Chapter 26: Everything Is Wonderful
It was a sunny afternoon at the newly repaired Stark Tower. Inside, Tony Stark was in the midst of a meeting with one Simon Williams, the CEO of Williams Innovations.
"I don't need to tell you that Stark Industries is killing us."
"Not on purpose I assure you," Tony replied as he was working on something on his computer.
"Look, energy was our main initiative, but ever since you came out with the Arc Reactor technology, nothing we have can come close to it."
"It's a miracle worker, that's for sure." Tony turned away from his computer screen, finally looking up at Simon. "But you didn't come here to tell me what I already know, did you?"
"I came here to ask you to stop. I know you've been buying up shares of my company for the past few months. I also know we don't know each other, but I came here to ask you not to do this." Tony seemed to ignore Simon as he turned back to his screen. "I built my company from nothing. It's all I have left."
"Was, actually," Tony corrected.
Simon perked up in surprise. "What?"
"I was in the middle of a few transactions when you came in. I am the majority shareholder of Williams Innovations as of… three minutes ago."
Simon was in disbelief of this. Having his entire life's work snatched out from under him with little to no effort on Tony's part. It was the last straw. "No." He stood up. "I'm not gonna let you do this." He then started walking out of the room. "I'm not gonna let out destroy everything I have!"
"Destroy?" Tony repeated as he finally looked up. "Simon, wait! Let me-" Tony couldn't finish before Simon stormed out the room and passed Peter Parker as he did so. "Explain..."
Tony slumped back into his chair as Peter entered the room. "What was that all about?"
Before Tony could answer, Ant-Man climbed out of the hard drive and stood on top of it. "Not much, Peter. Tony just failed a life lesson on business ethics. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Validating my Avengers story of a Stark Internship. What about you?"
"Tony needed help with a problem in the hard drive. Though it's his people skills that need a more serious overhaul."
"I take it you didn't find anything?" Tony asked, trying to change the subject.
"You just crushed that guy, Tony," Hank berated, refusing to be detered. "How can you be so callous?"
"I'm working on a plan that neither of you could understand." Tony crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "Bet Jan would understand."
Hank just glared at him, and Peter didn't need his spider sense to detect the immense tension between the two.
…
Jan, meanwhile, was working with Thor and Wolverine to chase down a few AIM agents in a strange flying sphere. Wolverine followed on his bike while the other two pursued the ship from the air.
"I swear, these guys are like cockroaches," Jan commented. "They just won't stay down."
"Right?" Wolverine replied. "Just how many of these guys are there?"
"I know not," Thor replied. "But perhaps we can thin their ranks a bit."
As they continued pursuing, the AIM agent in the sphere aimed a large weapon that seemed to be of Chitauri make, firing it at the heroes. Wolverine swerved around the shots while Wasp and Thor dodged and weaved through the air.
"Okay, I'm getting a little sick of these guys," Wasp let out. "Thor, think you can clip their wings?"
"Aye!"
Thor threw his hammer at the weapon, destroying and creating a smoke trail along the air as they flew away.
"Nice work goldilocks," Wolverine remarked as Thor reclaimed his hammer. "You gave us a trail to follow."
"Best way to kill a cockroach, take out its nest," Wasp quipped.
"Then let us be off!" Thor declared as they took off after the trail.
…
Steve still had a hard time processing this, but he still felt he had to do it. He took out the flower he brought and laid it at a headstone that read "Margaret Elizabeth 'Peggy' Carter, Founder of S.H.I.E.L.D, Loving Aunt, and Unforgettable Woman". He stepped back and just stood there, thinking back on the memories he shared with the wonderful woman that lay before him.
"You know, the headstone doesn't do her justice, does it?" Sharon's voice commented from behind Steve.
Steve turned around to see Sharon walking towards him.
"Sharon?" Steve let out. "What are you doing here?"
"It's Aunt Peggy's birthday." she replied, holding up a small bouquet of flowers. "I always visit her and bring her flowers. I owe her that much, and so much more."
"I know how you feel." Steve replied. "When I first got the serum, she was the only one who thought I was meant for more than reading lines off a shield and selling bonds."
Sharon snorted a bit.
"Oh yes, I saw the news reels." Sharon remarked. "I have the song as my ringtone."
"Oh god." Steve let out, chuckling. "I was hoping that little part of my history would be forgotten."
"Sorry." Sharon said, pulling her cell phone out and playing the song.
Once those trumpets started blaring and the showgirl's started singing, Steve turned red, covering his ears good-naturedly as Sharon sang along slightly off key.
"Who's strong and brave? Here to save the American way?"
"Please turn that off." Steve requested. "I am willing to play any price."
"Any price, huh?" Sharon teased. "Alright, Mr. Star Spangled Man with a plan, my price is dinner. The Stork Club at 7 o'clock sharp."
"Didn't think it was still open." Steve replied, slightly surprised by her request.
"Aunt Peggy went there every other Saturday." Sharon explained. "It's being run by the owner's grandson now, but it's still open for business."
"I'll try to be there." Steve told her.
"Don't you dare be late." Sharon warned, wagging a finger in his direction.
Steve just smiled as Sharon walked off. He had thought today would be sorrowful, but maybe there was hope for the super soldier after all.
…
Across town in a black limo, Simon was meeting with a rather shadowy figure in the seat across from him.
"I can't lose the company." Simon declared, his fists clenched and his teeth grinding. "I won't! I need help, Eric."
"Well, that's what brothers are for." Eric replied. "Though I gotta admit, I was surprised to hear from you after all this time. What was it you told me?"
"Eric, I was-"
"Oh, that's right." Eric replied. "You don't associate with psychotic criminal scum."
Simon looked down in shame.
"Relax Simon," Eric reassured, pulling up a hood. "I don't take it personally. And you're right, I do know people who can help you. They can help you give Tony Stark exactly what he deserves."
The limo then pulled into a featureless building on the edge of the business district, pulling into a large garage. The two men got out of the car and walked into an elevator. Eric pulled down the door as the car traveled downward.
"These are the same people who made my scythe." Eric explained, pulling out his signature weapon on his right hand. "They can give you the power to destroy Stark and bury his company ten feet under."
Simon looked more than a little apprehensive, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I don't know..." he let out.
"Trust me Simon." Eric reassured. "You couldn't be in better hands."
Finally, the elevator stopped and opened. Simon walked out and saw a massive scientific laboratory hidden under the building. Simon was in awe in this when a man in a yellow helmet unique to the other AIM agents came forward.
"Simon Williams, welcome to AIM." He said. "I am Scientist Supreme."
Simon took a step back, but gulped, then steeled himself.
"I've been told you can help me." he declared.
"We can." Scientist Supreme confirmed. "We have a procedure that will make you into a being powerful enough to defeat even Iron Man."
"A being?" Simon asked. "You mean I won't be human anymore?"
"Do not misunderstand." Scientist Supreme comforted. "Humanity is important. You will retain everything that makes you who you are. We will simply augment your body using one of our most crowning achievements: The Zeta Beam."
He gestured up to an incredibly intricate machine, surrounding a special lens that was pulsating with strange purple light.
"With the ionic energy of the Zeta Beam, you will become a wonder of science." Scientist Supreme boasted. "Power that not even the Avengers can contend with, least of all, Iron Man."
Simon clenched his fist at the mention of the man who took his life's work away.
"I don't have any other choice." He muttered. "Stark has taken everything I care about. I have to take it back."
"Very well then." Scientist Supreme replied. "Drones! Prep him."
The drones got to work prepping Simon for the procedure.
...
They led Simon over to a special case in the center of the room. After stripping him of his suit, they hosed him down with some sort of yellow-green gas. They then attached several electrodes to his chest before giving him a green suit with a red "w" on the front and a green helmet.
"You do realize that no one has survived this process, right?" Scientist Supreme asked Erik.
Simon looked back towards his brother, who just smiled in response.
"That's life." Erik let out.
…
At the Stork Club, Sharon sat at a booth in the corner. Steve looked around, marveling at how much the small restaurant had managed to remain untouched by time. The walls were decorated in faded photographs, some in color, but most in black and white. Other than that, it looked almost exactly the way it had all those decades ago. He looked around and saw Sharon sitting in her booth. He wasted no time walking over to her.
"Looks like I made it on time." Steve remarked.
"Looks like." Sharon replied as Steve took a seat. "You know, Aunt Peggy had this booth permanently reserved."
"Seriously?" Steve asked, honestly surprised.
"Check the plaque on the back of your seat."
Steve looked and saw a plaque that read "Reserved for Agent Peggy Carter and Captain Steve Rogers".'
"Wow." Steve let out. "She really held out hope."
Steve's face dropped a bit.
"Makes me wish HYDRA thought to thaw me out sooner."
"Hey, don't think like that." Sharon chastised. "Aunt Peggy always held hope you'd return, but she also didn't let grief consume her. She got married, made a life for herself, and founded the greatest defense agency in the world. And she did it for you."
"I am happy she got to live a full life." Steve acknowledged. "I just wonder sometimes if I can find one."
Sharon placed a hand on Steve's in a comforting gesture.
"I'm sure you'll find yours." She assured him. "I mean, you seem happy with the Avengers so far."
"They're a great team." Steve confirmed. "Though family… kids… just kinda wonder if that sort of life's in the cards for me at this point."
"I'm certain it is." Sharon promised. "You just need to find the right dance partner someday."
Steve just smiled as he picked up his glass.
"Here's to someday." Steve said.
Sharon grabbed her glass and lifted it as well.
"To someday." she toasted.
…
Back at Stark Tower, Tony was down in his private lab, going over several pieces of his newest Iron Man suit. Hank and Peter were right behind him, the former still chastising him for what happened with Simon.
"I'm not judging you." Hank insisted. "I'm just saying you value business and money over people."
"How is that not judging?" Tony asked.
"I've seen it before, that's all." Hank replied.
"Ok, what's your deal?" Tony asked. "You've been giving me looks since this team started! Look if it's about that night with me and Jan, I told her I-"
"This has nothing to do with Jan, Tony!" Hank snapped.
Tony suddenly realized what he was mad about.
"No, of course." Tony responded. "This is about Ultron. Still holding a grudge, aren't you?"
"Uh… what's an Ultron?" Peter asked. "Am I missing something here?"
"Three years ago, I came to Tony with an idea." Hank explained. "He had already succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence, and I wanted to expand on it."
"Expand how?" Peter inquired.
"By imprinting human brain patterns onto a machine." Hank explained. "It was revolutionary… until Tony's true colors came out."
"Hank-" Tony tried to protest.
"You just wanted to make weapons." Hank cut off. "Were you ever gonna tell me you were shopping Ultron around to the military?"
"I was a different man back then, Hank." Tony argued. "I've changed."
"Sure you have." Hank said sarcastically, crossing his arms. "You may not be making weapons anymore, but you're still hurting people. Just ask Simon Williams."
Tony lowered his head in shame.
…
At the AIM base, the ship fighting Thor, Wasp, and Wolverine arrived at the AIM stronghold Eric had brought Simon.
"What are you two doing here?" An agent asked the two exiting the ship.
"We were in the middle of the Magia sale when three Avengers showed up." An agent explained. "Thor, Wasp, and Wolverine chased us, but we were able to lose them."
"What?!" The first agent let out. "The Avengers chased you, and you came back here?"
"Ya know," Wolverine remarked, coming out of the shadows. "For being called the Advanced Idea Mechanics, that was a pretty dumb idea."
"Yeah, what were you thinking?" Wasp asked, coming out from behind one of the agents. "Hi."
Wasp then proceeded to blast him in the face. The other two tried to run away, but they came face to face with Thor. who quickly bashed them aside with his hammer. Wolverine surveyed the scene, looking a bit annoyed.
"Quit hogging the action, Goldilocks." he snarled.
"Worry not, Wolverine." Thor reassured. "Knowing our luck, there will be more where those fiends came from."
"Lucky me." Wolverine remarked, extending his claws.
...
Meanwhile with Simon, the agents placed him in the specialized metal case and lowered it into position. Once he was properly lowered, one agent pulled a lever, activating a device that lowered the Zeta Beam generator. With the flick of a switch, it powered on, bathing Simon in trillions of volts of radiation. It didn't take long before the pain of the procedure took hold of him. He let out a scream of agony as the Scientist Supreme and Erik watched on.
Suddenly, the far wall exploded as Thor, Wasp, and Wolverine entered the room.
"Okay you mooks, hands where we can see them!" Wasp commanded.
"Who's the grim reaper?" Wolverine asked.
"You got it the first time." Grim Reaper responded, pulling out his scythe. "And no one's going anywhere."
"We will see to that." Thor declared, spinning his hammer and flying into battle.
Thor landed in a cluster of AIM agents and hit his hammer onto the ground. The shockwave sent them all flying back. Wasp flew into the fray blasting every agent she set her eyes on. Wolverine charged in as well, but Grim Reaper charged at him, clashing his scythe against his claws. Wolverine shoved him off and continued to clash with Reaper repeatedly. Reaper aimed high, but Wolverine ducked under the slice and punched him in the face, knocking him back.
Thor meanwhile continued bashing agents left and right and center. Seeing some more coming, he spun his hammer, generating a lot of electricity and launched the electric wave at them. Unfortunately, the wave sailed past the fallen agents and hit the Zeta Beam generator. The generator surged with electricity before blowing up and pouring down insane amounts of ionic energy at the case.
"Uh-oh..." Wasp let out. "I think you broke it."
Reaper looked over the smoky mess before him, questioning whether his brother made it. As the smoke cleared, a glowing purple being stood in place.
"Huh, he survived." Reaper remarked.
"The lightning bolt must have changed the algorithm." Scientist Supreme hypothesized.
"Another villain?" Thor asked.
"Knowing our luck, yeah." Wolverine replied.
"You guys wanna hit him, or should I?" Wasp asked.
Before either of them could answer, the being flew past them and through the ceiling.
"Incredible!" Scientist Supreme let out. "We have created a being of pure ionic energy! AIM is truly the greatest scientific authority in the world!"
Suddenly, Thor's hammer connected with his head, sending him flying across the room and cracking his face mask.
"You talk too much, villain." Thor informed him.
…
Back at Stark Tower, Peter was considering leaving the room while Tony and Hank were still fighting.
"What do you want me to do, Hank?!" Tony asked as he put on one of his suits.
"Try not to be a self-absorbed, ego centric, money hungry-" Hank listed off.
"Everything I do is to help people!" Tony snapped, his facemask sliding over his face.
"Everything you do is to clean up a mess you made!" Hank retorted.
"You know I'm just gonna-" Peter started to say before his Spidey senses went haywire. "Uh-oh."
Just then, a loud rumbling shook the building and the three heroes.
"Ok, I didn't do that." Tony replied before flying off.
Peter reached into his backpack, pulling out his suit.
"We should probably help him." Peter commented.
"Probably." Hank concurred, grabbing his Ant-Man helmet.
...
Iron Man flew up the side of the building until he saw a gaping hole in the side of it. He entered the hole, leading into his office, and saw the purple figure standing in front of his desk. Light purple smoke seemed to emanate off his body, and his entire form seemed to shimmer as if it wasn't completely solid.
"You know, there are less destructive ways to get my attention." Iron Man remarked.
"Obviously not." the figure remarked. "I told you I wouldn't let you take my company!"
"Wait, Simon?!" Tony let out. "My god, what happened to you?"
"You happened to me!" Simon shouted. "You took everything from me, and now I'm taking it back!"
"Simon, wait." Tony spoke. "You don't understand. Let me-"
Tony was cut off by Simon punching him in the face so hard, he destroyed his helmet. Before he could hit the ground, Simon grabbed him by the chest and lifted him up in the air.
"That's… that's impossible." Tony let out.
Simon then threw Tony into a wall, where he was greeted by a confused Pepper Potts.
"What the-" Pepper let out.
"Pepper! Run!" Tony cried out.
She immediately turned and ran the other direction, right past Spider-Man and Ant-Man.
"Pepper." Ant-Man said, grabbing her. "Where's Tony?"
"In there." Pepper told them. "He's in trouble. Please help him!"
"We will." Spidey reassured. "Just get out of here."
Pepper nodded as she ran off. Ant-Man and Spider-Man ran into the room to see Simon wailing on Tony and destroying his armor piece by piece.
"Whoa, talk about tearing him a new one." Spidey quipped.
"Not helping kid!" Tony let out.
"It's sickening how you pretend to care about people like that." Simon remarked. "We're all just toys to you! Something for you to use until you lose interest and discard them!"
"Hold it, purple guy!" Spidey cried out, landing in front of him. "Tony maybe a bit of a tool, no offense, but killing him is just going too far."
"I have to agree." Ant-Man concurred. "Maybe we can settle this, scientist to scientist. I wouldn't mind taking a look at you either. Is that ionic energy you're emitting?"
Simon just smacked Hank aside before trying to punch Spider-Man. The webhead quickly backflipped out of the way as Tony took his only good gauntlet and blasted Simon with it.
"Spider-Man and I will deal with Simon," Hank told Tony, getting back on his feet. "You get to safety."
"Yeah… that'll be fun," Spidey remarked.
"I'm not gonna leave you two." Tony told them.
"I didn't say don't come back." Hank argued. "Now go!"
Simon then picked himself up and charged at them.
"Avengers Assemble!" Hank called out as Simon tackled him out a window.
Spidey followed him outside and shot a web line to catch himself as Hank grew giant sized to cushion his blow.
…
At the Stork Club, Steve and Sharon were laughing it up sharing stories.
"Did you know that Aunt Peggy was actually the one who got Dr. Erskine to the United States?" Sharon quizzed him.
"I think I remember Peggy mentioning something about that." Steve recalled.
"She disguised herself as a maid and was invited in by the Red Skull himself." Sharon continued. "She managed to get him out of the castle without much effort."
"That's Peggy for you, not letting anything stand in her way." Steve remarked.
"Yeah." Sharon agreed. "She was a stubborn woman, and because of that, everyone feared and respected her.
"I can attest to that." Steve confirmed before a beeping sound went off.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Avengers ID card and saw it was going off.
"I have to go." Steve told her.
"I understand." Sharon assured him. "Still, I rather enjoyed this. Maybe we can do it again some time?"
Steve smiled in response.
"I'd like that." He replied before running off.
…
Simon's eyes glowed red as he tried punching at Spider-Man. Spidey dodged one strike after another before kicking Simon in the chest. He went skidding back, yelling in fury as he shot at Spider-Man. He quickly dodged one blast before back flipping out of the way of another and landing on the wall of a nearby building. Simon was about to fire again before Giant-Man brought his hand down on him.
"Mr. Williams, please!" he begged. "You don't have to do this."
"Yes! I! Do!" Simon shouted, increasing in size before shoving him off.
"He can grow too!" Spidey let out. "That's it, I am so do for a power upgrade."
"You're able to expand the ionic energy." Giant-Man let out in awe. "That's amazing!"
Simon took advantage of Hank's distracted state to punch him in the face, sending him colliding towards the building Spider-Man was on. Spidey leapt off the building right before Giant-Man hit it and swung towards Simon. Simon just swatted him away, causing him to land on another rooftop with a thud.
"Ow." He let out. "Now I know what a real spider feels like."
Simon tried bringing his massive hand down on Spider-Man, but Spidey quickly shot a web and pulled himself away. Before he could make another move, Giant-Man came from behind and wrapped his arms around him.
"Simon, stop this!" Giant-Man insisted. "You're a scientist! A creator, not a destroyer!"
Simon forced Giant-Man's arms off and grabbed him from behind before flipping him over onto a rooftop. Giant-Man shrunk down before Simon could punch him, allowing Spider-Man to try and web his eyes. Simon struggled to tear them off before lasers shot from them, disintegrating the webbing to nothing.
"Oh." Spidey let out. "Well… that's not good."
"I am what Stark forced me to become!" Simon shouted in response to Hank's comment.
"What Tony did was wrong," Hank concurred, growing back to normal size. "But killing him isn't going to solve anything. Do you really want to throw everything you've become away for petty revenge? You are so much more than that Simon."
Simon soaked in what Hank was saying and was starting to consider it. He shrunk back down to normal size as Spidey lowered himself and Hank onto the street.
"I can't believe that worked." Spidey remarked. "I've lost count of how many times I've tried to do that, and it backfired."
"I never wanted to hurt anyone." Simon told them. "It's just Stark… he took everything I've worked for."
As he spoke, Spider-Man noticed something off about Simon's body. It seemed to be rippling, as if it was unstable.
"Hey, guys, I think-"
Before he could finish, a shot of lightning shot out, knocking Simon back.
"Stay thy hand, villain!" Thor declared as he, Wolverine, and Wasp arrived.
"No!" Ant-Man cried out.
"So… that's how you wanna play it…" Simon let out, his eyes flaring. "Fine!"
He fired blasts from both hands, hitting Thor and prompting Spider-Man to tackle Ant-Man out of the way.
"We were talking him down!" Spidey called out. "We had him!"
"Well he ain't in a talking mood now," Wolverine replied, running at him.
He leapt at Simon and tried slashing at him with his claws, but it only resulted in a surge of energy to course through his body. This caused Wolverine to cry out in pain before getting launched backwards. Giant-Man quickly grew in size, grabbing Simon with both hands.
"Simon, please!" Hank pleaded. "We want to help you, but you have to let us!"
"More lies!" Simon cried out, growing out of his grip and backhanding him.
Giant-Man toppled over as Simon loomed over him, eyes ready to fire. Fortunately, Captain America came riding in on his bike, tossing his shield right in the path of the eye blasts, blocking the shot. Simon turned towards Cap as the shield returned to him.
"I don't know who you are," Cap called out. "But this ends now!"
Simon narrowed his eyes, shrinking down and flying after Cap, continuing to blast at him. As this went on, Wasp flew over to Giant-Man, quickly pressing the button on his hand to shrink him down.
"Are you ok?" Wasp asked as Ant-Man picked himself up.
"Fine, but we have to stop the others from hurting Simon."
"You mean that purple thing?"
"He's a man," Ant-Man replied as Spider-Man landed on a lamppost next to them. "A man in need of our help."
"Hate to admit it, but Wolvie might be right on this one," Spidey admitted. "Simon isn't going to listen to us while he's all riled up. We need to take him down a peg."
Ant-Man let out a sigh of resignation.
"Alright, but try not to hurt him too badly."
"Somehow I doubt that'll be a problem," Wasp remarked before flying off.
Spider-Man followed close behind as Simon fired another blast from his eyes, knocking Cap off his motorcycle. The super soldier rolled on the ground for a bit, as Simon moved in. Just then, Wasp began flying around him, firing several bio stings that caused small ripples all over his body. As she did that, Spider-Man landed near Cap and shot a web at his shield.
"Always wanted to try this," Spidey let out, spinning the web and shield overhead.
Finally, he slung the shield right at Simon, hitting him in the head and knocking him out of the air.
"Nice shot," Cap commended.
"Hey, figured if it worked on Goliath, it can work here," Spidey remarked.
Once Simon was down, the Avengers quickly began circling around him, with Ant-Man stepping forward.
"Simon, this has to stop. If you keep fighting us, you'll risk destroying everything."
Simon just glared as he got back up, causing the Avengers to become uneasy.
"You don't get it," Simon challenged. "My company was all I had. I am nothing except this."
"You don't have to be," Spider-Man chimed in. "We can help you find a cure for this.
"And then what? Stark took everything from me…"
"That's never what I wanted."
The Avengers and Simon turned to see Tony walking down the street towards them.
"Stark," Simon let out about to move on him.
"Simon, wait!" Tony let out. "Let me explain."
"Explain what? How you bought me out just to raise your profit margin? I'm done listening."
" I didn't buy your company just to get profits. I bought your company to save it."
Simon was surprised to hear that, as were Ant-Man and Spider-Man.
"You… were trying to save it?" Simon let out.
"I went over your finances. Your company was neck deep into debt, it wasn't going to survive on its own. I also saw you had game changing ideas in the works. I wanted to work with you. And I still do."
Tony then held out his hand towards Simon.
"If you'll let me."
Simon looked up at Tony, then slowly held out his hand. Just as they were about to shake on it, Simon's entire body began to quiver. Pulses of Ionic energy began to emit from his form, which was clear becoming unstable.
"Simon?" Tony questioned, worried about the man. "Simon?!"
Simon backed away, confused about what was going on as well.
"What's… what's happening?!" Simon let out as his body continued shifting form and fluctuating.
"What's wrong with him?" Wasp asked.
"It's what I realized earlier," Spider-Man informed. "The ionic energy composing his body is unstable. Whatever happened to turn Simon into this is tearing him apart."
"He's gonna go critical unless we do something," Tony realized.
"What can we do?" Cap asked.
"I don't know," Ant-Man admitted. "The ions-"
"Hank, please!" Tony pleaded.
Hank paused, honestly thinking of a solution.
"Spider-Man," he finally spoke up. "You said you noticed this before."
"Yeah, right before Thor came in, and-" Spidey stopped for a second. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"The energy from Thor's lightning must have stabilized his form temporarily. If we had a perpetual energy source, it could keep his form solid."
Tony instantly perked up.
"I got it! Everyone, we need to get Simon back to Stark Tower!"
Hank nodded before growing giant sized and picking up Simon.
"Hold it together Simon," Giant-Man told him, running towards the tower. "We're gonna save you."
…
Once they reached the tower, Thor threw his hammer at the wall of the tower leading into the arc reactor room. Giant-Man carried Simon through the hole and towards the reactor.
"Just a little longer." Giant-Man told him.
"Why are you doing this?" Simon questioned, fizzling in and out in Hank's grip. "Why are you helping me? After I attacked you..."
"Because no one deserves to die like this." Hank told him. "Especially not you."
Finally, Hank placed Simon into the reactor, his energy dissipating and mixing with that of the Arc reactor. The usual blue tint changed to a deep purple, and a face began to form in front of the Avengers. It took a moment, but it eventually solidified into Simon's.
"Thank you." he told them all. "And Tony… I'm sorry I didn't let you finish before. I knew you only by your reputation as a man who cared only about profits, and I was afraid of just being another casualty of Stark Industries."
"I'm sorry I made you feel this was the only option for you." Tony told him. "I promise, one day I will find a cure for you."
"I know you will, Tony." Simon told him. "And when that day comes, I look forward to working with you to get Williams Innovations back into the spotlight."
"So do I." Tony replied as he and Hank walked off.
"Tony…" Hank let out. "I was wrong too. You aren't the man I met with three years ago."
"I admit I still have some work to do with my communications skills." Tony conceded. "And I can still come across as a big jerk."
"You can." Hank agreed. "But you're 'are' getting better."
…
Later that night, Simon was resting in the arc reactor when he felt something pull him from the device. His ions were forced back out into the reactor room, where his former body was reformed. This time however, it was far more solid.
"What the…?" he let out. "How did I-?"
"You did nothing." a female voice interrupted.
Simon turned to see Amora walking into the room, her Executioner on her left with Baron Zemo on her right.
"Who are you?" Simon demanded.
"My name is Amora." she replied. "And you work for me now."
Zemo let out a small cough and Amora rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, you work for us now." she amended.
"Why should I listen to you?" Simon asked.
"A simple reason, my dear 'wonder man'." Zemo declared. "You power will be of great use to us, and should you decide to disobey for any reason..."
He gestured to Amora, who waved her hand in Simon's direction. His form immediately began to fluctuate again, only this time at a much faster rate.
"No! Wait!"
Zemo turned to Amora and nodded, signaling her to stop. She did, and his form returned to normal. He breathed a sigh of relief, then looked over at the three villains.
"Alright… what do you want me to do?" Simon relented.
Amora smiled.
...
Took some liberties with this one. Wonder Man isn't a bad guy, he just made some bad choices. Besides, Marvel is the master of the tragic villain, so it works.
