Chapter 39

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 39

DETENTION CENTER

When I heard the singing from the command center while checking the video feed, I knew I had to meet this man. So without a second thought, I packed my things up and made my way down to the detention center. The elevator ride was quick, but once I stepped out and made my way past the security measures, I heard the funniest thing ever.

{ The state where you never find a dance floor empty

And pimps be on a mission for them greens

Lean mean money-making-machines servin' fiends

I been in the game for 10 years makin' rap tunes

Ever since honeys was wearin' Sassoon

Now it's '95 and they clock me and watch me

Diamonds shinin', lookin' like I robbed Liberace

It's all good, from Diego to the Bay

Your city is the bomb if your city makin' pay

Throw up a finger if you feel the same way

Dre puttin' it down for Californ-i-a }

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Guard B yelled while banging on the force-field with his baton.

"He sounds like he is charming the guards already," Natalia laughed at my side.

"True, but I believe it's time for us to say hi," I replied as I waved the guards away. Looking into the cell, I watched as the man named Klaue paused mid-verse.

"Why hello deary," Klaue chirped from the bed within the eight-by-eight prison cell. The ceiling was a solid clear ceramic that allowed flood lighting. The walls of the cell were a sky blue that matched the clear window which gave a view of the sky outside.

"Hello to you too, but you're not my type, so please don't drool," Natalia replied with a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"Damn, I thought I was going to catch you doing another Tina Turner song, so I could get the chance to go Ike Turner on you for a while," I chuckled out softly as Klaue pulled back at my statement.

"Well, that's just mean," Klaue huffed. "So, what do you want with me boy-o."

The world shifted around me before I even realized I had moved, purely reflexively. There were so many things in the world that I hated with a burning passion. Yet there was nothing that I hated more than being called 'boy' to my face. The force-field didn't stop me even with its 0.00003 millisecond phase-shifting oscillation. The speeds that I had reached within that infinitesimal moment meant that I still had Natalia's arm wrapped firmly around the waist of my afterimage, no one even aware of my change in location. Pure speed force flowed through me, unfiltered and raw, before I even realized what I was doing.

"You will speak to me with respect and drop that word from your vocabulary when you address me, or it will be the last thing you ever say, do you understand?" I asked as I held Klaue up by the throat against the back wall of his cell, my hand around his throat so tight his face was turning such interesting colors.

"Shit, Ben, we need what's in his head!" Natalia yelled as her eyes widened with the vanishing of the after-image within her arms.

My grip was like a vice, and Klaue was struggling with the hand choking the life out of him, his legs kicking the air ineffectually, almost like a child. Turning around to face Natalia, the flash of anger that had caused me to lose control bled out of my system. "Get one of our telepaths to brain drain him."

With that order, I released the man and let him fall to the ground of the cell, loud choking gasps echoing in the small space. With a nod to the guards, I stepped out and allowed them to reactivate the force-field. With one last look at my prisoner and a snort of disgust, it was time to leave with my little entourage.

o.O.o

Jean Grey - Manhattan

"Come on girls, how are we going to kick ass while being stuck inside all day?" Jean said in a huff from where she was floating in the air. "Come on Felicia, Ben's off to the island, so let's grab Gwen and go kick some teeth in."

"I wish I could, but I can't," Felicia replied from behind the large oak desk. "I'm the boss now, and I gotta lay down the law."

Jean did a twirl and looked down at her friend. She watched as Felicia had her legs up on the desk as she ate a Caesar salad. Jean's stomach growled a little bit, and that made her place her current plans to cause havoc amongst the riff-raff of the city for later. With a minor telekinetic pull, the second salad was brought to her hands, along with the fork and napkins.

Slowly, Jean levitated down and landed herself at Felicia's side. As she ate her salad, Jean enjoyed the relaxing moment with Felicia as they both watched the large monitor located on the right wall overlooking the office.

[ - Queen's Jewel arriving tonight at the Manhattan Museum - ]

"Hmm, that sounds like a pretty bird." Felicia hummed beside Jean in the office chair.

"Alfred, get us the blueprints to this museum, please, and thanks," Jean spoke out loud and watched as the hologram technology built into the desk changed, bringing up the requested information.

"I would never have thought you would be interested in helping me on a job," Felicia said with a smile in Jeans's direction.

"This Phonex is a hero babe, but that doesn't mean I can't be distracted from your actions while I'm fighting elsewhere," Jean replied as she snapped her fingers and then flicked it to the left. The flick sent the blueprint into motion as the structure changed to show the museum's interior.

"Okay, let's give Gwen a call and see if she wants in," Falicia replied with a smile as she pulled up her cell phone.

o.O.o

Eden - School of the Gifted

"Come on Anna, let's go explore," Maya laughed as she pulled on the hands of her new best friend.

"Okay, but shouldn't we bring the others?" Illianna asked as she looked back while walking behind Maya. "Maybe Carla would like to come?"

"Okay," Maya chriped as she jumped into the air and flew over to her other friend. Looking around from up high, Maya found her friends sitting on one of the bean bags next to the window that allowed the sun to light up the room.

"Hmm, Carla would you like to go explore with me?" Maya asked shyly as she touched down before her friend.

"I don't know, Maya," Carla returned as she closed her book. "I heard we were going back soon."

"Come on, we can go explore the island," Maya pleaded to her friend as she tugged on her arm.

"But... but the headmistress said-" Carla began to say as she wrung her hands a little bit.

"It's fine, mommy would be okay if we explore a little," Maya chirped. Without waiting for her friend to say anything more, Maya pulled her along as she began to float up into the air. As she flew up into the air, Maya smiled at the sight of her friend's wings as they were revealed from behind her back. Maya watched as the small flaps located in Carla's shirt shifted to allow a set of wings to touch the air. A set of ethereal blue wings appeared behind Carla, and she took to the air alongside Maya as she flew back to the front of the dining hall.

Pushing open the door, Maya made her way outside with her friends in tow. Taking a look around, Maya noticed that no one was paying attention to them. So, with a smile and a tug, Maya ran with her friends to the garden out front, then made her way to the forest that lay at the edge of the school grounds.

"No fair! Slow down!" Illianna yelled as she ran behind her two friends. Maya and Carla slowed down in the air as they waited for Illianna to catch up to their location.

"I have an idea," Maya said with a pout.

"What's that?" Both of the girls asked in unison.

"Easy, I hold one hand and Carla holds the other," Maya chirped with a smile. "This way, we can fly past the forest and explore the other city my daddy built."

"It's not fair, I wish I could fly too," Illianna pouted as she held both of her hands up.

"Carla, grab her right and I'll grab her left!" Maya yelled merrily as she grabbed her friend's hand. With Carla on the right, they were able to lift Illianna up off the ground. With Illianna between them both, they flew through the forest with smiles on their faces.

"So where are we heading?" Carla asked from the side of Maya as they slowly flew through the forest.

"Hmm, I don't know," Maya answered as she tilted her head to the side. "I heard mommy talking with my other mommy about the new cities that daddy built, and that they would be opening them soon, but I want to see it before everyone else."

They flew for a moment before Carla spoke up.

"Do you have a map?" Carla asked as she brought them up to hover in the air.

"Let's check," Illianna said from beneath them both. "Let's try the smartband."

"Okay, let's take a break by that stream over there," Maya chirped as she turned towards the clearing in the trees. With a nod from her friends Maya directed their flight path down past the trees and beside the stream. With Illianna placed down steadily on the ground, Maya landed next to her while Carla landed on the other side.

Maya brought up her wrist causing the Sanskrit beads to come alive with a beautiful hologram. The other two girls that came with her gathered around to take a closer look. Illianna poked her finger within the picture, the gesture causing it to rotate, while Carla had a hand on her chin while she pouted.

"Here is the tab for the map," Illianna said as the hologram shifted for them.

"Ohh, what's this city?" Carla asked as she pointed to the north on the map.

"Hmmm, it says...it says Vinyamar," Maya returned as she scrunched her lips together, struggling to say the unfamiliar name.

"Well, the map say it's close," Illanna replied as she pinched at the map to zoom out and get a sense for how far it was from their current position. "It will take some time to get there. Sigh… I wish I could fly."

"Hmm, maybe we should ask for help from one of the teachers?" Carla asked as she looked up at her friend.

"So, the city is that way," Maya said perking up as she pointed to the east of the island.

"You think the teachers can show me how to fly?" Illianna asked while looking at Carla.

"Let's go before they know we're gone," Maya huffed at her friends.

"We will, but I wanna fly and not be carried," Illianna replied with a pout at her friend.

"Okay, okay," both friends agreed before they got back into position to carry her to the city.

Slowly the girls flew through the forest as they listened to the chirps and songs of the many beautiful and colorful birds that called the island their home. Before they knew it the sounds went silent and they came upon a new sight. Out of the ground was a large standing tower with a hoop attached to the top. At the bottom of the tower the girls came up alongside the workers that were finishing the installation.

The first thing Maya noticed about them were the bright yellow jumpsuits they wore with reflective strips along their arms and legs.

The girls touched down near the tower and took in the sight of it. Maya noticed another tower with a hoop located at the top was also nearby their location at what seemed like a carefully planned distance and spacing.

"Princess, you and your friends are not allowed within this location without your father's permission," sounded a voice from behind the girls that mightily spooked the trio of little girls.

"Who's there?!" The girls all yelled in unison at the voice that had just scared them so.

Five forms rippled out of thin air as the Spartan-armor clad guards appeared.

"We are your bodyguards," the lead Spartan answered as she removed her helmet. Under the helmet was a beautiful lady with orange hair and cat's eyes for pupils.

"It's not safe to be near the construction area for the train system," replied the second guard in the jungle-camo patterned armor.

"I thought trains went underground?" Maya asked, as she turned to look at the large tower in the distance with what looked like a hoop attached to the top.

"They normally do, Princess, but our King believes that people should be able to enjoy the beauty of nature, even while traveling, especially since our transportation system runs on clean energy," replied the lead guard.

"Okay, hmm, please don't tell daddy we are out here," Maya begged, as she put on a pout that struck with a resoundingly critical hit to the hearts of her guards.

"Princess it's already far too late for that," the lead guard explained calmly, as she bowed her head towards her little charge.

"Why?" Little Illianna asked as she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Because our great King keeps an eye on everyone and everything, little lady, most especially you," the second guard explained with his head bowed.

"Oh... Can you give us a ride to the city please?" Maya asked as she put on a pout that struck another critical hit to the hearts of her guards, men and women who would have little issue brutally killing dozens if it meant that their King and his family were safe and protected.

The bodyguards stilled and took a moment silently communicating with each other over their armor's internal communications link, speaking about the situation they now found themselves in. When they were undercover, in stealth mode, they had watched and followed as the little princess and her friends made their way through the forest and they were proud. Now that they had given up their cover, the little princess had asked for their assistance. They didn't know how to turn the princess down so she could make the journey back under her own powers and talents. For awhile the guards spoke back and forth before they came to a silent decision.

The lead bodyguard turned around and took a step forward with her helm tucked firmly under her arms. With a cough to clear her throat, she spoke.

"We do not mind helping your young friend, Illianna, but we have come to an agreement that we would like to see you get to the city using your own powers," The lead guard answered with a small smile. Silence fell over them as Maya thought about this.

Hearing that the girls gathered around in their own little circle to discuss the situation. Illianna made some good points while Carla made counterpoints about the guards. The person that broke the stalemate was Maya.

"Okay, deal!" The girls shouted, turning around to look up at the lead guard. With a nod from the guards, Maya rose up in the air with Carla beside her. With Illianna in the lead guard's arms they flew past the tower that would someday soon hold the rail system for the island's train systems.

The three girls and the guards flew above the forest to the city on the side of the island that would soon become the great trade hub of the entire island. The group flew for a while before touching down on a large circular ring located within a park outside the city center on the coast.

o.O.o

After leaving the detention center, Natalia and I traveled to the coastal city. While we were in the new city of Vinyamar, I showed Natalia the important infrastructure that would keep us going even if the rest of the world suffered a nuclear Armageddon or a zombie apocalypse. As we sat in one of the highrise cafes taking in the beautiful view, I noticed something strange coming out of the park that led straight into the jungle.

"What's so interesting?" Natalia asked me as her legs gently rubbed against my own. Turning with a smile, I pointed towards the distance to show her what drew my smile and attention.

"Spirited little firecracker, isn't she?" Natalia joked, seeing my daughter and her friends.

I laughed at that. Yes, Maya was certainly a spirited one, just like her mother and father. We watched from on high as the girls walked past us to explore the city. With a double-tap on the logo of a heart tree built into the table, a hologram sprang to life, giving us both access to the island's interface. Placing my hand with my smart band within the hologram, my identity was confirmed via a dozen different methods and full access was granted to the island's systems.

With a few quick swipes and checks, I coordinated with one of my assistants for the party being hosted tonight in Los Angeles that I would soon attend. Once that was done, I brought up the real-time tracking on my daughter and watched for a little bit as she went about exploring the city with her two friends. Natalia laughed heartily at seeing this and called me overprotective as I watched the video feed showing the guards following Maya while cloaked.

As a King, I knew that my enemies would not hesitate to strike at me through my only daughter and heir, even here in the heart of my power, hence the group of highly trained and ruthless killers assigned to protect her from all dangers, but I still wanted to give her a chance to be a little girl, to have fun, to make mistakes, to get into a bit of trouble. It was a delicate balancing act, but I was committed to trying as best as I could to give her that. In the future, as a Princess, she'd have enough duty and responsibility thrust on her shoulders to make anyone struggle under the weight of it, so for now I would do whatever was in my power to give her a childhood free of those burdens.

With a shake of my head at these heavy thoughts, I changed the monitoring program that was running and swapped to the one for my satellites. One of the first things I noticed was that we had received a sensor ping from under the ice in Greenland. That took me a moment to process because there's only one thing I know which would show up in Greenland right now. And there was no way I was going to let such a valuable asset fall into the hands of Fury, uncle or not.

Damn...this Greenland situation could easily become a clusterfuck, but I think I had a way to make the best of it. It would probably be best not to use a stealth approach. With my mind made up, I sent a message to Emma for us to collaborate on a large mining project and make it as public as we could. This was just for show because I wanted her to acquire the voluntary cooperation of the asset with her abilities and convince said asset to work for our side and goals. With that message sent off, I turned and showed Natalia the map and explained the situation with Greenland as she took a sip from her cup of tea.

Slowly she took a sip and thought about what I had just shared. I could see the gears working behind that sultry look she likes to give me.

"Let's put a bullet in the head of the 'would-be-asset' and just call it a day," Natalia said after placing down her cup of tea.

That caught me completely off guard, and I almost sputtered like a fool.

Sigh. "You're thinking if we can't have the asset once we go public, no one else should?" I answered the unasked question from the look she was giving me.

"Correct," Natalia coldly replied, as she became extremely serious about the situation. "You need to understand, this situation isn't some small fire, this asset can set the entire world ablaze once they hear he is found. Everyone will want this asset, then they will create an accident to keep us silent about this discovery."

"That's what I actually want," I replied with a savage grin of my own. "I plan to use a contingent of Spartans with the Exo suits before we make them available for public purchase, highest bidder and all that, but most of all, there is a certain old man on ice, a ghost, one used like their personal boogeyman by the multi-headed monster for the last sixty years. I'm certain you would like to have some words with him, especially since he did give you that nifty scar."

That comment certainly caught her attention. The way she focused on me would have been downright terrifying if the sexy murderer didn't turn me on and regularly cause me unspeakable pleasure in the bedroom.

"You will have your chance to have some fun, but you can't kill him," I replied coolly to Natalia.

"Why not?" Natalia growled out.

"Because he is the only family the asset has left in this world," I answered smoothly, not phased by the return of the real Black Widow. "Give him the last of his family with a little mental nudge in our direction and he will be ours forever, which is more than what anyone else could offer him."

"Fine, but I want to break a few bones," Natalia replied with a pout, like a petulant child.

"We do have one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world, so, yes, you can break a few bones, my dear," I offered magnanimously with a little over-dramatic wave of my royal hand, as I took in the smile she gave me at my silliness. Within moments Natalia turned from me to look back towards the holo-table. With a look of vengeance on her face, she went to work and began making plans, reallocating assets and personnel, and preparing a dozen different contingencies in the event of success, failure, or some mixture of the two. There was nothing I was going to say about her obsession with the Winter Soldier, but I know I'll have to make sure she isn't too hard on the poor brainwashed bastard. With a shrug, I went back to studying the sensor readings from my satellite network.

Over in China, there was a localized quantum phase shift within the mountains which the satellites were picking up, something that I would definitely have to take a closer look at later. The weird thing was that the only thing out there should be Kun-Lun, but they were of the mortal plane and that wouldn't explain the phase shift being detected. The only other possibility that came to mind was a dimensional pocket. Perhaps other dragons? But I thought Thor had killed all the dragons on Earth in the Marvel Universe. Well, shit, this looks like it might be one of those comic book variants in this dimension. Marking this for later investigation, I continued studying the other flagged anomalies, pausing over readings suggesting there could be an active power signature/source detected in the Atlantic Ocean. It was located down deep, somewhere between Europe and America, but for some reason the power reading was showing its position near one of the unexplored trenches deep within the ocean. That was mighty strange, there should be nothing that deep with a power signature that strong. Even a state-of-the-art nuclear submarine wouldn't produce a power signature that strong. Hell, if these readings were right, there was enough power to run several large modern cities. If we were in the DC universe an over-the-top supervillain lair would be my first guess, but here?

Instantly, I was at attention, my heart racing as I began sending commands and distributing orders through my holo-table. I wanted a stealth shuttle in the water yesterday. No, the shuttle had to be an unmanned craft, with a 24/7 overlapping shift rotation with three hundred and sixty degrees of video footage coverage. The location the map showed underwater brought Namor the Submariner instantly to mind. Hell, just finding the location had the potential to spark a war, but there are things I can offer him in alliance. I needed the exact location though and with the power of my nation we can either stand as equals or I shall conquer. The best and worst of Atlantis is the location and I need that location. Atlantis was located not only within the ocean but also with some type of natural barrier. Gaining Atlantis or conquering them would give my nation a prime location with natural defenses.

Then again... Namor had a thing for Sue Storm and Emma Frost in the comics. Damn, now I might have to kill him because he likes to steal women, and that was something I would never tolerate.

That's unfortunate, for both of us, but I refuse to let him live if he acts like a savage. I would rather have angry Atlanteans after me than let that man steal my women and get away with it. This is something I'll have to think about some more; plans and contingencies would need to be made. I received a reply that the shuttle would be ready for launch within thirty-six hours. With my go-order, I took a step back and allowed my science team to get it done.

One of the changes made to the mission profile by my people was to send multiple underwater shuttles, the same way I sent multiple satellites into orbit. This would up the chances that at least one of them could complete the mission successfully, in case the Atlanteans were able to detect and destroy one of them. I knew the thing not said was that even if the ship was cloaked to sensors, it still had to travel through the water, thus it would leave a trail in its wake that could give it away. We simply didn't have the experience working stealthily underwater that the Atlanteans did.

Then again, I didn't have to point that out. Man, it was a joy having multiple geniuses working for my cause and unafraid to offer suggestions and improvements!

Setting that aside for now, I brought up the report on the one thing I really wanted to see. In fact, this had been one of the main reasons behind the creation of the satellite network in the first place. What I really wanted my satellites to locate was the entrance to the Savage Lands, that place of wonder in the comics that had lit a fire in the hearts and minds of millions of fanboys. And living dinosaurs was only part of the appeal. The slight shimmer in the deep unexplored parts of Antarctica my satellites had detected meant we almost certainly had finally found it.

Even with everything I had accomplished so far and the ruthless exploitation of my foreknowledge to take advantage of every opportunity afforded to me, this was going to be a game-changer. And best of all, no one would ever know it. This was the place that still housed the tech that brought the Eternals, Externals, Humans, and Morlocs into the world, but it was also controlled by some of the most powerful people on this planet. Now that we had the location on file, we had to approach the Savage lands with extreme caution because any fights I might have here would spill out into the world and attract far too much attention.

My fingers danced across my holo-keyboard as I formulated plans within plans. Some of them were old, long-term plans that I had created and archived when I first arrived in this dimension, these also went into play in preparation for the upcoming changes. There was no need to hold back too much now that I had found all of the pieces I needed. Everything would be in play now. The only thing missing were off-world assets and then I would have all the pieces to move around as I saw fit.

The alarm on the bottom right of my monitor went off, telling me that it was time to go and get ready for the L.A. situation I had decided to stick my nose into. There was also a ping for something in space, but I decided to let that be for now because it was finally time to go meet Iron Man.

o.O.o

A Few Hours Later…

Hanging up my phone, I shook my head at the things my ladies planned to get up to tonight. One was playing the hero, while the other was trying to rob the robbers while everything else was in play. Sighing, I leaned back in the seat of the limo.

"Do you regret asking me out?" Raven asked from my right as she relaxed in a dress that could be described best as 'sinful' in the dictionary. "Sounds like they are planning to have some fun. And you're here with little ole me."

"Being here with you isn't so bad," I replied to her as I closed the holo-projector I was using. The smile she gave me in return was sinfully delicious, promising pleasure without limit.

"Well, we aren't in Russia like last time, so nothing can go wrong..." Raven offered with a smile, but that statement sent a shiver right down my spine. That was like triple dog daring the universe to fuck up your night.

"Lord, Raven, you should not have said that," I replied with a heavy sigh and a frown on my face, while bringing up my emergency plans. After carefully reviewing current plans and available assets, I placed a call for my upgraded armor modeled after my Spartans to be sent, but with an upgrade to the helmet turning my suit into a replica Red Hood 2.0. "I have weapons and quick deploy armor incoming now that you said that."

"I believe you might be overreacting, Ben," Raven replied in a huff at my need for precautions or the implication that her words meant we'd have need for weapons and armor tonight.

Trying hard not to sigh, again, I laid it out for her.

"Raven, we are going to a party hosted by a man that is famous for his reckless partying. Not only that, but he was also recently kidnapped by terrorists wielding his own weapons," I spoke up, trying to make her understand just how much trouble we might be getting into now that she had tempted the fucking universe.

"Okay, okay, can you make sure my grenade launcher is available while you're at it," Raven asked with a pout of her perfectly glossy lips, looking out the window guiltily.

"Done."

{Sir, we have arrived.}

With that notification from the driver, we waited a brief thirty seconds before someone opened the door and we stepped out into the flashing lights of a hundred cameras going off. A party by Tony Stark routinely brought out the who's who of the world, including famous celebrities, politicians, and powerful figures from all walks of life, but with Stark's return from captivity, or the dead depending on who you asked, there were even more people eager to be seen at this party.

Raven gracefully stepped out of the limo in a beautiful shimmering blue dress that would have matched her real skin if she wasn't currently undercover. The back was open with an 'X' shaped set of delicate straps that held it all together, while the front of the dress had a plunging neckline with her mouth watering bountiful cleavage on display. The surprising thing was just how tight the dress was. I had no idea how she was pulling it off, but I was going to chalk it up to her body's incredible metamorphic powers. Stepping out behind Raven, I was in my exquisitely tailored all-black Armani suit.

Everything was custom made, from the tie around my neck, to the several hundred thousand dollar 'watch' on my wrist, to the laces in my shoes, everything made just for tonight.

With my stepping out of the limo, it drove on to find parking and we were ushered over to take photos with the press and other paparazzi by the assistant Natalia decided to saddle me with tonight. That was fine, though, because it gave me a chance to give a few answers to the reporters while we made our way into the building, ones that advanced my agenda for the night. One of the first things I noticed was the shiny bald head of a certain man. The private look I gave Raven spoke volumes about how I felt about the situation. The only reply I received was a smile.

"I am so happy to see that you accepted my invitation to attend, Mr. Todd."

"Ahh, Obadiah, I thought the invite was only because of my exceedingly large investment in the company?" I replied with a fake smile and laugh to the large man. It was one thing seeing him in the movies; it was quite another meeting this man in real life. Obadiah Stane topped out at six feet four inches and was muscled, with an old man strength to him. His head was bald and shiny, but he had one magnificent beard. Why did super villains always have such badass facial hair?

All that had to be ignored though, because I was receiving some seriously bad vibes from the man once he took my hand for a handshake. The only thing that crossed my mind was that this was going to be one long fucking night.

"Let me introduce you to my date tonight. Raven, meet Obadiah Stane, he runs Stark Industries when the boss is off doing God knows what," I said with a conspiratorial smile as I brought Raven forward to meet the Iron Monger. After the requisite pleasantries were exchanged, we got into what Stark Industries was currently working on now that Tony had unilaterally decided to end weapons production, and just why Tony was making such a radical shift.

Of course, I knew the 'why' from the movies, but I had to make the man give his version of the story, including his push to force Stark out, since this wasn't the full MCU as I knew it. From a pure business standpoint, ignoring how Tony was a mechanical genius and was the golden goose of designers in any field he put his mind to, Obadiah was giving some really solid points on forcing Tony out of the management of the company. Hell, If I didn't know any better, I would probably vote in his favor and bump Tony down the road into the bum house. Tony was many things, but a business genius, or even just a good CEO, he was not. Then again, from the way Stane was talking, it was like he had his hands on a miniature arc reactor already. I know I didn't build him one and I know that Tony would never share his, even with Stane; so where was he getting this confidence from? Damn, now I wish I could have had someone watching him.

I couldn't think about what-ifs and should-have right now because Obadiah was talking my ear off. Raven nudged me discreetly and I turned to find Stark dancing with a certain 'spicy' red head.

"Excuse me," I demurred to end this conversation and leave the vicinity as quickly as propriety would allow.

With that, Raven and I made our way over to the rather expansive and well stocked bar. While we worked our way to the other side of the party Raven pointed out a few things that were flashing red within my mind's eye, yet I ignored. Now, though, with a second set of eyes on the situation around me, it was causing me to become extremely alert. Guards without tags and non-standard issue sidearms. I knew this was a Stark party, but I was certain that his forces would still carry something that was made by him. No, these weapons were not made by Stark, or even in the United States. Another person caught my eye and I almost shat myself.

On the other side of the room, where I had just left, was General Ross talking to Obadiah Stane. The Red fucking Hulk was here at the party. Hell, I knew he wasn't the Red Hulk yet, but this was still a man with the full might of the American military backing him and even after numerous fuck ups fighting the Hulk with God knows only how much collateral damage, the man had still kept his job. The only reason my asshole didn't pucker was that I had no proof the Red Hulk was currently running around. Now, I just gotta avoid the man, so he doesn't try and steal from my company in the name of the military and the greater good.

There was a buzz from my wrist, and when I looked down I was relieved to learn that the weapons and armor I had requested had arrived for us both. Shit was going down tonight and not like in the MCU movies. I had no clue if Tony was going to be 'removed' a second time or whatever else the play might be. What I did know was that I wasn't planning on going out like some punk. I wonder how much fun I'll have once everything starts to go to shit.

Raven nudged me in the side, and I noticed the name Boris Bullski flash across my phone's screen. The notification was of his sighting in the area, but why was the Titanium Man here? Something was screaming in my head that I should be paying close attention to him. With a frown, I placed my phone in my pocket while I had the name running through my mind a few quintilian times trying to figure out the connection. Ignoring the phone, I turned my attention back to the here and now and was greeted with a beautiful red head shaking Raven's hand, but next to her was the man of the hour and the host of the party.

"Jason Todd, please let me introduce you to Tony Stark," the redhead offered with a smile, as she did a small flourish for Tony's introduction.

"Sorry, Jason doesn't like to shake hands," Raven interrupted before I could say I would rather not, her soft fond smile directed at me taking any possible sting out of my refusal. I guess she figured that snubbing him would serve none of our purposes.

"So, you're the man who bought his way into my company," Tony snarked from beside Pepper.

"Yes, that's the nature of a publicly traded company like Stark Industries, Stark, even a novice businessman like yourself should know that much," I snapped back in a snarky tone at the man that was still acting like a spoiled child. "Money is money, and with your little announcement, well, all the cowardly rats jumped ship selling their SI stock for pennies on the dollar. Thanks for the great deal, Stark."

There were some laughs and chuckles that went around in this little circle jerk of ego, but my senses were heightened and waiting for something else to start up.

"That's certainly an interesting take on the other board members," Pepper replied with a smile, but my answer was interrupted with a snort from Tony.

"I still see value in this company even if they don't, but that's not why you're both over here now, is it?" I questioned back with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, and you know why we are over here?" Tony asked with a condescending attitude.

"Oh, of course, of course, you came to see why I bought so much of Stark Industries and what I plan to do with it now that I own so much of your family's company and have a controlling stake on the Board," I replied with a smirk of my own as I watched Tony and Pepper cringe.

"Normally, I wouldn't care what my money is invested in as long as it makes me more money, but when a certain situation blows up in the middle east that pops up on my radar, it attracts my attention. Then imagine my surprise when said person decides to stop all weapons research, development, manufacturing, and sales, when they operate a freaking weapon's company!"

"It was the right thing to do! I was kidnapped by terrorists wielding my weapons, Todd. American soldiers were killed by the gunsI designed and built!" Stark snapped angrily.

"I get it, Stark, I do. That must have been a life-changing experience for you, someone who has never known combat, never felt like your life was in the hands of another who could snatch it away from you in an instant, never felt their mortality so acutely. That must have made you question everything you were doing. Under those circumstances, no one would have questioned you temporarily suspending sales and production until a top-to-bottom investigation of your company was conducted to figure out where those weapons ultimately came from and who in your company was likely dealing under the table. I think someone at SI wanted you out of the way, Stark," I said, throwing out some breadcrumbs that I could could only hope would prompt Stark to pull his head out of his ass.

"You can't seriously be suggesting someone in the leadership of SI-" Stark sputtered, before I cut him off.

"But you didn't temporarily stop sales, did you? No, you unilaterally and quite naively decided to stop making weapons altogether. Did it even occur to you that by pulling the plug so fast you'd be leaving hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and our allies worldwide vulnerable without the proper weapons to keep them, and you, safe? Do you really think Hammer Industries is capable of stepping up and providing a product as good as yours? And let's not forget the thousands of your employees who suddenly found themselves without a job based on a whim of yours that I doubt you fully thought through the consequences of. All that talent let go in an instant, years and years of experience and training and careful hiring. I didn't come to exchange niceties with you Stark, I came to see if you should be removed from the board and as CEO altogether because leaving our troops in the lurch, because you got bitten when you failed to ride the tiger. As you can imagine from my background, it offends me, deeply."

With that said, I stepped up to Tony, the tension rising, while the people surrounding us went silent from our exchange. Tony sputtered, and the look Pepper gave me said enough. They both weren't ready for my stance on Stark's new goal for the company.

"Well, I can assure you that once things have transitioned over I will gladly hire them all back," Tony began, but I already cut him off.

"Don't worry about that, Stark, because once those assets went onto the market, I bought them up and hired all the people you put on the street in your PTSD-fueled ego trip. The world will always need weapons, so my company will step up and fill the gap you left, so that our troops won't have to be without well made and reliable gear that they're trusting their lives to," I answered with a raised voice.

"Why did you spend billions on buying Stark Industries stock, Todd?" Stark asked, a frown on his face at how horribly this conversation had gone, obviously not used to being questioned like this.

"You're a shitty fucking businessman and CEO, Stark, but no one can honestly say that you're not an engineering genius, a once in a millenium inventor and designer that will succeed in whatever field you put your mind to. I didn't spend billions buying Stark Industries the former weapons company, I bought Tony Stark doing what he does best, even if he acts like a spoiled douchebag sometimes," I answered with a grin.

"Come now, Jason, you said you would play nice tonight," Raven interrupted coyly, rubbing those delectable breasts against my arm, breaking the tension that was building between myself and Tony. "Pepper was just telling me about an interesting work of contemporary art that she recently added to their collection."

With that smooth interruption from Raven the party went on. People were dancing, but also making deals within their small talk circles, as was often the case for parties at this level. Things were going smoothly, but twenty minutes into the mix and mingle a notification came through on my phone. The alert was because both Ross and Obadiah had just left the building. That struck me as strange, because that wasn't at all how the movie went. Once I placed those thoughts out of my head I noticed that Tony also had to pick up and check his phone. The scowl on his face told me it was nothing good, but since nothing else had gone wrong tonight I paid him no mind.

"EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND!"

The yell came loud and clear. On instinct I grabbed Raven around the waist and hauled us both up and over the top of the bar we were beside.

"Well, shit."

*Smack*

Turning to my right, I shot Raven a glare, but the pointed look she gave me had me look to my other side to find both Tony and Pepper. Tony and Pepper were obviously half panicked from the situation, but this was not the time for me to help them emotionally through this mess. Tony would just have to ride out his first foray into the hero life like everyone else did, by the seat of their pants.

"COME OUT STARK!"

A ripping sound caught my attention, and I noticed Raven removing parts of her dress to allow her ease of movement. Wasn't that part of her body? Could she mimic even ripping the fabric like that? Shaking my head to rid myself of these errant thoughts, I saw Tony and Pepper were still freaking out. Me? I was already making plans on how to get Raven and myself out of this alive; our cover identities preventing us from delving deep into our respective powers. If Tony and Pepper follow along, then that's on them. Taking a pen out of my pocket, I activated the video function on the device and placed it on the top of the bar above our heads.

"Come on, come on," I mumbled as the hologram sprang to life over my wrist, the image emerging from my extremely sophisticated technology masquerading as an elegant, but ordinary watch. This new perspective instantly caught the attention of both Tony and Pepper. Raven, on the other hand, was pulling out the shrunken packs that I always carried on me as a precaution, though the level of weaponry was more than normal on account of Raven tempting the fucking universe in the limo.

We didn't have a lot in our arsenal, at least not as much as we normally would during an expected combat situation, but we had to make it work with the two pistols and a carbine between the both of us. The good news was that I had sprung for the rail gun variant of my shrunken weaponry, but they also carried far less ammunition because of the heating issues that still persisted. The pistols looked like two old school revolvers that had gotten a major upgrade considering they fired magnesium caseless ammunition, but the power source allowed for some crazy stopping power.

"Oh my gosh, where did you get all of that? Tony, do you have anything that can help?" Pepper all but whisper-yelled as she noticed Raven and I got ourselves prepared for the fight ahead.

"Hey Jason, I'll buy that gun off you for a million dollars," Tony said from my side, and I couldn't help but give him the 'are you serious/stupid?' look. Pepper smacked Tony in the side, and I turned back to the hologram that I had placed down on the ground. The watch was emitting a crystal clear image of the fifteen assailants that were steadily working their way through the crowd of people, obviously trying to find Stark.

"Our car is waiting on us downstairs. We break left as we hop over the bar and make it to the emergency escape on that side," Raven explained as she broke down the plan she had come up with as I made sure the weapons were loaded and ready to fire. My power armor was down in the car, of course, but we at least had a few personal kinetic shields to use. I also had no mask and couldn't use any of my main abilities or the whole multiple identity thing would be flushed down the toilet.

Well, ain't this a clusterfuck.

"Tony, call in your armor to back us up," I ordered as I clipped the gun holster around my waist. We needed to move right the fuck now, because from what the hologram was showing the assailants were getting closer and closer.

"What's he talking about Tony?" Pepper instantly asked as she turned towards her boss.

"How do you even know about that?" Tony asked, astonished that I knew something that should be known only to him and no one else.

"Doesn't matter, call the damn thing because we are going to need back up!" I replied urgently, cutting him off briskly before taking a peek above the counter to memorize their positions. These guys were packing some heavy firepower and with the look of the armor they wore, someone had spent a pretty penny outfitting them. This was no garden variety robbery/kidnapping. And from the way these guys were moving, they were highly trained operators.

"It doesn't work like that, it's not modular," Tony huffed indignantly.

"Great, of all the geniuses in the world I had to run into the incompetent one," I replied with a sigh, but also trying not to laugh at the squack that Tony let out. "Who makes a cool ass suit of armor without a remote calling feature?"

With a second look over the top to see if anything major had changed, I turned around and handed Tony and Pepper the spare shielding.

"I'm going to want that back, Stark! Alright, Ray, we go in 3… 2… 1… Go!" I yelled as I launched myself up and over the bartop, revolvers in hand. I landed a bit roughly, but my aim was true.

BANG!

BANG!

Without pause and without a smile, the nearest two bad guys went down in a spray of blood and brain matter. Several bangs and a few 'tings' impacting my kinetic shield scared the shit out of me. These were no stormtroopers with shitty ass aim; these were well trained military types, and they had the deadly accuracy to match. Tony came diving over the counter after me and I had to grab him up off the ground and push him towards the exit.

My body flowed like silk as my aim lined up with another and blasted a round through his torso, the round so powerful that it went through him and clipped his buddy in the shoulder, nearly ripping the guy's arm off. Pepper came screaming over the counter behind Tony with Raven hot on her heels. We cared little for the people around us as they ducked down screaming as the bullets began to fly. With a twist of the body my shoulder was forward and I went right through both the guard and the door that was blocking our exit. With the door down, I did a twisting commando roll back into the doorway to discourage any potential pursuers.

I was down on a knee with my guns up and out in time to catch Happy Hogan himself take out someone with a serving tray of all things. Well, damn, I almost forgot about him. Raven grabbed him by the back of his collar and threw him at me while Tony and Pepper pulled up the rear and made it through the door. With three more well placed shots I took out a knee, another head and removed another man's torso. There were pools of blood all over the place now and people were running away from us.

"Down! Down! Down!" I bellowed as I tossed a spare kinetic shield to Happy. The man fumbled with it for a moment before I grabbed him up and forced it around his bicep.

"You have energy shields, but won't give me a gun, come on!" Tony whined as we ran down the stairs. Ignoring the man, I turned around to lean over the railing to fire off my last rounds back up towards the top. The click click that I heard was telling me I was clean out of ammunition.

BANG!

My heart leapt into my throat as one big ass fucking suit of armor came crashing though the fifth-floor door to the emergency stairwell. The suit stood just over ten feet tall with crazy green lines running up and down the arms and legs with a beating green heart in the chest piece. For a split second we just stood there staring at each other. Then, before either of us could blink, Raven hit the big suit with a roundhouse kick that sent it back through the hole it had made. A grenade appeared in her hands and I noticed the blinking blue and purple lights at the top before she tossed it towards the guy.

Picking up Pepper in a fireman's carry, I started to take the stairs two at a time.

10 seconds...

6 seconds...

3 seconds…

BOOM!

The explosion rocked the stairwell and I couldn't help the manic look I gave Raven because of the explosive selection she chose. Sometimes I wonder if it was a sane idea to give Raven those implosion grenades. The look on Tony's and Happy's face said it all, but there was no time to stop and chat about it.

"There's our ride!" Tony yelled pointing towards some two-door Audi super-sports car. Was he seriously suggesting five adults were going to fit in that fucking car?

"Are you crazy?! I got this!" I yelled back as I pressed a button on my watch. Within moments we all heard a car roar to life. My Red Hood-mobile was a sleek supercar that had four doors. The body was modeled after something I saw on a syfy website before I died. All four tires were hidden under adamantium armor plating that covered the unibody design. Sexy red lines ran from the front to the back that tapered off into miniaturized engines that could reach escape velocity once in the air. The car pulled up beside us then four sections pulled back into nanoparticles allowing us inside.

"That is how you do it. Take notes, Tony."

With that bit of snark, I put Pepper down before ripping off my dress shirt to reveal my bare armor shirt underneath. The trunk popped open to reveal a Spartan-armor chest piece that I was using to house nano-particles. Once I pulled the chest piece over my head, the nano-particles went to work fully clothing me within my upgraded Red Hood 2.0 suit that went with this persona. Raven picked up the one marked 'Athena' that rested beside my own and got herself ready. Putting on my helmet; I was ready for war.

{Red Hood online, sir.}

{Athena online, ma'am.}

"Tony, you're driving. Pepper get in the back. Happy, take this," I ordered. With my orders given, I tossed one of the grenade launchers to Happy as everyone got in the vehicle.

"What kind of car is this?" Tony asked in awe from the driver's seat, taking in all the tech surrounding him and being mighty impressed.

"Custom made flying car with some extra zing," I replied as I stood up out of the open sun roof. "Athena, you take left while Happy takes right. Tony lets blaze trails so you can pick up your armor."

"Shouldn't we like... you know, maybe wait on the cops?" Pepper yelled as the car burned rubber we were heading topside from the underground garage.

"Talk to me, Alfred. What's our ETA for some back up?" I asked over the comms in my helmet, which also broadcast it aloud within the car to keeping everyone up to date on something so important to our survival.

"There will be no local police as backup sir," Alfred replied over the car's communications systems, piped through the stereo's speakers. No one said anything, but the whites of Tony's knuckles showing as he gripped the steering wheel said it all. We drove up and came around the plaza to head onto the main street when the mother of all armor systems dropped down within our path. "Well, damn."

"What do you mean 'damn'?" Tony all but screamed out in the driver's seat.

"Come on, Tony, I threw this party just for you," Iron Monger said from the large twelve-foot armor that he wore. Arrayed around him were several others with a lesser variant of the same armor system.

"Fuck, Tony, why did you have to be a lazy shit and leave that scrap in the desert?" I huffed while looking at the small army arrayed against us. "Hit the auto-aim on the dashboard, Tony."

Various weapon systems came online and became visible on the front of the vehicle as the headlights moved back into the body like we were in a James Bond movie.

"Fire."

With that barked command, we shot off within the night, running two of the lesser suits over and blowing up others.