Iron Man 1 [MCU x OC] [Book 1 of the Stephanie Stark Series]

Chapter One

Las Vegas, 36 Hours Earlier

"Tony Stark, Visionary. Genius. American Patriot." The sound of clapping fills the room as the loud speaker starts to talk. In the room are many reporters, and other business people. They are all here to give Tony Stark a reward of some sort. People quickly quiet down as the load speaker continues on. "Even as a young child, the son of legendary weapons developer, Howard Stark,  quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At the age of four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine. And at 17 he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Then, the passing of a Titan. Howard Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane, steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21, the prodigal son returns and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries." The clapping starts back up as the speaker continues his summary of Tony Stark. The announcement goes on to tell everyone how Tony Stark wants to change the world, for the better. 

Once the clapping calms down, a new voice speaks up. A dark skinned man in an army suit is at the podium. "As liaison to Stark industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. he is my friend and my mentor." The man smiles and looks up to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark." The man finishes his speech, and the sound of music and clapping fills the air once again, waiting for The Tony Stark to walk up on stage to claim his prize. "Tony?" the man questions as no one come up to the stage. he looks to a man in the audience. The man in question, Obadiah Stane, shrugs. he doesn't know where Tony is either.

Obadiah quickly gets up and walks on stage to collect Tonys award for him. Stane stands at the podium and grabs the award. 

"Thank you, Colonel." He looks down at the award and shows it to the crowd in astonishment. "Oh wow, this is beautiful. Thank you. Thank you all so much. This is wonderful." He pauses. 

"Well, I'm not Tony Stark." The crowd laughs as he continues on with his speech. "But, if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award." He lets out a sigh. "You know, the best thing about Tony, is also the worst thing."

Obadiah pauses and looks out to the crowd. He lets out a soft smile. 

"He's always working."

________

Meanwhile

As the dice roll, the crowd around Tony waits in anticipation. The crowd sees what the dice lands on and they cheer. "Work it! Come on!" Tony, being cocky, smirks and looks away as the crowd celebrates his win. He turn to his bodyguard and best friend, Happy Hogan and celebrates. Tony turns back to the poker table as a lady starts to flirt. She was beautiful, she had brown hairs and a skimpy dress on. Tony couldn't resist. As they are flirting the colonel comes up to Tony.

"You are unbelievable." Tony looks at his friend and starts to complain, like always. 

"Did they rope you into this?" Tony asks.

"Nobody roped me into anything." The two start to bicker like always. The colonel, also know as Colonel Rhodes, brings up how Tony missed the award show. "They told me that if I presented you with and award, you'd be deeply honored." They look at each other.

"Of course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great." Tony replies, before turning his attention back to the game. To grab his attention back to the real matter, the colonel hands him the award. "I'm so sorry" Tony tells him. Rhodes scoffs before looking around. While he isn't looking Tony hands the award off to the young lady he was flirting with before. Tony goes back to playing the game of poker, and for good luck asks the beautiful lady to give him a lucky blow, then asks the colonel to do the same. He doesn't. Instead Rhodes pushes the dice out of Tony's hand and goes back to looking around the casino. As Tony is complaining about the horrible roll, The dark man sees a child sitting on a bench, she could be no older than 8. He sighs when realizing who it is.