Title: Full Metal Rockstar
Fandom: Lost/Iron Man crossover (click here for background on Iron Man)
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: Hurley and Charlie go exploring when they stumble upon a station that does not belong to Dharma. Packed with cool superhero action!
Characters: Charlie, Hurley, Desmond, Sayid and others. Cameo by Tony Stark
Word Count: 4,753
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. That would be ABC. I do not own Iron Man. That would be Marvel.
"Dude, are you sure you're going the right way?"
Hurley stopped to rest on a log and pulled out a water bottle, while Charlie surveyed the crude map.
"This is where Daniel said it would be; twenty paces from that tree," said Charlie, pointing to the largest tree directly behind them.
"That tree looks like every other tree around here," noted Hurley. "I think they're related."
Charlie wasn't bothered by the indistinguishable foliage. "No, it's this way, I'm sure of it. Well… on second thought," he said, turning the map upside down, "maybe we should have turned left at the last creek."
"That's good," sighed Hurley, looking around at the thick of trees they had just emerged from, "Where the heck are we anyway? I've never been this far west before."
"I don't know, but when we came over the last rise I thought I saw a building so that's why I went this way," Charlie explained. "It was over here."
Charlie started walking again and Hurley reluctantly followed. "Man, they're going to think we're a couple of screw-ups. Jack trusted us to find the power station. You said you knew where it was."
"That's because I didn't want him to think we were a couple of screw-ups," said Charlie smoothly, "so I asked Daniel to draw us this map."
"Dude, the way your mind works sometimes, it scares me. You do realize you could be walking us blindly to our deaths all because you couldn't stop and ask for directions."
"I don't need directions Hurley I know exactly where we are." He came to a stop three feet from the base of a circular concrete structure. "We're here."
Hurley looked at it. Looking for some way to contribute, he and Charlie, both bored on the beach waiting for rescue, had volunteered to return to the power station and search it for anything useful that they could cart away. If they were lucky they might even find something to help them communicate with the freighter, since the satellite phone had stopped working the day before and no one had heard from Desmond or Sayid in days.
"This is it?" asked Hurley, dubious. "It doesn't look like a power station."
"And what exactly should a power station look like?" asked Charlie.
"I don't know," said Hurley, "but shouldn't it have a big antenna or wires coming out of it or something? This thing looks more like a planetarium."
"Let's try to find a way in."
Charlie went to the wall and began searching for a door or entryway of some kind. Hurley kept right on talking; not sure entering this thing was the best idea.
"And Juliet called it the Tempest," he said as Charlie inspected it. "Doesn't that mean there should be a sign or a Dharma symbol or something? I don't see anything. I don't think this is it dude."
"But don't you want to know what it is?" asked Charlie, pulling the branches and brush away from the perimeter to look behind it.
Hurley shook his head. "I stopped being curious three months ago. For my health."
"Well I didn't come all this way for nothing," said Charlie. "Maybe it's something even better, did you think of that?"
Hurley shook his head. "I was never really good at Let's Make a Deal. You know the game where you choose to keep the box or go behind door number one? I always ended up with the booby prize when I played at home. I'm more a play the odds kind of guy now, and right now the odds are telling me there's something in there that's going to kill us."
Charlie smiled. "You worry too much Hurley, all these stations are abandoned. They have been for years. There wasn't anything dangerous in the Swan station, was there, apart from that electromagnetic whatever that made it… implode."
"I feel better already."
Just as Hurley finished he saw Charlie reach behind a bush and heard an audible click. The wall slid open where it had appeared to be solid concrete. With a mad grin he turned and walked right in, leaving Hurley with little choice but to follow him.
The inside was enormous. One side had a vast array of computer equipment like the Swan station but much more advanced and up to date, almost futuristic. Hurley had never seen anything like it. There were large monitors on the wall and consoles with switches and lights. Charlie looked like a kid in a candy store. Eyes wide, he shot from place to place, taking everything in, hands twitching like he wanted to try it all out.
"I hope you're not considering pushing any of those," Hurley remarked, pointing to the array of buttons closest to Charlie's right hand.
Charlie pulled his hand back quickly as if it were a stove. "Don't be daft," he said. "I have got some sense you know. But still…"
"Still what?" said Hurley, "Let's get out of here. This place doesn't feel abandoned."
"Hurley?"
"What?"
"Have you ever heard of Stark Industries?" Charlie asked.
"I don't think so," Hurley said. "It sounds a little familiar but I'm not sure why."
"Everything on the island was supposed to have been built by Dharma," Charlie said. "According to the film Locke found they were financed by the Hanso Foundation. So what's Stark Industries? Aren't you curious?"
"There's that word again," said Hurley.
Before Hurley could stop him Charlie flipped a power switch on the console and the monitors came to life. Hurley jumped back, startled. There were three of them, with fifty inch screens and full color. Charlie looked pleased with himself as he stepped back to watch. Hurley watched too as a dark haired bearded man in a suit appeared on screen and began to speak.
Welcome to Stark Industries remote base. My name is Tony Stark. If you are here then you are aware that due to industrial espionage, the IM project has been relocated to this secure location. We have asked you here…
"Man, why does that name sound familiar?" muttered Hurley.
"Ssh," said Charlie, trying to listen.
…modifications for durability and efficiency. When you have completed your tests, simply upload the new specifications and the model will be updated. Each new model must undergo a new array of testing to ensure that the IM…
"What's IM?" asked Charlie.
Hurley shook his head. It was like something out of James Bond. He felt like he was being given a mission but he didn't understand what it was. Whatever this IM was, he couldn't find it anywhere. There was nothing in the room with them but a bunch of computers.
Charlie backed up slowly, still watching the monitors. When he reached the center of the room where a large circle was engraved on the floor the screens went blank. Then a large mechanical sound broke the silence like something being released. Charlie looked down when the ground rumbled and realized the circular section of floor beneath his feet was rising.
Before Hurley could call out to him Charlie jumped off the platform and rolled onto the concrete floor. Hurley went to him and helped him up. They watched together as the circle was now halfway up, like a riser on a stage. The inside was open and lit by a bright white light, and Hurley shielded his eyes from the glare, trying to make out what he saw.
There was another large clank as the motor stopped and the floor was still. Inside the circular chamber that was now before them was what appeared to be a robot, all shiny and metallic. It was attached to more computer equipment, as though it were receiving a physical. It stood about six feet tall and had a glowing circle in the center of its chest.
"Never saw that on Let's Make a Deal," said Hurley.
"Hurley…" Charlie began, but his words stopped there.
"I remember now," said Hurley.
"Remember what?" Charlie said, trancelike as they both stared at the metal man.
"Stark Industries," Hurley explained. "I couldn't place where I'd heard that before. Tony Stark. He's Iron Man."
"You what?"
"Iron Man," Hurley repeated, still mesmerized. "It was a comic book superhero. Tony Stark, he was like this genius weapons maker, but he was also a drinker and a playboy, kind of messed up, and his weapons were sold to bad guys. Well anyway, he quit making weapons one day and instead made this suit that could fly and beat the bad guys…"
"It can fly?"
"Yeah, so anyway," Hurley continued, "Iron Man wasn't the most popular superhero but I never met a comic I didn't like. Seriously, I read them all. But I thought it was just a story."
"It can fly?"
"Charlie, are you listening to me?" Hurley shouted, turning on him. "Look at this, man! That was Tony Stark on that video! Iron Man is real! Of all the freaky things I've seen on the island this has got to be the freakiest."
But Charlie really wasn't listening. He had moved closer to the figure in the chamber and was examining it carefully, running his fingertips lightly along its limbs, like it was a work of art.
"Dude, what are you doing?"
"It can fly," Charlie said in a quiet whisper. Then he snapped out of it and turned to Hurley. "How do you open this thing?"
Hurley stared at his friend, not believing his ears. "No. No, no, no. This can't be what I'm hearing. You actually want to get in it?"
"Didn't you ever want to be a superhero Hurley? What a bloody trip that would be. Think about it -- there are people on the island in danger. We're spending our time getting lost in the jungle scavenging for scraps. What if we could save them? What if we could save them all? With this we could do something even Jack and Locke can't do."
"You don't know how to work it, you're gonna get yourself killed. How's that for a counterargument?" said Hurley.
Charlie was still eyeing the suit like he was falling in love. "I'll bet it's fully automated. How hard could it be?"
"Dude for the last time you are not…"
But Hurley didn't get to finish his sentence before Charlie had reached out and lifted the mask from the front to reveal a hollow interior. Then he swung open the bars that ran across the front and the chest area split in two, allowing enough room for a medium sized man to get inside. Charlie looked back at his friend who was looking more worried than ever.
"Look," Charlie said to him. "It probably doesn't work anyway. Chances are they replaced this model and abandoned the site. There's no one here. This place could have been running on its own for years waiting for a technician. I just want to try it on."
Hurley felt mildly reassured but not enough. "Do you think this is what the smoke monster was protecting?"
"Well if it was someone must have turned it off because it didn't stop us getting in here now," Charlie said, stepping into the suit. "All the more reason to think it's been shut down."
When he placed his feet into the boots they snapped shut around him. Hurley startled a bit at the speed with which Charlie was locked in and he wondered how he would get him out. Robot arms came out and screwed bolts tight at the joints, and then the chest area closed without so much as a seam showing. Charlie was looking slightly nervous now but was trying not to show it. He put his hands into the metal gloves and the arms were bolted shut. The only thing remaining was the headgear which stayed raised like the boot of a car.
Testing a few moves, Charlie flexed his fingers and raised his arms. The feet stayed clamped to the base until the assembly of the suit was complete and then the entire thing was released with one heavy sound. Charlie took one step and then another out onto the station floor. Hurley stepped back.
"Looks good," said Hurley. "Can you see any controls in there?"
Charlie reached up and dropped the faceplate down. When he did he saw an array of controls in his vision. It looked like a floating monitor but with his hands in the glove pieces, he didn't know how he would interact with it. Then the suit spoke.
"Unit 41B is ready for testing. Commence instruction," it said in a polite English voice.
Charlie wondered for a moment what to ask. He wasn't entirely sure what he could do but he figured the suit would tell him. He scanned the room and saw Hurley still staring at him. Over his considerable frame was a large target mark so Charlie quickly looked away and focused on the bare wall instead. On the palms of his hands were glowing circles that Charlie assumed did something.
He held out one hand in the direction of an empty chair and said, "Fire."
A sonic blast issued from his palm sending the chair towards the concrete wall and embedding it six inches deep. The recoil took Charlie by surprise, vibrating up his arm and knocking him back a few steps but he quickly learned to widen his stance and plant his feet for the second blast which took out one of the monitors on the wall.
"Charlie, what are you doing?" shouted Hurley, who had backed himself protectively against the far wall. "Stop!"
"Sorry, Hurley," Charlie said from the suit, lowering his hands which had become weapons. "I think I might try a test flight."
"As you wish," came the voice from the suit, thinking it was being addressed. "Initiating boosters."
Before Hurley could protest, launchers burst out from the hands and feet. Charlie felt himself lifting off the ground as though he were being repelled by reverse gravity. He straightened out and found his balance. It felt awkward and tipsy, like balancing on a ball, but he soon found his center and his confidence. He was flying, if only by a few feet. Now for the real test, he thought.
"Higher," Charlie commanded.
The suit rose as the thrusters powered up. Charlie was ten feet in the air now. He looked down and saw Hurley's trembling form, terrified for his friend. Charlie wanted to reassure him that he was fine but he didn't think he would hear him from this height. He felt himself being lifted higher. It was only then that he looked up and realized there was a closed ceiling above him and he was fast approaching it. For the first time he wondered where the brakes were.
He was about to order the suit to stop when a chink of sunlight broke through and the roof opened, allowing him to exit. Charlie smiled, straightened out fully and pointed towards the skies, shooting straight up like a rocket.
As soon as he was gone, Hurley ran to the control panel, searching for some way to communicate or bring the suit back down. His only thought as he read the labels on the dials was, Jack's gonna kill us. Of course that was assuming Charlie didn't kill himself first.
He kept flipping switches as he yelled into the console. "Charlie, can you hear me? Where the hell are you?"
Eventually he found the right switch because his friend's voice came through loud and clear, beginning with an elongated whooping sound. "Hurley! This is brilliant! I'm flying! I can see the whole island!"
Hurley's jaw hung slack. He did it. He was actually doing it, likely without a thought as to how he was going to get back down.
"Okay dude, when you're done your ride get your ass back here," said Hurley.
"But Hurley, I'm a superhero," Charlie argued. "I have an obligation. Now I need to look around and see if there's anyone who needs my help."
"You're not a superhero," Hurley countered. "You're just Charlie now will you get back here already and cut this crap out?"
"I'm going to check out Locke's camp. I won't be long," he said.
"Beautiful," muttered Hurley. "That's just beautiful."
Charlie felt like a bird. It was enormously liberating to be soaring through the sky. He'd stay up there forever if he could, or fly right off the island and away, but he didn't know how long his power source would last -- which he assumed was that glowing thing in the center of the suit's chest -- and he didn't fancy the idea of plummeting thousands of feet when it ran out. So he'd stick close to land, and watch the monitor on his screen which told him the suit's energy capacity, currently at eighty five percent.
From his height he could see a large part of the island and a bit of the beach beyond the jungle. People were milling about on the shore, looking like little worker ants. Charlie descended a bit and saw Kate preparing to climb a tall tree to reach the fruit at the very top. With one graceful arc, he swooped down and through the trees upper branches causing it to shake, knocking ripe mangoes to the ground like hail. He was gone before a surprised Kate even knew what had happened.
That was fun, he thought. Now what else?
Remembering he wanted to spy on Locke's camp, Charlie turned and went north where the barracks were. The little yellow houses were nestled in a valley. He expected to see the rooftops and know he was there but instead he was drawn in by plumes of thick smoke and the sounds of gunfire. Charlie increased his speed and drew closer; he could see bodies on the ground and the remains of some burnt out bungalows.
Whatever had happened here, Charlie feared he was too late. He wondered if the Others or the people on the boat had done this, then he looked down at one of the last standing structures and he saw his answer.
About twenty feet from the front of the house was Ben's daughter Alex. She was on her knees and there was a man that Charlie didn't recognize dressed in military gear behind her. That man had a gun to the poor girl's head. The sick bastard was threatening to kill a kid. Alex was crying, pleading into a walkie for someone to save her, no doubt her father, who was safely tucked away in the cottage. Charlie quickly weighed the odds of Ben coming to her aid.
"Not bloody likely," he concluded and he flew down towards them.
As soon as the man noticed him he raised his gun and fired, but the bullets simply ricocheted harmlessly off of the suit's alloy exterior. Charlie raised one hand and sent a sonic blast at the man, sending him off his feet. He collided with a garden shed and the impact reduced it to splinters. A piece of wood from the frame impaled him through the chest. Alex remained fixed to her spot, frozen by fear, until finally she snapped to and ran for the house.
Charlie landed and surveyed the camp. After a shocked silence, frenzied shots began ringing out from the direction of the jungle. Charlie felt them bounce away, with no damage at all to the suit.
"You're wasting your time and your ammo," said Charlie, searching the tree line for the locations of the snipers.
Finally he sighed, wondering why he bothered to search for needles in haystacks. He was a superhero now; there must be something he can do to root them out. He addressed the controls.
"Uh, hello? Suit?" he tried.
"Yes, sir," came the voice.
Charlie continued to scan the trees, the bullets felt like mild insect bites. "What do I call you? Do you have a name?"
"My name is Jarvis sir," it said.
"Jarvis," Charlie repeated. "Right. Well Jarvis, what do you recommend to take out these annoying murderers?"
"I'd recommend automatic weaponry sir. If you allow me I can pinpoint the location of each target precisely. No need for collateral damage."
"Sounds perfect," said Charlie. "Fire away."
Charlie stood and watched the screen behind his mask. Small red sights appeared in various points behind the trees, four in all. As soon as the targets were fixed there was a mechanical sound as plates on his shoulders popped open and shots were fired from suit, hitting each target neatly and cleanly.
"No fuss, no muss," said Charlie. "Well done, Jarvis."
"Thank you sir," said Jarvis.
The camp was quiet again. Charlie saw Ben and Alex reemerging from the cabin and he took off before they could question him. Best to keep this a secret, he thought. My work here is done anyway.
Soaring through the skies he had the chance to think a bit. If those were the men from the freighter then everyone on the island could be in trouble. They obviously weren't who they said they were. Anyone who would threaten to kill a teenage girl was not up for any humanitarian awards so rescue was appearing less likely. Charlie didn't know where the helicopter was but at the moment it seemed the only one who could get to that freighter and check it out was him. Desmond and Sayid were already there and they could be in trouble. There was nothing for it. He turned and headed for the coast.
"Charlie, are you there?" said a voice in his ear. "Say something dude!"
"I'm here Hurley," he replied. "Listen to me. The people on the freighter are trouble. They just attacked Locke's camp and killed a lot of people. I need you to get back to the beach and warn everyone."
"What about you?" asked Hurley. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going over to that boat," said Charlie. "I'll be fine. I'll meet you at the beach when I'm done."
"Done what?"
"Whatever needs doing," he said, and increased his speed as soon as the freighter came into view in the far distance.
When he got close enough to spot Desmond and Sayid on the deck, he came in to land. As he did he noticed several more men with guns, approaching his friends from the cabin door. Charlie landed in their path, and the men raised their guns and fired at will. As the bullets bounced off, he chose the nearest one and swung his massive iron fist, sending him overboard. The other dropped his gun in shock and ran back into the interior of the ship.
Desmond and Sayid had taken cover behind some cargo and watched the bizarre display. When Charlie turned and went towards them, their faces showed equal amounts of fear. Then he remembered they didn't know it was him. He lifted the mask on the suit and their expressions changed from terror to a confused shock.
"Hey guys," said Charlie. "It's just me."
"Charlie, what the bloody hell is that getup?" asked Desmond.
"I'm Iron Man," Charlie said. When he got no response he added, "You'll have to ask Hurley."
"What are you doing here?" Sayid asked.
"Rescuing you of course," Charlie said. "You need to take the rafts and start getting people off the island. They're attacking everyone, this is the safest place to be. Is there anyone else aboard?"
"Yeah, me," came a voice from behind.
The Iron Man suit was so large that Captain Gault was able to come right up behind Charlie without Desmond or Sayid even seeing him approach. Charlie turned quickly and rather clumsily on the spot and lost his balance. Before he could right himself the Captain swung an enormous pole that held the life rafts and knocked Charlie over the railing. The suit was so heavy that he sank like a stone, plummeting deeper and deeper into the ocean depths.
"Jarvis," Charlie called, "Can you hear me?"
There was no reply. The suit must not have been made for water and it shorted out the systems. Charlie's mask was completely black before his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure but it felt like water was seeping into his boots. He tried a swimming motion with his arms, but he sank faster than he rose. Charlie panicked. He had nearly drowned flipping the switch in that Looking Glass station and he wasn't about to go through that again. There had to be something this suit could do.
"Jarvis!" Charlie tried again, "Jarvis you better bloody well answer me! I need your help! Tell me what to do!" For good measure he added, "That's an order!"
He was sure of it now; water was definitely seeping in through every seam and joint. If it were possible he felt even heavier as the suit was filled like a vase, submerged to his waist. It was cold and his feet began to grow numb.
"I can't die I'm a superhero," he muttered to himself. "Superheroes always win. Maybe the voice is just shorted but the systems still work. I'll have to try this manually."
Charlie thought. He only had one chance to get it right; there was little time for experimentation. The water was nearly to his chest. He lifted his arms and pointed straight up towards where he imagined the sky to be if he could see through the black. He hoped like hell that he was right or he would shoot uselessly through the water like a submarine's torpedo.
"Activate rocket boosters," he said, and the suit came to life as though gasping its last breath.
Charlie felt himself being propelled through the water and up with such force that his head pressed back painfully against the skull plate. Still accelerating, he braced himself and held his breath as the water covered his mouth and nose, but all too soon he broke through the ocean's surface and was airborne. A few seconds later, the water levels inside the suit began to subside. Charlie let out an enormous lungful of air and laughed out loud.
"Is something amusing sir?" came Jarvis, his voice restored.
"Jarvis, mate," said Charlie as he flew towards the ocean. "It's good to hear your voice."
"It is good to hear you too sir," said Jarvis, "although, I am sorry to report that not all systems are functioning at full capacity -- specifically, the navigational and deceleration systems, which are currently offline."
Charlie's joy was replaced once again by panic. "That better not mean what I think it means," he said as he saw the beach getting closer and closer with no way to steer or slow down to land.
"I am sorry sir," said Jarvis, with all of the calm as if he had just told Charlie they had run out of sugar for his tea. "Perhaps you should – brace yourself and prepare for landing."
"You're a right sodding help," said Charlie as he did just that.
Luckily the sand was soft or Charlie might have ended up in as many pieces as the suit. He crashed heavily to the beach, the suit breaking apart on impact and found himself embedded in the sand two feet deep. Charlie lay still, assessing his condition, dazed. A moment later, he saw a group running towards him, led by Hurley and Jack.
"Dude!" yelled Hurley, "Dude you did it!"
"Did what?" muttered Charlie, still shaken. Jack and Bernard began digging him out as Hurley kept talking.
"You saved them," Hurley explained. "Daniel fixed the phone and Sayid called. He and Desmond took control of the freighter and now they're coming to get everyone. We're saved. They said you did it, but they also said you drowned. We have to call them back and tell them you're okay."
"Charlie what is this thing?" asked Jack when Charlie was freed, picking up pieces of the demolished suit.
Charlie looked at Hurley. "Do you want to tell him?"
Charlie was soaking wet, so Rose brought him a blanket and led him over to the campfire. He felt like a kid again as they all sat around it and Hurley regaled them with the exciting adventures of Iron Man. Charlie listened like the rest, enthralled, apart from one small difference. For just one day, he got the chance to know what it was like to be the hero. For one day, he was Iron Man.