Arms Race

Pat Dugan felt proud as his newest suit of S.T.R.I.P.E. armor was finally finished. It was stronger, weaponized beyond belief, and had a better defensive grid than any other suit he had previously made. He felt like he hadn't slept in a few days, and grasped a towel hanging by the generator to wipe the sweat from his brow. He looked at the time and noticed it was a quarter after four. "Courtney should be home by now…"

Pat left his armory and headed downstairs to see if his stepdaughter Courtney, known to the Justice League as Stargirl, was home from school. She was in the kitchen with headphones on listening to music, not hearing Pat call for her in the other room. When Pat walked into the kitchen, he gently yanked the headphones off her and told her that she shouldn't worry her like that. Courtney said to her stepdad, "Relax. Besides, if I get into trouble, I can handle myself." She smirked and was about to put her headphones back on when Pat stopped her and said, "Oh, no. No headphones right now, I'm talking to you. And you won't be able to hold your own without your staff, we've went through this." Courtney just rolled her eyes and picked her backpack and headed to her room. Pat told her that they weren't finished with this conversation, but he might as well have been to himself.

As Courtney headed to her room, unbeknownst to her, a strange robotic-looking spider crawled out of her bag. The contraption walked along the floors and headed towards Mr. Dugan's armory.

Pat was sulking in his chair, exhausted, when all of a sudden an alarm blared, notifying him that someone had broken into his armory. He rushed up the stairs to the room and what he saw was his latest suit of armor walking independently. The suit of armor raised his left arm and prepared to shoot Patrick. He rolled out the way and grabbed a remote in his pocket. The remote had a button that would kill the power to his suit, but when he pressed the button, the suit still kept moving. Then Dugan saw something on the suit that was, unfortunately, all too familiar to him: a three-pronged symbol on the chest of the armor. Brainiac had fused itself to his armor. Before Patrick could signal his standard armor to protect him, Brainiac shot at the ceiling, which fell right on top of Dugan.

Courtney heard the commotion, quickly grabbed her staff and flew to her stepfather's armory. Brainiac had anticipated it and was ready with a heat seeking rocket aimed at the door, and of course as soon as she burst through the door, Brainiac launched it at her. She flew out of the house to try to shake the rocket off her trail, and by the time she came back in the house, Brainiac, and Dugan's suit, were long gone.

Courtney ran to her stepdad and lifted the rubble off him using her staff. She helped Pat to his feet and sat him in a nearby chair. "What do we do?" she asked frantically, "That thing has your armor, and I don't wanna think of what he'll do with it…"

Pat was in no shape to suit up and feared his stepdaughter would have no chance against such a force, so he told her to contact the Justice League. She picked up Pat's commlink and on the other line, Mr. Terrific answered the distress call. After telling him the situation, Terrific said, "I'm sorry, but we can't spare any others here. You and your stepdad are the only League members who aren't halfway across the galaxy or on another mission. I'll let you know when there is someone… anyone, who can help."

Pat was not surprised at this development, and then told Courtney to give him the commlink. He went on to call the government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and told them of the situation. He was immediately transferred to Colonel Nick Fury, who told them to stay where they were and they would have someone find the armor.

About 100 miles from Dugan's armory, the world famous inventor and CEO of Stark Industries, Tony Stark, was relaxing in his penthouse, gazing at the city skyline and enjoying one of his 'adult beverages'. Tony's computer assistant JARVIS informed Stark that S.H.I.E.L.D. was contacting him. He reluctantly took the call, and once Fury briefed him on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most recent developments, Tony was less then pleased.

"Why can't anyone else do it? Steve? Clint? T'Challa?"

"No one is closer than you, Tony. The sentient robot Brainiac has been tracked, and it's headed straight towards your location."

"You say this thing feeds off technology… so naturally he wants my stuff. Why does everyone seem to want my stuff?"

"I'd suggest you suit up. His estimated time of arrival is about three minutes."

Fury hung up, and Tony asked JARVIS to give him everything there was to know about Patrick Dugan and his creations.

JARVIS brought several screens up on Tony's hologram and stated, "Patrick Dugan, noted robotic specialist and part-time member of the Justice League. His most notable accomplishments include two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star from his tenure in the Vietnam War, and his superhero identity, also known as his greatest creation, the robotic suit of armor S.T.R.I.P.E. The suit has been modified over the years and the weapons inside include flamethrowers, rocket boots, laser guided missiles, and dual 1.08 caliber machine guns on the chest plate. His stepdaughter is his only known relative, alias Stargirl, the second Star Spangled Kid. She is also a member of the Justice League and not considered a threat."

"And where is Dugan right now?"

"He's currently at his house and according to his police report, he needs medical attention."

"Oh, joy… So I have an Omega-level sentient robot hurtling his way towards New York City, and I have to go toe-to-toe with him… by myself…"

"Your statement seems to be accurate considering the situation, sir."

"Well, it looks like I have my work cut out for me… Time to suit up."

"Shall I retrieve the Hulkbuster armor, sir?"

"I think the Mark IIV will be good enough for this. I'll need flexibility for those weapons he's packing."

As soon as Tony pressed a few buttons, mechanical arms came through the walls with pieces of the armor, and Tony stepped on a particular spot on the floor and he suited up.

Once he was finished preparing for imminent battle. He blasted out of an open window and flew towards the area where he believed Brainiac would land. Sure enough, the sentient being landed in the middle of Times Square. Iron Man landed about a hundred feet in front of him. Brainiac was the first to speak.

"Ah. Mister Anthony Stark, the Iron Man. The probability that you would intercept me was highly likely. However, I am more than able to defeat you. There is no one here that can help you."

Iron Man replied, "I think you forgot the elephant in the room…" Stark pointed up at the helicarrier that was hovering over Brainiac. "Checkmate, you glorified Speak-And-Spell."

Without a second thought, Brainiac raised his arm and shot a beam at the helicarrier. All of a sudden, Iron Man couldn't contact anyone onboard the vessel, and everyone aboard the helicarrier were locked out of their computers and they could not deploy any fighter jets or use any defensive maneuvers. Even though they could see both beings standing below them, there was nothing they could do. "Logic dictates you will lose," Brainiac said. "We'll see about that," Iron Man said back as he fired a repulsor beam at Brainiac. He took the blast head on and didn't even get a single scratch.

"JARVIS, switch off the repulsors, I don't think they are going to work. Reroute power to thrusters and energy shield," Stark said. He took a few steps and then charged at Brainiac, flying at top speed and ready to ram into the sentient robot. Just when he got in range to start pummeling the villain, Brainiac simply swatted at Iron Man with a huge backhand and Iron Man flew into a nearby building and crashed through it.

As Tony was on the ground, JARVIS stated that his power reserves were at 71%. "Okay so, it has some moves… and an impressive pimp slap," Tony replied. "Now, let's get serious…" He pointed at Brainiac as he staggered back up and said, "Is that all you got?"

"If you're asking what the best I can do is, you really are as foolish as you look," Brainiac retorted and he lifted his hand and shot out a rocket out of each of his fingers. Stark's eyes widened and he flew away and tried to shake them off his trail. "JARVIS, what kind of projectiles am I dealing with here?" he yelled and he flew up into the air. JARVIS replied, "They are neither heat-seeking nor GPS tracking missiles. They are programmed to target your specific technology." Stark, trying to find some humor in this situation, said, "Someone has way too much time on their hands…" as he swerved around a few buildings. One of the missiles hit the side of a building, leaving four missiles left for him to take care of.

Iron Man used some quick thinking, and going around some tight corners, and managed to destroy three of the others, though it seems like he still had one left. "Sir, it appears the right middle finger is still locked on to your energy signature." "Story of my life, JARVIS," Iron Man said, "Story of my life…"

"Alright, JARVIS, I'm going to do something stupid. Don't tell me what my power percentage is, that will just make it worse." As soon as he said that, Stark headed to an abandoned underground subway tunnel a few blocks away and flew inside. He thought if he could corner the missile in a tight space, he could outmaneuver it and cause it to explode inside the tunnel. Unfortunately, Brainiac's technology was too intelligent to pull a fast move like that, and when Tony exited the tunnel, he realized the missile was still following him.

Thinking fast, Iron Man told JARVIS to deploy another Iron Man suit, a Mach II, to fly to his position on autopilot and intercept the missile. "Sir, are you sure there isn't another way?" "It's the only thing I have left, and this better work…"

The missile was starting to gain speed, and about to collide with Tony, when the Mach II showed up and flew in the way of the missile. "Huh. Thirty seconds before I calculated it. That suit was faster than I thought it was."

Tony flew back to Brainiac's location, and when he reached the villain, he saw he was pre-occupied with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who must have repelled down from the helicarrier with small arms to combat the mechanical menace. Iron Man shot himself towards Brainiac and speared it into a truck.

"You survived the missiles. That was… unlikely," Brianiac stated as it got back on its feet. "However, it does not matter now. You will be defeated, and you will be shown no mercy."

"Good, because I wasn't planning to either!" Stark said as he lifted his arm and fired a rocket at the gas tank of the truck lying next to Brainiac. The impact caused a huge explosion and even knocked Tony off his feet into a lightpole. Brainiac, however, got back up, however he was injured and had some wires hanging out, and he said to Iron Man, "You're a resourceful man, Mr. Stark. You remind me of Superman. And that is not amusing…"

Before either could make a move, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a rocket launcher shot a projectile at Brainiac, and, utilizing the opportunity, Iron Man punched him in the chest and grabbed the wires and pulled them out of the evil android. Brainiac grabbed Iron Man by the head and centered him towards the dual machine guns on its chest. Before he fired, out of nowhere, Star Girl flew at the android encased in her stepfather's suit, and whacked it with her staff, then used her mystical staff to create a noose around its neck. She then flew into the air and it lifted Brainiac off the ground. Iron Man was just as surprised as Brainiac was, but he saw the perfect opportunity. He flew at Brainiac, with thrusters at full speed, and tackled the android. They both came crashing to the ground, and he put his foot on Brainiac's head. "JARVIS," Tony said, "Turn the repulsors back on. And set to maximum."

Iron Man shot off the head of the machine, then picked up the body and reached into the hole where the head once was, and blasted the insides of the machine until he could see no signs of artificial life inside the suit. He then tossed the suit aside, and Star Girl flew towards him.

"I thought you would need your help. Brainiac is no pushover, it even gives Superman a run for his money," Star Girl said. "You did good, kid. Your old man sure knows how to make a suit of armor…"

Suddenly, Tony started getting static in his headset. "JARVIS, boost the signal."

"..Tony! Are you there?! This is Fury."

"Yea, I'm here. Where were you for all this?"

"I was the one who sent some men to help your sorry ass! I think I deserve a thank you. And… you deserve one as well. The fact that communications are back up means that the threat has been disposed of."

"Fury.. are you thanking me? That's a first…"

"Don't take it lightly, Stark. Right now, I need you to escort your new friend up here. There's someone here that wants to have a 'talk' with you two."

Using his security clearance, Stark and Star Girl entered the helicarrier and reached the hull where Fury was, getting yelled at someone that you could hear from halfway across the ship.

"That machine was in the possession of CADMUS, it belongs with us!"

"I don't have any idea what authority you are, but this is MY organization, and one of MY men took that thing down. There's no clearance you could put in my face that will hand that thing to you."

"Your 'organization' consists of a bunch of overpowered hotdoggers playing cowboy."

Entering the room, Iron Man saw Fury, and then looked over at General Elling from CADMUS. He was staring a hole into Stark, and then saw Star Girl standing behind him. "And YOU!" he said, "The fact they made you a Justice Leaguer proves to me that your father and the rest of his superpowered freaks he calls friends are not in their right mind!"

Iron Man walked over to Elling and stuck his finger into his chest, "It's one thing to yell at Fury, don't worry I do that all the time. But that girl risked her hide to save me, and with that she has my respect. And you…" Iron Man opened his hand up and Elling's eyes widened when he saw that Stark was intending on blasting him through the room if he didn't get out of his face.

Elling stepped aside and was about to leave the room when he said, "You freaks think that you can throw your power around to get your way. Someday, there's going to be something that's going to rebel against you, to protect the people you claim to save and to serve the country you disgrace by living in!"

"I'd love to hear you say that to my friend Steve," Iron Man replied, as Elling stormed out the doorway and down the hall. Stark then took off his helmet and turned to Fury. "Man, that guy makes good ol' Thunderbolt Ross look like a bundle of joy."

"You think you've seen him at his worst? We have to constantly see him dog us on the news back at the Watchtower…" Star Girl said in response.

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents eventually carted away the husk of a suit and put the robot shell into a containment cell. The agents failed to notice that a finger on the robot twitched…

-End-