After Jake had become a man to Omatikaya, Neytiri had pulled him away from the celebration. Grace had chosen to hang out with the kids and Trudy had flown in to grab me.
Trudy looked at me with a smile " so, how'd you enjoy your day kid ?" She asked smirking and I smiled back. " It was fine, learned alot..."
"We'll that's good to hear, Norms back at Hellsgate getting some more supplies for everyone so we'll have the day to ourselves, what do you want to do ?"
She asked but hearing that Norm was gone, suddenly something clicked to me. Jake had become a man, in the movie from what I recall, he and Neytiri would mate tonight. But the next day...The next day the RDA would bring hell on the Na'avi.
"Change the course, Trudy!!"
I ran forward between the pilot and co-pilot seats, staring out at the endless green expanse of Pandora.
Trudy glanced over her shoulder, her brow furrowing behind her visor. "What? Tony, Grace wants you back before night fall. I promised her, i'd have you clean and in Pjs before she comes out of the sync."
"I don't care," I said. My voice didn't shake. I couldn't afford to go back, not when I had the power to change the future of the innocent people at Hometree. " Take us to the main base."
"Tony, if Quaritch sees you walking around the main hangar, he's going to string us both up. Why are we going there?"
"Because something bad's coming, Trudy," I told her, meeting her eyes through the reflection of the cockpit glass. "I know what they're going to do. And I am not going to sit in a forest and watch the Na'vi get slaughtered. Main base. Now."
" How do yo-"
" Are you gonna help me or not !?...Please Trudy, we can't just sit back and let Quaritch or Parker kill them."
Trudy stared at me for a split second, my expression desperate. She didn't ask another question. She yanked the yoke hard to the left, banking the massive gunship sharply through the clouds.
The moment the Samson's skids slammed onto the concrete of the main base tarmac, I unbuckled my harness and jumped out the side door. The humid air of the compound hit me instantly, but I didn't stop. I sprinted past the loaders, past the massive AMP suits stomping across the yard, heading straight for the back corridors of the primary hangar.
Trudy jogged right behind me, her hand resting instinctively on her sidearm, her eyes darting around for patrols. "Tony, talk to me! Where the hell are we going? What is going on?"
"No time to explain!" I shouted back, taking a sharp corner.
We reached a dead end. It looked like a standard storage corridor—crates stacked to the ceiling, dust gathering in the corners. " Help me push." She stood behind me and we grabbed the heavy metal shelving unit holding spare engine parts and threw all our weight into it. It scraped loudly against the concrete, sliding just enough to reveal a heavy steel door hidden behind it.
I quickly punched a code into the keypad. The heavy locks clanked open.
Trudy stopped dead in her tracks as the door hissed open. "Tony... when was this here?"
She stepped into the room, her jaw falling open.
Hanging from the ceiling by heavy, industrial chains were two sets of armor. They looked like a cross between the massive AMP mechs and the sleek, aerodynamic hull of Trudy's Samson. One set was massive—wide, rounded chest plates and heavy limbs designed to perfectly fit Baymax's balloon-like frame.
Resting on a reinforced workbench right below it was the second set. It was a fraction of the size. Sleek, heavily weaponized, and perfectly sized for a child.
" How...How did you know this room was even here ? When did you even have time to make these things!!?...What even are these things!!?"
Trudy stammered, walking slowly toward the workbench.
"I was looking for Parker's secret stash of powdered donuts, and found the blueprints for the base. And they aren't things. They're a high tech...Prosphesis...Yeah a high tech prosphesis." I lied smoothly, scrambling up onto a stool in front of a massive computer terminal I had hot-wired to the base's mainframe. "And I built it whenever Grace was busy looking at tree bark and thought I was out playing."
"This is..." Trudy reached out, her fingers hovering over the smaller chest plate. "Tony, how did you even shape this? The heat required to bend this kind of metal—"
"Trudy, focus!" I interrupted, my fingers flying across the keyboard. "The armor is a hybrid. Half standard-issue titanium, half scrapped Unobtanium I salvaged from the yard and hauled back from Hometree."
"Unobtanium?" she gasped. "You're wearing a billion dollars on your chest."
"It's acting as a makeshift arc reactor," I explained rapidly, not looking away from the screen. "It powers the suits. It'll enhance my physical strength to just under a hundred times my normal limit thanks to the hydrolic schematics used in the AMP armors and unobtanium. It also flies—the wings are modeled after your gunship, and the boots have localized rocket thrusters." I pointed to the corner of the room. "Those are also fully functioning rockets."
Trudy looked over. Six massive, heavily armored gauntlets rested on a rack. They were absurdly large, literal metal fists with massive thrusters built into the forearms.
"They look like fists," she said, blinking.
"Because fists look cool," I said flatly. "They run on a guided system linked to my helmet's HUD. Each one can lift four tons. But the system isn't finished. I haven't had the time to finish it since i'm writing a combat chip for Baymax. He needs fighting capability when he wears his suit, and I need to finish syncing the telemetry. It's almost finished but it will take all night. And I can't do it alone...I need your help, Trudy."
She looked at the armor, then looked at me. She was terrified, completely out of her depth, but she trusted me. "Alright, kid," she breathed, rolling up her sleeves. "What do you need?"
We worked until our fingers bled. We coded, soldered, and wired until the sun began to rise. Without taking a break, except when we needed to use the bathroom and when Grace called Trudy panicking since I wasn't back at the base and in bed. Besides that we spent the entire night working. Exhaustion finally won, and we both collapsed onto the concrete floor.
A blaring alarm from the terminal jolted me awake. I scrambled up, slapping the console, and violently shook Trudy's shoulder.
"Trudy! Wake up! We have to go back to Hometree!"
She groaned, rubbing her eyes " okay....*Yawn*...Okay" We ran back out to the tarmac. Once we were airborne, the wind roaring through the open doors, I handed her a datapad.
"I need you to do one last thing," I yelled over the rotors. "Finish the deployment carriage. I call it Titan. It's a high-altitude rocket that holds the armor parts for deployment. When I press this—" I tapped the bulky, modified watch strapped tightly to my wrist "—Titan launches, tracks my signal, and sends the suits directly to me. It's also our private comms line. Finish it, Trudy. Please."
She gripped the pad, her eyes fierce. "Consider it done."
It didn't take long for us to return to the outside of Hometree, once down I watched Trudy take off before heading in. I walked into the massive commons of Hometree acting like the world wasn't about to end. I sat with Grace near the fire, drawing in the dirt, trying to ignore the sickening, heavy dread pooling in my stomach. Grace of course gave me a lecture but I was too tired and out of it to hear or pay attention.
Then, the shouting started.
Tsu'tey rode his direhorse directly into the center of the gathering, scattering the embers of the fire. His face was twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. Warriors flanked him, their chests heaving.
He slid off his mount, marching straight toward Eytukan. He pointed a shaking, furious finger back toward the forest, yelling a rapid, vicious stream of Na'vi.
The entire tribe fell dead silent. Eytukan stood up slowly, his eyes narrowing.
" Tsu'tey will lead us in to battle !"
Eytukan roared in Na'avi, as Tsu'tey lifted his massive bow over his head with a battle cry that many of the warriors responded to with cries of their own.
"Oh my God," Grace whispered, her eyes going wide. She jumped to her feet, rushing toward the front of the crowd. "Stop! Calm down!" she pleaded in Na'vi, holding her hands up. "This will only make things worse!"
"You do not speak here!" Tsu'tey roared in heavily accented English, his chest heaving as he glared at her. He turned back to his people, his voice booming through the ancient wood of the tree. "We will strike them in the heart!"He shouted in Na'avi
He thrust his bow into the air. The clan erupted. Hundreds of voices joined together in a terrifying, deafening tribal scream, raising their spears and bows, their blood boiling for war.
Then, from outside Jake pushed his way through the crowd followed closely by Neytiri.
"Stop!!! Listen, brother!" Jake shouted, stepping directly into Tsu'tey's path.
Tsu'tey didn't hesitate. He charged forward and violently shoved Jake in the chest, throwing him hard into the dirt. Neytiri immediately lunged forward, jumping between them. She bared her fangs at Tsu'tey, her hands raised, shielding Jake with her own body.
Tsu'tey froze. The raw fury in his eyes shattered. His face crumpled into a devastating, agonizing heartbreak. His voice cracked, a pathetic, broken sound. He could smell it.
"You mated with this woman?"
Grace gasped, the situation had escalated far too quickly. " Oh shit" she muttered. I closed my eyes, looking down at the dirt. I knew it was coming, but watching it happen felt like watching a car crash.
Mo'at slowly stepped out from the shadows, her eyes fixed entirely on her daughter with disapointment and some anger. "Is this true?"
Neytiri stood tall. She didn't look away. She reached down, intertwining her fingers with Jake's. "We mated before Eywa. It is done."
Tsu'tey let out a sharp, ragged breath through his nose. The betrayal cut him straight to the bone. He handed his bow to a warrior beside him.
Jake scrambled to his feet, holding his hands up desperately. "Please brother, do not attack the Sky People! Many Omaticaya will die!"
Tsu'tey pulled his dagger. " YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER!!!".He lunged forward. He slashed, at Jake who avoided it and pulled out his own dager. " And I am not your enemy!!" He threw the dagger away. " The enemy is them, and right now they are coming !".
He turned to look at Eytukan " I am one of you !...I have something to say.!" He said in Na'avi. Looking at Neytiri who was confused his heart shook. " I...The words are like stones in my heart."
Suddenly Grace collapsed and some of the tribe panicked, shouting in confusion.
And then, Jake collapsed too.
Their bodies dropped to the dirt like completely dead weight, their eyes rolling back. The link had been severed from the outside.
"You see?!" Tsu'tey screamed, rushing over and crouching above Jake's lifeless Avatar. "They are demons! Walking in skin not their own!"
He raised his dagger, ready to slit Jake's throat. Neytiri shrieked, tackling him, violently shoving him away from the body.
"Baymax! Go time!" I shouted.
The heavy white vinyl materialized from my backpack, instantly inflating. His eyes flashed a hard, glowing red. Baymax stepped directly over Jake and Neytiri, dropping into a flawless, intimidating Kung Fu stance.
"I am here to kick ass," Baymax stated, his robotic voice loud and commanding.
Tsu'tey's men froze, gripping their spears, staring at the massive robot. Eytukan roared for them to stop, ordering his warriors to drag Jake and Grace's bodies away so they wouldn't be harmed. Neytiri came to my side and grabbed my arm, pulling me behind her, fiercely shielding me with her body.
While the clan screamed over war preparations, I pulled away, lifting my wrist to my mouth. "Trudy! Did you finish Titan?"
"I'm almost done. Quaritch just left to bring in Jake and Grace" Trudy's panicked voice crackled through the watch. "I managed to keep him off my back, but I need a little more time!"
"Hurry! Please!"
I had to stay behind Neytiri the entire time, some of the warriors especially Tsu'tey were looking at me with the same kind of hate they looked at the RDA with, it wasn't safe for me to be on my own.
Meanwhile up in the resting branches Jake's Avatar gasped, his chest heaving violently as his yellow eyes snapped open.
Grace woke a fraction of a second later, a sharp, terrified breath tearing through her throat. They scrambled to their feet in the dirt, their movements frantic, uncoordinated, driven by pure, unfiltered panic. The link had reconnected, but the end was already in motion.
"Eytukan!" Jake yelled, his voice cracking with desperation. He didn't care about the warriors surrounding them. He didn't care about the spears pointed at his chest. He pushed past the hunters, his eyes locking onto the clan leader. "Eytukan! I have something to say!"
The massive hollow of Hometree fell completely silent. The angry murmurs of the clan died in their throats. Tsu'tey, still breathing heavily from his rage, gripped his dagger tightly but didn't strike.
Grace stepped up beside Jake, her face pale beneath her blue skin, her hands raised in a pleading gesture. "Listen to him! Please!"
Eytukan stared down at Jake. His expression was unreadable, a wall of ancient stone. "Speak, JakeSully," Eytukan commanded, his voice rumbling through the quiet.
Jake swallowed hard. His hands were shaking. He looked around at the faces of the Omaticaya. He saw the children hiding behind their mothers' legs. He saw the elders gripping their staffs. And then, he looked at Neytiri.
"A great evil is upon us," Jake said, his voice trembling, the words spilling out in a rapid, desperate rush. He didn't have time to be gentle. He didn't have time to explain. "The Sky People are coming... to destroy Hometree."
Dozens of Na'vi gasped. The sound rippled through the crowd like a cold wind. Mothers pulled their children closer. Warriors tightened their grips on their weapons. The quiet fear instantly blossomed into horrified murmurs.
Jake stepped closer to Neytiri, his eyes wide, pleading with her to understand the absolute certainty in his voice. "You have to leave. They are coming right now, and if you stay here, you're gonna die."
Neytiri stared at him. She didn't look afraid. She looked confused, searching his face for a lie she couldn't find. She turned to her parents, translating his words with a frantic edge to her voice.
Mo'at stepped forward. Her piercing eyes locked onto Jake, cutting straight through him. "Are you certain of this?"
Jake's breath hitched. He looked down at the dirt. His heart was hammering so violently against his ribs it physically hurt. The truth was a heavy, suffocating weight in his chest, and he knew the moment he let it out, it would destroy everything.
He slowly lifted his head, looking directly at the woman he loved.
"They sent me here..." Jake's voice broke. He forced the words out, a whispered confession that felt like swallowing glass. "...to learn your ways."
I stood a few feet away, my small hands balled into fists. I watched Neytiri's face.
It didn't happen all at once. It was a slow, agonizing fracture. Her eyes widened slightly, the golden irises reflecting a sudden, terrible realization. The fierce, proud warrior who had defended him against her own people just moments ago seemed to shrink.
"So one day," Jake continued, tears welling in his eyes, his voice dropping to a raw, pathetic rasp, "I could bring this message... and you might leave."
Neytiri lunged forward. She grabbed his shoulders, her long fingers digging desperately into his skin, shaking him. "What are you saying, Jake? You knew this would happen?"
"Yes!" Jake cried out. He reached up, grabbing her arms, his fingers clutching at her like a drowning man holding onto a lifeline. He looked at her with an absolute, overwhelming desperation. "Look, at first, it was just orders! It was just a job!"
He pulled her closer, his voice cracking, tears finally spilling over his cheeks. "But then everything changed! Okay? I fell in love. I fell in love with the forest... with the Omaticaya people... with you."
For a singular, fleeting fraction of a second, the deep, profound love she held for him surfaced. Her lips trembled. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to hold him.
And then, the absolute reality of his betrayal crushed it into dust.
Her face twisted into a mask of pure, unbearable agony. She pushed him.
"I trusted you!" she sobbed, the words tearing out of her throat.
"With you—" Jake pleaded, stepping forward, reaching for her hands.
She shoved him harder, hitting his chest.
"Listen to me, please!" Jake begged, crying openly now, his hands grasping at the empty air between them.
Neytiri completely broke. She smacked his arms away with a violent, vicious strike. Her face contorted in a blinding mix of rage and unspeakable, hollow grief. She screamed directly into his face, a raw, primal wail of absolute heartbreak that echoed up into the highest branches of the tree. "AAAAAAAAH!!"
She backed away from him, her tears flying as she shook her head frantically. She pointed a trembling finger at his chest.
"You have never been, and will never be, a Na'vi!" she shrieked in her native tongue, her voice shredding with every syllable. "YOU WILL NEVER BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE!!"
Grace stepped forward, her own tears falling, holding her hands out. "Neytiri, please, you have to listen, he tried to stop them—"
"Neytiri, he didn't mean to hurt you!" I yelled, taking a step toward her.
She whipped her head toward us, baring her fangs, hissing with a sound of pure hatred. She backed away, clutching her chest tightly, curling in on herself as if the physical pain of the heartbreak was tearing her organs apart.
Eytukan watched the display, his face hardening into absolute, unforgiving stone. He turned to Tsu'tey. "Bind them."
Warriors instantly swarmed us. They grabbed Jake, throwing him forcefully into the dirt, ignoring his desperate pleas. They grabbed Grace, forcing her to her knees. A heavy hand clamped down on my shoulder, shoving me roughly against one of the massive wooden pillars.
"No!" Jake yelled, fighting against the thick, heavy vines they were wrapping around his wrists. "You have to run! Please!"
From my backpack lying in the dirt, Baymax suddenly burst outward, inflating in a rapid hiss of vinyl. His eyes flashed a hard, glowing red. He stepped forward, his massive frame towering over the warrior binding my hands.
"I am here to kick ass!" Baymax stated loudly again.
"No, Baymax!" I screamed, pulling against the ropes digging into my wrists. "I am satisfied with my care!"
Baymax froze instantly, his head tilting. "But, Tony, your safety is—"
"I am satisfied with my care!" I yelled, my voice cracking. "Stop!"
Baymax's eyes shifted from red to black. He immediately deflated into my backpack, collapsing back into the dirt, offline.
The warriors dragged us out toward the massive outer roots of Hometree, tying us tightly to the ancient wood. The bark dug into my back. I struggled, twisting my hands, trying to reach the heavy metal watch strapped to my wrist, but the vines were too tight.
And then, the forest went deadly quiet.
The birds stopped singing. The insects fell silent.
A low, terrifying thrum began to vibrate through the ground. It was a rhythmic, heavy beating sound that grew louder by the second. The chopping of military-grade rotor blades.
"They're coming!" Jake screamed, his voice entirely hoarse, violently throwing his weight against the bindings. "Run! You have to run!"
I pushed my wrist against the wood, desperately trying to click the comms button on my watch. "Trudy!" I hissed, my face pressed against my arm. "Trudy, answer me!"
"Tony! I'm here!" Trudy's voice crackled through the watch speaker, sounding completely frantic. "Titan is hot! The rocket is ready to launch, but you have to trigger it!"
"I can't!" I grunted, pulling my arms until my joints popped. "I'm tied up!"
The tribe let out a sudden, defiant battle cry as the RDA gunships broke through the dense canopy. The massive turbines blew a violent, deafening gale of wind across the clearing. The sheer force of the downdraft sent dirt and loose leaves flying like shrapnel.
"Get the Ikran!" Eytukan roared over the deafening noise of the engines, waving his spear. "Attack from above!"
Tsu'tey rallied the hunters, charging toward the upper branches. "Have no fear! Have no fear!" he screamed.
A mechanical whine cut through the roar of the rotors. The sound of a turret locking into position. A six-tube rocket launcher on the side of the lead gunship fired.
Thwump. Thwump. Thwump.
Massive, grey capsules shot out, smashing into the roots just yards away from us. They didn't explode with fire. They hissed violently, spewing thick, blinding, choking grey gas.
Tear gas.
The cloud rolled over the clearing in seconds. The women and children immediately began to shriek. The Na'vi fell to their knees, hacking and coughing violently as the chemical burned their eyes, their throats, their lungs. They scattered in absolute, blind panic, tripping over roots and and helping each other to escape the suffocating cloud.
Warriors standing outside the gas cloud drew their bows, firing massive arrows at the gunships. The wooden shafts simply shattered against the thick iron hulls, falling harmlessly back to the ground.
"Run!" Jake screamed through the gas, coughing up saliva, his eyes watering furiously. "Get out of here!"
The gunships hovered, untouched, completely indifferent to the panic below. They adjusted their aim. The primary missile pods deployed with heavy mechanical clanks.
"NOOOO!!!!" Jake screamed, his voice breaking into a raw wail.
Missiles rained down.
High-explosive incendiaries slammed directly into the ancient, sacred wood. Fire erupted instantly, a massive, deafening shockwave of heat and light that swallowed the base of the tree. The concussive blasts sent Na'vi flying through the air. The screams that followed were utterly deafening, a chorus of absolute, terrifying agony.
Through the smoke, I saw Neytiri running. She stopped, glancing back over her shoulder at Jake one last time, her face a mask of tragedy, before fleeing into the burning forest, abandoning him to the flames.
"We got to move!" Jake yelled over the roar of the fire, struggling like a madman. "They're going to blow the columns!"
I threw my head down, biting directly into the thick vines binding my wrists. I ignored the taste of dirt and blood. I clamped my teeth down and pulled with every ounce of strength my small body possessed. The thick fibers began to snap one by one. I ripped my hand free, my wrist completely rubbed raw and bleeding, and slammed my palm down onto the face of the watch.
Far away, at the main RDA compound, a massive rocket ignited, tearing a fiery streak into the sky.
BOOM!!
Mo'at suddenly rushed out of the smoke, her face covered in grey ash and soot. Tears streamed freely down her face. She held a jagged bone dagger in her trembling hand.
She fell to her knees in front of Jake, grabbing his heavy tribal necklace, pressing the sharp blade directly to his throat.
"No! Please!" Grace begged, crying out, thrashing against her ropes.
"You are one of us," Mo'at wept, her voice completely broken, looking deep into Jake's wide, terrified eyes. "Help us."
She pulled the blade back, violently slicing through his bonds. She moved to Grace, slashing her free, and finally cut the vines holding me.
"Come on!" Jake shouted, grabbing Grace by the arm, pulling her to her feet. He looked back at me, his eyes wide with urgency. "Tony, we need to run! We have to help them!"
"I've got a better idea," I said, looking straight up into the smoke-filled sky.
A deafening sonic boom shattered the air above us. High above the burning canopy, the Titan rocket split apart in a shower of sparks.
"Baymax!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "It's hero time!"
The collapsed backpack in the dirt beeped four times. "Hero time, command acknowledged."
Baymax sprang to life, his vinyl body inflating rapidly as he stood up in the chaos. "Hello. I am Baymax, your new armored hero."
The sky rained metal. Sleek, heavily reinforced titanium plating and glowing blue Unobtanium cores shot down through the canopy like a meteor shower. The pieces slammed onto my body with heavy, mechanical violence—locking over my chest, snapping around my arms and legs. The heavy, jet-winged boots locked onto my feet with a heavy clack. The helmet snapped closed, the internal HUD flaring to life in a bright, digital glow.
Beside me, massive, heavy plates locked onto Baymax, transforming the soft, gentle robot into a towering, heavily armed juggernaut of white metal and red accents, I tried keeping the look the same as his armor in big hero 6. It's wasn't even close, well nothing but the color was.
Jake and Grace stared at me, completely paralyzed, the fire roaring behind them.
"Tony, what is that thing?!" Jake yelled, his voice barely audible over the destruction.
"No time to explain! Help the people!" I shouted, my voice amplified by the suit's external speakers.
My thrusters ignited with a blinding flash of heat. I shot straight up into the air, Baymax launching right behind me, his massive thrusters leaving a trail of fire.
"Trudy! Do you read me?!" I yelled into the helmet comms.
"Loud and clear, kid!" Trudy yelled from the base terminal, her voice tight with panic.
"Deploy the Iron Fists!"
"Deploying your ridiculously named fists now!"
Six massive, rocket-propelled gauntlets shot down from the sky, hovering in the air around me like loyal metal hounds. I threw my hands out, targeting the fleeing crowds with my HUD.
"Baymax! Fists! Evacuate the Na'vi!"
Baymax dove directly into the flames, his massive armored arms scooping up coughing children, his automated voice calmly assuring them of their safety even as the world burned." I am here to help". Before flying them out. The Fists flew into the thick smoke, each one grabbing two or three Na'vi by their clothing, flying them swiftly out of the blast zone.
I fired my repulsors, blasting massive, burning pieces of falling debris away from a group of terrified elders.
I managed to get 20 of the Na'avi out the blast zone of the tree, Baymax was able to take out many more and the fists had rescued a cool 10 Na'avi each. But there were still too many.
"Tony! TONY!!! They're switching missiles!" Trudy screamed in my ear.
A massive, earth-shattering explosion ripped directly through the center column of Hometree. The shockwave was apocalyptic.
It hit Baymax directly in the air, shattering his left wing into jagged shrapnel. The massive robot spun out of control, alarms blaring, barely stabilizing himself above the ground.
"Baymax!" I yelled.
Before I could reach him, another missile hit.
The explosion erupted directly behind me. The concussive force threw me violently backward through the air. I slammed into the dirt, skipping across the ground like a stone, tearing up the earth until I crashed hard against a massive root.
My vision doubled. The HUD flickered violently, error messages flashing in red. A high-pitched whine drowned out the sound of the fire.
"Tony! Tony, are you okay?!" Trudy cried through the static.
I shook my head, groaning, fighting the overwhelming dizziness. I couldn't hear Trudy. I couldn't hear the missiles anymore.
All I could hear were the screams. The terrified, helpless, soul-crushing shrieks of a people who were trapped.
I rolled onto my back. I looked up.
My breath stopped in my throat.
Hometree, the massive, impossible pillar of life that held up the sky... was falling.
Over 500 tons of ancient, burning wood began to tilt. The groaning of the timber was louder than thunder. The shadow of the falling giant swallowed the clearing entirely.
Down in the dirt, the Na'vi ran.
Neytiri stumbled, her lungs burning with ash, pushing her mother forward. Jake and Grace sprinted, pulling a limping hunter between them. They looked over their shoulders, their faces pale with absolute, paralyzing terror. The shadow was moving too fast. The tree was too wide. They weren't going to make it.
Jake stopped. He let go of the hunter, turning around to face the falling behemoth. He wrapped his arms around Grace, pulling her against his chest, closing his eyes, waiting for the massive, crushing weight to end it all. Neytiri fell to her knees beside her mother, bowing her head.
They waited to die.
But the crash never came.
The deafening, apocalyptic groaning of the falling wood suddenly transformed into a terrifying, grinding screech. And then... the tree stopped.
Jake slowly opened his eyes. He didn't understand. The massive canopy of the tree was suspended in mid-air, tilted at a lethal angle, hovering directly above them.
He looked up.
Neytiri raised her head, her golden eyes widening in complete, utter shock.
There, suspended in the smoke and ash, a tiny metal suit, a broken white robot, and six flying metal gauntlets were pressed flat against the descending trunk.
Fire poured from their thrusters. The tiny boy, the machine, and the metal fists were holding up the weight of the tree.
Inside the suit, the pressure was completely unimaginable. My bones felt like they were turning to powder. The Unobtanium core on my chest whined with a terrifying pitch, glowing a blinding, dangerous white as it pushed maximum power to the thrusters.
My muscles tore. My teeth ground together so hard I tasted copper.
BOOM!!!!!!!
The HUD flashed crimson as one of the Iron Fists, completely unable to handle the 100s of tons of pressure, overloaded and exploded into a shower of sparks.
BOOM!!!!!!
A second Fist shattered under the weight, the metal crushing inward before detonating.
The tree shifted downward, the added weight transferring entirely onto my shoulders.
"AAAAAAAH!" I screamed, the absolute, blinding agony ripping through my throat.
Blood poured heavily from my nose, dripping down my chin, pooling inside the helmet. The glass of the HUD cracked, jagged spiderwebs obscuring my vision.
Back in Tonys universe, inside the dark, heavy silence of the Malibu study, the emerald waveform projected from the transwarper casing violently spiked.
It hit two hundred and twenty beats per minute.
Maria Stark let out a blood-curdling scream, dropping entirely to her knees, her hands flying to her mouth. "Howard! Howard!"
Howard and Jarvis burst through the heavy oak doors. Howard sprinted to the pedestal, staring at the frantically jagged green line. His face drained of all color. His hands began to shake uncontrollably.
"His heart..." Howard whispered, a profound, terrifying realization hitting him. "It's giving out. The strain... Tony!!!!."
"No!" Maria sobbed, crawling forward, clawing frantically at the brass pedestal as if she could pull her son through the machine. "Tony! Please! Let go! Please!"
"Tony!" Jake screamed from the ground, his voice tearing, sprinting back toward the drop zone, his hands reaching up uselessly toward the sky.
I looked down through the cracked glass.
There were still dozens of Na'vi directly underneath the shadow of the tree. If I let go, they would all be completely pulverized.
I turned my head slowly, my neck screaming in pain. Baymax was sparking violently beside me, his remaining armor groaning under the impossible weight.
"Baymax!" I roared, choking on the blood filling my mouth. "Help the Na'vi!"
"My primary priority is ensuring your safety," Baymax stated, his automated voice glitching violently, looping over itself.
"GO!" I screamed, feeling a rib snap in my chest.
"I cannot—"
"I SAID GOOOOO!!"
Baymax hesitated. The robotic conflict froze him for a second. But his core programming couldn't disobey a direct, absolute command from his creator.
He dropped out from under the tree.
The sudden, violent shift in weight nearly broke my spine entirely. I roared in absolute, white-hot agony as the tree lurched downward. Baymax flew to the dirt, his massive arms grabbing six trapped Na'vi, violently hurling them out of the danger zone.
"Tony, let it go!" Trudy screamed over the comms, sobbing hysterically, hitting the console in the base. "Run! Please, run!"
"I can't!" I cried, heavy tears mixing with the thick blood on my face, blinding me. "There are still too many!"
High above, in the gunship, Quaritch scowled at the stalled tree. He didn't care what was holding it up. "Hit the remaining roots. Bring it down."
More missiles fired. They slammed directly into the last remaining support roots holding the base of the trunk.
The tree shifted again. The support was entirely gone. It was all on me.
BOOM. BOOM.
Two more Iron Fists exploded in a blinding flash of fire.
My suit began to violently spark. The titanium chest plate was buckling, bending inward, physically crushing my ribs into my lungs. I couldn't breathe. Every breath was a wet, agonizing gurgle.
"Tony!" Grace shrieked, running alongside Jake directly under the shadow of the wood, refusing to leave me.
I looked down at them. My family. The people who had kept me safe.
"Baymax," I gasped, the strength entirely leaving my arms, my vision fading to black at the edges. "Report."
"All Na'vi have cleared the immediate blast radius," Baymax glitched, his voice slowing down. "Tony, your physical condition is critical. Immediate medical—"
I smiled. A sad, bloody, completely broken smile. Tears carved clean lines through the dirt and blood on my cheeks.
"Thank you, Baymax," I took a jagged, rattling breath. "Get Grace... and Jake... out of here."
"But Tony..."
"GO!!!
"Tony, no!" Jake screamed, his eyes wide with absolute horror.
Baymax flew down, his massive arms wrapping tightly around Jake and Grace, physically dragging them backward, pulling them violently away from the shadow of the tree as they kicked and screamed.
"Tony, run! Get out of there!" Trudy wailed, her voice completely broken, begging a child not to die. "Please, kid, save yourself!"
"Thank you, Trudy," I whispered, the darkness creeping entirely over my vision. I closed my eyes. "I'm glad I met you."
BOOM!!!!BOOM!!!!!
The last Fists exploded.
My rocket boots failed. The Unobtanium core sputtered and died. The wings snapped off entirely.
Gravity won.
The tree came down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
The green light in the Malibu study flatlined.
The jagged heartbeat smoothed into a perfectly straight, entirely still line.
A single, continuous, high-pitched tone filled the room. The holographic interface flickered and faded into absolutely nothing.
Maria Stark collapsed to the floor. She let out a scream that tore her throat to ribbons, a sound of such absolute, unspeakable agony that it seemed to shake the walls of the house. Howard fell to his knees beside her, burying his face in his hands, weeping with the absolute, soul-crushing certainty that his son was dead.
Jarvis stood in the doorway, his perfectly composed posture shattering. He buried his face in his hands, heavy tears streaming silently down his face, mourning the brightest, bravest light he had ever known.
The air on Pandora was thick with choking ash. The silence was heavier than the explosion.
Hometree was gone. A massive, burning graveyard of splintered wood and fire.
The Na'vi stared at the wreckage. Some fell to their knees, wailing loudly, hitting their chests. Others simply stood in numb, completely broken shock.
Jake and Grace didn't mourn the tree. They ran.
"Tony!" Jake screamed, his voice shattering as he sprinted directly into the burning rubble, ignoring the heat blistering his blue skin. "Tony, where are you?!"
Grace scrambled over the massive, splintered branches, coughing violently, her hands tearing frantically at the burning wood, pulling away debris. "Tony, answer me! TONY!"
Neytiri ran after them, her tears cutting through the ash on her face, followed blindly by Eytukan and Mo'at.
Jake dug frantically. The massive chunks of wood splintered under his hands, slicing his palms wide open. His blue fingers were slick with his own blood. He threw massive pieces of bark aside, his breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps.
He moved a heavy branch.
He saw a silver, crushed arm.
"Tony!" Jake yelled, dropping entirely to his knees in the dirt. He grabbed the heavy, burning wood trapping the boy, straining with every ounce of his massive Avatar strength, roaring with effort, and hurled it away.
Tony's body lay in the dirt.
The armor was completely destroyed, bent, and shattered into jagged shrapnel entirely embedded in the soil. The chest plate was caved in. His eyes were closed. His small face was covered in a thick layer of blood, ash, and dirt.
He wasn't breathing.
Jake collapsed beside him. He reached down, his massive blue hands gently pulling the tiny, broken boy into his chest, holding him incredibly tight against his heart.
"Wake up," Jake sobbed, his voice completely wrecked, rocking the boy gently back and forth. "Come on, kid, wake up. Say 'You got me.' Say the joke's over. Tony, please....Tony... We're a team.You can't...You can't go..."
Grace slid down the rubble, falling to her knees next to them in the ash. She looked at Tony's lifeless face.
"No," Grace wept. She reached out with a violently trembling hand, her fingers gently brushing the hair away from his blood-stained forehead. "No... no, please."
Neytiri arrived. She saw the boy who had stayed behind. The boy who had traded his life for her people.
She fell against her mother, crying openly into Mo'at's shoulder. The overwhelming, crushing grief of losing her home and this brave, impossible child broke her completely.
Suddenly, Jake's eyes rolled back into his head. Grace gasped loudly, her body going entirely limp. They collapsed onto the ashes, unconscious.
The link was broken.
Inside the remote RDA lab shack, the heavy link pods hissed open with a loud release of pressurized air.
Jake lay inside his pod, staring straight up at the metal ceiling. His human eyes were completely dead. Empty. Hollowed out by grief.
Grace violently pushed the heavy lid of her pod up. She scrambled out, stumbling onto the floor. Tears streamed down her human face, her entire body shaking with an uncontrollable, violent, blinding rage.
She stormed out of the link room, marching directly toward the communications terminal where Parker Selfridge's face was live on the screen, demanding a status report.
"YOU MURDERER!" Grace screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice shredding, slamming her fists against the console. "YOU KILLED HIM!"
The heavy metal doors to the lab violently kicked open.
Trudy ran in. Her face was completely soaked in tears, her eyes wide, bloodshot, and utterly feral. She raised her standard-issue assault rifle, pulling the charging handle back, pointing it directly at the screen, directly at the RDA personnel in the room.
The few RDA security guards inside instantly raised their weapons, pointing them directly at Trudy's chest.
"You killed him!" Trudy screamed, her hands shaking violently, her finger hovering directly over the trigger, ready to fire. "YOU KILLED HIM!"
Norm sat at his terminal, completely ignoring the guns. He buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with heavy, uncontrollable sobs. The rest of the science team broke down, weeping openly in the dim, cold light of the shack.
Because Tony—the brilliant, brave, deeply annoying little boy who had built a family out of broken people—was gone.
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The Omaticaya marched away from Homtree, and Neytiri gently carried Tony in her arms, as if he were her own child. Whispering prayers for him as tears continued streaking down her face. Her hand gently stroking his hair, her palms covered in his blood.