes. "It's your choice."

There was no way she was about to make such an important decision on a dime. Besides, in all honesty, she hadn't come to terms with her initial injury, not to the extent that she was willing to talk about it in length. These prosthetics were hard enough for her to stomach.

"I appreciate the generosity, gentleman." Maria smiled lightly. "However, I'm going to need some time."

"Knock yourself out, Grimm Reaper." Tony nodded his head once. "I got all the time in the world."

"What?" Maria did a double take upon hearing that name.

"I don't know about you, but a walking cane with a skull on it?" Tony gestured to the item in question. "Not exactly the most approachable decoration. The nickname is free, by the way. Always a pleasure, my lady."

Maybe slapping him was a soft compromise.

Iron Man - - - RWBY

Kingdom of Vale

Stark Residence

March 22nd, 57 AGW

Tony's time in Vale was less as time passed. Although he most definitely preferred to live in the kingdom that his company was headquartered in, his business was conspiring to take him more to Atlas and Mistral. Not only did he have a personal place in the kingdom of ice, but he also had recently purchased a high rise in the City of Mistral. God, the names for some of these cities were so unoriginal. Capital cities should at least be given a name that actually distinguishes it from the kingdom it resided in, but it wasn't his call, so whatever.

Back to more important matters, the weapons dealer considered his current ventures and his primary sources of income. He had an active relationship with the councils of three of the four kingdoms. Vale represented his strongest tie with a kingdom. Atlas was second, although not too far behind. Mistral was third only because the operations there were on a much smaller scale.

The twenty-two year old's efforts to expand were paying off in spades. With an increasing presence in three of the four kingdoms on Remnant, a year of time saw Stark Industries reach levels of notoriety with the general public that was more closer to that of the Schnee Dust Company. Unlike the company who specialized in all things dust, the weapons dealer took great strides to make sure that people knew that his company created things that did damage to things.

One of the primary drawbacks of being a company focused specifically on arms and armament was that it favored a particular market and a particular demographic. While hiring efforts weren't terrible, it would appear that when it came to the average person, there was a serious disconnect in terms of relating to military servicemen and women and the hundreds of huntsmen operating around the world.

But on the other side, a considerable number of applicants for Stark Industries were often former military and retired huntsmen. These men and women knew about what it took to fight the Grimm and they were willing to lend their knowledge and expertise in the pursuit of weapons that could take out monsters with extreme prejudice. This unintended positive was doing wonders in accelerating the timetable for projects and deadlines were being met with astonishing speed.

The primary advantage that Stark Indusries held as a multinational corporation was that it offered products and services that were indispensable. The governments of the big four were perfectly aware of how effective weapons were when they carried the Stark name. Thus, it was becoming apparent that whoever had access to the latest and most innovative hardware and software were top dog.

Tony watched the rest of the world react to what he did with a hint of amusement. At this point, he had more than enough influence in the world to begin making some more subtle, but powerful moves. He couldn't have found himself in a better situation really. When locked in a bitter struggle for survival, people often didn't think too hard about who was providing the big sticks, just that the big sticks were made by the one and only.

The one thing that he needed to be mindful of was to make sure that at the end of the day, nobody got the bright idea of starting a war with someone else. That might make for a pretty cool movie to watch, it wouldn't work for his business interests. Cold wars, despite the tensions between nations were actually excellent environments for weapons manufacturers and that was more or less what Remnant was currently in.

The genius grabbed his custom coffee cup and took a sip of the liquid. It was still warm, which meant that he hadn't become too absorbed in his work. It must've only been about thirty minutes or so since he had first sat down.

He glanced to his right, noticing that his scroll had some alerts on the main screen. It looked like he had received some alerts from some of his more personal contacts. Finding time for these people was getting more difficult was each passing day, but he still always managed to squeeze in some time with them.

Penny was not just his apprentice. Tony considered her to be a sort of investment in the youth of this world. Not that he was much older than her, but through her, he might be able to entice young teenagers and young adults into his line of work. This was less of an official initiative and more of a concept for the future. The ginger-haired girl expressed approval for the idea and didn't show any signs of backing out.

Also of interest was that Ghira and Kali's relationship was going pretty well. They were now dating and it looked like things were only getting better for them. The CEO wouldn't say it, but he found their relationship to be pretty interesting to watch. If he could, he would bet money on them getting married because he believed in their compatibility that much. They just had so much in common and their personalities complimented nicely.

Ozpin was all business and no play. When it came to the wizard, the only thing that was certain was that he was up to something dastardly. As a member of the uber-secret brotherhood for maidens, he attended to keep up appearances. God, the way he said that in his head made it sound like they were perverted old men.

Ironwood probably wouldn't take too kindly to that notion.

Tony didn't much care for that idea either; he was many years away from middle age and even when he got there, he would still be sexy and awesome. While other guys his age would be lacking female attention, he would still be getting it and he would be unashamed of all of it as it kept coming for him. If the amount of women that looked his way right now was any indicator, he had quite a bit to look forward to. Yes, he was only petting his ego, but that's just what he did. It was literally in his job description.

And speaking of women, he couldn't help but think about Willow Schnee. It wasn't everyday that he snagged a high-class woman of that caliber, at least no on Remnant. While it was all well and good to hook up with fast and easy women, those were a dime a dozen. Women that were a part of high-class society were another story entirely. They had their pride and they were a little more challenging to conquer. That made sleeping with them all the more satisfying when they gave in.

To make sure that the wife of Jacque Schnee didn't forget him, he made a couple more discreet trips to "entertain" her. Each and every time, he made sure to do his best to make sure that she never forgot him and the third time, when he took his leave, he noticed from the corner from his eyes that she had his eyes on him very intensely. It was a sort of listless expression that indicated to him a mission success.

Now everytime he went to Jack Frost, he would be sure to smirk a little wider each time, secretly mocking his business partner for being incompetent at keeping his own wife happy and satisfied in all ways. He might as well be playing with a flamethrower, but goddamn did he really want to quietly rub it in the face of the SDC head.

As for jolly old St. Nick, Tony would probably be a little more careful around the old man. It didn't matter where a daughter came from. Whether or not she came from a wealthy family or a poor family, fathers had a tendency to be wary of men that approach their daughters, not that the weapons developer knew anything about it. It was just second-hand information from his friends in high school.

Maybe he would make it a habit to visit Atlas more often so he could be more frisky with all the lovely women there. That was about the only reason other than business that he even looked forward to visiting that hunk of ice.

Tony subconsciously grabbed a fist-sized dust crystal and held it in his right hand. Despite having aura, he had never taken any significant amount of time to learn about his newfound power. He merely had it and never used it, a wasteful opportunity according to his logical mind, but he simply had no use for it nor the interest to use it.

It would be easy to hire a professional or even get a student at Beacon Academy to help him. Still, he did nothing.

He did admit that physically, it made working on his own projects, professional and persona, a lot easier. He was able to lift more with less effort on his part, but that was about all he ever used his aura for and he wasn't even doing any of that with any conscious effort.

Oh well.

RWBY - - - Iron Man

Ghira Belladonna, at first, approached his relationship with Kali fairly conservatively. He was polite and a gentleman to the best of his ability. That was his general approach when it came to everyone he met. It had worked for him numerous times in the past and he saw no reason to stop.

But it didn't take him long to see that Kali Bellrose was much different than the people he usually found himself with. Although business with the White Fang had him travelling all around and seeing all sorts of different people, the one thing that each person he met had in common was a serious demeanor, some more intense than others, but for her, she seemed to have a much more friendly and open aura about her. Additionally, unlike his business acquaintances and friends, she didn't shy away from displaying more personal emotions immediately.

The best way that the White Fang member could describe her was spirited. She seemed to find a lot of amusement in a lot of things that most people wouldn't. She almost always had a way of making even the most dull things sound exciting. It was like she lived to breathe joy wherever she went, something he couldn't say that he knew how to do, at least not the way that she did so.

The more Ghira thought about her, the more that he realized that he had become interested in her very much, so he decided to take the next step and see where it would take him. Within a month of them meeting, he officially asked Kali to be his girlfriend. It had been a somewhat nerve wracking undertaking, but it was made a little easier thanks to Mister Stark, who clearly had more experience in dating and relationships than himself. But Ghira still breathed an internal sigh of relief when she said yes.

From that point forward, it was all about further developing their relationship. It didn't take long for the panther faunus to show more about his life in the White Fang to the cat faunus and the more she listened about what he was doing, the more that she became interested herself in being a part of the organization. This came as something of a surprise to him. He never doubted his girlfriend's capacity for kindness and compassion, but he certainly didn't anticipate her to work with him this much.

When Ghira asked Kali about her reasons as to why she wished to become involved in the White Fang, her reasoning was simple. She had been fortunate to have never been exposed to an environment where her faunus features resulted in discrimination. She was one of the lucky ones and she felt that perhaps it was now time to pay back that favor. If even one person was helped thanks to her efforts, she felt that it was worth it.

While he was most certainly pleased by this development, he cautioned her against the dangers of joining. Becoming a part of the group was going to lead to some hardships. It wasn't uncommon for there to be very heated encounters between the faunus activists and their opponents. Quite a few events had even turned physical. He had made this very clear to her, to which she responded with clear conviction. She was afraid, but she wanted to take action all the same.

Regardless of her bravery, Ghira felt that in the interest of Kali's well-being, he had her learn a few things about self-defense. Honestly, he hoped that she never had to use any of the things that she was taught, but he would feel terrible if he let her into the organization without giving her some means of protecting herself and then she got into trouble.

In any case, she was alive and well. The two of them showed their dedication to the White Fang and they were getting the attention of many people within the group. On their off time, they spent time together doing whatever came to them naturally. Honesty and trust was the foundation of their relationship and arguments between them were rare. When they did happen, it didn't take long for them to be resolved.

These were among his many thoughts as he was drilled by his drinking buddy about his relationship with his girlfriend.

"See, I have a knack for these types of things." Tony could only interpret all of this as a sign that he had done his friend a solid. "There's no need to thank me. I'm modest like that."

"I'm not sure if I would describe you that way." Ghira commented somewhat sarcastically for a moment. "All the same, why are you so interested in our relationship?"

"When I get involved in something, I want to see it through to the end." Tony shrugged with a cool face. "Sure, I don't fancy myself a dating coach or anything like that, but I have spent time and money on you guys. It's only natural that I want to see if the fruits of my labor paid off."

"I see." Ghira understood the businessman.

"So… you think it'll go further?" Tony probed. "Have you thought about putting a ring on that finger?"

"I think that's a little too soon." Ghira gave a look. "It hasn't even been a full year since we began dating."

"Oh, don't be such a prude." Tony's dismissal came swiftly. "Plenty of couples younger than you have married after having known each other for far less time. Some of them even stayed together for decades."

"I'm aware of that." Ghira said with some irritation. "But you must know that I'm not that kind of man."

"I hear you, Black Panther." Tony just shook his head with a modicum of laughter. "But it's going to happen. I guarantee it. I'd give it another year to three years."

If it were anyone else, the much larger name would have bristled at such a name, but considering that Mister Stark did love to call people by nicknames more often than their actual names, he was willing to make an exception.

"And what makes you so sure?" Ghira narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said that you weren't a dating coach."

"No, I'm better." Tony leaned back in his chair. "Call me God."

"I think not." Ghira drawled. "That would mean your ego could no longer grow."

"Nah, God is infinite." Tony reasoned, swishing the liquid in his glass. "That means that for all eternity, my greatness will spread."

At times, it baffled the panther faunus why this human was his friend. They shared very few traits in common. Personally, the idea of ever making friends with a narcissist was far from ideal friendship, but ideals almost never aligned with reality. They were professional partners firstly, but that relationship was backed by this one, the personal relationship which was free from the inhibitions of work life.

Ghira had seen Tony's public demeanor and it was nothing compared to the one that he used when he was talking serious business. His business face was that of a man who was all about getting down to it and not wasting a moment. He had objectives that he wanted to complete and he would negotiate for as long as he needed to in order to achieve his objectives while also ensuring a mutually beneficial partnership.

But maybe that was exactly why the two men had a strong relationship. They both wanted to accomplish big things and they were willing to put in serious effort and time to achieve what they wanted. Despite their outer differences, they both aspired to greater heights than normal people.

"Hey, buddy, you there?" Tony waved a hand in front of his eyes. "We're drinking buddies. You can't daydream… unless you're drunk."

"Then you must have considerable experience with that." Ghira commented, the effects of the alcohol beginning to take root. "Should I be worried?"

"I'm still alive." Tony began speaking in a slurred manner. "Just… watch me… as I TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

"Um, are you two okay?" The bartender looked between the only two customers in his establishment. "You've already had quite a bit."

"We'll be okay." Ghira managed. "Somehow."

"I'm the KING!" Tony was half-sane, half off his rocker. "I bought this bar, fair and square and I'm going to buy all of Vale one piece at a time."

The rest of the night was spent consuming drinks much more slowly and trying in vain to maintain what little brain power was left in the tank. Thankfully, with the bar clear, the two customers could drown themselves in peace while the somewhat dismayed owner cleaned up the mess.

Ghira could only wonder what Kali would say if she found out about this.

Actually, he had a pretty good idea of what she would say.

She would probably laugh at him being drunk with Mister Stark. Most things in her eyes were either outright funny or amusing. Her playful side knew no bounds.

Iron Man - - - RWBY

Salem, despite remaining within her realm, which was isolated from Mankind and all of its civilizations, had eyes and ears all over. Of course she knew what was going on in the kingdom walls. The best way to defeat an enemy was to know them inside and out. Man could change and shift very quickly and for her plan to come to fruition, she needed to be aware of the powerful players on the world-sized board of chess.

Ozpin, the white king. He had more power than most people, yet he gathered unknowing pawns and moved them from place to place, ordering them to do his bidding. He had so many as well. A case could be made that the headmaster of Beacon Academy had the entire world effectively under his thumb.

But recently, one of the wizard's most recent pieces was beginning to gain traction in the world at large as well as Salem's personal interest.

Anthony Edward Stark, better known as Tony Stark. His very short appearance in the public world had made him something of a contentious figure. To some, he was hailed a hero and praised to no end. To others, he was a villain who was doing evil work. Whatever the opinion, it was clear that he was going to be important for many years to come.

Salem knew that this man was important for one reason. There was no way that Ozpin would let such a powerful person go do as he pleased. Whenever it came to her old lover, he would do anything and everything to acquire what Mister Stark had. It was simply in the nature of the wizard to do so.

One thing that the witch didn't have much of were details concerning the exact nature of the relationship between Ozpin and Stark. Her best conjecture was that based on how blatant that the latter was in his business endeavors, he was more than likely being rebellious in more than one way against his king. This was amusing, the idea that the former could maintain so much control over his underlings except arguably the most important one.

Undoubtedly, her plans would have to be changed in accordance with this sudden new desire for weaponry all around the world. It was her desire to let some more time pass and gather more individuals to recruit into her inner circle, but it would seem that she would have to consider accelerating her plans by a considerable margin.

Salem pondered on how to mobilize her Grimm in order to test the new variables that were against her. Weapons of mass destruction were problematic enough; with them possibly being all around the world now, she was not threatened in a way that she had not felt since the times of old.

Speed would be of the utmost importance, but she also needed to build up her forces while she continued to search for more information. Despite the threat that Stark posed, the relics were still of the utmost importance.

To that end, Salem needed pawns to get her the relics.

THIS IS A GENERAL REMINDER TO ALL OF MY READERS. I WILL BE LEAVING FOR BASIC COMBAT TRAINING ON AUGUST 4TH. JULY, THIS MONTH, WILL BE THE LAST MONTH THAT I POST CHAPTERS FOR ANY OF MY STORIES. UPDATES WILL RESUME IF AND WHEN I AM ABLE. UNTIL THAT DAY COMES, EXPECT NO FURTHER UPDATES FROM THIS STORY.

So back to the story.

In keeping with the idea of completley diverting from canon, I had to at least hint at what Salem is doing. In the canon storyline, I've always wondered why Salem was taking so long to make her move. The only thing that makes sense was that she was biding her time to gather ideal pawns while her enemies became complacent. Then, she would strike with a perfect plan that no one would expect.

Now, with Tony in the mix, she can't afford to sit on her hands while he basically arms the world for war. In essence, our badass billionaire, genius, playboy, etc. has inadventently made things considerably worse by doing was he knows how to do now. What will happen next? Who knows?

And Maria will be given a more prominent role besides being someone who's just present and she will actually get to do things and be kind of important. Look forward to that too.

Thoughts? Opinions? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading. Stay alive and keep moving forward. I'll see you guys on the other side.

-Ktyou