Iron Man

Chapter 14: The Hammer Must Fall Part 3

"Angry Responses"

"I'm curious as to why your pathologists were looking at a dead persons cells. From that alone I can only presume that they didn't die of natural causes."

Tony Stark looked over his desk at the man sitting across from him. He was a plain, average man in his mid thirties until you looked into his eyes. Tony recognized the look as he saw it looking back at him from his bedroom mirror every morning. It was filled with intelligence, mixed with pain and determination.

"No sir, she did not. In fact, we've now been able to identify twelve bodies spread across the United States over the last three years that all bear the same characteristics."

"Can you tell me the details Detective?"

The detective picked up a large manila envelope and handed it across the desk.

"I figured you'd need more information, so I brought that with me. It's pretty much everything we have on the case to date. We're still waiting for more information on a couple of the earliest deaths."

Tony took the proffered envelope and opened it as he listened to the detective. Inside was a single beige folder that Tony withdrew and opened.

"Mr.Stark? What is it?"

The detective was on his feet when he saw the look of disbelief appear on Tony's face. He watched as Stark physically shook himself and looked up at the waiting detective.

"Have you identified this woman? Do you know who she is?"

Plexico identified the pain and anger mingled in the question and he replied quietly, "The name we have should be on the top of the picture. Why? Do you know her?"

Tony nodded his head once slowly. "Yes. He real name is Whitney Frost."

"If that's the case sir, then who are the others?"

Tony looked steadily back at the detective for long moments as his brain tried to digest the shock it had received. Then he looked back down at the folder and began to leaf through it. The women in each photograph were identical, except for the clothes they were wearing.

After long moment of silence as he went through the folder one more time, Tony took a deep breath and asked, "The cell structure was identical for each of these woman?"



"As far as we know yes. We've only been able to have six of the bodies checked, but I think we can safely say that the others will turn out the same."

"Who is Whitney Frost? What can you tell me about her?"

"She also uses the name 'Madame Masque'. I guess she would be classified as a criminal," Tony answered.

"You know this woman personally?"

Plexico noticed the tightening around Stark's eyes in response to his question, and he didn't really need any more confirmation.

"Yes. We were once very close. Her father is the villain, Count Nefaria. She was trying to cut her ties to him, but it never really worked."

"Does she possess any powers?"

"No. Although she is in superb condition and has genius level intelligence," Tony looked back down at the notes in the folder as he answered.

"From what I'm seeing here, the first murder occurred almost three years ago in El Paso. There doesn't appear to be any pattern to the killings, either with regards to time or location. A group of three in the Southern US but spread over two years, and then another two within two weeks of each other and both in New York. Why did you come to me Detective?" he asked as he suddenly looked up and pierced the man with his eyes.

"I was at a dead end. I needed to do something different, and my partner made a joke about talking to you, simply based on your known association with the Avengers. I certainly didn't think you knew the woman, if that's what you're wondering."

Tony's gaze held the detective for moments longer before he nodded and said, "The Infinity Formula was developed within SHIELD by a group of rogue agents. In fact it turned out that they weren't actually the agents, but a group of LMD's that had replaced them. One of their number had become amazingly self-aware and had been manipulating the process to benefit itself."

Tony paused for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing.

"The problem was, and still is, that the LMD cell structure is very unstable. He had to constantly create new bodies for himself and his followers, so he went to work on something to stabilize the cells. That something is called the Infinity Formula. It's a remarkable piece of work, as it can literally be the Fountain of Youth. You can still be killed, but the suppression on cell aging is amazing."

"What happened to this man and his followers? I'm presuming that they failed somehow."



"Yes they did. He used the mind and bodies of several high level SHIELD agents during the process, but unfortunately for him they retained some of their loyalties. Several sacrificed themselves to stop him."

"So what happened to this formula?" the detective asked puzzled. "Surely they destroyed it."

"That's exactly what I had been led to believe, but this would tell me differently."

"So based on what you've told me Mr.Stark, these murdered woman are all - what did you call them? - LMD's?" He continued as Tony nodded. "So who would want them dead?"

"There's not really much evidence here that gives us a clear answer to that question," he replied, "but I'd have to put SHIELD on the list. Maybe they're still cleaning up from the original mess."

"You don't believe that any more than I do," the detective responded shortly.

"No, I don't. But I don't have another answer right now. May I keep these," he asked indicating the contents of the folder.

"So long as you don't go giving them to the media," the detective responded with a wry grin.

"I won't take anymore of your time Mr.Stark, and I'm grateful for the time you've given me. You look like you need to rest. From everything I've heard you had a long night."

Tony grimaced and then grinned, "It was a different kind of date."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," he continued. "It looks like I've given you more questions than answers."

The detective waved off the words and the two men said their goodbyes.

Tony Stark sat at his desk for a long time afterwards thinking on the meaning of the things he had learned that morning.

"Excellent work gentlemen. This chip will assist in our plans for this city. Did you leave any traces?"

While softened by time spent elsewhere, the voice bore the distinctive accent of Germany. The last question was asked brusquely and the two men it was aimed at knew that anything other than a positive answer would lead to trouble.

"No Master. The building was empty, as we suspected after the damage that was caused by the behemoths rampage. We were very careful."

"Good. The appearance of the behemoth and the resulting destruction he caused was of benefit to us. You are both dismissed."



With a sigh of relief both men turned and walked out of the darkened room.

The lighting in the room was dimmed enough to make the man who remained little more than a silhouette, however that was sufficient to make most look on in awe. He stood approximately six feet tall and was very muscular. He stalked purposefully back to the sole chair in the room and sat.

"Soon," he stated quietly, "the glory of Hydra will rise once more."

"Emilio, I only have about eight hours of work remaining on the proposals that you hired me for. Are you now telling me that you no longer require them?"

Tony managed to keep his voice level, but he was severely annoyed with the caller on the other end.

"I'm sorry Tony, but we find that we no longer require the work you were doing."

Tony heard the sense of distaste in the caller's voice for the information he was imparting, but he also heard the resignation. Fighting with him wasn't going to do any good.

"Did the Board pull the plug on this Emilio?"

"Yes. They feel that we are no longer in a position to follow that particular course of business is the li.." he stopped himself and then continued, "ah hmm, is what I was told."

"They do realize that they'll have to pay for the time I've already invested in this project?"

"Tony, they believe that they only had to pay for the results."

"What?" Tony exploded. "They cannot seriously expect me to shelve two months of work and pick up the tab for it?"

"Tony, I'm the middle man in this. I'm only repeating what they have told me."

Taking a deep breath, Tony Stark replied, "You'd better let your Board know that they can expect a call from my lawyer if the bill is not paid by the end of the month."

With that, Tony cut the connection and stood up.

That was the second piece of bad news had had been given today. The first had involved another company that had decided against hiring his services. He had thought that it had been a done deal, but they had changed their minds at the last minute. Now this.

"I wonder if Justin has people on the boards of those companies," he pondered out loud.

"Jocasta?"

"Yes Tony," came the prompt reply that seemed to emanate from the walls of the room.



"Can you see what you can find out about the board members of TNG of Seattle and A&E Construction? I want to know how many of them have ties to Justin Hammer. Or if he's involved in any way with them."

"Certainly Tony. Where will you be?"

"I'm heading down to the Level 2 lab. I need to do something to take my mind off this mornings business. Maybe I'm seeing shadows where there aren't any, but this reeks of Justin's handiwork," he added.

Tony headed for the door and walked down the hallway to the stairs. Taking the longer route, he paused in front of the door to the room that was occupied by Pepper Potts.

He knew that Sampson had requested he avoid Pepper, but that made him feel helpless. He paused as he passed the room and was surprised to hear laughter and music coming through the doorway. He smiled and turned to reach for the door handle.

"Boss?"

Pulling his hand back, Tony felt like a kid who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Yes Happy," he responded.

"I thought Doc Sampson asked you to stay away from Pepper until he gave you the go ahead. Has he talked to you?"

Tony noted the hope present in his old friends voice and that made him feel guiltier.

"No Happy, he hasn't. I just feel so darn helpless."

Happy Hogan smiled at his friend and answered, "That's OK boss. Pep is really doing much better, but she still wakes up terrified at night. I'm sure it won't be long before you'll be able to see her again."

Tony smiled up at his friend. "I guess you're right. Keep me up to date on her would you?"

"Sure thing boss," he replied as he moved past Tony and opened the door.

Tony turned and continued his walk to the lab.

Tony lifted the mask back from his face as he turned off the welding torch.

"That's the final part of the tank complete," he thought. "Now I just need to add the shell and the fluids and we'll see if this works."

Working with care, Tony took a humanoid metal shell and placed it into the tank. After attaching cables to various parts of the shell, he stepped back and began to work on the 

computer terminal attached to the tank. Half an hour later Tony sat back and looked at the process occurring before his eyes.

"Every trial and simulation I attempted worked fine, so this should too. Hopefully the scale won't affect the process," he muttered aloud.

In the tank bright green fluid now swirled around the shell and what looked like bubbles kept the tank cloudy enough that it wasn't possible to see exactly what was occurring. Turning away, as the process was going to take many more hours to complete, Tony walked over to another bench and began examining the pieces of armor laying there.

"Tony?"

Looking up from his study, Tony replied, "Yes Jocasta?"

"Justin Hammer has no obvious connections to either of the companies you asked about. He has had dealings with executives from both in the past, but nothing that would indicate that they are working for him."

"He's made no financial moves towards either of them?"

"None that I could trace. Both companies have done work for his holdings previously, but there are no current contracts."

"Maybe I was just being paranoid," he replied but the look on his face said he didn't really think so.

"If I may offer a suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"Have you seen the news reports about last nights events?"

"No. I try to avoid the non-business news whenever I can," Tony answered and with a smile continued, "It tends to depress me too much."

"Several of the people from last nights event have been interviewed. Two remembered you mentioning the name of 'Justin' during the altercation. Some of the news media have asked whether that was a reference to Justin Hammer. Could that have caused the problems today?"

"It's certainly possible. If people think there's a war going on between him and I, they may be reluctant to get in the middle of it. It seems that he may have gotten the first blow in after all," he responded with frustration evident in his voice.

"It's time I took the armor out and went to see what I can see. It's time to hit back."

"Be careful Tony. Justin Hammer can be dangerous."

"So can I Jocasta. But this is going to be a simple information gathering exercise."



"Simple information gathering exercise, my foot!" Tony Stark fumed mentally as he reviewed the events leading up to him trying to outrun a rocket that was rapidly gaining on him.

I should have realized that it was too simple to slip into Hammer's headquarters. I know how good this armor is, but I should have seen the lack of security guards.

"Too busy patting yourself on the back weren't you Stark," Tony raged silently, as he took to the air. He ignored the fact that he had been too intent on hurting Justin Hammer.

Tony had used the capabilities of the recently upgraded stealth armor to make his way into the sub-basement. While he still hadn't figured out how the Ghost managed to create a invisibility field in his armor, Tony had modified his chameleon effect and incorporated it into this latest suit. He activated that function from the armor's HUD and he blended into the smoke that now filled the room.
Head's Up Display

He had taken time to break into the computer center, and was pretty sure that he hadn't set off any alarms there. So how had this group of would-be mercenaries taken him by surprise? Could Hammer have kept the group around simply on the chance he would break in here? That made no sense either, as Justin Hammer wasn't one to pay out money on the off chance that something would happen. Justin usually worked on making things happen.

Tony engaged the suits radar and sonar scanners and rapidly pinpointed three other people in the room with him. Unfortunately that left two other members of the Death Squad unaccounted for. Tony struggled to match the scan data he was receiving with his memories of the mercenaries. "This would be so much easier if I had my regular armor on," he thought.

"If memory serves correctly that must be Firefight, Smokescreen and Airborne, but I could be wrong," he concluded.

As one of the targets disappeared, Tony cursed as he confirmed that one of the targets was indeed Smokescreen. A moment later he began weaving back and forth in a frantic attempt to avoid the hail of incoming gunfire. While the armor should be strong enough to take gunfire, he wasn't about to take the chance, especially as it seemed as though they had been prepared for him.

Tony noted the placement of the two mercenaries firing at him and wondered why they were leaving the doorway uncovered. Obviously a trap, he thought, but that's the only way out of here. Considering his option briefly, Iron Man banked steeply to his right and them accelerated downwards. Dipping his shoulder he crashed into the back of the mercenary leader, Firefight. The villain hadn't had any warning so took the full brunt of the impact and crashed heavily to the floor.

Iron Man's audio scanners picked up the slight sound of imploding air and his suits automatic defense systems rolled him out of the way of the small incoming object. Looking in the direction that the object had come from, Tony unleashed a low power blast from the repulsors 

built into his gauntlets. The second mercenary went down hard and Iron Man turned again to face the doorway.

There was another member of the group in the room, but his sensors were not picking him up. Iron Man floated into the air and slowly approached the door while keeping the majority of his systems scanning for the missing mercenary.

Suddenly a body stepped in front of the doorway from the other side and Iron Man reacted swiftly to the sight of the gun-wielding figure with another repulsor blast. At the same moment he felt something impact against the back of the suit. That was the last thing he felt for long moments as the device discharged electricity against the suit.

As the device stopped finished it's discharge Iron Man looked up from the floor where he now knelt expecting to see the members of the Death Squad around him. To his surprise, and relief, he was still on his own.

"Good thing too," he thought, "the armor survived but only barely. Half the systems are offline. No more time to do this slowly."

With that thought he engaged his boot jets and rocketed through the doorway and down the hall. As he careened towards the exit, Tony examined the damage done to the armor. The chameleon effect was down, as were the repulsors. About half of the anti-detection equipment was burnt out, along with most of the scanners. Boot jets were still online and fortunately so was the power unit. The only functioning weapon remaining was the omni-beam.

The lack of the other members of the Death Squad was worrying Tony, but he forged ahead and finally burst out of the building and into the night sky. A hail of gunfire, much of which struck home, met his exit. Iron Man activated the omni-beam and swept it downwards. The gunfire reduced and he poured as much power as possible into his bootjets.

"How are four members of the Death Squad out here if I took out three of them inside?" he wondered tiredly.

Iron Mans remaining scanners detected that he was being pursued and he glanced behind. One of the mercenaries, Airborne, was in hot pursuit, but was not gaining ground. The other presence was gaining rapidly and was cause for much more concern. It was a rocket.

Iron Man forced his damaged armor through the sky with as much speed as it could muster. However, it became quickly obvious that he wasn't going to outrun the rocket.

Iron Man veered downwards and began to weave through the trees and telegraph poles dotting the streets. He cursed as he realized that the rocket had gained on him, as it had not taken the obstacle course that he had. Instead the rocket had maintained just enough height to avoid the obstacles and be able to maintain a straighter course.

"There must be someone guiding it," he thought. "There's no other way it could be doing this."



Glancing back over his shoulder, Iron Man saw the shape of the other pursuer further off in the distance. Perhaps I can rig something to jam the signal, he wondered as he sent his battered armor back up into the open sky.

Tony Stark called up the schematics for the suit to discover that he had precious few resources available. Directing the majority of the suits power once again into the boot jets, he reached over to his forearm and opened the casing. Working feverishly as the suit's poorly functioning radar was reporting that the rocket was constantly gaining on him, Tony patched wires and re-routed damaged circuits.

With the rocket less than fifty feet away Iron Man pivoted and activated the makeshift-jamming device. At first nothing happened but as Tony Stark held his breath the rocket began to nose downwards away from its target.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the rocket began to fall away. However, it was short-lived as suddenly it once more changed direction and accelerated upwards directly at him.

In desperation Iron Man cut the power to his boot jets and gravity immediately took effect. The surprise move caused Iron Man to plummet past the rising rocket without it being able to adjust its own course.

Iron Man fell past the rocket, awaiting a moment to re-ignite his boots, when it suddenly exploded. Being caught by surprise, Iron Man had no time to take action and was engulfed by the heat and force.

Tony Stark waded back to reality through the inky blackness that surrounded him. As he tried to focus he felt his vision blur and his stomach lurched. His body felt like a raw mass of pain and the pounding in his head was enough to deafen any outside source.

As the pounding and double vision subsided enough to be able to think, Tony Stark looked out of the eye slits of the Iron Man and up at the impeccably dressed form of Justin Hammer. Behind him stood the five mercenaries that made up the Death Squad.

"Ah Anthony, so glad you finally made it back to the land of the living. We were becoming a little concerned for your well-being," Hammer said with a sick little smile.

The fact that Justin Hammer knew he was inside of the Iron Man armor chilled Tony Stark to the core and he wondered what else could go wrong today.