Chapter 31

STARK INDUSTRIES EXPELS TONY STARK - VIRGINIA POTTS NEW CEO

In an expected move, the Stark Industries board of directors unanumously voted to remove Tony Stark as CEO of the company following his being officially charged with conspiracy and treason. Several potential replacements were suggested by industry experts, the most common ones being upstart rival Justine Hammer and wildcard Ezekiel Stane, but in a surprising move to some, and expected by others, the new choice for CEO was longtime Stark employee Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Despite her humble beginnings as a personal assistant for Tony Stark, Potts has experience in nearly every facet of management, and has the full confidence of the board, according to a spokesman for the company. Stark Industries stock rose signfigiantly from it's record low upon the announcement being made public.

- New York Times

...

A very beautiful red-headed woman gasps and jumps to her feet from behind her large, overly luxurious desk as I appear in the middle of her office. She moves her hand towards a button under the desk, but the panic switch vanishes before she reaches it. Realizing she's stuck, Pepper Potts shows no fear as she straightens up, giving me a glare that has made countless businessmen quake in their expensive suits for decades.

It's more than a little attractive.

"I was wondering if you'd come after me too. Taking Tony away wasn't hurting us enough for you? If you're that determined to destroy the company, just get it over with already, but don't expect me to beg! I've been with Tony Stark for most of his career as Iron Man, I've dealt with enough superpowered jackasses, your particular brand doesn't scare me!"

I hold up my hands, trying to look nonthreatening "Miss Potts, I assure you I'm not here for you, nor any part of Stark Industries. I heard about your promotion on the news, and decided to drop by to give my congratulations in person"

She walks out from behind the desk, giving me a moment to look her over. Like with Xavier, I was half-expecting her to look like the actress that portrayed her in the movies, but she really doesn't look much like Gwyneth Paltrow at all. Not sure why I keep expecting that, since so far no one I met has looked anything like their movie counterparts, but pop culture is hard to just forget about. Like Paltrow, Potts is a tall woman, made even more so by the ridiculously uncomfortable heels she's wearing, but a good deal curvier, and their faces look almost nothing alike.

She stands in front of me, her arms folded over her chest, glaring furiously at me "Give me one good reason to belive you."

I sigh "Miss Potts, why exactly are you assuming I'm in any way responsible for what happened to Tony Stark?"

"Because I'm not an idiot, and neither is Tony. A reality warping mutant shows up and suddenly all of Tony's dirty laundry appears? Are you seriously trying to tell me you had nothing to do with that?"

I shrug and walk over to the window, looking out across New York "Less than you'd think, Miss Potts. I didn't make the evidence appear, if that's what you're asking. All I did was talk to some people who could uncover it. I didn't even need to use my powers, because Stark is guilty as hell. Like you said, you're not an idiot, you know that as well as I do!"

She looks away uncomfortably "...he's not a bad person. Just too smart for his own good."

"And the rest of the world should have to pay for Stark's superiority complex?" I turn back from the window "Stark decided that betraying nearly every friend and ally he had was preferable to opposing the flagrant power abuse by the government, and far worse, PROFITING off doing so! Because Tony Stark knows best and should decide how everyone else lives based on his precious math!"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, I GET IT!!" She doesn't quite yell, but I throw up a sound veil just to make sure no one overhears anyway "I know what Tony did was wrong, I- I tried to talk him out of it..." She rubs the bridge of her nose "I know business, but the hero stuff... I've always been on the periphery. A few times I thought about getting more involved, maybe even asking Tony for... well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" She looks up at me, her eyes red "Why did you come here anyway, just to taunt me for my mistakes? Do you really think there's anything you can say that I haven't tortured myself with a hundred times over? Do you know what my friendship with Tony has cost me?"

"Actually, yes, that's kind of why I dropped by. See, I think you'll make an excellent CEO of Stark Industries, even better than Stark, not just because you don't have to run off every 20 minutes to save the world and pawn off all the real work to your hapless PA, but also because you haven't disappeared up your own ass thinking the world revolves around you. So, consider this a promotion gift, Miss Potts." I hold out my hand and a gildred urn inscribed with a name appears in my hand. Peppers eyes widen in recognition.

"Wait, that's-"

"Hold on, I'm not finished" I place the urn on the floor and step back. There's a flash, and the urn is gone. In it's place stands a tall, muscular man with neatly combed hair, dressed in a green suit and tie. The man blinks, looking around in confusion before he sees the woman in front of him.

"P-Pepper?!"

Pepper covers her mouth, speechless as she stares at her newly resurrected husband. Finally, she rushes over, throwing her arms around Happy Hogan's shoulders and kisses him deeply.

The reunited couple never even notices me leave.

.....

A lifetime of combat experience serves Jospeh Green well before he even opens the door to his quarters at Camp Hammond. Nonexistant hairs on the back of his bald head stands up, honed instincts kicking in, telling him that behind this door is a threat. And these instincts have saved his life more times than he can count. Calling on the familiar power of the alien gauntlet on his right hand, Green throws the door open, prepared for whatever intruder is waiting on the other side...

...only to find that the gauntled simply doesn't respond to his thoughts, even as he stares at the enemy sitting at his family's dinner table, drinking one of HIS imported beers, no doubt pilfered from his fridge.

"Mr Green" the mutant, who's appearance he's not likely to forget considering how much footage Gyrich has forced him to watch, says as he drains the last of the beer from the bottle "I think it's high time we have a discussion about the treatment of the Initiative recruits under your command. See, a friend of mine is a former cadette, and she had quite a few complaints against you."

.....

The sad part is, I'm not entirerly against the concept of either the Initiative nor Gauntlets approach towards training metahumans. It's just that literally every aspect of the SRA was implemented the wrong way, and Jospeh Green, AKA Gauntlet, got the job of drill sergeant for a group of pressganged teenagers forced into government service. Under his tutelage, MVP got killed, Armory lost the only break she ever got in life, and Abby got trained as a sniper because she could make a fucking cloud. Oh, and he tried to make the New Warriors into a dirty word. There's also that.

"You have some fucking nerve, you know that?" Green says, staring angrily at me from across the table.

"Is this about me drinking your beer?" I say as I pop open a second bottle.

"No. It's about you, uninvited, in my FUCKING HOUSE! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat your ass right now!"

"Mmm, because you can't?" I point to his gauntlet "Alien tech you you can barely control" and then to myself "phenomenal cosmic power. So I'm in your house, drinking your beer."

"If you so much as fucking touched a hair on my family's heads-"

I roll my eyes "For gods sake Green, your kids are at school and your wife is at work, you think I'd drag them into this? This is about you and me!" I take a drink from the bottle "Well, not ME exactly, but let's just say your tenure at the Camp has had it's issues."

"Is this about the damn Initiative? Look, I don't know what you've been told, but I'm tough on these kids for a reason! The superhero business isn't a damn game, it's incredibly dangerous, and-"

"Sure, MVP can vouch for that."

Green looks stunned for a moment "...that was a mistake, a really bad one. It just proves my point, these kids need training, they're going to get themselves killed, or worse, get more civilians killed. The last thing we can afford right now is another Stamford!" His face hardens "What the hell do you care anyway? As far as I can see, you just run around and do whatever you want because you're too powerful for anyone to stop you! What, did you show up here just to feel superior?"

"Mm, no, I'm actually here for this." Green startles as the gauntlet around his arm vanishes, before reappearing in my hand "You see Mr Green, I don't like you. I don't like your mindless adherence to an obviously corrupt government policy, and I especially don't like your treatment of anyone who doesn't live up to the arbitrary standarss of the SRA. So, I'm taking a note out of your playbook and stripping you of your powers, such as they are. Maybe I can find someone else who isn't a mindless government stooge who deserves them more. Enjoy your life as a nobody."

And just like that, Joseph Green, formerly known as Gauntlet, was left sitting alone in his quarters, the only evidence of the mutant being two empty beer bottles and the unfamiliar emptiness where his gauntlet had been.

It wasn't until about an hour later that Joseph Green was informed that the body of Michael Van Patrick, AKA MVP had disappeared from Camp Hammond labs at approximatly the same time Ginnungagap had left.