The Watchers

Iron Man 2

Mount Justice

While the rest of the Mountain buzzed with the excited energy expected of teenagers preparing for an evening of fun, the lowest level of the extensive facility was wreathed in an aura of tense expectation.

-Rendering… 97 percent…-

The entire floor had been converted into an extensive workshop, the four youths present having drawn on just about every resource they could to furnish the workshop. From old supercomputers in the Hall of Justice to unused alien tech, they had taken what they could and repurposed them to serve their purposes.

-Rendering… 97.7 percent…-

Most of their weekends were spent either preparing the workshop or drawing and refining their blueprints, sinking deeper and deeper into their project until it had practically taken over their every waking moment.

-Rendering… 98 percent…-

Now, after more than two months of planning, refinement and more failures than they had ever faced, they were on the threshold of success. They had gathered two days prior -on Friday- to make their final adjustments before awaiting the results of their work.

-Rendering… 98.2 percent…-

Having stood at the doorway for the past few moments watching his friends' unwavering focus on the screen before them, Kaldur was once again struck by how much this project had come to mean to them. To him, Project EXO-KON was a casual thing; having gotten the idea from a movie, the Atlantean had expected his friends to simply dabble into the concept of building a suit of armor. He didn't expect them to give up -his time with them had taught him that the idea of just 'giving up' was anathema to Dick, Conner and Wally and while Raquel was relatively new to the Team, she had the same determination they did so it wasn't surprising that she wouldn't consider giving up either- but he certainly didn't expect them to push themselves to the extent they had.

Because, to Conner, Wally, Dick and now Raquel, Project EXO-KON had grown so far beyond a passing concept. One only had to think about how all four had practically locked themselves up in the workshop over the past sixty-plus hours to have an idea of how committed the quartet was to the project.

-Rendering… 99 percent…-

Kaldur had no idea why the project had grown so important to them -he made a mental note to ask them that very question some other time- but he wanted to be with them whatever the result of this procedure. He may not have an in-depth understanding of the science behind it all but they were members of the Team and their success would gladden his heart as much as if it were his own.

"Anything yet?"

He stiffened for the merest fraction of a second before relaxing as Canary's familiar form moved into his sightline, taking up the space left in the doorway. "No. The computer says the render is-"

-Rendering… 99.8 percent…-

He gestured at the supercomputer that took up a section of the far wall, the same area the quartet were huddled around. "It's much faster now than yesterday."

"It happens sometimes," She commented absently. "But this one's gonna be it. The successful one."

"I too wish for this to be-"

"It's not a wish," She cut in. "Not this time." She didn't need to turn to him to know that he had turned a questioning glance her way. "You're right that they might not get it this time and I know they won't give up if that's the case but… dammit Kaldur, they've been at this for weeks now! They've barely eaten since they got here and they only went to bed this morning because I literally knocked them out!"

"And even then, when they woke up two hours ago, they just came down here again," Kaldur added ruefully. "Waiting for their blueprints to be rendered into a workable model."

"And they'll get it this time," Canary muttered softly but with absolute determination, as though she could will her thoughts into being with by sheer force of will. "They'll get it this time."

-Rendering… 100 percent…-

-Generating hard-light imaging-

For the first time in almost two hours, the quartet turned away from the supercomputer, directing the entirety of their attention to the center of the workshop where the Atom's second-generation hard-light projector lay.

Looking like simple, two-and-a-half foot wide metal platforms, the projectors were just under a foot foot thick, with over three-quarters of one buried into the ground while the other half of the set sat in the roof. At the rim of the circular platforms were three-inch wide strips of photon emitters which projected the lights while the centers of the projectors held the molecular stabilizer that bonded the light particles together, giving them a semblance of solidity.

At the moment, the projector* was busy building a one-to-one scale hard-light model of Project EXO-KON, creating the suit from the soles of the feet and the upper edges of the collar simultaneously so that the imaging process ended at the center of the suit.

-Hard-light Imaging complete-

"By Poseidon…!"

"Goddamn you guys are amazing!"

Though their means of expression were different, neither Kaldur nor Canary's responses were exaggerated.

Unlike Tony Stark's more streamlined red-and-gold suit, Project EXO-KON was a larger, more bulky affair that, even now, seemed to fit Conner to a tee: the boots and vambraces were both a dark-hued blue and were bigger than the rest of the suit -which was lighter hued and far more form fitting- and seemed designed to be far more durable, similar to the red and yellow chestplate which bore the House of El's Shield. In addition, where the Iron Man had a specially crafted helmet fitted with state-of-the-art technology, EXO-KON stopped at the collar, leaving its wearer's head exposed.

"I can already see Conner kicking serious ass in that baby," Canary muttered as she gave the model suit a more critical look. She wouldn't be certain until she had asked but she felt certain that Conner had adjusted Stark's original designs to fit his own style. "He probably chose to ditch the lasers and micro-missiles for a more sturdy suit that'd boost his strength and durability."

"It would explain why the vambraces and the chestplate are so pronounced." Kaldur nodded. "Conner isn't one to stand at a distance and bombard an enemy with artillery fire."*

"I am the artillery," Canary snorted. "Definitely something he could say."

-Testing Power Distribution Channels-

"Wait. This isn't over yet?"

"I guess?" The Atlantean shrugged. His eyes grew narrow, though, when he noticed how guarded his teammates had become. "It would appear this is the real test."

The projector flashed twice and the suit gradually came apart, the outer layer of EXO-KON floating off to reveal an orderly arrangement of wires and circuitry laying on a second layer of the suit. In the center of the suit -directly behind the large S-shield- glowed an amorphous orb of green light that pulsed intermittently. With each pulse, the green light flowed along the suit's power distribution channels, sharing the same green light over an ever-expanding area of the suit.

"Come on, come on!"

Those were the first words uttered by one of the quartet -Wally- and they came out with a raw, urgent coarseness that few of his friends would ever have believed he could have produced.

It took just under thirty seconds for the Power Distribution test to be completed but, for everyone present, it seemed to have taken forever.

-Power Distribution test complete-

-Analysis complete-

-Power Distribution for Project EXO-KON running at 100 percent-

"Is that it?" Conner asked numbly, still so tightly wound that he simply couldn't wrap his head around the computer's words.

"I… I guess?" Dick murmured. "I mean… there are no red sections right? Or any yellows either. Which means power distribution for the suit will run at a hundred percent to every section. So… yeah. That's it."

"We did it." Raquel breathed, feeling the tension that had locked up her muscles gradually easing off. "We actually did it."

It started out slowly: nervous smiles shared between them as they waited for the hammer to fall. Yet, as the seconds ticked by and the projection remained stubbornly green, the tension fully drained away and the full import of what they were seeing really sank into their brains.

"We did it!" Wally exclaimed, excitement suffusing his features with new life and he threw his head back and howled, "WE DID IT!"

‹‹‡››

"Mmm, something smells good in here!" Hal grinned as he poked his head into the kitchen where an eight-armed M'gann jostled about, preparing a smorgasbord of finger foods for the evening. "You're in here alone?"

"We ran out of paper plates and towels so Artemis and Zatanna headed out to restock," She replied as she carefully lifted the deep-fry basket from the bubbling oil with one hand while turning the kebabs with another pair. "Kaldur went to check on Conner and the others so I've been on my own for a bit."

"Anything I can help with?" The Green Lantern asked as he walked up to the counter. "Maybe set the table or…?"

"Setting the table would be perfect!" The young Martian nodded gratefully. "We've stuck to prepackaged snacks for the past two movies so I thought we could do something different this time."

"Well I for one can't wait to get in on all this," Hal smiled as he got a tray to arrange the spring rolls onto. "This looks really great kid."

"Thank you!"

Hal chuckled at her beaming expression and said, "Geez kid, anybody ever tell you you've got a killer smile? I mean the sheer cutesy factor is just overwhelming!" Spotting the rosy hue on her cheeks, the older man laughed. "So, what'd I miss last time?" His question had her launching into an animated recap of the previous movie night as she skillfully handled each and every snack with an easy grace while he set the trays onto the counter and loaded them up.

Their easy conversation continued until it was broken by a host of triumphant laughs and yells from the Cave's central hub. While he strained his ears to understand what was going on, M'gann read the mood of the mental presences she could feel and she excitedly darted out of the kitchen with a loud, "They did it!"

"Who did what? Hey-! Kid!" The Green Lantern sighed and shook his head. He had no clue what was going on but the Cave was practically vibrating with cheers and that definitely had his curiosity piqued. So, creating a few constructs to help carry the trays of food, he walked out of the kitchen to figure out what was going on.

Having dumped the food on the living room table -figuratively, not literally- Hal walked toward the source of all the hubbub…

…and was almost knocked on his ass by the almost physical wall of sound that slammed into him.

Shaking his head to get rid of the tinny ringing between his ears, he staggered into the central hub where members of both the League and the Team crowded around the blushing quartet of Raquel, Conner, Dick and Wally. Snippets of the loud conversations got through to him and he was able to piece a few details together. Still, he felt more comfortable knowing exactly what was going on so, after sucking in a deep breath, he bellowed, "You guys started a party without me?! For shame!"

"Hal!" Oliver shouted and quickly made his way over to the Lantern as the huddle finally began to break up, though the Team stuck close to their friends. "When'd you get here man?!"

"Not too long ago!" Hal jerked a thumb at M'gann. "I smelled something good so I dropped by the kitchen to help the chef out!"

"Ah! Well J'onn and I got in just as the celebrations kicked off," Oliver laughed, dropping his voice to a more reasonable volume now that the initial excitement had died down. "Can you believe it? The guys -well, Conner, Wally, Raquel and Bruce Jr.- they had a huge breakthrough on Project EXO-KON!"

At first, the words didn't ring a bell in Hal's mind, leaving him wracking his brain to connect the dots. Luckily, the answer came to him quite quickly and he gaped at the Emerald Archer. "They've built the whole suit?! Already?!"

"The whole- no! Of course they haven't!" Oliver corrected. "They've been stuck trying to figure out how to build a good power source and how to ensure that power was distributed to every nook of their suit ."

"Oh." Hal paused before nodding slowly. "Yeah that makes a lot more sense. So what are they all happy about?"

"While watching the Hulk, Barry promised to put in a good word for them at Star Labs regarding a possible power source. With that mostly settled, they threw themselves into figuring the power distribution problems."

Understanding dawned at that point and Hal felt a sudden surge of pride for the young heroes. "They finally cracked it?"

"Heck yeah they did!" Oliver's grin returned in full force as Dinah and J'onn walked up to them. "J'onn and I walked in right as Wally started screaming his head off."

"It was an unexpected happening but none of us could fault him for his excitement." J'onn smiled.

"Well… looks like I gotta find something to do for them," The Lantern mused. "Sure as hell seems like they deserve it."

"Let us know before you take any actions," Dinah said. "We've all decided to do what we can to encourage them so it would be best if we harmonized our gifts."

"Sure thing," Hal looked around. "Sheesh, talk about a scanty crowd; no Big Three today?"

"Clark -and Kara- are busy covering some story for the next week while Barry's got something with the soon-to-be Mrs Allen. Diana's returned to Themyscira for some R&R-"

"What could be more R&R than this?!" Hal asked in an over-the-top manner. "We've got movies, snacks and family time all rolled into one relaxing evening!"

"She's also there to bring the rest of the Amazons up to speed on whatever political offers she has received recently," Dinah continued with a slight glare at the Lantern. "We tend to forget that her day job is quite the important one, all things considered."

"... Yeah, okay, I kinda forgot that," Hal admitted. "And Dark and Mopey?"

"As for Bruce-" She shot him another glare, "I couldn't get anything concrete from him but Alfred promised to, and I'm quoting him here, bundle him over myself if I think he can take it."

"Good man, Alfred," Oliver nodded before turning to Hal. "Take it John's still offworld?"

"Yup. I got lucky, honestly: if you guys had pushed this back by another week he'd be here and I wouldn't."

"The dice roll where they choose," Dinah shrugged. "Speaking of rolling, I get the feeling that those little brats might have started the movie without us."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure they're waiting for us."

‹‹‡››

"Huh. So you guys didn't forget about us," Dinah commented as the adults walked into the living room where the Team were just finishing up the setup for the evening's activities. "That's a surprise."

"Eh, you guys got lucky," Artemis replied glibly. She and Zatanna had walked in on the celebrations just before Hal had and, after the louder celebrations, she had taken her boyfriend aside to give him a smoldering congratulatory kiss that he was yet to fully recover from. "We would have started but M'gann had a few snacks browning over in the kitchen so we had to help her out with that first. If you guys had stayed away for a few moments more…" She held up the remote.

Oliver just sighed as he took a seat on a couch, his partner dropping in beside him. "You guys have zero respect."

"Ollie, I know you've got that privileged, rich kid drip but really, if this was a cinema you wouldn't expect us all to wait just cause you and your friends decided to di- dither about now would you?" Hal asked as he sat beside Diana and J'onn, a fierce grin stretched on his face.*

It took an instant for the archer to understand but when he did…

"Well played, Jordan."

*- Both halves of the hard-light projector (the roof and the floor mounted halves) function as a set so I'll just refer to the set up as a singular entity.

*- The suit is based off Superboy-Prime's without the cape (YJ!Superboy seems to detest the very thought of them). Canary's explanation is based on why I think Conner would want something of this design, as opposed to sticking with the OG Iron Man suit.

*- During the Iron Man viewing, Hal had to take a leak and Oliver had Dinah play the movie on. This scene is Hal twisting Ollie's words back onto him.

Alrighty then, ladies and gents, we are gearing up for the next phase of our journey into the MCU with Iron Man 2!

This prologue will remain tacked on to the end of TIH until the first full chapter of Iron Man 2 comes up, at which point I'll be creating a new story and porting this over to the that story.

Have a nice day everyone and please support me on P.a.t.r.e.o.n!