In case you missed it; I have added ZeroBen's Thor. Its first arc takes place between this "Public Enemy Number One" and the next Iron Man arc which is "Social Collapse"
ZeroBen's Iron Man
Chapter 14- "Public Enemy Number One" Part III (Arc Finale)
It was a great time to be a scientist.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Scientist Henry 'Hank' Pym, considered himself lucky. Courtesy of Iron Man and everything else that had been happening recently around the world, science and technology had made serious and significant leaps and bounds. What was once merely material for science-fiction theatre and novels, was now undeniable reality. There was just so much to work from and with, so many ideas spinning in his mind.
In his own personal laboratory, Hank was busy at work. He wanted to be the one that put S.H.I.E.L.D. over the top. But, how would he do that? What leap in the field of science would need to happen in order to ensure success?
For right now, he could only wonder and prepare for an as of yet unknown idea.
:::Triskelion:::
"That better not happen again, Danvers."
SHIELD Director Nick Fury was pissed off. The little incident from before with Iron Man paying the Triskelion a surprise visit had rubbed him the wrong way and left an irritating rash. And now, Head of SHIELD Security, Carol Danvers, was receiving an earful.
"Sir, with all due respect," she defended herself, "It's Iron Man. He's been a step ahead of us ever since he showed up. We've been playing catch-up and failing miserably at every aspect. We need a new approach."
It wasn't enough to label Iron Man as Public Enemy Number One. If the game was hardball, then Fury needed to really swing for the fences. An idea already firmly planted in his mind, he looked to Carol Danvers, never a more serious look upon his face, "Maybe it's time... We really go public."
:::Meanwhile:::
Regardless of being labeled Public Enemy Number One, Iron Man needed to stay out there in the world, needed to remain active at all times. There was no way he could let that EMP slip-up tear him down. So, with that in mind, Tony once again suited up and took to the skies as Iron Man, searching for anyone or anything that needed help. Funny how he thought of the word... anything.
It was when he was closing in on the skies above California that he received a message from Vision...
"Sir, there is a disturbance."
"Finally," Stark replied, oddly relieved, "Some action. Lay it on me, Vision."
"Something big has just appeared on the grid and it's rather massive."
Tony's first thought was the re-emergence of Fin Fang Foom. Damn it, the action he had in mind wasn't quite that massive. He wanted a challenge, not a damn death wish, "Fin Fang... Holy shit!"
Iron Man stopped in mid-air once he came upon the disturbance. What the hell was that thing? It looked like a giant robot. Something straight out of a science fiction movie from the fifties. It was massive, towering just as high as the buildings it was walking past and crumbling effortlessly.
Tony was instantly clueless on what to do. He couldn't battle this thing in a city landscape. Once it toppled over, it would take a quarter of the city right along with it. Not to mention all the innocents that could be injured in the process.
Indeed, this thing was massive and it had a humanoid-like appearance but was covered in this silver metallic skin. The damn thing truly was a giant robot. Where the hell had it come from? It couldn't have just popped up out of nowhere!
News choppers and Air Force were coming in hot. Great, a perfect mix. SHIELD was probably on its way, too. There was no avoiding the fact that this situation was fast turning into a disaster.
"THE ULTIMATE WEAPON WANTS IRON MAN," its mechanical voice boomed.
"Ultimate Weapon, huh?" Iron Man boldly approached, flying straight for it, caution thrown to the wind, "Well, at least we're on a first name basis."
"IRON MAN IS OBSOLETE," it said as millions below scattered in a frenzy, "IRON MAN MUST BE ELIMINATED."
"Not gonna happen," Iron Man was hovering in front of its face, surprised that it hadn't already attacked him. It seemed... sophisticated in some strange way.
The Ultimate Weapon's otherwise white eyes began glowing red, "ELIMINATION OF IRON MAN HAS BEGUN."
"Uh-oh," Iron Man quickly reacted, zipping up and out of the way as two large beams of red energy bursted from the robot's eyes, "NO!"
They took out a news chopper, sending it into a tailspin, spiraling down. Reacting even quicker than before, Iron Man was now the one spiraling as he managed to slip underneath the falling chopper and just barely carry it to safety while saving the crew's lives that were inside.
They were all scared speechless, which gave Iron Man an opening to speak, "It isn't worth it! Get out of here and tell everyone else that they need to evacuate the city."
"LOOK OUT!" one of the crew screamed in terror.
Iron Man turned his head just in time to narrowly miss a fist from the robot crashing through the pavement, to the sewers below. This caused Iron Man and the helicopter, with the people in it, to fall.
"Damn it," Tony growled underneath the armor, "I can't take care of this thing if I have to keep looking out for everyone else. And wow, that sounded incredibly douchey."
He moved over to the helicopter, which by some miracle hadn't exploded into bits by now. The crew members were injured, but it wasn't anything they wouldn't survive.
"IRON MAN IS THE ONLY TARGET," The Ultimate Weapon said.
Tony sighed underneath the armor as he started flying through the sewers, trying to get behind this thing and search for a weak point, "I'm always getting singled out."
Once behind the colossal machine, Iron Man blasted through a manhole cover and shot into the sky, only to discover that it was now staring right at him, the eyes powering up for another round. It was ready, there was no time to prepare. No time to defend himself. He had only enough seconds to initiate a command he didn't plan on using so soon but was now thankful he implemented...
Knowing he was in for a world of hurt, he started the command, "Initiate Sentient... AHHH!"
Iron Man was blasted, taking the full-force of what this Ultimo had to offer. The superhero was sent crashing to the streets below, impacting the pavement harder than he ever imagined he could without dying. Smoke rose from the armor. Well, what was left of it. The entire midsection was gone, and the chest-core was busted, which meant the pain was so intense that it nearly crippled Tony. Most of the armor's legs were gone, the same for the arms. Thankfully, the helmet remained intact, but barely. Its only purpose at the moment was concealing Iron Man's true identity. Most of the spandex suit he wore under the armor remained intact. But, the term war-torn came to mind.
Pick yourself up. The pain is only in your mind, your body's healing.
Tony painfully sat up, seeing this towering machine prepare to literally stomp him out of the equation. Its huge foot raised up in the air, prepared to drop. Tony only had a moment to spare and he used it wisely. After a quick deep breath, he rolled out of the way, just barely missing the attack.
"YOU ARE DEFEATED," Ultimo declared, watching the now helpless Iron Man try in vain to scurry away, "SURRENDER IS THE ONLY LOGICAL OPTION REMAINING."
"Screw you," Tony muttered through the pain, shaking off bits of broken armor, now very glad that he had invested in designing a skin-tight suit to wear underneath.
"SCREW ME? THAT TERM DOES NOT REGISTER."
Tony ducked into an alleyway, barely able to stand. He sat on the opposite side of a dumbster, just trying to catch his breath and kill some time. The next thing he knew, the building his back was currently against was beginning to crumble and collapse...
:::Stark Tower:::
"Do not adjust your TV sets, people. You are watching live coverage of an unreal battle taking place in San Francisco at this very moment. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but there is a gigantic robot fighting Iron Man in a heavy populated city area. There are civilians injured, there are emergency crews trying to evacuate them, buildings have come down, streets have been destroyed. As has possibly Iron Man as well. We are awaiting confirmation, but it would appear as though Iron Man has been heavily injured in some capacity. He took the brunt of an energy blast from this enormous machine, and has not been seen since. I repeat, Iron Man has..."
She was shaking like a leaf in the wind. It felt like everything was starting to crumble down around her, piling up at her feet. It was overwhelming, far too much to handle at once. Iron Man... Her boss... Tony Stark... was literally being dismantled on live television. Damn those people, had they no heart? No common decency? Just standing there and watching a superhero fall apart, rather than at least making some attempt to help out.
Then again, how does one help out against a towering robotic machine hellbent on destruction? Perhaps the answer is... You don't.
:::California:::
He could barely breathe.
The pain was torture without his chest core and he could barely breathe with the mask on and no power. He couldn't take it off, though. If he did, the world would discover Iron Man's true identity and Tony Stark would be ruined, as would the careers and lives of countless others under his employment. Least of which being one Pepper Potts.
Iron Man had ducked into a building, all communications with Vision cut off. The place was empty and threatening to collapse with each and every new step that this Terminator freak took down the streets. Laying on the floor, trying not to think too hard about his life coming to a drastic and definitive end, he wondered and hoped if his distress signal to Vision got out in time. Because, if it didn't, he was certifiably screwed beyond belief.
The ground shook, as did the building. Then came the loudest thundering noises Tony had ever heard in his life as this Ultimo took the building down piece by little piece. Oh god, this was it! He was done for. So much for the great Iron Man defending the world. Jesus, hadn't even made it through his rookie year.
Summoning what strength he still had, Iron Man picked himself up and and hurried to the closest exit he could find, staggering the entire way. He made it out just in the nick of time. Right behind him, the rest of the building came down. He had escaped, yet was now stuck in the middle of nowhere. Right out in the open.
Behind gritted teeth, Iron Man braced himself.
Suddenly, like a blinking beacon of hope, in came a SHIELD squadron of jets, a helicopter tailing closely behind. They started firing everything they had, though it seemed to do make nothing more than dings and tiny dents.
"INTERFERENCE CANNOT BE TOLERATED."
Then two planes were struck down, and two others were shot down. This left only two more. However, the distraction gave Tony enough time to scurry away to a manhole cover and duck under ground. He dropped right into the dirty sewer water, never happier to smell the scent of waste. He was in a bad way, hoping and praying that his signal had gotten out to Vision.
Two more crashes and firey explosions. Common sense told Tony that they were caused by the other two SHIELD planes being dropped.
"C'mon Vision," Tony muttered painfully to himself, clutching his abdomen while laying in the sewer water.
:::Meanwhile:::
"Damn it!"
SHIELD Director Nick Fury was in that helicopter, watching from a safe distance as a bunch of his boys went down in blazes. What the hell were they gonna do? What ever this god damn thing was, it was destroying an entire city just to get to Iron Man. And, Iron Man was somewhere down there, malfunctioning and staring death straight in the face.
"If you just let me do it," SHIELD agent Clint Barton said, standing next to Fury.
"There's no weak points," Fury said.
"Everything has a weak point," Clint pointed out, "Just let me down there, I'll parkour the rooftops and find a weak spot. What have you got to lose?"
"A damn good agent."
"Gimme the shot, Sir," Clint wanted an opportunity, "There's nothing else we can do. But, if we don't at least try something, you can say goodbye to Iron Man and California."
It went against his better judgement, but Fury gave Clint the go ahead as the giant machine reached a massive fist into the sewers below the streets, "Do not make me regret this, Hawkeye."
"No worries there, Sir."
Clint put on a specially designed mask that included high-tech goggles, and then grabbed some very unqiue arrows, along with a state of the art bow. It was his time to shine.
:::Down below:::
"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna frickin' die."
Tony was literally rolling out of the way, running on fumes, narrowly - and I do mean narrowly - missing the grasp of the robot. Eventually, though, he just couldn't keep it up, and ended up trapped within the robot's fist.
From there, Iron Man was helpless as Ultimo brought him into the sky, holding him like a trophy. This truly was the end. Iron Man couldn't fight back. By this point, even if his signal had gotten out, there still wasn't enough time left. He was at the end of the line.
"HEY, ASSHOLE!" a voice shouted from the rooftops.
Then came an explosion to the back of Ultimo's head. It did nothing but anger the machine, though. It turned its head, finding a mere human standing on the ledge of an unstable rooftop, holding a bow and arrows.
"INTERFERENCE CANNOT BE TOLERATED."
"Yeah," Clint talked smack to something that looked like it could blow up the entire world if it saw fit, "You already said that. How about something new?"
Clint saw the next move coming a mile away. And there was nothing he could do but dive out of the way as this machine threw Iron Man in a spiral right at him. Iron Man impacted the building at a lethal rate and Clint had to be fast on his feet if he wanted to survive.
Ultimo prepared for another optic blast.
"Damn it!" with the use of his goggles, the only weak point he could detect was just below the base of the head, which meant evasive maneuvers were in order because there was no way he was getting back there now. Clint ran to the back of the building and jumped off, landing with a roll on a lower one. From there, he just kept on running.
Courtesy of the blast, another building came down. This one, seemingly, right on top of Iron Man.
Underneath massive piles of carnage and rubble, Iron Man laid in a broken heap, unable to move, barely able to breathe. The building wasn't huge, but it was big enough. And, by this point, the pain was by far the most excruciating and horrendous that he had ever felt in his life. He could feel his body sewing and stitching itself together, setting the bones back in place, replenishing the blood that had been lost.
"Can't... Give... Up," he refused to stay down, climbing slowly out of the wreckage, staring death in its eyes as the enemy towered above him, "I'm not dead yet. It's gonna take a hell of a lot more to kill me!"
"UNDERSTOOD."
Ultimo lifted a mighty foot, prepared to stomp down on Iron Man, crushing him into oblivion, leaving nothing left to heal. And, damn it, the hero couldn't even move a single step fast enough to get out of the way.
Out of nowhere, multiple blasts impacted Ultimo. Enough of a hesitation on the robot's part, and Tony was somehow able to move out of harm's way, Ultimo's foot going right through the ground.
The signal got through!
Soaring through the sky was the Stealth Armor, and Ultimo couldn't track it, swatting at it like it was an insect.
Tony laughed underneath the iron mask, relief giving him the ability to ignore the building plain flooding his system. He stumbled over to a barely standing empty building, the second armor following him.
Moments later, a rejuvenated Iron Man emerged from the building...
"Alright, Vision!" Tony cheered under the stealth armor, "Scan for soft spots, buddy," he buzzed around Ultimo.
"THIS DOES NOT REGISTER. AN ERROR HAS OCCURED."
"The base of the head shows a small area where damage can be inflicted. If enough is done, it may malfunction."
"Good to know!" Iron Man acted quickly, blasting the area, but nothing happened and he was barely able to dodge a swinging strike, "Shit, I need more power. Okay, think, think!"
Ultimo swatted at Iron Man, missing but destroying yet another building. At this rate, there would literally be nothing left of the city once this fight was finally over. Hopefully, everyone escaped unharmed.
"Vision," Iron Man instructed the AI unit, "Divert all power to the chest-core. I mean... All of it."
"Sir, I would advise against that. If it proves unsuccessful, you will be vulnerable to another attack."
"There's no discussion, I'm doing it!"
Iron Man circled around Ultimo, his ego inflating as he realized just how clueless this robot was to his whereabouts. This Stealth Armor really was a work of pure genius. A moment later, Iron Man could feel the power building in his chest, yet at the very same time draining him of his own natural bio-energy. The pain was coming back, his breaths were heavy and deep. He was risking a lot. But, there was no other option at this point.
"All or nothing!" Tony exclaimed through gritted teeth, blasting away with everything he had at the Ultimate Weapon's ultimate weak spot. Not a second after, Iron Man dropped down to the earth with a sickening noise, landing in a pile of ruin.
"POWER IS... FADI..."
The Ultimate Weapon tilted forward as an explosion blew out the back. Then it fell forward, nearly causing an earthquake when it landed, if not actually causing one.
It was done. The battle was over.
His healing ability doing its job, Iron Man was slowly able to pick himself up and started making his way over to the fallen enemy. However, before he could get there, the SHIELD helicopter was landing and Director Fury was already laying claim.
"This belongs to SHIELD," Fury called off Iron Man, Clint standing perched in the distance with an arrow at the ready, "I already have clearance from the President."
"This doesn't belong to you," Iron Man was still healing, "This thing needs to be taken apart piece by piece and destroyed."
"It could be useful."
"Useful?" Tony was pissed, "Are you out of your mind? There's no good use for this thing, it's a living weapon!"
"Who knows," Fury said, "We may need to use it against you someday."
"It was a fluke that it had a weak spot," Iron Man explained angrily, "You're risking the safety of the entire world by having SHIELD work with it."
"It's a new age, Iron Man."
"Whatever," Iron Man was disgusted, leaving the scene by taking flight.
:::Hammer Labs:::
MODOK sat alone in a darkened room, feeling miserable. Damn it, if only Hammer Technology was better. If only it was more reliable. This failure wasn't MODOK's fault. It wasn't his failure. It was Justin Hammer's failure. If MODOK was going to achieve any significant measure of success, it was going to be because of his own personal technology.
Yes.
He would work from the ground up. He would create his own organization. His own technology. His own group of dedicated workers and yes men. It was MODOK who would reign supreme over all. It would be his intelligence alone that would not only defeat Iron Man. But, also, rule the world.
Oh yes.
The Intelligencia was coming.
:::Stark Tower:::
Drinking one after another, Tony laid in a reclining chair in his lab, watching the news broadcasts detailing the events of Iron Man versus The Giant Robot. And seriously, could they not be at least a little more creative?
"Over a quarter of San Francisco has been laid to waste. Nothing more than rubble and wreckage. What you are seeing now on your TV screens is live footage of the clean-up. The government organization known as SHIELD is helping with the clean-up and making sure that everyone is safe. However, tragically, eleven deaths have been counted thus far. That is..."
"Turn it off," Tony ordered Vision and the AI complied.
What a day, huh? Yeah, Iron Man saved the world. Too bad it came at the cost of the beloved San Francisco and at least eleven innocent people. He was not even close to prepared for that thing. Where the hell did it come from, anyway? The technology was advanced. Far more advanced than anything Stark had seen outside of his own creations and designs. If only SHIELD didn't take the damn thing, so he could have a look at it.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself," the voice of Pepper as she entered the lab.
Tony just shook his head.
"What," Pepper took a seat next to him, "Every time this happens, you're just going to drown your sorrows and beat yourself up until the next thing comes along?"
"I'm supposed to be saving lives."
"You did."
"Tell that to the eleven families that are broken!" Tony shouted, throwing his glass against a wall across the room, "Fin Fang Foom was a disaster. Volstok was even worse. And half of San Francisco is gone. I'm not doing my job, I'm not getting it done. People are dying left and right."
"If you didn't stop them all, it would have been so much worse," Pepper explained, trying to soften the emotional pain he was going through, "It's horrible, it sucks, but it could have all been ten times worse."
Tony just sighed again, laying back in the seat.
:::The Triskelion:::
Henry Pym stared in amazement at what was in front of him. While the body had ended up to be too damaged, SHIELD were able to salvage the head of what was now known as Ultimo. And, as Pym dissected the head, he found an extremely advanced intelligence system. Luckily, it hadn't been fried or damaged badly. With a smile, he realized that he may be able to salvage it. He may be able to work from it. He wasn't sure exactly what would come of this, but there was one idea that he had in mind...
"Will you be able to use it?" his fiancee and lab partner, Janet Van Dyne, asked as she stood next to him.
"You remember that idea about the expendable soldiers?" Hank replied with a smirk.
:::San Francisco:::
"You are watching this live, folks. Seconds ago; a man stepped forward by the name of Nick Fury, called himself the Director of SHIELD and then said that he has a major announcement. Let's listen in."
Indeed, there was Director Nick Fury with Carol Danvers at his side, "I just wanted to lay down a few things here and now. I want the American people as well as everyone else to know the truth. First and foremost, the threat we were faced with today has been disposed of. Permanently. However, Iron Man is still out there, taking advantage of a loss in our troops to escape."
"To make it perfectly clear; Iron Man is still considered an enemy at this time, though we obviously acknowledge that it was him who aided us in disposing of the robot. My name is Nick Fury and I am the Director of SHIELD. And, my promise to all of you out there, is that SHIELD is working dilligently around the clock, learning, adapating, making sure that this world is a safer place for all of us."
"It's no secret that we live in a new age. An age where superheroes and villains exist. An age where technology has reached new potentials. With this in mind, we will soon be publishing a special phone number that you can call. It will deal with what we are now labeling as Cape Activity. If you see something that strikes you as superhuman, do not hesitate to call."
Meanwhile, as this impromptu public address took place, the man that had been hired by Obadiah Stane to spy on Tony Stark had just earned himself a little bit of a pay raise. How? Well, he had snuck past the officials, mingling with the clean-up crew, and managed to find Iron Man's discarded helmet and a few other parts and pieces.
ZEROBEN'S IRON MAN
I don't like this chapter. It's just blah. I accomplished everything I wanted, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. Next arc will be a lot better. Hopefully. I'm not sure if I wanna spell them all out, but I alluded to a lot of future storylines in this chapter. Five different ones.
Before I go; The first official news on ZeroBen's Avengers... The first arc is going to be called "Invasion" and should be pretty obvious what it'll be. Also, I now know the official roster.