Chapter 29 – Man of Steel, Man of Iron

(Arctic Circle – Somewhere on the Lomonosov Ridge – 2011)

"Jarvis please remind me to put heaters in the next model of the suit," Tony said to his virtual assistant, as he felt crucial and very important parts of his body shrink due to the excessive cold as an arctic gale struck him.

"I'll be sure to put it on your calendar sir, and by the way, you should be reaching your destination shortly." Jarvis's lifelike electronic voice sounded out inside Tony's suit, causing Tony to smirk slightly at Jarvis's sarcastic nature.

As Tony approached his estimation of where this Kal person had been heading back to, he thought two things. The first was this Kal guy was seriously in need of someone to show him around the planet for a better place to set up, as Tony stared out at a sea of nothingness and his sensors showed even less unless one counted ice as something noteworthy. The second was that his new suit was functioning better than he had even hoped, he had not been kidding to Pepper when he said the Mark A-I was the most advanced and ambitious suit he had made thus far.

As he glided through the air, he was pleasantly surprised that none of the usual or small technical issues had come up during the A-I first mission, which usually occurred with his suits on their first real flight or mission. The A-I was a perfect blend of firepower, aerodynamics and the latest of his advanced weapon system interface, it was somehow graceful in its design that Tony had not been able to achieve with his regular suits. Now whilst he had never told anyone, but every version of his suit had a small issue that he tried to correct when he made the next one, his mark II had the icing problem, the Mark III joints were too stiff after a long flight, but the Mark A-I was working like a dream.

Suddenly as he passed through an exceptionally cold patch of air, everything turned to static as his vision of the world became blurry and his readout became nothing but a static mess. Tony twisted his head slightly trying to look at his suit's various readouts but could tell nothing except that his engines were still working as he had yet to fall out of the sky.

"Jarvis talk to me," Tony's voice had an edge of worry to it, fearing that he had just found the suits small fault, and it was turning out to be a dangerous one if it had crashed Jarvis

"Sor O em hevong truabli gittong thi systims tu work" Jarvis's voice sounded out clear inside Tony's helmet, which he was glad for but more than a little worried the response was complete gibberish.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked in alarm after hearing the response really hoping that it was a momentary glitch and not a full system crash.

" - hevong truabli gittong – Apologies Sir, I don't know what came over me," Jarvis responded with the slightly dry wit that Tony had programmed into him causing the billionaire inventor to breathe a sigh of relief. "It appears we passed through some sort of energy field, Sir, I have boasted our signal and we are back up to 100% functionality."

"Good to hear, show me the readout for the energy barriers we pass thr-….. Whoa," Tony cut himself off as he suddenly brought himself upright levelling off and hovering in a fixed position to stare at the structure before him. "Jarvis analyse and tell me what I am looking at."

Where before Tony's vision had been dominated by the absence of anything but endless ice and wilderness, he was now confronted by something impossible. Rising out of the ice was a massive crystalline structure, that looked like a great pyramid if a pyramid was made out of jutting pillars of crystal and rose higher than most New York buildings. The whole structure shone as well, as the mid-day sun bore down on it adding to the structure's beauty and also showing that the side facing Tony was actually a massive door, that was almost as tall as the structure itself. Although Tony was not close enough to see the door in detail, he could see that it was almost Nordic in design contrasting to the rest of the very alien structure and there was a crest emblazoned on it, a very large S-like shape.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked again feeling uncomfortable now, as he had expected to find a ship or a small outpost at most, not a massive Alien structure that made Tony start to really feel out of his league.

"I am attempting to analyse the structure sir but I am having difficulty, most of our sensors aren't that it's there and the ones that are can't identify any of the substance." Jarvis' voice if Tony didn't know better almost sounded perplexed and confused. "I can tell you that the structure is roughly 7,065,000 cubic feet with a surface area of 141,300 square feet."

"Okay, so slightly more than a bachelor pad, got it." Tony breathed out a deep sigh as he looked out at the large glowing structure in front of him. "Any luck with analysing that energy field we passe through?"

"That would have been an inverse Tachyon field supported by a Tetryon net, Mr Stark. it allows one to hide a physical location from sight along with the energy signature that it produces." The calm commanding voice suddenly came from behind Tony answering his question, causing Tony to spin around in the air.

As Tony turned his suits weapons activated and raised his hand directly towards the source of the voice, however barely 8 feet away from him was Kal, who was floating still in the air a calm demeanour on his face. The first thing that struck Tony was not Kal's size nor that he seemed unworried about a weapon pointing at his face but rather how Kal was floating before him. Tony looked Kal up and down and was perplexed that he saw no heat vapour coming off the man propelling threw the air nor could he see any outwards signs of force, which should mean Kal should be falling to the ground. However, impossibly so by Tony's very advanced understanding of physics, Kal was merely floating there as if the universal laws of gravity just didn't apply to him.

"Please can you lower your hand Mr Stark, or do you prefer Iron Man? Either way, you do know that won't hurt me right?" Kal asked his questions in a very calm voice removing his arms from their crossed position on his chest and glided forward towards him his hands outstretched to show he wasn't a threat.

Tony slowly lowered his hand cycling down the energy that he had built up and although he was more nervous than he wanted to admit he was very focused on his task which was merely to talk not to fight Kal. Tony tried to straighten himself up in the air and look more imposing in his Iron Man Armour to show Kal's confidence, but he felt slightly foolish as even with the added height and power the armour gave him he was still small compared to Kal.

"You know who I am?" Tony asked his voice altered slightly as it passed through his suit's speakers, curious as to how much Kal knew about him.

"Yes, I do, you are Tony Stark, son of Howard, who is known as the Iron Man by the people of this world," Kal answered his voice calm and friendly as a smile appeared on his face. "I have been reading about you on the Internet, your reputation is …. Interesting."

"Yeah, um some of that is outdated and don't really believe anything it says." Tony suppressed a groan, he really needed to invent a virus to delete half of the stuff the internet said about him, actually probably more than half especially if Aliens were using it to learn about him.

"Hmmm …... Very well, I understand I shall reserve judgement then. However, from what I understand you protect the nation of America, which I have done nothing but help since my arrival and I see no reason for your intrusion into my domain." Kal responded to Tony's presence, and although he was smiling and calm, Tony had a distinct impression that Kal was testing him somehow.

"Your domain? I'm sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but this earth and you're the one technically trespassing." Tony's voice was like Kal was staying calm although it was clear Tony was on edge and knew Kal was either testing him or fishing for something.

"As I understand this land belongs to no nation in this world, and the only things present are my sole property. I have broken no laws in my settling here." Kal spoke honestly gesturing to the fortress that he had constructed to house the Kryptonian technology he had found on this world.

"Well, actually that is why I am here, see you are actually breaking a few laws and are making more than a few people worried. So, I kind of need to talk to you …" Tony started with his request to speak to Kal which is why he was there however began to trail off as he saw Kal's eyes contract at his words.

"So, you are working for the Shield," Kal released a deep sigh and shook his head slightly. "Well Man of Iron, you can tell Fury that I have heard your words but that I am not ceasing my actions to help the people of this world."

Tony opened his mouth to respond when suddenly his display began to freeze up and static overtook his vision, before he could even ask what was happening Jarvis's voice sounded inside his helmet. However, whereas before Tony could still turn his head or look down at his armour he found that the armour had ceased up and he was effectively trapped.

"Sir it appears tha- someth- is tr- tr- tr- teki uvir my sys-ms" Jarvis voice was heavily distorted, and his speech was becoming none sensical, as the static and interfacing Tony was experiencing grew worse.

However, suddenly the interference stopped, in fact, everything stopped from Tony's perspective except for the thrusters that kept him airborne. His vision was now filled with blackness except for the two bright slips in his helmet that allowed him to see the outside world. As fast as it had occurred, the darkness suddenly ended and his displays returned however Tony immediate knew something was not right.

As he tried to turn his head or lift his arms he found that the armour was still unresponsive and that all his displays that were usually blue in colour had all turned green and various systems files were being opened and closed without his permission. Tony knew what was happening he had been hacked, and someone was inside his systems which were or at least should have been impossible, his suit was mostly a closed system and only interacted with his own personal network and satellite.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony spoke to himself quietly however his voice was not able to penetrate his helmet nor the sound of his thrusters keeping him airborne.

As if in answer to Tony's question his vision was suddenly filled with a text box and large letters in capital letters were suddenly typed before him.

SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?

Tony suddenly had a very ominous feeling which was confirmed when the text was moved to one side, allowing Tony to see what was happening and his weapons systems activated and targeted the only thing in the suit's immediate proximity, Kal.

Outside of his helmet Kal was very confused as Tony had stopped talking to him and the light coming from the slits in his helmet had turned off for a few moments. Kal remained quiet for a few moments as he watched the Iron Man suit just hover in front of him when suddenly the light from the helmet turned back on. However, whereas before the light had been white and had an almost friendly quietly to it, it was now a sickly green colour and had a sense of foreboding.

"Mr Stark -" Kal started to ask if something was wrong but was cut off when Tony's hand suddenly came up and a large bright light unexpectedly blasted into Kal's eyes.

The blow wasn't exactly powerful enough to hurt Kal however Starks Repulsors were far more powerful than Kal had expected of Midgardian Technology and the sudden blow had caught Kal completely off guard. Kal flew only a few feet back in the air as the Repulsor beam struck his face before he stopped himself, his ability to defy gravity holding him in place, as the beam did nothing but annoy him.

Kal was perplexed, to say the least, he had known that his actions were causing tensions to rise across the world and Fury was not pleased that Kal was actively interfering in the affairs of this world, so he had excepted someone to come looking for him eventually. However, what he had not expected was that Fury would be so agitated to send someone to actively attack him the moment Kal refused to stop doing what he was doing. Fury had known Kal for quite some time and was fully aware of what Kal was capable of, so he was very confused as to why Fury thought that this 'Iron Man' would be able to fight him.

Honestly, he was also a little insulted, his warrior pride felt like his reputation warranted more of a response than just a single more in a metal suit, he was Kal a God of Justice and War after all.

Kal raised his hand to his face so the Repulsor beam striking him was no longer hitting him directly in the face, although it was not harming him the blast was annoying. With the beam of energy no longer directly striking him in the face Kal was once again able to look at his attacker more clearly, and a confused look came across his face. The Iron Man before him was different from the one he had met only a few minutes ago, that Iron Man had been animated, lively, brightly coloured and had Tony's confident voice coming out of it. The one attacking him was strange it was moving stiffly almost mechanically; its eyes were now green, instead of white and Tony's voice had gone silent all of which from the little Kal knew of the Iron Man was not normal.

The Repulsor beam finally stopped after a few moments and Iron Man's hand went stiffly back down to its side, an eery silence falling over the area as Kal stared at the now cold green lights coming out the Iron Man's helmets slits. Kal opened his mouth to speak and ask that this attack cease however he was instead greeted by a massive explosion of light coming out the Iron's man chest as the suit emitted one of its most powerful attacks which the media had dupped the Unibeam. Kal merely moved casually to the side twisting his body with the grace of an acrobat allowing the beam to pass harmlessly passed him.

He was however forced to move as the Iron Man's suit began turning in the air tracking Kal's position in the air trying to hit him with the powerful beam of energy. Which proved a fruitless endeavour as Kal with almost mocking like ease simply moved gracefully out of the way of the attack, gliding gently to the side causing Tony to start a slow spin in the air. As Kal dodged or more actually glided out of the way of the attack, he examined the beam of energy that he was being attacked with and was impressed. The beam of energy was far more powerful than anything Kal had excepted to find on Midgard and examining it was clear that despite Midgard's overall primitive technology Tony Stark had managed to discover the secrets of a fusion core.

However, Kal quickly put that out of his mind as the Unibeam finally dissipated, as the glowing from the device in the centre chest of the Iron Man suit had dimmed indicating that the attack had been very draining to the suits power source. He released a deep sigh, as he surveyed the frankly pitiful attempt of Tony to attack him, he decided that he had enough and surged forward towards the flying metal suit. As he moved forward, the Iron Man suit moved stiffly again flying backwards and raising its hands firing Repulsor blasts at Kal whilst unleashing a barrage of missiles from chambers across the suit.

Kal this time made no attempt to block or dodge the attacks which were soaring toward him, instead allowing his body to take the barrage of explosions that just broke against his invincible skin. Despite the awesome display of firepower that the Iron Man suit was unleashing, which was causing the air to singe slightly, nearly all of the attacks barely registered for Kal. The only real attack that Kal registered was the Repulsors which although did not harm him, did create a slight tickling sensation where they struck.

"Okay, that's enough." Kal's words were accompanied by his arrival at Iron Man's position and his hand smacking away the suit's outstretched ones.

As he reached out his hand and grabbed hold of the suit's armour he was suddenly greeted by a surge of electricity, which coursed through his hand and briefly encompassed Kal and Tony in a field of electricity. Kal guessed it was a security feature of the armour and took a moment to admire the arcing electricity that was dancing around him, although it did him no harm it did briefly remind him of his brother Thor. As the electrical security feature started to dissipate Kal returned his attention to the flying Iron Man suit in front of him, looking at the glowing green eyes that were staring at him. His fingers started digging into the armour like it was butter and he with ease started to pull pieces of metal off of Tony like it was wrapping paper.

Kal then reached up to the faceplate that was protecting Tony's head and ripped it clear off revealing Tony who for some reason seemed very revelled at Kal's actions. As he opened his mouth to ask Tony why he had attacked him, the faceplate in his hand caught his eye. He saw the green light that had overtaken it started blinking before it suddenly stopped and a small message in green letters appeared on a display:

GOOD GAME, CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY AGAIN

Whilst Kal's view of the previous few minutes had been one of being attacked by a vastly inferior foe who had managed to surprise him slightly by being a fraction more powerful than he had excepted but only marginally. Tony's initial response to the situation had been one of sheer confusion, slight panic and great concern as his greatest invention which should have been impossible to hack, had been taken over like it was a two-cent pinball machine. He had then spent the next few minutes having a pinhole vision of the world around him as he occasionally got glimpses of what was happening around him, and his body was forced to move as his armour started moving without his command.

However, despite the panic that had gripped him Tony had found his mind oddly focused after a few minutes, especially when he felt his suit's Unibeam feature activate and start blasting stiffly at Kal. His mind raced through what was happening, and he had come up with three viable options as to how this was happening or more likely how someone was doing this and none of them was good,

One: System-wide file corruption coupled with Jarvis' logic routines crashing at the same time, in that scenario, Tony's start-up issue for this suit was that its software had been corrupted during the upload and was now activating at random. This wouldn't have been a problem as Jarvis' AI was designed to be present to manage and stop such issues from occurring, but it was clear that Jarvis wasn't functioning correctly either. Meaning that was happening was that the Iron Man suit was just majorly malfunctioning, and it was attacking Kal as a result.

Two: Shield was behind this, trying to get the two of them to take each other out or at least one to destroy the other, after which they could disavow the loser to whoever came out on top. Although he wasn't paranoid usually, Shield was the world's most advanced and secret spy agency. They had shown during the recent Ivan Vanko affair where they had all but taken over his mansion for a week and would have been able to upload any sort of virus into his mainframe. He was also aware that neither he nor Kal was very popular with them, and Fury's request for him to help might have just been a rouse to get him near Kal and then activated whatever Trojan horse they had instilled. Although it sounded insanely paranoid if it was Shield, they had done this beautifully, Tony's ego had made him take the bait and find Kal for them, allowing them to flip a switch and watch him fight the deadliest being on the planet.

Three: Worst-case scenario, during the small interval when Jarvis had reconnected back to Tony's personal satellite their signal had been hijacked and someone had managed to crack his multi-layered super encryption. Meaning that if that was the case, Tony was currently a very expensive and very dangerous puppet hooked up to someone's computer, who had Tony trapped inside a fully automated Iron Man. This was the one that worried Tony the most, not just for the most obvious reason that he was trapped in a suit fighting a super-powered alien but it also meant that someone could just push a button and turn off Iron man whenever they felt like it.

Whatever the case was Tony had to figure out a way out of this before he was killed or seriously injured by Kal. Whilst he knew the Mark A-I was impressive he was under no illusions that his suits weren't quite ready to fight a super-powered alien that shook off missiles blasts like they were tickles from a feather. A point that was proven when the suit started to unload everything it had on Kal who merely moved through the barrage that was being unleashed on him and then started tearing Tony's armour off of him like he was peeling an onion.

As Kal started to tear the suit off of him, Tony saw the green displays that had taken over his system start to become distributed, as his own normal blue ones started to return. It was clear that Kal's destruction of his suit was affecting whatever was corrupting his system, and that the more damage Kal was doing to the suit the quicker whatever was affecting his systems was losing its grip.

As Kal tore his faceplate off of him Tony felt the suit finally give out, the displays he was seeing vanished as the energy powering the suit's limbs disappeared. The damage it had endured from Kal's brief but devasting assault caused it to shut down and although he was now trapped inside a non-functioning suit, he greatly preferred that to being trapped inside a malfunctioning or hacked one. However, his momentary relief at being liberated was replaced with dread as he saw the glowing green message that was being displayed on the inside of his face plate for Kal to see, it could mean only one thing.

His system had been hacked.

(The Lex Complex - Lex Corp's HQ and Primary Facility – San Francisco Bay Area)

Lex lowered the small espresso cup back onto its saucer which he then placed on the side of his table next to the laptop he had just been using. He cast one final glance at the message he had just typed as his video feed from Tony's suit had been cut off, he judged that his little experiment and display of ability had been a success. The only downside was that Kal hadn't torn Tony in half which he was hoping might happen, but alas one can't expect to get everything.

Lex then pressed a small blue button on the side of his desk and waited barely a few seconds before his office door opened up displaying his personal secretary, the barely twenty-year-old and incredibly voluptuous Eve Teschmacher. She greeted her employer as she always did with a flirtatious grin and cocking her hips to one side rising her already scandalously short skirt even higher.

"Yes, Mr Luthor. How can I help you?" Eve's voice was almost dripping with the implied suggestion as she stared hungrily at her employer who was almost twice her age.

Lex however barely looked up to her, his eyes only quickly glancing as he merely closed the lid of his laptop and moved it to one side so that his desk in front of him was clear. "Miss Teschmacher, I am finished with my espresso."

"Of course, sir" Eve Teschmacher's voice was still flirtatious and if she was put off by Lex's cold attitude to her she didn't show it in the slightest as she swayed her hips as she walked up to him.

As she arrived, she bent over needlessly far to pick up his cup and saucer whilst also leaning closer to him than was necessary, allowing Lex to smell her very powerful perfume. Lex however simply looked through the documents he had brought in front of him ignoring his sectary whose flirtatious grin wavered slightly as her advances her rebuffed. Nevertheless, as Eve picked up the cup and saucer, she continued to sway her hips as she walked back to the officer doors in her high heeled shoes, she paused as she reached the doors, however, as Lex called her name.

"Miss Teschmacher," Lex's voice caused her to spin immediately like a trained ballerina hope in her eyes as she saw her employer was now looking at her, his piercing brilliant green eyes staring into her soul.

"Yes," Eve's voice was barely above a whisper as her heart started to hammer in her chest.

"Please can you send in Miss Graves, and take this laptop to be destroyed please," Lex stated in his casually blunt manner and gestured to his laptop, before also adding. "Also tell Miss Graves that I need to see her."

Eve Teschmacher's face fell slightly at Lex's words however she still dutifully walked over and carefully balanced the cup and saucer in one hand lifted the laptop with the other and exited the room. As she left Lex kept his eyes on her, not out of any actual interest in the young woman's looks, such base concern was beneath the great Lex Luthor, no he was merely analysing her to see how long she would last. He was aware of the young Miss Teschmacher's obsession with him it was partly why he had hired her, someone desperate to impress him was easier to manipulate than someone who had just been hired for the decent pay the position brought.

However, Lex's thoughts soon returned to his plans and designs that he had just set in motion with his little stunt with Tony's suit and was judging what to do next when Mercy Graves came into his office without knocking. Mercy was the only person that had that right as she had been with Lex longer than anyone else and had more than proven her worth to him. As he gazed up at her, Lex couldn't help but appreciate the composed and graceful manner in which his right hand always conducted herself.

"Lex." Mercy greeted him using his first name another rare privilege afforded to her because of her dedication to him. Mercy gave him a small nod of her head, her tone as respectful as ever as she took a seat in front of his desk, waiting for him to start the conversation in earnest.

"Mercy," Lex replied a rare smile appearing on his face, as set aside the paper that he had been flicking through. "I will be working from home this evening, I need you to organise my car and take care of the group from the Roxxon Corporation, increase the price to 401.23 million that should settle the matter."

"Of course, sir." Mercy replied immediately the look on her face clearly indicating she knew exactly what Lex was talking about which is what he liked about her. "I will also triple your home security in light of recent actions."

Lex gave a small smirk at Mercy's last comment, knowing that what Mercy meant by 'recent actions' was his takeover of Tony's suit. Which she was aware of only because Lex had told her what he was doing and had her organise first the team that had aided him in taking over the satellite needed for the act. As well as organising the 'liquidation', Lex preferred term for killing everyone involved and hiding the bodies, of said team, which is where Mercy had just come back from.

"That won't be necessary, in fact, I want you to cancel my security for tonight," Lex stated as he rose out of his seat and rebuttoned his suit jacket as he prepared to go home for the day.

"Lex are you sure that is wise?" Mercy asked hesitantly not used to questioning her boss as she rose to her feet as well. "With what you've just done, it's likely to provoke a response, especially if Stark or the alien find out you are behind it."

"They won't," Lex stated confidently, giving Mercy a reassuring look. "The satellite I used belongs to a certain …... let's say faction inside Shield, along with the code I used as well if anyone comes looking it will lead to Shield's doorstep."

Mercy looked incredibly nervous at Lex's answer and bit her lip before forcing herself to ask what was eating at her mind. "Sir, if that's true you very much need added security for the foreseeable future. Shield is not known for taking things like this lightly, especially not …... that group, they are going to respond."

"Precisely," Lex stated with a small smirk as if it was obvious that Lex had wanted to poke the hornet's nest with a flaming stick. However, seeing the look of confusion on his right hand's face he sighed a little and explained why he was so confident in what he had just done. "I needed to attract their attention whilst testing the alien's capabilities, this achieved both and as such I very much expect a visit from them tonight."

"All the more reason to add -" Mercy began to try and force the issue of more security but was cut off by Lex's raised hand.

"All the more reason not to get a number of personal security detail killed pointlessly. Especially when I have the matter well in hand," Lex sighed slightly evidently growing bored explaining himself as if all this was obvious and he was talking to a small child. "It costs a fortune to clean blood out of marble, so please just do as I ask and cancel the security for tonight."

"Yes, sir." Mercy gave a resigned look and nodded her head as she accepted that she couldn't talk Lex out of cancelling his security for the night.

"Thank you, Mercy." Lex gave her a small nod like one gave a good dog for completing a task, and with that left his office for his home.

(Lex Luthor's Private West Coast Resident – Outside of San Francisco)

It was near midnight when they finally arrived at Lex's villa, which he incredibly was incredibly grateful for as he was already on his third glass of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac. Which he was enjoying immensely whilst looking over the deal that Mercy had sealed with the Roxxon Corporation. However, although he was glad that they had finally arrived, and he get all this out of the way he did not enjoy or appreciate that their presence was accompanied by his head being slammed into his table.

He both felt and heard the glass crack as his head was pressed into the table, a feeling of immense pressure on the side of his head as he felt the cold metal hand of his attacker pressing him down like he was in a vice. From his position, Lex was able to look up at his attacker, looking directly into the masked face framed by long brown hair that belong to the infamous Winter soldier. It was his eyes Lex focused on, they fascinated him, they were filled with such determination and focus but no spark of life no sign of conscious thought.

"Let him up." A steady calm calculated voice sounded from the doorway of the room, whose presence to Lex's ears was immediately accompanied by the release of pressure on his head.

"Secretary Pierce" Lex greeted the newcomer at the door without even looking at him knowing full well who would be coming to confront him. As well as knowing Alexander Pierce's voice very well from having endured listening to the man during hearings about LexCorp's ethics for years. Lex then straightened himself up, as he did he spotted the broken bottle and glass of his cognac and let out a sigh. "You do know how expensive that is?"

Alexander Peirce did not respond to Lex's question, a stone-cold calculating look on his face as he merely walked into the room and stood before Lex. Without even needing to order him the Winter Soldier moved around the table and left up a second chair that he had knocked over during his assault on Lex and placed it for his master to sit on. Secretary Pierce sat down and crossed his leg as he released a heavy frustrated sigh as he gazed at the slightly bleeding Lex Luthor.

"Your little stunt with Stark has jeopardized years of planning and has cost me hours of manpower, not to mention millions of dollars to cover up. Give me one good reason why I don't just have my friend here crush your head like a grape and bury you in the desert?" Alexander Pierce's voice was cold and ruthless, an icy air had entered it that conveyed that his statement wasn't an empty threat.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Lex asked calmly unconcerned with the threat just made against him, as he gestured to the liquor cabinet that occupied the side of the room. "I have some that Goût de Diamants champagne I know that you like."

"I am not here to drink, although I am very curious how you managed your little stunt with Stark? Every government on the planet has been trying to hack Stark without success for the past few years. So how did Lex Luthor do it with a room full of computer science majors, a commandeered satellite and a laptop?" Pierce's face although did not show it still formed a frown, his voice was certainly curious and had a hint of respect.

Lex merely gave a dismissive wave of his hand like the action was nothing remarkable as he lounged back in his chair, and then explained his success like one would do to a child that was missing the obvious.

"Child's play, Tony's little VI was created from an interactive management program he found in the Stark database," Lex gave a little smirk that irritated Pierce to know end even more than Lex's condescending tone. "A program that I originally created for Howard in the early '90s, so it was easy to circumvent Howard's little pups' attempt to play with the grownups. Tony likes to think of himself as a Da Vinci, but he is more of an Edison merely building on the genius of others. A bit like your organisation, no?"

Pierce's face just tightened at Lex's disrespectful manner and lack of understanding of the severity of the situation he was in, his attitude suggesting they equal merely catching up. Pierce simply raised one of his hands and gave was about to give the signal for his minion to crack Lex's head open, end this farce and finally be rid of one of his greatest annoyances. However, he was prevented from doing so by Lex who merely slid a file across the table that stopped next to the World Security Secretary.

"What's this?" Pierce asked bluntly his face still creased in annoyance as he kept his hand raised to give the signal if he felt like it.

"The solution to your problem," Lex stated calmly leaning back in his chair like he was at a resort in the Caribbean. Ignoring the blood trickling down the side of his head and the large metal armed man standing near him ready to crush his skull at a moment's notice.

Pierce lowered his hand and picked up the file casting a glance at the name on the folder Project Cadmus, he had to resist rolling his eyes a little Lex was always so dramatic with his names. As he opened the file, he was immediately greeted by something equal parts intriguing and dangerous. He quickly began flicking through the file absorbing as much as he could, although most of the science went over his head, he understood one curtail aspect of the project. Its sole purpose would be to combat this Kal individual that had appeared recently.

"What makes you think this Kal person is a problem for us?" Pierce questioned lowering the file back onto the table but still keeping one hand on it showing his interest. His eyes narrowed as he is tried to figure out the game Lex was playing his face one of intense thought now.

"Well unless you want your precious Project Insight to fail the second it fires its first shot, you are going to need to eliminate Kal, preferably beforehand," Lex declared his explanation calmly as he gave Alexander Pierce a small smirk.

Pierce's face suddenly fell as his eyes widen at Lex's casual mention of one of the world's most closely guarded secrets. His voice returned to being cold and menacing as he stared at Lex. "How do you know about Project Insight?"

"I have my sources," Lex stated in a dismissive tone before he pressed on standing up from the table and moving over to the liquor cabinet. "That is beside the point, my hacking of Tony's little suit was merely to get your attention so I can offer you this."

"Why?" Alexander Pierce had known Lex for a long time and although the man had helped their cause in the past, it was only ever because it benefitted Lex in some manner.

"Because a great mind needs a great challenge," Lex stated whilst he opened a bottle of Goût de Diamants champagne pouring two glasses. "Also, because your …... society has easier access to the resources needed to make my project work and keep off Shield's radar."

"What do I get in return?" Pierce asked his suspicions were aroused as he stared at Lex who was coming back over to him with two glasses of champagne. "I could take this file, kill you, raid your labs, have my own project started and score points with Tony Stark by telling him you were the one who hacked his suit."

"You could do that." Lex gave a shrug of his shoulder as he stood in front of Pierce a glass of Champagne in each hand. "However, you spend decades merely trying to crack the genome whereas I could give full-grown subjects in less than five years. As for scoring points with Tony, who would you rather have a man that builds a fancy suit or the man who can turn it off at will?"

As Lex finished his pitch, he offered Pierce one of the glasses of champagne, who merely moved his gaze from Lex's face to the offered glass. Pierce's brain was a whirl of activity as it absorbed what Lex had just presented to him, the tantalising offer that could make all of his dreams come true and provide the means to bring order to the world. A few moments passed before Pierce's hand reluctantly came up and took the offered glass a slight look of resignation on his face.

"Great, I can tell this is going to be a very profitable partnership." Lex gave Pierce's glass a small clink as he smiled down at the man, who was already beginning to have second thoughts.

(Inside the Fortress of Solitude – Dawn – 2011)

Tony was startled awake by the strange sound that reached his ears it sounded like a dozen buzzing bees swarming in one location. As he opened his eyes and lurched up to sit upright, he was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the room.

"Please Mr Stark remain on the table whilst I attend to your injuries." The voice came from directly next to Tony causing the man to turn to face its source.

As Tony's eyes adjusted to the light of the room, he was greeted by a strange floating machine that had an ovoid-shaped body shape. As Tony looked at it he realised that the strange device was the source of the buzzing noise he was hearing as it was hovering in the air seemingly with no source of thrust or propulsion. However, what was more remarkably for Tony was the liquid crystalline mass at its centre which was pulsating and moving as it spoked, causing Tony to reach out a hand in curiosity to try to touch it.

"Please do not do that." The floating machine stated in an almost annoyed tone, its face pulsating with each word as it backed away from Tony's outstretched hand.

Tony cocked his head to one side, the inventor and engineer in him were fascinated by what was in front of him so much so that it was overriding his desire to actually speak and ask questions for the moment. He however quickly moved passed his initial enthrallment and moved his head to look at the rest of the room he was in. It was a large, brightly lit oval-shaped room and seemed to be made of the same crystalline material as the strange floating machine that was talking to him.

"Please Mr Stark, to correctly treat you, you must lay back." The machine voice now sounded aggravated and a little bit like Pepper, when she was trying to get Tony to listen to her.

"I would do as Kelex asks Mr Stark, or else he might accidentally regenerate a few extra bones." Tony turned to face the opposite side of the table from the one Kelex was occupying.

The new voice belonged to Kal who seemed to be wearing what Tony guessed passed for his version of casual clothing. He was no longer wearing the blue armour or red cape that Tony had always seen him displayed in, instead, he was wearing a deep blue tunic, and trousers, made of a metallic thread, and he was cloaked in a deep crimson cloak shawl. Despite his more causal clothing and movements, Kal still cut an imposing figure which despite Tony's usual bravado made him very wary of being in a room with the man without his armour on.

"Peace Mr Stark, I mean you no harm, I apologise for the injuries you sustain, but getting you out of your suit required more force than I expected," Kal spoke in a friendly tone raising his hands slightly. Almost as if he could sense Tony's uneasiness at being so close to Kal after their very brief fight without his armour to protect him.

Tony seemed to remain tense however as Kal approached him eyeing the alien with suspicion and casting a glance back at the floating robot who despite not having a face seemed annoyed that Tony had not yet laid back. As Kal approached, Tony's tension abated slightly as he looked into the man's eyes, finding them warming and welcoming with a quality that couldn't help but put Tony at ease.

"So I'm guessing I'm your prisoner?" Tony asked in suspicion finally speaking as Kal arrived next to his table.

"Not at all Mr Stark, once Kelex here finishes healing you, you are free to go" Kal gave a gentle smile as he nodded to Kelex who was projecting a green ray onto a bruise on Tony's chest that was slowly disappearing. "I took the liberty of having your suit repaired, it is ready as soon as you wish to depart."

"I'm free to go, just like that?" Tony asked surprised in his voice, although he knew his attack on Kal was not his doing, he was still surprised that Kal was willing to let him go just like that.

Kal merely gave a small smile and nod of his head. "Of course, I have no quarrel with you or Shield, in fact, I am fully aware that your actions were not your own. I might suggest you work on a great protection spell on your metal suit to prevent further intrusion."

Tony grimaced slightly at Kal's words his priding taking his hit as he prevented himself from saying something stupid to defend his wounded pride, as Kal was not wrong Tony had apparently been complacent with his security measures as someone had hacked his suit. He still didn't know how someone had managed that feat, it had to be someone as smart as him, working off a very powerful mainframe and with first-hand experience of Stark Industry computer coding. However, Tony pushed that thought to one side for a moment as his brain suddenly registered something Kal had just said to him.

"Wait? Did you say you've repaired my suit?" Tony suddenly looked Kal dead in the eye, shock present on his face. The Iron Man suit was the most advanced piece of technology on the planet and currently, he was the only person that should be able to even make basic repairs let alone fix an entire suit that had been ripped apart.

"Yes, I managed to repair it quite quickly whilst you recovered from injuries," Kal stated in a matter of fact tone as if it had been as simple as changing batteries in a toy. "Although I must say for a piece of Midgardian technology it is very impressive, I know a few dwarfs that would like to talk to you about the design."

"Thanks?" Tony stated in slight bewilderment not sure if Kal was being serious or even given him a real compliment.

"Especially your use of Nth-Metal as a power source, I did not think Midgardians had yet discovered it." Kal gave a genuine smile and his eyes showed he was truly impressed at Tony's creation.

"Nth-Metal?" Tony asked having no idea what Kal was referring to.

"It is the element currently powering the device in your chest, prevent the 23 no apologies 24 pieces of metal from entering your heart, and by which you power your suit." Kal gave a nod to Tony's chest as his eyes scanned the area as if he could see inside Tony.

Tony widened his eyes and looked down at the miniature arc reactor in his chest that was pulsating in its own steady rhythm. Tony had not actually named the new element he had created or apparently more accurately discovered; he had briefly toyed with naming it Badassium or Starkium but had yet to actually do so. As he thought about and looked around the room whose very nature was beyond anything Tony was capable of, he supposed he wasn't too surprised that Kal was able to repair his suit with ease.

"Nth-Metal huh?" Tony finally spoke, giving a small shrug as he decided he liked the name Kal knew his new element by.

"You know Kelex can remove the pieces of metal if you desire?" Kal offered after a moment silent gesturing to Tony's chest.

Kal's offer caused Tony to look up first at Kal and then over to Kelex who was hovering next to him having finally finished healing the injuries Tony had endured from his brief fight with Kal. Tony looked down at his chest and saw that the large bruise where Kal had struck him was now gone and felt better than new. The offer was tempting extremely tempting however Tony wasn't sure he was ready to let an alien poke around inside his chest. Moreover, a part of him felt that he needed to keep the pieces of shrapnel as a type of penance for all the harm he had done in his life.

"No thank you." Tony's voice was quiet as he placed a hand on pulsating light in the middle of his chest releasing a small but deep sigh. "Anyway, I am actually here because Fury wanted me to sp-"

Kal's voice cut Tony off. "I know why you are here Mr Stark, and you can relay the same message as before that I have heard your words but that I am not ceasing my actions to help the people of this world. I am not yours or Shield's enemy, besides, I have a feeling that something is coming that will this argument pointless soon"

Tony wanted to argue that Kal just couldn't ignore Shield or like every world government that was calling for him to be brought in to explain exactly what he was doing but his mind skipped over that part to focus on the latter part of what Kal had just said.

"What do you mean this is all going to be pointless soon?" Tony asked raising an eyebrow as he pushed himself off the table to stand in front of Kal, coming only up to the man's chest.

"In truth, I do not know, it is merely a feeling," Kal stated honestly his voice calm yet with a sense of certainty that made Tony guess that Kal's feelings were rarely wrong. "But I believe things are in motion that will put this world in danger, I have detected an ancient and dangerous relic on this world that will draw darker forces than you can imagine to your doorstep. If you want to tell Fury anything, tell him that I think my purpose for being on this world is fast approaching and that he will need to be ready."

Kal fell silent for a few moments as he seemingly judged the man in front of him his eyes burrowing deep into Tony's soul. As if he was debating if the man before him was worthy of the warning he was about to provide.

"You as well Mr Stark, if I am right this world is going to need the Man of Iron to survive the storm I believe is coming." Kal's warning was grave and for some reason, Tony did not know why but he believed every word of it and suddenly felt that he needed to get back home and work on another suit.