Iron Man

Location: Los Angeles

Date: May 26 2008

It was too early to return to LA, I needed time to let it all blow over. Something else would eventually happen, public attention would shift, and I would become the old news.

And so, I found myself speeding north by Highway One. It was going side by side with a shore and sometimes I would find myself so high over sea level that the ocean was replaced with clouds, or maybe it was just a fog? It felt strange to look over it and see, instead of blue with sparkly gold sun reflection, white, white and more white until the horizon.

I've been on this road before, in the future. It was still in use, of course, as an important transport artery back then, but it was so empty, that rare cars were travelling it. Now, though, the traffic was quite intense and very often I would find myself stopping for a short break, to avoid patches of traffic where multiple cars followed one slow one and no one could pass it.

It was way different back then, in future. The Snap vanished not only half of humanity but also half of every living form. It screwed up natural balance badly, or whatever we had after hundred years of industrialization, poisoning water and atmosphere, after killing different species to the extinction-level and beyond.

But it was only when I got to RedWoods, it really hit home. The place, the woods, was more lively, more full of sounds, it was just more.

The difference was startling.

At that moment, I vowed to myself - I have to do anything and everything so this will stay the same way, so this will never become that horrible future I remember.

🕷

I wanted to stay there for a while, but after a few nights camping and spending nights by the fire - I ran out of clean underwear and all my stuff smelled like smoke and sweat. I badly needed shower and laundry services.

I packed and left, with a last look over my shoulder. One day, when all is done, I will be back here, or somewhere else like here, again.

When I got back to civilization, to shower and TV, in some third-rate motel, the News was buzzing with the appearance of Iron Man.

Stark was not idle while I was away. The News reported seeing Iron Man blowing up terrorist forces all over Afghanistan. There were photos and even video proofs to support the new hype in the news.

Speculations, wild guesses (some even claimed it was aliens) and demands for answers were all over the TV.

Everyone was trying to guess who or what it was and terrorising government representatives to get answers.

It was the perfect time to get back to my tasks and blend into the background.

🕷

It was late afternoon when I got home. And while I felt tired after so many days on the road, I felt recharged, ready and motivated. I don't know how I ended up in the past (and while Soul Stone is a possible reason, it really explains nothing about how) and what it all means, I know what needs to be done and done I am gonna do.

The next day, and the week after I redoubled my efforts working deep into the late nights. I was mostly done and tried to double-check all dates or order of events. 

helped me to index it all in a way that finding anything became an easy task. It helped tremendously.

I kept one eye on the news and the Stark. He was busy with his plan to collapse the illegal weapon trade, he was deeply invested in it. He took it as his failing, especially when he became aware that it was his godfather, Stane, who was trading with terrorists behind his back and the one who hired them to kill him.

Hopefully, he finishes it soon and we can start to plan our next steps. One step at a time.

Though Stane was worrying me. Even if Stark promised to take care of him. At this point, all I can do, except put a bullet between his shoulders or eyes, is nothing about it.

It was a waiting game right now. I just hope Stark will not give enough time to Stane to screw him over.

The feeling of time running out - was getting stronger and I didn't like it one bit.

🕷

I was still in the office, staying late, again, when I got Stark's call.

"Stark," I asked cautiously. I had a bad feeling about it.

"Stane disappeared, and J lost track of him after I gave the go-ahead to the FBI, someone tipped him," he said immediately and a bit edgy.

"Do you have a visual on his prototype suit?" I asked.

"J has. It looks finished, well, except for the arc reactor. Without it, it's a high-tech dummy. He is not there." There was noticeable concern in his voice.

I thought about it for a moment. Stane could go over the board, that was clear. He should have a backup plan if everything goes to shit, but would he leave immediately? What would I do in his place, If I had the same ambitions as him? I would not give up easily. I will try to salvage it. The suit is his ticket to go up.

"He is going after you" I replied as soon as I connected the dots.

But it was already late.

"He is here," said Stark and I heard a Stane voice in the background.

Fuck.

I half listened to what I could make out of their conversation, already halfway down to the parking lot. I need to get there ASAP.

Then a high-pitched noise cancelled a call.

🕷

I was way above the speed limit, zipping between cars left and right. Speed and the need to focus on the road helped me to avoid thinking about all what-ifs. 

I really do not want to wonder if my return in time killed Stark. So I pushed my motorcycle's engine to the red zone. I was already on the Highway and at the speed where I had to keep my accelerated perception here and there, to just survive it.

I doubled my effort.

When I arrived, and it was hard to tell how many minutes since Stark's call, I had to hit brakes hard, making a drift at least for thirty feet, all the way to the stairs before the entrance.

I dropped my motorcycle on the ground, there was no time to be nice about it. The helmet followed suit a few running steps later.

The front door was open and, with a gun in my hand, I made my way from room to room ready to shoot any moment.

It took me a few long minutes, going all over the place, to find Stark. And only after I heard a breaking glass noise coming from downstairs. I went there with caution, in case any hostilities were still here.

The first thing I saw was Stark on the floor, next to the table with glass pieces scattered around. The room looked like his garage or more likely home workshop.

"Is anyone else here?" I asked, I found no signs of Stane so far but better to confirm.

"Nope," replied Stark and tried to stand up. He did not look good.

"Fill me up, Stark" I prompted, still keeping the gun in my hand and doing a quick check over this place.

"J was down, son-of-bitch, did something to him. I didn't have time to suit up or anything. He used an experimental device to paralyse me and took an arc reactor out of my chest" Stark said, finally standing up and moving to some panel on the wall. After doing a power reset, he continued:

"He left me to die from a heart attack. J. Are you here?"

"Indeed. I am sorry, Sir.." J started, but Stark interrupted him

"No, buddy, It's my fault. I got cocky. Is MK-3 operational?"

"I finished repairs, Sir, but your current power supply is insufficient."

"We need to stop him," Stark said instead and turned to me.

"What is the plan?" I replied, finally putting the gun in the holster.

"Stane will not leave his suit behind. We will ambush him there." proposed Stark and started to walk to the side of the workshop. On that, I agreed with him.

He made a hand sign to follow and continued:

"Here, I have your gear from Budapest. I did some modifications - removed the jump pack monstrosity and replaced it with a repulsor flying system. It is less powerful than mine and only good for a flight. No shooting energy beams for you." Stark showed me customised boots and gloves. He made new armour plates as well, in black and red colour.

When he pointed to the backpack, I recognized it as wings in a collapsed state, albeit a bit bulkier in shape.

"I kept wings," he continued to explain: "they are better for stealthy gliding. Repulsors are too loud for that."

"I detected Stane, Sir. He entered the workshop with the prototype suit," announced J.

"Well, that's our " started Stark, but J interrupted him again.

"Sir, Miss Potts and the SHIELD agents just arrived at HQ. I believe they are going in Stane's workshop direction."

"The fuck?" swears Stark.

"It's Coulson doing," I replied and quickly explained:

"He needs her to let SHIELD in, otherwise they don't have legal rights to be on premises."

"Suit up. We need to go now" said Stark with urgency in his tone and started to walk away.

I immediately started to change, dropping my motorcycle gear on the table: jacket, boots, gloves, until only underwear left.

I needed to put the catsuit first and it was intolerable to under layers.

This gear was not like an Iron Man suit - it was less armoured and most of it was mounted on top of a catsuit. All I had to do was to put a related part in a proper place, and it would click together.

Only chest piece with back protection I had to put over my head first. I noticed another add-on on catsuit - a built-in wire system connectors, that were aligned to be immediately engaged with pieces of armour to distribute power.

The power source, ARC reactor, I found on the back of the wings backpack. It was the most secure place and when I put it on, it would be hidden between my wings and my back. It was protected and not visible from there, supplying all power in armour and repulsors. That was thoughtful, I will be more visible with a glowing circle anywhere else.

"How are we gonna do it, Stark?" Turning around, I asked and continued to put on gloves.

Stark was already enveloped in his armour and replied with his robotic voice:

"I am going in hot. You find a vantage point, in case he will be able to suit up and get out. Shot him down."

And Stark was gone.

Great plan, I mused, putting my helmet on.

"All systems online." I heard J's voice in my ears.

The visor lit up with all kinds of information icons and texts. I turned around and picked up a railgun. I got visual information right in the air next to it - like battery charge amount and ammo type. It was similar to a railgun that I had in Budapest but with minor changes. It, probably, can charge while I hold it.

"Do we have ammo to blow up an armoured suit, J?" I asked while making sure the railgun was ready for action.

"Red marking magazine, Miss Romanova."

I equipped one and took another as extra and attached it to my side, on a magnetic holder.

"How do I get out of here J?" 

"It's better if you go from the balcony," replied J and I heard the sound of a sliding door.

It was only when I was out, with a railgun still in my hands, that I got a question:

"How do I carry it on?" I could not fly with it in my hands, but it didn't have any belt on it.

"Turn it with stock up and press with the left side to the chest."

I followed J's instructions and the railgun stuck to my chest. Immediately the visor displayed a railgun icon with text disabled/carry mode. It was completely uncomfortable to walk like that - I was hitting the barrel with my knees.

"Take off, J," I said and prepared to be launched into the air.

"Engaging" replied J and repulsors came to life.

Controls were the same, as before, but the reaction was more touchy. In addition, having a railgun attached to my chest was a bit weird. At least it was not making too much air resistance.

"Calibrating controls" supplied J.

I adjusted my path to follow the projected line on the visor. Guideline had an ETA with the current speed. I opened my hands more to pick it up and felt an extra push not only from my hands and legs but also at my back. Did Stark put extra repulsors there as well?

"Three hundred mph" commented J.

I checked over the already dark, with night lights, the city's landscape and focused on one building that was standing high - the US Bank Tower.

"J, can you disable security systems on the US Bank Tower rooftop?"

"I am on it, Miss"

"It's done," he replied in less than a minute. Terrifying, I thought to myself and smiled.

"Prepare landing sequence, J" I commanded when I was almost there.

"Engaging landing"

The landing was more smooth and more natural, with repulsor help. Wings just added more force to the air break and I touched down on the roof.

"Sitrep J," I said, taking a position on the side with a view of SI HQ.

"SHIELD failed to subdue Stane. Sir is on the site." Supplied J.

I double-checked the railgun and mounted it on the composite fence. With a whining sound, it came online and blinked "ready" on the visor.

"Synchronising target system" I heard J saying and a window popped up on my visor, showing a zoomed-in image, from a railgun target system.

"Sir is leading a hostile party to the rooftop. Calculating point of interception. Prepare to shoot." 

I did a few quick breaths in and out and focused on the HQ rooftop, following target system prompts.

"On Mark. One thousand three, One thousand two, One thousand one, MAA"

It was like back in Budapest. I was in accelerated perception again and time started to crawl. I felt it, when the missile accelerated out of the railgun, pushing it into my shoulder.

I was focusing on the self-adjusting target point provided by J calculations, following it with the target system. The J. voice in the background was doing a countdown until the target would be in place. I saw the same countdown in milliseconds on the visor. Someone took into account my training.

Stark passed first, going up with full throttle when the countdown passed one second until the mark. Then I saw the Stane's monstrosity hot in pursuit.

I saw him starting to react with flares and engaging in an anti-missile manoeuvre. He probably has ALTAS or MAW, because reaction speed was faster than any regular human capabilities.

It did not help him much, the missile went right into his shoulder, making a cumulative explosion. It did not blow suit up, unfortunately, but Stane spun and flipped over the roof a few times from the sheer amount of momentum transfer. He crashed hard into some structure on the rooftop of the HQ.

I released my hold on accelerated perception.

"Sitrep, J" I requested, still keeping Stane targeted and ready to shoot another missile.

Stark landed next to Stane's suit and, after doing something, made it open. Sparks flew from it all the way around, but there was no movement.

"Target down, Miss" confirmed J.

"Are there any other hostilities?" I requested.

"Negative."

I waited a few more minutes and when there was no follow-up, I decided to dodge out of here.

"Inform Stark that I am going back, while nobody notices my presence"

I unmounted the rifle from the fence, powered it down and prepared for takeoff by attaching it to my chest.

With another glance at HQ, I took off. Show time is over.

🕷

When I woke up the next morning, J sent me a message to turn the news on. With coffee in hand, I dropped on the sofa and turned it on. NEWS was in a frenzy. Everyone reported about the shooting, fire and FBI agents all over SI. Everyone was waiting for the upcoming press conference that was announced this morning.

I was able to eat some cereal until the live translation of the press conference started.

Tony Stark: Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time. There's been speculation about what happened the other night. I ask everyone to wait until the FBI releases an official statement.

Reporter Everhart: Is it about weapons dealing with terrorists? Is it why over a hundred Stark Industries employees were arrested this morning? Did Obadiah Stane die resisting arrest?

Tony Stark: I honestly cannot comment on that. Right, stick to the cards. Also, there's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the rooftop

Reporter Everhart: I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared despite the fact that…

Tony Stark: I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story and another thing entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I'm a superhero... 

Reporter Everhart: I never said you were a superhero.

Tony Stark: Didn't?

Reporter Everhart: Uh-uh.

Tony Stark: Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type, clearly, with this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public --

Stark paused for a moment.

Tony Stark: The truth is: I am Iron Man

And so it began - the era of superheroes has started.

🕷

Location: Los Angeles

Date: June 7 2008

It started like the last time around. Iron Man was the news of the day. In the beginning, everyone forgot about the FBI investigation and numerous employees being arrested.

Then it started to shift. If you read between the lines, the message they were trying to push into people's minds was quite simple: "Can we trust Stark with Iron Man". Not many knew or were able to find out that it was Stark, who uncovered Stark Industries' involvement in illegal weapon trade and put it down. They ignored that Stark was one of the victims of that trade as well.

Conveniently, Stark was not available to comment on it or even visually be present in the US.

Rhodes was able to make a deal with brass on Stark's behalf and they both were deep in operations in the Middle East, blowing terrorist camps one after another.

Stark gave a bit of time for the message to surface, before making another move: releasing to the FBI "anonymous tips" with an impressive amount of evidence on another weapon company. He kept a pace of one company per time after that.

It was pandemonium. The media caught up on a trend and was speculating who was next. Many political careers died, very often with a person in question.

The information that we took from Stern was very helpful with that.

The FBI had to lend hands from other legal departments, just to keep up with the constant flow of coming in evidence.

A few times someone tried to bribe their way out and fall between cracks. When that happens, "somehow" (I am sure it was J.) information would find a way to the hands of the press and media.

That made another round of scandals and arrests.

Congress organised a committee to oversee the ongoing investigation. It was mentioned a few times on the news and everyone forgot about it shortly after. Until one of the committee was arrested on the grounds of corruption and bribery. He tried to use his political power to "help out upstanding citizens against false accusations" - unsuccessfully of course.

In a few weeks, nobody was talking about Stark, Iron Man or Stark Industries, unless Stark blew up someone somewhere across the pond again. Even then, It was barely making it to the middle page these days.

Pretty much, nobody cared about it anymore, everyone was watching a drama unfolding on the political landscape all over the States.

I was able to return to my PI practice. Nothing major, cheating couples mostly.

🕷