Iron Gal

Present time

Iris groaned. She felt heavy. That was the best way to describe it. Heavy. Like maybe limbs had been filled with lead, or as if some great weight was pressing down on her. At least she was alive, that she could be grateful of.

A second later she began to rethink that idea as a dull throb of pain shot through her entire body. She curled up tighter as she lay on her side, her face twisting into a grimace. Her hands gripped her shoulders as another jolt of pain rocketed through her, coming from her chest.

Slowly, Iris opened her eyes. She was in a cave like the one from before, but this one was more dimly lit. The rock walls were rougher, and more dirt coated. A large metal door had been bolted into the rock, barring Iris' only means of escape. There were workbenches and tools set up in various areas of the cave. Advanced tools too, the kind that Iris had in her workshop back in Cloudsdale. She took a glance at what she was lying on and saw a poor facsimile for a bed; nothing more that a moth-eaten blanket on a metal table of some description. Beside her on a small side table was a glass of water.

Only just realizing how dry her mouth was, she reached out and snatched the glass up, ignoring the pain in her chest. It was becoming less and less intense now, more bearable. As she lifted the glass to eye level, so noticed the cloudy quality in the water and the small clumps of dirt clinging to the inside of the glass. She wrinkled her nose in disgust but brought the glass to her lips anyway and drained the glass, trying to keep her mouth as closed as possible to let only water through. Once the glass was drained she set it back on the table and noticed the other object that sat beside it.

Iris tilted her head and pushed herself up to look at it, vaguely noticing her suit jacket and shirt had been replaced by a dirty blue hooded jacket and a sweat stained vest. From what she could see of it, the object on the table was a car battery, and not a recent one. It looked old and battered. It was then she saw the black cables that ran from the battery's anode and cathode. They twisted around each other as they ran off of the table, onto Iris bed, up her leg and under Iris' vest.

A horrible feeling overcame Iris. She pulled the hem of the vest up, past her navel and over her chest. Her chest was wrapped under layers of surgical bandages coated in sweat and drying blood that had clearly seeped from the wound underneath. With dread, she saw the black wires wind their way underneath the bandages. With shaking hands, she pawed at the bandages, tearing them from her body, ignoring the pulses of pain coming from her chest. As she ripped the last of the bandages from her chest, she saw something dark, but the angle was awkward and she couldn't see it properly.

She glanced around the cave again, looking for a mirror of some kind. She spotted on e after a few moments, a broken a cracked sheet of stained reflective glass with a dim lamp over it. It was great but it would do.

Iris swung her legs off of her her bed and gingerly got to her feet, ignoring the bizarre chill that wafted around her now exposed chest. Her legs felt wobbly as she stood up, but solid enough to walk on. She looked at the battery and saw someone had fashioned a strap for her to hold onto and lift it. She did so, her arms feeling as weak as her legs.

Iris clumsily made her way over to the mirror, noticing for the first time the camera's that were positioned around the cave. Her mind, though still sluggish, was able to identify the fixed wall camera's angles, and see which areas of the cave they managed to cover. They were fixed at their respective angles, so they could only see what they were pointed at, and most only covered her bed and the area around it. There were some serious blind-spots in here.

She smiled slightly. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

She shook her head. First thing's first. Find out what exactly was in her chest now, ponder possible escape strategies later.

iris set the battery down on the ground and looked into the mirror. The object in her chest was circular and black. It appeared to be some kind of plastic covering plate, the kind that protected complex circuitry. Iris gulped. What had they put inside her?

The sight of the unidentified object in her chest was making Iris feel sick. She pulled her vest down again and pressed her hands into her eyes, trying to piece it together. The last thing she could clearly remember was the demonstration... no... there was something after that.

Her eyes widened as she remembered the attack. The explosion of the car in front of her. The dead corporal.... the bomb.

Iris looked at her chest. Did this have something to do with the explosion that had happened before she blacked out? She began to protest such an idea, reminding herself that she had been wearing a bullet proof vest and a Stark Industries one was well. Then she quashed those ideas, as she remembered that even a Stark Industries vest was no match for shrapnel flying at Mach three through the air.

So why wasn't she dead?

Before she could answer the question (not that she had the answer), the door to her cave - no - her CELL opened. Two tall, bulky men stepped inside, flanking a leaner, more intimidating woman. The men's black hair was cut so short it was like thin stubble covered the entirity of their tanned heads. There eyes were a dull brown, bloodshot, pig-like and watery. Iris recognised the look of such brutish people. Diamond Dogs, brutal mercenaries from deep in the Bad Lands. Though they were ruthless soldiers they had a strange sense of honour when it came to war, like the Klingon's from Stark Trek.

The third figure, the woman was not a Diamond Dog, that was for certain. She had the poise and stature only a Griffin could pull off. Her bleached blonde hair was spiky, yet looked soft to the touch, at odds with her beak-like nose, sunken amber eyes and murderous grin.

They wore the same uniform as the people in the chamber where Iris had been filmed, with that emblem marked on their shoulders. The purple dragon, snorting emerald fire.

The woman appeared to be the one in charge, at least as far as these three were concerned, as the two Diamond Dogs hung over her shoulder's, weapons poised.

"Awake at last I see," said the Griffin, her smile widening slightly, revealing glittering teeth. "This is good."

"Who are you?" iris asked bluntly. She knew that one wrong word could have her dead, but given that she should already be dead made her doubt that. If they wanted to kill her, they would have left her by the road side to bleed out. Even if she hadn't, which Iris knew was an impossibility, she would have most likely died from infection. And yet here she was. They had saved her for a purpose. And she remembered that purpose all too well.

They wanted weapons... Her weapons.

"Well, I suppose it won't to tell you who we are," the Griffin chuckled. "After all you're never leaving here so you won't live to tell anyone. I am Gilda -" She looked smug as if that was important or something. "-These are my boys -" She gestured to the Diamond Dogs who grunted in acknowledgement. "- And we are the Emerald Dragons."

Iris couldn't help but give a snort of laughter at such a name. "The Emerald Dragons? What are you guys sixteen?"

The Diamond Dogs gave a growl of anger as Gilda's smile was replaced by a vicious, twisted snarl. Iris took a nervous step back, suddenly realising insulting armed and dangerous terrorists was probably not the smartest thing she had done. They would not kill her, that she knew for certain, or at least hoped they wouldn't. That didn't mean that they wouldn't hurt her.

"You're lucky we need you Stark," Gilda snarled. "Now unless you have anything else to say, you will come with us. The master wants to see you." The Diamond Dogs cracked their knuckled menacingly. "Of course, if you have other ideas..." She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't have to. Iris recognised a threat when she saw one.

Iris hesitated for a moment. She knew they wanted her to build weapons, weapons that would ultimately be used against Equestria. New weapons, ones that the Equestrian military would have no defence against. Iris knew she could never cater to such demands. At the same time however, she knew that failure to cooperate with the simpler demands would simply bring her pain and no answers. Therefore, she reasoned, it was in her best interest to cooperate now, and refuse later.

She bent down and picked up the battery that had been on the floor and held it to her chest, eyes glaring defiantly at Gilda, but stepping towards her anyway. The Griffin smiled, believing she had won some kind of victory.

"Good to see you're so cooperative," she said, gesturing to the open door. "Don't try and run or we'll shoot you."

'Yeah right,' Iris thought to herself, seeing through the empty threat. She was in no fit state to run anyway and the battery would slow her down.

Gilda and the Diamond Dogs led Iris through a network of tunnels. iris knew it would be too much to hope for that they would be taking her to the surface, but she memorised the route anyway. It may be useful later, she realised.

After about five minutes they reached another iron door. Two more guards stood by the door, one a griffin and the other a Diamond Dog. The two of them nodded to Gilda and opened the door. Gilda stepped through, followed by Iris and then the two Diamond Dogs.

The cave beyond was more of a room than any of the other caves she had seen before. The walls were smoother, the air cooler and the lights softer yet still bright. There were bookshelves on one side of the cave, with books written in various languages. A series of weapon racks stood behind a battered mahogany desk with a series of sketches and diagrams littered over it.

Leaning over the desk was a tall, lean looking man. He was clearly fit, like Gilda, but wasn't wearing any form of uniform. Instead he wore a reddish t-shirt with dusty blue jeans. His eyes were a bloody red and his right ear lobe was pierced with two silver studs. His hair and goatee were both greyish white striped with white. It was hard for Iris to tell whether or not he was in his early twenties or in his late thirties. He was clearly neither Griffin or Diamond Dog. Equestrian? No, Iris had never seen such a man in Equestria. Prance maybe?

The figure looked up at Iris and smiled.

"Iris Stark," he said, his voice tainted by some unknown accent. "A pleasure to meet you at last."

"And you would be?" Iris asked. Gilda growled. The man chuckled.

"Gilda, you don't nee to be so violent. Our guest was merely asking a question." He looked at Iris, revealing a pointed incisor that looked more like a fang than an actual tooth. "You, Miss Stark, may call me Discord."

"Okay then, Discord," Iris said, mustering as much contempt into her voice when she said her captor's name. "I know this may be a dumb question and one I already know the answer to, but what do you want from me?"

Discord chuckled. "As you have said, you know why you're here. You're going to build us weapons Miss Stark. We have all the resources available for you to construct these weapons." Discord smiled again. "Of course you're welcome to disagree. But I assure you the results will be... less than pleasant."

Iris glowered at Discord.

"Try me."

Discord's smiled dropped before looking to Gilda. The Griffin nodded be punching Iris in the stomach, forcing the other woman to her knees.

"Make sure not to damage her too bad Gilda," Discord muttered. "I want her to be prepared when tomorrow comes." He paused. "Having said that however, feel free to make her regret her words in any way you feel appropriate."

Gilda smiled. "Yes sir."