Volume 2
#0 – "THIS IS A TEST"
Written by Tony Thornley
Pacifica, California
Six months later
A heavy bass beat thundered in the air as the spotlights swirled around them. He was sure that if he had neighbors anywhere within three miles, they would have called the police hours ago. Luckily, he owned all of that land. And ocean. And airspace too. It was good to be rich.
The party was THE place to be. If anyone worth eight figures or more in the state of California was missing, it was because they were dead. Deadmaus had just completed his set, and Avicii was up next. In the meantime, the party's host stepped up to the turntable to DJ in the interim.
Even though everyone was trying to keep their cool and remain fashionably detached, all eyes were on him. The world's foremost technologist. The man who held Earth's future in his hands. The greatest of the greatest engineers of the day.
Tony Stark.
He was dancing as he played his set, controlling the music through a holo display flashing above the turntables. At this point, he was nearly as good as the actual artists, able to remix, mash-up, and even improvise new EDM on the fly. A dozen different girls flanked him, each wanting a piece of him, none able to get it.
At least not at the moment.
"Okay, Jocasta, let's keep this up," he muttered, only loud enough for his personal AI assistant to hear. "I have a party to get back to, and that blonde at eight o'clock actually looks interesting."
"I wish you took the time to take a break," Jocasta said. "Pushing yourself like this wears on the human body."
"Good thing I'm what most people would consider post-human," he said. "Ready for interface in six…"
"Five, four..." Jocasta took over the count down and Tony closed his eyes.
Suddenly he was no longer at the party, but over San Francisco Bay. He adjusted his altitude slightly, avoiding a small flock of birds. His repulsors were continually moving, keeping him aloft. It was working perfectly.
And perfect timing.
A helicopter buzzed by, ignoring him. The aircraft was packed full of stealth tech, more advanced than any he recognized. Not including his tech, naturally.
"That wasn't a coincidence, was it?" he asked.
He could hear the smile in Jocasta's voice when she responded. "I spotted them on the satellite a few minutes ago. About the time you started playing Taylor Swift remixes on the turntable."
"I told Taylor that I'd include her the next time I attempted a set," he said.
"You're not a twenty year-old DJ, Tony," she said. "You're a world-class CEO, pushing fifty."
"You ever accuse me of that again, you're fired."
"I'm an android, Tony. I don't draw a paycheck."
"This is true," he said. "Engaging the chopper." He shifted his weight, and locked his sensors onto the helicopter. He fired his boot repulsors and followed them closely.
Passive scans indicated six occupants, a clean fuel cell, and multiple sources of exotic energy. There were also multiple other biologics… Not a good sign. Just before he raised his gloves, the side of the aircraft opened, and a small platform extended. A man lay in his belly, holding an obvious gun, but the gun didn't concern him. The man's clothing did. He was an armored yellow body suit with a cylindrical headpiece.
"AIM; son of a bitch," he grumbled. The beekeeper fired his weapon, and a beam of energy that sent his EM sensors into overdrive raced towards him. He rolled, avoiding the beam. He extended his hands and blasted the gun. It flew out of the beekeeper's hands, and Tony blasted it again. It exploded, creating a bubble of blue energy for a moment before it blinked out of existence.
He poured more power into the boot repulsors and sped up quickly. He caught up to the helicopter just before the platform closed. He grabbed it and pulled it back open. A quick laser blast welded it open. He stood on the platform and grabbed the bottom edge of the opening. He pulled and tore the side of the helicopter open like a sardine can.
Several beekeepers sat inside, weapons raised at him.
"Hey guys; nice to see you," he said.
"Fire the weapon and get us out!" one of them screamed at the pilot.
He heard a missile launch. He scowled under his helmet and bailed out off the platform. The missile was headed right for Oakland. He rocketed after it. He watched as the helicopter was enveloped in energy, then vanished.
"Dammit," he grumbled. He poured all of his power into the boot repulsors and came up even with the missile. He scanned it quickly. Nothing nuclear, but a strange biologic was inside. Knowing AIM, this wasn't an attack, but an experiment. He found the biologic and its container at the missile's midpoint, and quickly carved it out with his wrist laser. He grabbed it and fired his retro-repulsors, allowing the weapon to rocket ahead of him. He threw his right arm up and blasted the missile. It exploded it a small, but not insubstantial fireball.
"Jocasta, I'm ready for interface," he said. "Bring Iron Man home please."
"Acknowledged," she said. "In three, two…"
Tony opened his eyes and removed his headset. He stood up in the green room of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Pepper Potts and Bill Foster stood nearby.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"The telepresence armor worked beautifully," Tony said. "It looks like the social avatar is, too."
"And you were 'really there'?" Bill asked.
"I was really there in both cases," he said. "Are we ready?"
"The repulsor scalpel demo is prepped and ready," Pepper said. "I've uploaded your speech to the Stark Pad."
"What about your speech?" he asked. "You're the CEO of Stark Solutions after-"
"Tony, we have a problem," Jocasta suddenly said from the Stark Pad. He held up the pad and cursed. He handed it to Pepper. The solid light hologram at his house in Pacifica was doing jello shots off the cleavage of several of the young women that had gathered around him during the DJ session.
"Son of a bitch," Pepper said. "Tony…"
"I know," he said. He rubbed his eyes, mentally prepping his statement to the press. "Jocasta, kill the social avatar."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "There's a lot of people-"
"I think that's the point Jocasta," Bill said. "Kill it and have Happy break up the party."
"And send Avicii a fruit basket," he added. "I think he likes mangos. Or he's allergic to them. Whatever. Just make sure we don't kill him."
On the screen, the holographic Tony was holding up two empty shot glasses in triumph, and then suddenly dematerialized. Everyone started looking around in confusion.
"Dammit," he said. "Let's hope we at least have time to make the presentation before that gets out."
"No kidding," Bill said. "Guess it's back to the drawing board on that one…"
"Guess so," he nodded. "Well, let's get out there and change the world." He pulled his sunglasses out of his suit's breast pocket, slid them onto the bridge of his nose, and strode out of the green room.
"You're telling me that you failed," she said. "And not in an acceptable scientific way, but your experiment was even run. You didn't have a backup in case of superhuman interference which you knew was a very real possibility. There have been superheroes constantly in the Bay area for most of the past decade. That is part of science, anticipating variables such as that. At this, you failed."
"I am sorry, Madame Scientist Supreme."
"Sorry is not good enough. You are too good of a scientist to dispatch. But you will not lead a project again." She smiled. "I understand Carmichael is in need of someone to handle his bacterial samples."
Tony sat in his lab, tapping a stylus on his StarkPad as he watched the HUD above his workstation scroll through the previous day's top stories.
: Is the Stark Repulsor Scalpel the Medical Advance of the Future?
San Francisco Chronicle: Iron Man Sighted in Bay Area- Super-Terrorist Threat Imminent?
: Tony Stark cancels private concert/party mid-stream amid allegations of relapse: SEE OUR EXCLUSIVE PICS
"Well," Tony grinned, "last night was as successful as I'd thought." He spun and looked at the small orb he'd stolen from the AIM missile.
"Jocasta," he called, "let's get to work on this biologic…"
To be continued in Iron Man Volume 2! Be sure to check out our ENTIRE shared universe site at marvel2k DOT weebly DOT com!