Iron Man

Chapter 36: Vitae

Tony smiled archly in an attempt to keep his rage at bay as the tall, vaguely satanic looking Asian man circled him. A peculiar flowery smell came off of the man who now stood revealed as 'The Doctor,' and all Tony could think of was how he wanted to knock the man out. But the stray twinge in his limbs reminded him of what he was.

For the time being, Tony Stark was incapable of utilizing his skills--skills taught to him by Captain America himself--due to the state of his body. Seriously damaged due to his running battles with the Stark during the invasion, his body no longer responded quickly enough to take on what appeared to be a very fit opponent. So Tony stood, leaning on his cane, and smiled hoping that something would develop that he could turn into an opportunity.

"You know my team won't be occupied forever," Tony eventually stated, struggling to keep his voice calm.

"We do not need much time," Fu Manchu retorted. "We are both men of learning, Mr. Stark. We will discuss my desire to add you into my coterie, and after you agree, we will part."

"You seem awfully confident."

The Doctor tilted his head and spread his hands. "I have had many years of life to gain such confidence."

"Many years," Tony elaborated as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "devoted to spreading misery and woe amongst most of the nations of the world, if I recall."

"Now, now, Mr. Stark. Misery and woe...they are necessary tools when one wishes to bring peace to the world."

Tony chuckled. "Is that all you want? I've met people like you before. Talked to one before coming here--you'd like him. A guy by the name of Doom?"

The Doctor seemed to bristle for a second. But then, he slipped his hand--which sported longer than normal nails--into his inside coat pocket and smirked. "I am...aware of the gentleman. He needs to learn...patience."

"Why don't you leave me alone and teach him now?"

The Doctor looked at Tony, and for a moment he was very much aware of how...old Fu Manchu's eyes looked. There were tiny lines and folds around his eye socket that made Tony wonder if rumors of the man's livelihood were more than rumors. "In a few hours, we will go forth from this place and teach Von Doom that lesson together."

"And how do you figure I'll be with you when you and that tin-plated dictator have a little talk?"



"Because, Mr. Stark," Fu Manchu said simply, as if speaking to a dog, "I am willing to reward you for your servitude with the one thing you've been seeking ever since you first donned your armor."

He smiled serenely. "I will give you freedom from death."

Donnie Gill followed Brendan O'Doyle down toward the castle at full speed, twisting in the wind currents to knock away the dragon creatures who came at them from all sides.

"This was a trap!" he exclaimed as he let fire with a pulse bolt that drove one of the dragon men into the cliff-face of a nearby mountain. They were now in the mouth of the canyon where the ruins of the Mandarin's castle lay, and the edifice could be seen--remarkably better preserved than Donnie expected it to be.

"And to be thinkin' I had no idea," Brendan replied as he reached out and grabbed hold of another dragon creature's wing. He wrenched hard, and the membranes on the wings ripped, effectively crippling his attacker. "I'm a babe in the woods, I am."

"Sorry," Donnie said, wincing at the sharpness of Brendan's tone. He layed down a wide arc repulsor beam to crowd out the men who were following them. "We better hurry. We'd be at an advantage down below."

"Once again," Brendan said, lifting his legs up and firing his boot jets full force into the crippled enemy's chest. "your insight humbles me, lad."

On the HUD, Donnie caught something move in the corners, like a ripple on the water of a puddle. Then his vision was filled by another of the dragon creatures. The winged man opened his mouth, letting loose with a gout of flame. Donnie turned his back, hoping the thermocouple in the epaulets would dissipate the waste heat.

"Great," Brendan muttered as he fired his repulsors into the creature's back. "Now we're at elevation where their breath weapons work."

"What are the--"

And then something seemed to tear itself away from the cliff face, launching itself an unnatural distance. It was a blur as it arced across the air before attaching itself to the back of Brendan's armor. Donnie found the creature's skin hard to focus on, as its color seemed to shifted and swirl. The creature's silhouette was bulky, like a wrestler's, and its features seemed ill-formed. A sound like nails on chalkboard rent the air.

"Christ!" Brendan cried out as he grasped one of the monster's too-long arms. "What is this shite?"

Donnie shot the thing with a narrow repulsor beam in its back. "I'm coming!"

But then another of the chameleon creatures launched itself from its hiding place, aiming for Donnie.



And another.

And another.

"I hope you appreciate this, Ms. Cabe," the burly man with the graying dark hair whispered to Bethany as they stalked through the terrain outside of the small airport terminal. "I had to do quite the song and dance for my superiors to get you permission to come along."

Black Jack Tarr crept forward, only briefly glancing back to make sure Bethany was following in his footsteps. They, like the other armed men and women slowly advancing in a circle around the terminal, were dressed in black military sweaters, watch caps and khakis, boots with special vibranium soles allowing them to step forward silently.

"Just as long as we get Mr. Stark out of here safely," Bethany whispered.

"If it's at all possible," Tarr replied, "You have my word."

There were an eeriness to the emptiness of the terminal--outside of the handful of men who surrounded the building, the tarmac was empty. Tony Stark's private plane was the only vehicle on the runway, its newness and shininess sticking out in contrast to the worn-down nature of the buildings around it. "How many do you think--"

"We have to assume your boss is the only one left alive," Tarr said abruptly and sighed. "If only we could've contacted the Chinaman...'

Suddenly, Tarr's hand went to his headset. Bethany saw the burly man's body tense. "Close in on the perimeter. Pascoe, Lightnell, take the north flank and investigate."

"What's going on?" Bethany whispered.

Tarr took out a small set of binoculars and handed them to her. "It seems our assessment was wrong, Ms. Cabe."

She brought the binoculars to her face and adjusted the lenses. The cargo hatch had popped open suddenly on the plane...

And something was crawling out.

The Doctor removed his hand from his coat and placed a small vial on the table in front of Tony. The small glass vial seemed to glow with an inner light, its color shifting with a seeming randomness.

"This is the elixir vitae," Doctor Fu Manchu stated plainly.

"How wonderful for you," Tony spat out and shifted his weight.



"I developed this when I was a very young man, Mr. Stark," the Doctor continued. "What it does is revitalize the body completely, restoring the elasticity to the skin and replacing dying or dead cells. It does degrade over the course of years, requiring the patient to drink of the elixir periodically, but if you follow the regimen, you will be immortal."

Tony watched the color of the liquid change from red to pink to orange as if it was a living thing. "That's impossible."

"When you live long enough, Mr. Stark," the Doctor countered. "One learns that impossible only has the power you allow it to have."

He stood before Tony, the vial between them. Tony found his gaze wandering to the small glass tube. "Everything eventually decays. Entropy is a built-in function of every living thing. There's no way you can--"

"Then how do you explain the existence of the Thunder God, Mr. Stark? Or Mr. Williams? Both have evaded death...have remained in a more or less constant state. I assure you, Mr. Stark, immortality exists, and I am offering you the opportunity to be one of the few people allowed its benefits. All I ask is your subservience."

"I'm not," Tony said, banging him cane down for emphasis, "anyone's slave."

The doctor smiled . "Everyone is something's slave, Mr. Stark. I'm not asking for you to be a blind follower--I have more than enough of those. Consider yourself an...honored underling if it will make things easier."

"You're not the first one to try this. You're not going to be the last. And you're not going to win."

"If that keeps you sane, you may think that," the Doctor replied. "But consider this..."

"In offering you the Elixir Vitae, what I am truly offering you is release from the thing that enslaves you."

Bethany Cabe put a hand on Tarr's arm. "Let me handle this."

"Ms. Cabe, need I remind you you're here as an observer and nothing more," Tarr snapped.

For a moment, anger flashed in Bethany's eyes. "If what just snuck out of Mr. Stark's plane is what I think it is, I'm the best equipped to interface with it. As Mr. Stark's Security Consultant, I've had extensive experience with metanormal and supranormal combat. Hell, I've piloted the Iron Man ordnance on two seperate occaisons--"

"Fine, fine." The burly Englsihman consulted his chronograph. "You have a minute. After that, my men are closing in. We've been after the Chinaman since--"

"Forever. I know," Bethany flashed a tight, brief smile. "Cover me."



Without looking back, Bethany emerged from her position and rushed toward the small tarmac. The figure was standing up and was obviously human. While the shadows of the plane and the late afternoon sun shrouded the figure in swaths of shadow, Bethany caught a flash of gold that confirmed her suspicion. It was too streamlined to be Brendan O'Doyle's armor, so she hissed, "Gill."

The figure spun and called out, "Get down!"

Bethany did as she was told and hit the ground hard, rolling over briefly to minimize the impact. Repulsors flashed, and an Asian man armed with a rifle was sent flying backwards. Another flash of metal caught Bethany's eye and she pulled herself into a crouch, aiming her gun and firing a series of three snap shots. There was a distant clatter of metal falling to the floor, and the MI-5 agents began flooding the area, ready to close the trap on their prey.

Bethany heard the man in the Iron Man armor curse under his breath. He stepped out from under the plane and began firing in support of the agents. Now that he could be seen clearly, she saw that this was neither Gill nor O'Doyle. The armor was, if possible, even less bulky than either--appearing on the operator as if it was a second, glittering skin. The mask was nearly featureless save for thin eye-slits.

As she got to her feet to help the MI-5 agents in their seige, she thought, Damn you, Tony.

Because her former lover had hid something from her yet again.

Brendan O'Doyle had made it a point when he agreed to become Iron Man to study the specs on the armor he was going to wear thoroughly. This was something he had learned while being a mercenary; the more knowledge you had, the better your chances of survival. Before he even took his first flight in his armor, Brendan knew every bit of ordnance it afforded him.

And at this moment, as a number of these hairy things, their fur shifting color to blend in with their environment, he was a little stumped.

He managed to get a little space by placing his gauntlet against one of the creature's chest and blowing away its heart (which had somehow been shifted so that it was hidden behind the liver, or all things--judging from the readings Brendan had gotten from a wide-spectrum light scan, the creator of these monsters had mixed their internal organs all up)...but they kept coming, leaping from the edges of the cliffs and grabbing hold of a limb, a shoulder, his waist. He re-directed a massive portion of power to the jet boots to keep himself aloft, but the drain was going to show.

"We're gonna crash!" Brendan called out.

Donnie twirled rapidly, tossing a pair of the creatures off. He was already beginning to show signs of losing the battle to stay in flight. "Can't the armor protect us."

Brendan managed to angle his right leg in such a way that he could fire his bootjet in a wide dispersal pattern, causing the chameleon creature to fall to the ground with a thump. There was an outburst of growling from down below, followed by horrid rending noises. "From 

final impact? I'm guessing so. From what we'd meet once we hit groundfall, I'm thinkin' not."

"but surely--"

"We're bleeding fuel at a rate God never meant, lad," Brendan pointed out as he drove forward full speed, slamming a number of the creatures clinging to his from into the cliff face. They released their grip on him...but it allowed two more to reach out and grab him without making the leap. "We'd be deep enough into this canyon that we wouldn't get sufficient power to use our weaponry effectively. We'd--"

"Be kibble. Gotcha." One of the creatures who were trying to tear at Donnie's arm suddenly froze up as highly concentrated coolant was released into its face.

Brendan strained to break away from the cliff face. The creatures clawed at the surface of his armor. Their claws weren't sharp enough to break the shell, but Brendan worried about how effective the seals would be for the individual assemblies. He briefly diverted some power into the magnetic intensifiers and drove his fist backwards. The creature hanging onto his arms found itself ground hard into the rocky cliff and fell away.

On his HUD, the charge indicator changed color from orange to yellow. There wasn't much energy left in the armor.

Then Donnie said, "I...I may have an idea."

"I'm all ears, lad."

"But I'm gonna need you to carry me out if it works." Donnie headbutted one creature. It fell away, dislodging another from his leg on the way down.

"And if it doesn't?"

"Well, we'll be worried about other things then, won't we?"

The Doctor smiled faintly upon hearing the gunfire. "Ah, I see my honored adversaries have arrived. Our negotiations must be quickened."

"There's nothing to negotiate," Tony said, unsteadily. "I won't subjugate my mind to another man."

"You are consistent in your convictions, Mr. Stark. I shall give you that."

"I've had far too many situations where I've been used as a pawn of others."

The Doctor took a moment to appraise Tony. "I am not looking for pawns," he said. "Granted, my methods have changed in the intervening years. As our individual races have marched toward homogeny, I have abandoned my nationalistic tendencies...but my belief 

that men of vision and intelligence must take this dying Earth into hand and save it from itself. And with your gifts, I can see how much you can help me in that."

"And you want to lead the world by becoming its undisputed leader?" Tony asked pointedly.

The Doctor bowed. "It is not as if I relish becoming the Master of a World...but if someone has to take on the responsibility for these billions of souls, better myself than someone like Doom or, the Heavens forbid, inhuman nihilists like that Ultron creature or the reprehensible hate peddlers like The Red Skull."

"So just because you're polite, I should let you make me your dog?" Tony sneered. "Sorry, Doctor...I don't drink anyone's Kool-Aid."

"Save for, perhaps, this Hammer fellow...or that alien monstrosity the Empathoid?" The Doctor countered with a sigh. He closed his hand on the vial of ever-changing liquid. "If you insist on...resisting my generous offer, Mr. Stark, so be it. I will devote quite a lot of time to destroying you--if I cannot have a crucial piece, I cannot afford for others to have it, naturally."

Tony grimaced ruefully. "Naturally."

"But before we become enemies needlessly, let me make one final point."

The Doctor walked slowly towards Tony. "You are a vastly gifted man, Mr. Stark. Your advances in cybernetics, electronics and bio-mimetic engineering are a wonder to behold. But look back upon your life and consider this..."

The aged Asian was close enough that they were practically touching. He brought his lips to Tony's ear and began whispering. "All those advances were poured into your attempts to outrun death. Imagine the advances you could have made--you can make--were that one fear was removed as an obstacle forever."

Donnie knew what Clay Wilson would think if he was privy to his plan; he would harangue Donnie on not relying solely on what he knew, and encourage him to think outside the box. As he started working the HUD to prepare his armor for this stunt, Donnie wondered in Clay would realize that, in a way, he was working outside the box.

He could feel his body slowly sinking, as the weight of the chameleon creatures dragged him down. Donnie's mind raced, knowing how fast he had to work, need to work if this was to succeed.

"Open all ducts," he subvocalized to the onboard computer before shouting to O'Doyle, "Get your heating subroutines going, stat!"

"So you feel we should both plummet to Earth?" Brendan shot back, his magnetic intensifiers adding weight to his blows.

"Just do it!" Donnie shouted before subvocalizig, "Ducts irised to widest dispersal."



His armor hummed before indicating that the command was carried out. Donnie took a deep breath.

"Boyo, I hope ye're workin' hard--this isn't my idea of a way t' die!" Brendan called out.

Donnie struggled to raise his arms before saying, "Evacuate all coolant, waste and actual product, wide dispersal, immediately."

To Brendan O'Doyle, it seemed like Donnie Gill was consumed by a rapidly expanding whitish cloud. There was a noise that accompanied the spread, a cracking sound like ice cubes in a rapidly heating glass. O'Doyle's eyes danced as he manipulated the HUD, activating the heating unit to the maximum so that.

The chameleon creatures howled when the cloud touched them--but only for a second. Brendan felt a sharp drop in temperature as it roiled over him. He caught sight of rime and frost rapidly blossoming on the creature's fur. He flew backwards suddenly, and the creatures shattered and fell off him. A quick glance down saw a cascade of shattered body parts falling to the ground, followed by an unnerving smashing noise like shattered glass.

And then Brendan understood why Donnie needed him tyo carry him. Being at ground zero of this attack had caused his armor to blister and crack. Brendan imagined the young man would probably suffering from frostbite, if not worst. He flew under his partner and took him in hand, firing his boot jets towards the sun.

"W-w-we did g-g-good, right?" Donnie asked. Brendan worked his HUD to allow for topical warming elements to slowly raise his temperature.

"Ye did good, lad," Brendan said, his voice gentle. "Ye did damn good."

Bethany followed the golden-and-crimson figure of this third Iron Man. She was aware of the MI-5 agents on either side of them, closing in on the small terminal. Flash grenades were lobbed into the structure through broken windows.

"It's you, isn't it, Clay?" she called out.

The Iron Man was silent. A trio of gunmen rushed him, but a wide angle repulsor scattered them. Bethany noticed that these repulsor bursts seemed to be this armor's only weapon. In usage, this Iron Man seemed to most resemble the 'Evader' mode of the Living Iron system.

"We have penetration!" an English voice came on her headset. "I repeat--penetration has been achieved!"

Bethany pushed passed the Iron Man. She was already shucking off her flack jacket. Scanning for the nearest broken window, she tossed the garment over the jagged glass shards and climbed into the terminal. Her nostrils filled with the acrid smell of gunfire and smoke. She struggled to wave away the thick grey clouds and called out, "Tony! Call out! We're here!"



An MI-5 agent, a thin man with thin lips and basset hound eyes, took hold of her arm. "You shouldn't be here, miss. No telling what they've got in store here."

"Tony!" Bethany called out. She pulled away from the agent and glared at him before moving deeper into the terminal interior. "TONY!"

"Beth?" came a thin voice. "Is that you?"

She caught sight of a silhouette, lean yet powerful--yet seemingly so fragile thanks to the cane. Bethany caught her breath and ran towards it.

When she saw him, obviously shaken and with smudges on his face and clothes, Bethany held back a tear of relief. She ran to him and threw her arms around him. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Are O'Doyle and Gill--"

"They're reporting in now," the metallic, electronically distorted voice of the third Iron Man said. Bethany turned to face the armored man. "Gill may have some injuries."

"W-well, contact Wilson and get the Docket ready for treatment," Tony said.

"He's not here!" called out an MI-5 agent.

"Don't say that yet!" Blackjack Tarr called out. "Look under the floorboards, if need be. I want that Chinaman in chains now."

Tony looked into Beth's eyes. "You weren't supposed to be here."

"You shouldn't have been here, either," Bethany replied. "Lucky for you, I'm your security consultant, and I don't do things half assed."

Tony was quiet for a moment before saying, in a small voice, "I'm glad you came."

And then he collapsed just close enough to Bethany that she could catch him.

She didn't notice how his right hand seemed tightly clenched into a fist.