Okay this is going to diverge a lot more than normal. But I will do my
best. This is of course Marvel-verse.
Justice League and Others
"I won't allow this!" Tony Stark growled across the table.
"You don't have a choice in the matter," Alexander Luthor countered calmly. "Your armor schematics are unpatented, and frankly you are lucky that we don't patent them. Oh, and if your supposed bodyguard goes psychotic on my men like he has done before on others who use your technology, you will be the one receiving the lawsuit and warrant." With that he closed his brief case and walked out. "This was just a courtesy, our head designer, also one of our pilots; Dr. Irons thought it polite to tell the inventor. He's quite an admirer of yours."
Stark growled lowly watching the man walked out. He was the CEO of a top security company. It had sprung up quite quickly, but Justice Corp. was a big earner. Tony suspected that it was a front, but its customers didn't care what the company did in the shadows. Its main customers lately were companies that were under attack from eco-terrorists. There were many groups out there that wanted to stop companies from polluting at any cost.
Stark's objection was to the use of his armor design. It was creating a new line of techno soldiers; the Justice League of America they were calling it. Three soldiers designed to combat in difficult terrains.
The first design was to combat attacks on at sea oil rigs. It was being called the Aqua-Man armor. It made use of hyper compression technology to compress enough water to fuel a fire hose for five hours into a solid the size of pear. These fueled two hoses mounted on the wrists. Also strength enhancements were placed in the arms and legs. Breathing apparatus installed in the helmet allowed the user unlimited time spent under water, as well as a turbine mounted on the legs allows for speed while underwater. A disc, also using the compression capsules, allows him to hover on a column of water. Also a retractable trident, for looks, was mounted on his waist. All of his weaponry used not a single spark; perfect for working around crude oil.
The second design is for use around electrical plants using nuclear energy. He is known as Static. He must charge for twenty-four hours, but after that the suit can exude millions of volts for two days straight. He can use a magnetic field to levitate and fly. He is also completely insulated from electric shock, but the suit can be short-circuited, but only with AC, exceptionally rare. It can project a radio silence field, disrupting any signal not transmitted over a hard line. Also a magnetize program causes all loose metal objects to be taken from the hands of the owner and attach to the skin of the armor.
The third was for ore mines. This armor was called Steel. It was had the greatest strength enhancement ratio of all three prototypes, and the Iron Man armor. It also had sonar emitters in the palm for seeing through solid rock to air pockets when there were men trapped. It had a hammer included in the design. It could bust through rock like nobodies business. Time was the only matter when it came to reaching trapped workers. The problem was it was a heavy suit due to the rescue pack and strength enhancements. It would take two feet of solid cement to support the suit.
All three armors were operational and in use. The Aqua-Man armor was be piloted by a former SEAL by the name of Orin, retired at age thirty- three, now employed by Luthor Corp. The Aqua-Man armor was stationed at an oil rig owned by a subsidiary of Justice Corp. in the China Seas. The Static armor was piloted by Vigil Hawkins; an LAPD S.W.A.T officer retired at twenty-four with several commendations for bravery. He was now looking for money. He was receiving it at his post at a nuclear plant outside New York City. The last, Steel, was being operated by the Justice Corp. engineer who designed these armors; John Henry Irons. He had no official training, but he did grow up in the heart of Hell's Kitchen. Fighting came easier to Irons than engineering. Irons was being placed at a Kentucky iron mine.
Two weeks after the heated board room argument, a problem arose. An organization calling itself Black Manta launched simultaneous attacks.
"Stop Stripping our oceans of their life!" yelled the man calling himself the Manta Ray.
"Is it just me?" Orin said sarcastically, "Or are you thirsty?" He fired a hammering blast of water at him.
The Manta Ray twisted the around blast and drove a knife straight into Orin's side. Orin cried out in pain as it punctured one of the few panels on his suit that was purely decorative and deceptive. Orin's concentration faltered. The bleeding was bad. It could be fatal if he didn't get it looked at. He knew he couldn't fight like this. He programmed his disc and fell down upon it. It headed out with him being carried straight for shore.
"Down with harmful nuclear waste production!" cried another Black Manta operative. "You're trashing our world!"
"You are really boring me," said Hawkins. He fired two lightning bolts. But unfortunately both missed the man calling himself Shade.
Shade threw a small metal orb at Static, it attached and began to emit an electric pulse. "What the hell?" exclaimed Virgil. All systems began shutting down. He fell to the ground completely immobilized.
And finally in Kentucky, a Black Manta agent calling himself Copperhead shouted, "Quit raping our mother Earth!" as he began firing bombs into the mine.
"Knock it off whack-job" said Irons as he knocked Copperhead across the field with one blow from his hammer.
"They said you might be a problem," Copperhead sneered as he got up. He threw a metal disk the size of a hockey puck at Irons. It began to hum and attached itself to the wrist of the Steel armor. "What the hell is this?" then with that it released an electric surge and the other wrist slammed together. Copperhead threw another disc which immobilized his legs. Irons, now useless, but utterly invincible, was forced to watch as Copperhead destroyed the mine. The same fate Hawkins was sentenced to.
Two days later, after Orin was picked up by a freighter and stitched up, after Hawkins was treated for near asphyxiation, and after the super- magnets were removed from Irons, the three pilots were sitting together to try and figure out what went wrong.
"The thing I don't get is this," mused Orin, "that panel I was stabbed through, was made to look just like Kevlar. Only me and you," he said looking at Irons, "Even knew the panel was fake. Yet he stabs me right through there like that had been his goal all along. He didn't bother shooting at me or anything. Just the one stab."
"Are you insinuating something Orin?" Irons said standing face to face with Arthur Orin.
"Just that it is awfully suspicious, that you, our designer, was the only person to know our suits only weaknesses, and yet these guys knew them dead on."
"That is something to think about," said Virgil Hawkins.
"Well you can stop thinking about it," John-Henry Irons said tensely, "I didn't betray any of you."
"Who else could it have been?" Virgil said, standing right beside Arthur.
"I don't . . ." Irons paused. "Wait. There was one other person. He helped me design the suits. In fact he ordered me to build the devices that took Steel and Static down."
"You mean Luthor?" asked Virgil.
Orin looked down. "It would make sense."
"How," asked Hawkins.
"Simple," answered Irons. "Luthor plays both sides of the field, he gets both sides of the profit."
"He sells to the company owners, so the terrorists want to up their game," begins Orin.
"And who better to help them do so than the man who created their problem in the first place," completed Irons.
"And then," jumped in Hawkins, suddenly grasping the Idea, "The company owners need to up the ante again, starting the whole cycle over again."
"There's just one flaw in that plan for Luthor," Irons said.
"Us," agreed Orin.
"Say what?" asked Hawkins.
"Think about it, we have the prototypes. And I," Irons held up a CD, "Have the only copy of the schematics. We weren't supposed to figure this out. in fact, I wouldn't have thought about it if you hadn't mentioned it Orin."
"Wait, are you guys talking about rebelling on Luthor?" Virgil asked.
"We have to," Orin said. "This guy is bad news. He is working both sides of the field. How long till he starts trying to maximize his profits by sowing the seeds of war?"
"This guy is the only person paying us," Virgil said, "And we signed contracts."
"You gotta do what you gotta do," Irons stated. "Me, these situations all ways get me to ask myself; what would the Devil do?"
that statement led to an awkward silence. "Um, don't you mean, jesus?" asked Virgil.
"Naw man. I grew up in Hell's Kitchen. I mean the Dare Devil. He kinda looks out for the neighborhood. The question here is what would he do in this situation. I gotta believe he'd turn trick on this guy bolt."
"I'm with ya, I may be retired, but I still took that oath," agreed Orin. "Enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC. Well this is ona them damn domestic enemies."
"I don't know man," worried Hawkins. "I lived with worse."
"What you wouldn't care if he started sellin' his little noisemakers in your neighborhood?" asked Irons.
"What . . ." asked Hawkins, "You mean like to kids . . . gang members?!"
"Best place to make a profit," nodded Orin.
"You talked me into it," Hawkins said with a dark expression.
"Outta curiosity," asked Irons. "What convinced you?"
"Gangs," he said grimly. "My mother and little sister were killed in a drive-by. The guys in the car couldn't read, and thought they were at the address of a rival gang's crack house."
"Damn," said Orin solemnly.
"So we're decided?" asked Irons. "Cause if he keeps even one armor, he might as well have them all. This has to be unanimous."
"Yeah," said Hawkins.
"Yes sir," responded Orin with a salute.
In fifteen minutes they were suited up and in AWOL. They haven't been officially seen in three months, but there are reports of mysterious "metal-men" showing up at natural and unnatural disasters and rescuing innocents people. They are still reported to be using the titles their suits are given, and to be calling their squad, The Justice League of America.
Justice League and Others
"I won't allow this!" Tony Stark growled across the table.
"You don't have a choice in the matter," Alexander Luthor countered calmly. "Your armor schematics are unpatented, and frankly you are lucky that we don't patent them. Oh, and if your supposed bodyguard goes psychotic on my men like he has done before on others who use your technology, you will be the one receiving the lawsuit and warrant." With that he closed his brief case and walked out. "This was just a courtesy, our head designer, also one of our pilots; Dr. Irons thought it polite to tell the inventor. He's quite an admirer of yours."
Stark growled lowly watching the man walked out. He was the CEO of a top security company. It had sprung up quite quickly, but Justice Corp. was a big earner. Tony suspected that it was a front, but its customers didn't care what the company did in the shadows. Its main customers lately were companies that were under attack from eco-terrorists. There were many groups out there that wanted to stop companies from polluting at any cost.
Stark's objection was to the use of his armor design. It was creating a new line of techno soldiers; the Justice League of America they were calling it. Three soldiers designed to combat in difficult terrains.
The first design was to combat attacks on at sea oil rigs. It was being called the Aqua-Man armor. It made use of hyper compression technology to compress enough water to fuel a fire hose for five hours into a solid the size of pear. These fueled two hoses mounted on the wrists. Also strength enhancements were placed in the arms and legs. Breathing apparatus installed in the helmet allowed the user unlimited time spent under water, as well as a turbine mounted on the legs allows for speed while underwater. A disc, also using the compression capsules, allows him to hover on a column of water. Also a retractable trident, for looks, was mounted on his waist. All of his weaponry used not a single spark; perfect for working around crude oil.
The second design is for use around electrical plants using nuclear energy. He is known as Static. He must charge for twenty-four hours, but after that the suit can exude millions of volts for two days straight. He can use a magnetic field to levitate and fly. He is also completely insulated from electric shock, but the suit can be short-circuited, but only with AC, exceptionally rare. It can project a radio silence field, disrupting any signal not transmitted over a hard line. Also a magnetize program causes all loose metal objects to be taken from the hands of the owner and attach to the skin of the armor.
The third was for ore mines. This armor was called Steel. It was had the greatest strength enhancement ratio of all three prototypes, and the Iron Man armor. It also had sonar emitters in the palm for seeing through solid rock to air pockets when there were men trapped. It had a hammer included in the design. It could bust through rock like nobodies business. Time was the only matter when it came to reaching trapped workers. The problem was it was a heavy suit due to the rescue pack and strength enhancements. It would take two feet of solid cement to support the suit.
All three armors were operational and in use. The Aqua-Man armor was be piloted by a former SEAL by the name of Orin, retired at age thirty- three, now employed by Luthor Corp. The Aqua-Man armor was stationed at an oil rig owned by a subsidiary of Justice Corp. in the China Seas. The Static armor was piloted by Vigil Hawkins; an LAPD S.W.A.T officer retired at twenty-four with several commendations for bravery. He was now looking for money. He was receiving it at his post at a nuclear plant outside New York City. The last, Steel, was being operated by the Justice Corp. engineer who designed these armors; John Henry Irons. He had no official training, but he did grow up in the heart of Hell's Kitchen. Fighting came easier to Irons than engineering. Irons was being placed at a Kentucky iron mine.
Two weeks after the heated board room argument, a problem arose. An organization calling itself Black Manta launched simultaneous attacks.
"Stop Stripping our oceans of their life!" yelled the man calling himself the Manta Ray.
"Is it just me?" Orin said sarcastically, "Or are you thirsty?" He fired a hammering blast of water at him.
The Manta Ray twisted the around blast and drove a knife straight into Orin's side. Orin cried out in pain as it punctured one of the few panels on his suit that was purely decorative and deceptive. Orin's concentration faltered. The bleeding was bad. It could be fatal if he didn't get it looked at. He knew he couldn't fight like this. He programmed his disc and fell down upon it. It headed out with him being carried straight for shore.
"Down with harmful nuclear waste production!" cried another Black Manta operative. "You're trashing our world!"
"You are really boring me," said Hawkins. He fired two lightning bolts. But unfortunately both missed the man calling himself Shade.
Shade threw a small metal orb at Static, it attached and began to emit an electric pulse. "What the hell?" exclaimed Virgil. All systems began shutting down. He fell to the ground completely immobilized.
And finally in Kentucky, a Black Manta agent calling himself Copperhead shouted, "Quit raping our mother Earth!" as he began firing bombs into the mine.
"Knock it off whack-job" said Irons as he knocked Copperhead across the field with one blow from his hammer.
"They said you might be a problem," Copperhead sneered as he got up. He threw a metal disk the size of a hockey puck at Irons. It began to hum and attached itself to the wrist of the Steel armor. "What the hell is this?" then with that it released an electric surge and the other wrist slammed together. Copperhead threw another disc which immobilized his legs. Irons, now useless, but utterly invincible, was forced to watch as Copperhead destroyed the mine. The same fate Hawkins was sentenced to.
Two days later, after Orin was picked up by a freighter and stitched up, after Hawkins was treated for near asphyxiation, and after the super- magnets were removed from Irons, the three pilots were sitting together to try and figure out what went wrong.
"The thing I don't get is this," mused Orin, "that panel I was stabbed through, was made to look just like Kevlar. Only me and you," he said looking at Irons, "Even knew the panel was fake. Yet he stabs me right through there like that had been his goal all along. He didn't bother shooting at me or anything. Just the one stab."
"Are you insinuating something Orin?" Irons said standing face to face with Arthur Orin.
"Just that it is awfully suspicious, that you, our designer, was the only person to know our suits only weaknesses, and yet these guys knew them dead on."
"That is something to think about," said Virgil Hawkins.
"Well you can stop thinking about it," John-Henry Irons said tensely, "I didn't betray any of you."
"Who else could it have been?" Virgil said, standing right beside Arthur.
"I don't . . ." Irons paused. "Wait. There was one other person. He helped me design the suits. In fact he ordered me to build the devices that took Steel and Static down."
"You mean Luthor?" asked Virgil.
Orin looked down. "It would make sense."
"How," asked Hawkins.
"Simple," answered Irons. "Luthor plays both sides of the field, he gets both sides of the profit."
"He sells to the company owners, so the terrorists want to up their game," begins Orin.
"And who better to help them do so than the man who created their problem in the first place," completed Irons.
"And then," jumped in Hawkins, suddenly grasping the Idea, "The company owners need to up the ante again, starting the whole cycle over again."
"There's just one flaw in that plan for Luthor," Irons said.
"Us," agreed Orin.
"Say what?" asked Hawkins.
"Think about it, we have the prototypes. And I," Irons held up a CD, "Have the only copy of the schematics. We weren't supposed to figure this out. in fact, I wouldn't have thought about it if you hadn't mentioned it Orin."
"Wait, are you guys talking about rebelling on Luthor?" Virgil asked.
"We have to," Orin said. "This guy is bad news. He is working both sides of the field. How long till he starts trying to maximize his profits by sowing the seeds of war?"
"This guy is the only person paying us," Virgil said, "And we signed contracts."
"You gotta do what you gotta do," Irons stated. "Me, these situations all ways get me to ask myself; what would the Devil do?"
that statement led to an awkward silence. "Um, don't you mean, jesus?" asked Virgil.
"Naw man. I grew up in Hell's Kitchen. I mean the Dare Devil. He kinda looks out for the neighborhood. The question here is what would he do in this situation. I gotta believe he'd turn trick on this guy bolt."
"I'm with ya, I may be retired, but I still took that oath," agreed Orin. "Enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC. Well this is ona them damn domestic enemies."
"I don't know man," worried Hawkins. "I lived with worse."
"What you wouldn't care if he started sellin' his little noisemakers in your neighborhood?" asked Irons.
"What . . ." asked Hawkins, "You mean like to kids . . . gang members?!"
"Best place to make a profit," nodded Orin.
"You talked me into it," Hawkins said with a dark expression.
"Outta curiosity," asked Irons. "What convinced you?"
"Gangs," he said grimly. "My mother and little sister were killed in a drive-by. The guys in the car couldn't read, and thought they were at the address of a rival gang's crack house."
"Damn," said Orin solemnly.
"So we're decided?" asked Irons. "Cause if he keeps even one armor, he might as well have them all. This has to be unanimous."
"Yeah," said Hawkins.
"Yes sir," responded Orin with a salute.
In fifteen minutes they were suited up and in AWOL. They haven't been officially seen in three months, but there are reports of mysterious "metal-men" showing up at natural and unnatural disasters and rescuing innocents people. They are still reported to be using the titles their suits are given, and to be calling their squad, The Justice League of America.