IRON IKARI
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Eva or Iron Man 2 or their characters.
Summary: When Tony gets drunk and dons his Mark IV armor, it's up to Shinji and Rhodey to stop him before he does something they're all going to regret.
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Mission 3
Battling The Boss
It had been a month since Mari had officially becomes Shinji's assistant.
Since then the young woman had opened up tremendously. Emotionally that is. Her shyness and awkwardness disappearing quicker than Shinji's. The pair had yet to do anything that equated to a date.
However, that wasn't the issue.
Shinji had told Tony about his life in the other universe, but he had yet to tell Mari.
He vaguely wondered what would she do if she found out.
Would she be upset? Would she think I was making fun of her? Would she think I was just making a joke? Would she think it was a reason not to be close to her?
These were his thoughts as the plane headed back to America. However, while Shinji was wondering how he was going to explain his 'situation' to Mari, mostly since he figured he owed it to her, his boss, Tony Stark, and the others were in the process of planning, and maintaining/coordinating, two very important events.
The first was Tony Stark's birthday party. The second was The Stark Technology Expo that was one of Howard Stark's most important charities. While the Expo was supposed to be ongoing for the next year, it had put considerable stress on Stark, which was slowly showing to those who knew him best.
Such as Shinji.
For years, Howard Stark had had this grand dream of showing the world what was possible through the advancement of technology. Science to help the world. Despite the military application to his work, Howard wanted to show the world the benefit that technology could have for all of mankind. Even those countries that were not yet so advanced.
Which is why the Stark Expo, often held in New York, was such an important thing to Tony. It would be a real legacy to leave behind, instead of the military one he was known for. A final act to be achieved before his time was done.
A time that would be coming sooner than expected.
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(Los Angeles International Airport)
As the private plane taxied into the special waiting area designated for Stark Employees only, Mari Illustrious Makinami was happy to see everyone returned safely from Monaco.
Yet she was more eagerly awaiting her 'boss' returning alive and well, even though she had spoken to him only a day ago.
First out of the plane was Tony Stark (inventor and hero). He was of medium height and build, in fairly good shape for someone who 'played' around a lot. Dark combed hair, mustache, and clearly of Caucasian descent, dressed in a black suit, no tie, and a white shirt underneath with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.
Following him was Pepper Potts (current CEO of Stark Enterprises). She was about as tall as Stark, though from a distance some people thought she was the taller. Long, light reddish hair with an almost pale-peach complexion, greenish eyes and dressed in a very nice looking business suit.
After her was Natalia Rushman (Pepper's new assistant). She was young, shapely, very attractive, with red hair a few shades darker than Pepper, striking blue eyes and a strange quite demeanor. She was dressed simply in a pair of black pants and shoes, white blouse, and lightly done make-up.
Happy Hogan (driver, sparring partner, all-around handyman) was directly after the pair of redheads. He was a little shorter than Stark, much stockier (like he enjoyed eating) with thinning black hair and an almost incurable smile on his face. He was dressed in a black suit and tie combo, and was carrying the carry-on luggage in his hands, around his neck and shoulder, and even one in his teeth.
Then came Lt Colonel James Rhodes (Stark's military liaison and one of Tony's best friends). He was a lean, muscular African-American man with thinner hair than Happy. A sharp, hard edge to him and dark brown eyes that spoke of a no-nonsense attitude. He was dressed in his usual dark blue Air Force uniform and black shoes. His service hat was in his hands.
Shinji Ikari (Stark's technical assistant and hero in training) was the last one out, and Mari had happily brought her car to take both her and Shinji back to Stark Manor.
(At least that's what they called it.)
"Welcome back, Shinji-kun." she said, using the affectionate term on him.
"Glad to be back, Mari-chan." Shinji replied.
The urge to hug each other was difficult to resist, though it helped that there were other people around to help keep them self-conscious. (Though in all honesty, Shinji could have used a hug or two from someone who cared.) Tony, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and Natalia took the limo that had been brought for them, while Mari drove Shinji in her own car.
A brand new, black, Audi R8 V10 Spyder.
While they were heading back, Shinji was playing with the mini arc reactor that he had taken from Vanko.
"Is that the device?" Mari asked as she drove down the ocean-view road.
"Yes. I was able to analyze it, and it's exactly like Mr Stark's arc reactor."
"Exactly?" she asked.
"Well... mostly." Shinji said. "Mr Stark's is more... streamlined."
"But it's just like the one in his chest?" she asked.
"Yes." Shinji said, then paused. "Oh, did you get the info on Anton Vanko?"
"Yes, I did." Mari said as she reached over to the glove compartment on Shinji's side of the car. But as she did, her breasts rubbed against his legs, causing an unintentional reaction that Shinji tried to hide.
She did that on purpose! He thought. "Can you see where you're going?" he gasped.
"This will just take a second." she said, fumbling with the glove box to get to the file.
"MARI! TRUCK! LOOK OUT!" He shouted as he leaned over towards the steering wheel to push them out of the way.
But as he did, he sandwiched Mari between his legs and chest.
Oh My! Mari thought as she felt his weight upon her. Of course, that wasn't the only thing she felt.
Shinji pushed the steering wheel to the side, causing the car to swerve and miss the on coming truck by a few feet. The car pulled onto the side of the road as Shinji shouted to Mari.
"Break! Break!" Shinji screamed.
Mari quickly put her foot on the break and Shinji threw the gear stick into Park.
"Oh...God!" Shinji cried out as he threw himself back against his car seat, the car safely off to the side of the road and fully stopped.
Once the car had ceased moving, Mari rose up off of Shinji's lap and looked at him. "You know, if anyone were to pass by right now, it might have looked like I was giving you a ..." Mari started to say, only to be stopped by Shinji putting his hand over her mouth.
"Please, don't." Shinji said with a blush. "So, what do you have?"
"Besides your hand on my mouth?" she mumbled, kissing his hand with her lips.
He blushed as she did that.
"Sorry." he said, removing his hand as Mari just smiled at his rather innocent nature, pulling the file from the glove compartment and handed it to Shinji.
Shinji took the file and stared at it. "1963?" he asked, noting the date.
"Yes. Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States and apparently joined forces with a brilliant young inventor named Howard Stark. However, in 1967 he was accused of spying for the Russians and deported back to the Soviet Union." she said.
"A physicist and an inventor." Shinji mused. "1963 to 1967. That was around the time Howard Stark developed the Arc Reactor for his factory."
"There isn't any information about what happened. But... according to some rumors I dug up, Anton wanted to use the arc reactor to make money. Sell it to the highest bidder or something. Howard Stark, however, didn't want to profit from the reactor. He was majorly invested in using the advancement of technology to make the world a better place. Not a fast buck. One of the rumors I dug up, says that Howard Stark actually turned Anton over to the feds and had him deported back to the Soviet Union. Without Howard Stark's support, Anton lost everything and eventually died in poverty. But he did have a son."
"Ivan." Shinji said, closing the file.
"Yes. He was also a physicist who was accused of selling weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan, and spent 15 years in Kopeisk prison. After that... nothing. Until he showed up on the Monaco race track to try and kill Mr Stark, of course. Best guess is that he did it because..."
"Because Howard Stark isn't around anymore, Anton's son decides to go after his son. The son blaming the son for the sins of the father." Shinji huffed as he closed the file. "Who accused Vanko of spying?"
"A federal agency that was newly formed during the Cold War. It's original name was the State Security Department. They've changed the name since then."
"To what?" he asked.
"SHIELD." she answered.
"This just gets better and better!" he groaned, wondering if, or how, General Fury was involved in all of this.
(Honestly, he wouldn't have doubted it.)
"Actually, it gets better. I got this news flash a few hours after the Monaco incident." Mari said, handing Shinji another piece of paper. "Mr Vanko was killed in some kind of an explosion at the prison."
Shinji looked at Mari in confusion.
"He's dead?" Shinji asked.
"Yes. The police are still investigating. So far, no suspects, no motive, and no witnesses to the crime." she replied.
"A professional job. That doesn't sound good." Shinji sighed. "And, of course... there's another issue to contend with."
"What issue?"
Shinji spared a sideways glance at Mari, wondering if he should betray Tony's trust after Tony told him specifically not to mention his condition to anyone.
Of course, Shinji was now as smart as Tony Stark. So he did have a plan.
"Mari-chan... I need you to get something set up for me." he said. "It's very important."
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(17 hours later)
Tony Stark's birthday party was always a big event. A Party-Of-The-Year kind of thing.
Politicians and world leaders weren't invited, and probably wouldn't attend, but you could bet that a gallery of beautiful women would definitely be there. Even if Tony Stark himself had to ask them personally to attend.
Through all of Stark Manor, music was thumping, drinks were flowing, and everyone was feeling more alive than they had in years.
So naturally, the place was a madhouse when Shinji arrived. Walking through the gaggle of people, all young, beautiful and just having a good time, Shinji was squeezed, pushed, bumped in to, and he could have sworn more than a couple of women (and possibly a guy) had felt him up. Reaching the main inner room where the party was taking place, Shinji was relieved to find a familiar face.
"Shinji!" a dark-skinned man in civilian clothes called out.
"Colonel Rhodes?" Shinji gasped, shaking the man's hand.
"Thank god you're here. Maybe you can talk some sense into Tony." James Rhodes said.
"Why? Where's Ms Potts?" Shinji asked.
"Right there!" Rhodes said, pointing to the stage and seeing a very drunk Tony Stark, decked out in his Mark IV armor, trying to kiss Pepper Potts in front of everyone.
"Oh no. He's getting worse." Shinji stated. (More like understated)
"Getting? He's already there!" Rhodes said. "I was on the phone with the President only a few minutes ago! He wants Iron Man back on watch. No excuses!"
Shinji looked at Rhodey with a panicked expression.
"Or... what? He's going to send a few thousand troops to come in here and take his armor?" Shinji asked.
"The way Tony's acting... in that suit... probably." Rhodey replied.
However, before Shinji could do anything to stop his employer, a burst of light and a champagne bottle exploded overhead. Stark had actually used the Mark IV to do a little target shooting for the crowd.
"I'm sick of this!" Rhodes sneered. "I put my neck out for that man, and look at him! Playing with that thing like it's a toy! Like he's just doing whatever the hell he wants cause he's gonna die tomorrow!"
"We don't get him out of here in the next hour, he just might." Shinji stated.
Rhodey looked at Shinji in confusion.
"Wha-what? What are you talking about?" the Air Force Colonel asked.
Shinji looked at Rhodey with a dead serious expression on his face, before leaning in closer to the man.
"Mr Stark is dying!" Shinji said so that only they could hear it.
(Not that anyone could hear them, paying more attention to Tony shooting up his own house like it was some old, warn out mansion ready for demolition)
Now Rhodey hadn't known Shinji that long, but long enough to know that he didn't make jokes. And not like this.
"What? How? From what?" Rhodes asked.
"The palladium in his arc reactor. It's been slowly killing him since he created it." Shinji said.
Rhodes looked down to the floor and then back up to Shinji. "And that weird rash on his neck?"
"It's a symptom of the poisoning. I've come up with a method to extract the toxins, but if we don't get him out of here soon..."
"Alright, alright, alright, so what do we do?" Rhodey asked.
"ATTENTION! LADIES AND GENTLESMEN!" a familiar voice shouted over the loudspeakers.
"Oh, no!" Shinji gasped, realizing that Tony was even further gone than he had expected, feeding his voice from the suit directly into the speaker system.
"I, TONY SNARK, YOUR HOST, WILL NOW PERFORATE ARIEL ACROBATICAS, WITHIN THE CONFINEES OF MY VERY OWN HIZZY!" a very drunk Tony slurred through the speakers.
"Damn it! With him suited up we're gonna need an army to bring him down." Rhodey hissed.
"No." Shinji replied. "Not an army. Armor!" he said, grabbing Rhodey's arm and leading him down into the garage.
"So exactly how long have you known about this?" Rhodey asked as Shinji input the access code to let them into the garage.
"Since Monaco! Even that guy, Vanko, knew about it. And if we don't stop Mr Stark now... well I don't think that alcohol's helping his recovery or abating the symptoms." Shinji said as he accessed the computer terminal at Tony's desk.
"What are you thinking?" Rhodey asked.
"I'm gonna match armor for armor." Shinji said as the special case for the red and gold Mark III armor opened up right in front of the pair.
"We're gonna use the Mark III?" Rhodey gasped.
"Yes." Shinji said as he initiated the protocols to have the machinery suit him up.
"But Tony's Mark IV is twice as powerful as that thing!" Rhodey stated.
"That's why I'm not going out there without back-up." Shinji said as the case for the Mark II was opened up automatically.
Rhodey looked at Shinji.
"Care to back me up, Colonel?" Shinji asked.
"Yes, sir!" Rhodey said with a smile.
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Tony Stark, the invincible Iron Man, was now hovering in mid-air, using only his stabalizers pointed at the ground, while his feet were pointed upwards to the ceiling. He quickly landed and started shooting champagne bottles and watermelons into the gaggle of gorgeous women that were all around him.
It was shortly after he had blown up a watermelon using his chest RT, that a heavy pair of stomping boots walked into the room. No one had yet to take notice of them yet, so a louder noise was needed.
"I'M ONLY GONNA SAY THIS ONCE!" a voice shouted, getting everyone's attention.
The crowd turned to look and saw James Rhodes decked out in silver-like Iron Man armor. Standing next to him was Shinji Ikari, decked out in a similar-looking red and gold Iron Man armor.
"Get Out." Rhodes stated clear enough for everyone to hear him.
That was enough as people started running for the door, and both Shinji and Rhodey closed their face plates before advancing towards Tony.
Tony, however, was too drunk to take any of this seriously.
"Let Me Talk To..." Shinji said, only to have Rhodes walk past him and right up to Stark.
"You Don't Deserve To Wear One Of These! Shut It Down!" Rhodes declared to Tony.
Oh boy! Shinji groaned
Tony turned around and looked at the DJ booth. "Goldstein?"
"Yes, Mr Stark?" the DJ asked.
"Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy and my assistant's ass to." he said with a laugh.
Oh you did not! Rhodey groaned as he advanced towards Stark.
The second 'Another One Bites The Dust' came on, Rhodes had jumped on Stark's back.
Shinji just hung his head. Well, since diplomacy is out the window... he thought, right as Stark used his rocket boots to blast himself and Rhodey into the workout room, ...make that through the wall... I'd better level the playing field! He thought as he pushed the Mark III in their direction.
"Now Put That Thing Back Where You Found It Before Someone Gets Hurt." Iron Man declared before walking away from Rhodes.
Rhodes grabbed the nearest heavy weight and was about to throw it at Iron Man's head, when Shinji came barreling in through the hole and tackled Iron Man back to where Rhodes was standing.
"I'm Really Sorry About This, Sir!" Shinji said as he looked down at the red and gold inventor.
"Yeah, I Can Tell You're Really Holding Back!" Tony grunted as he threw up his arms and knocked Shinji off of him.
Iron Man quickly got back to his feet, only to have Rhodes intercept him.
"This Ends Now Tony!" Rhodes said as he grabbed a large barbell with weights on it and slammed it into Iron Man's body, knocking him across the boxing ring and into the far wall.
"Wow. Nice Hit, Sir!" Shinji said.
"Thanks!" Rhodes said as Iron Man got back up.
"Two Against One. Not Fair!" Iron Man said. "You're Both Fired!"
"Sorry, Sir. But Ms Potts Is The CEO Now." Shinji argued.
"And You Work For Me!" Iron Man said.
"I Don't!" Rhodes said.
Iron Man exploded up from the other side of the ring and barreled towards the pair.
"Double..." Rhodes started as he pulled back his right fist.
"...Whammy!" Shinji finished as he pulled back his left fist.
Iron Man flew directly into their line-up, right as both men let fly their fists, punching the armored inventor hard in the face and sending him flying into and through the ceiling.
"Ohhhhhhh Ouch!" Iron Man declared as he looked up at the ceiling. "Am I Upstairs?"
"Mr Stark, You Need To Stop!" Shinji declared as he leapt through the hole and landed next to him.
"Can't Do That. I Still Own You And Ass-Kicking!" Iron Man slurred as he made a lunge for Shinji, only to get an uppercut courtesy of James Rhodes, who exploded through the hole in the floor, punched Iron Man, grabbed his armor, and dragged him back down into the hole.
"This... Is So Not According To Plan." Shinji groaned as he jumped into the hole after them.
Rhodes punched Tony, sending him through another wall, only to have Iron Man get back up and leap at the silver soldier, fire both jetboots, and send Rhodes flying through another wall. That was Shinji's cue to blind side Iron Man with a forceful crash right into the kitchen.
"Mr Stark! We Have To Stop This!" Shinji shouted.
"Can't! One Of Us... Is Still... Conscious!" Iron Man shouted as he punched Shinji in the head.
Shinji rolled with it and returned the punch.
Iron Man punched Shinji in the face.
Shinji punched Iron Man in the face.
Iron Man punched Shinji in the face.
Shinji punched Iron Man in the face.
Iron Man threw another punch, only to have Shinji deflect the attack and toss him in the center of the room, where he became a perfect target for James Rhodes, who charged, leapt into the air, and kicked Iron Man in the chest with both feet, sending him flying backwards into the nearest wall.
"Ohhhhhh." Iron Man groaned.
"I'm Not Gonna Ask You Again!" Rhodes shouted. "STAND DOWN!"
"Oh... I Don't Think We're Done... Just... YET!" Iron Man declared as he threw up his hands, his repulsors, both of them, armed and glowing.
Rhodey and Shinji threw their hands up to meet both of his.
"Put Your Hand Down." Rhodes declared.
"You Think You Got What It Takes To Wear That Suit?" Iron Man asked.
"We Don't Have to Do This, Tony." Rhodes said.
"You Wanna Be The War Machine, Rhodes, Take Your Shot!" Iron Man declared.
"Put It Down!" Rhodes shouted.
"You Gonna Take A Shot?" Iron Man shouted back.
"Don't Do It!" Rhodes shouted.
"Come On!" Iron Man shouted.
"Drop It!" Rhodes shouted.
"Take It!" Iron Man shouted.
"NO!" Shinji shouted.
Three beams of energy fired, enveloping the room in a blinding flash of light.
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(Stark Enterprises Corporate HQ. South Warehouse)
The South Warehouse had been primarily used for storage of odds and ends that Stark had been working on over the years when he wasn't working on military projects. Because of this, Tony had it converted into Shinji's main laboratory for his exclusive use. Approximately 60% of the warehouse was now his lab. The rest being used for storage.
Stark had even included an 'Armor Maintenance' facility like he had in his garage, fully equipt with the same kind of arms and mechanics that would enable Shinji to 'suit up' and test any of the armors if he needed to. And to make things even more convenient, Tony had provided Shinji with his own Artificial Intelligence companion. Just like Tony had JARVIS, Shinji had a HOMER.
It was here that Shinji brought the unconscious Tony Stark, both men still decked out in their armors.
"Is Everything Set Up, Mari-Chan?" Shinji asked as he fell in through the skylight.
"Yes, Shinji-kun. Just like you asked." Mari said, smiling at her bosses arrival.
"Great. HOMER! Give Me A Hand With The Armor!" Shinji shouted to the computer system.
(I don't have hands, Shinji) HOMER replied.
"Well... Not Your Hands, But..."
(I understand.)
While Shinji held up his unconscious boss, HOMER used the mechanized arms in the Suit Up area to strip Tony of his Mark IV armor, piece by piece, until all that was left was Tony Stark himself. Shinji then carried the still unconscious inventor towards a large glass tank that was filled with a strange blue liquid, which Mari had prepped for his arrival.
"What is this thing again?" Mari asked, following behind the pair.
"It's A Modified Version Of An Ionic Detox Footbath." Shinji said. "But Instead Of Leeching Toxins Through His Feet, This Device Will Pull The Toxins From Mr Stark's Entire Body. It's A Much Quicker And Effective Method."
"And why are we doing this? You make it sound as if Mr Stark is sick."
"He Is." Shinji said.
"He is?" she asked.
"Yes. Get The Mask And Put It Over His Face." he said, indicating the mask at the head of the tank. "I Should Have Told You Sooner. Mr Stark Is Suffering From Palladium Poisoning." Shinji explained as she did just what he wanted, affixing a scuba breathing apparatus (which looked like a full-face oxygen mask) to Tony's face before Shinji lowered him into the bathtub-like tank.
"Palladium? Like... the same stuff in his arc reactor?" Mari asked.
"Exactly." Shinji said. "HOMER, Activate Extraction Process!"
(Initiating... now!)
The pair stepped back from the tank as it started to glow.
"Good. Now... Get Me Out Of This Thing!" Shinji said as he stepped up to the Suit Up Area.
Instantly, the mechanical hands and gears started stripping him of his borrowed armor.
"So, you mean to say that the thing that's been keeping Mr Stark alive, is the very same thing that's killing him?" Mari asked.
"Unfortunately. He's been trying to find a cure and a replacement for that particular element, but so far he hasn't been able to come close to either one."
"So that means that this method of removing the toxins with this bath thing, is..."
"A treatment, not a cure." Shinji said, finally out of the Mark III. "The process is going to take a couple of hours. There's a lot of work that needs to be done in the meantime."
"Yeah, like what we're gonna tell Ms Potts."
"Just tell her that Mr Stark is safe, and that he'll be in recovery for the time being."
"Me? Why me?"
"Two reasons. 1-I need to work on something that's gonna consume all my time, and 2-because she likes you."
"She likes you too, Shinji-kun." she smirked.
"Yeah. But not as much as she likes you." he smirked back.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Well?" Shinji asked his assistant while typing on his computer.
"I told Ms Potts that Mr Stark is with you, and he is in recovery. She's anxious to see him." Mari said as she closed her cellphone.
"Not just yet." Shinji said. "After what he did at his own party, a little cooling off period is just what the doctor ordered. For everyone."
"Okay. But... what are we going to do now?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.
"I mean... with this!" Mari said as she pulled Shinji from his chair and console and over to a scale replica model of the Stark Expo laid out on a large table.
"What is this doing here?" Shinji asked his assistant.
"Ms Potts sent it over. As Mr Stark's Technical Assistant, she figured you would want to be intimately involved in everything Mr Stark was involved in." Mari explained. "Even though she isn't fond of the idea."
Shinji sighed as he stared at the model, wondering why he was even bothering. Thanks to Tony Stark, Shinji had become a scientist not a landscaper. An inventor, not a decorator. Although he did have to admit that the whole model was perfectly planned. All the pavilions and booths were set up perfectly adjacent to each other. The pathways and walkways were evenly stretched out. And the Expo Sphere was right in the center of the whole thing.
It was as if the whole thing was some kind of...
"No! It can't be!" Shinji gasped.
"Can't be what?" Mari asked.
"HOMER, would you please Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame into a manipulatable projection?" he said to the AI.
(Of course, Shinji) the AI said as lights and scanners washed over the model, taking holographic pictures of the whole thing.
(1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, Shinji) HOMER said.
"Huh. How many buildings are there?" Shinji asked.
"Do you want to include the Belgium waffle stand and the German Bratwurst booths?" Mari asked.
"Never mind." Shinji smirked. "Mark the pavilions red."
HOMER made the buildings, on the blue holographic rendering, red.
"Alright, let's try some color coding. Mark every causeway, footpath, tram, restroom, waffle stand, everything. Anything with a concrete wall." Shinji instructed.
HOMER did just that, and when he was finished, Shinji turned the holographic model on it's head, laying it up straight for him like he had placed it against a wall.
"Mari-chan... what does that look like to you?" Shinji asked.
"It... looks like a diagram. A blueprint for something. But what?" Mari asked.
(Ms Makinami is correct, Shinji. It appeares to be the base structure for some kind of molecular diagram. An atom perhaps.) HOMER said.
"In which case... the nucleus would be here! In the Unisphere!" he said, pointing at it the dead center of the image, where the holographic representation of the 'Earth' was. "Highlight, please." he said.
The object was highlighted in yellow, and Shinji used his hands to pull the object out from the main model, enlarged it to the side of a basketball, and just stared at it for a few seconds.
"Hmm. Alright... now... lose the footpaths. All of them." Shinji said.
(What exactly are you trying to achieve, Shinji?) HOMER asked as the footpaths fell away.
"I think I've just discovered... no, scratch that. I'm rediscovering a new element. I think." Shinji said.
"It seems a bit cluttered, though." Mari said.
"She's right. Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees. Parking lots, exits, entrances." Shinji instructed.
HOMER did as he was told.
"Alright, now...structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework." Shinji said.
The computer model brought all the buildings and booths together in the exact same pattern they had been as adjacent to the unisphere... as if the flat, three-dimensional map had actually been wrapped around a large ball.
Once the individual buildings were in place upon the sphere, Shinji slapped his hands together and then threw them out, the computer model following his movements and expanding outwards until it surrounded both Shinji and Mari in a large holographic ball.
"Wow." Mari gasped. "I don't know exactly what this is... but I'm impressed."
"Really? Why exactly?" Shinji asked.
"Well... Howard Stark somehow managed to create a brand new element, but he obviously couldn't get it to work with the technology of his era, so he left a message, a secret message, that he hoped his son would be able to decipher." she deduced.
And because I have Mr Stark's knowledge... Shinji thought. ...I was able to decipher it.
"Amazing! Dead nearly 20 years, and it looks like he still found a way to help out his own son." Mari said with a smile.
Shinji had to smile at that as well. "I know. And what's more... I think I recognize this particular molecular structure." he said.
"You do?" she asked.
"I think so." he said with a nod.
"So... what is it?" she asked curiously.
"Ununoctium!" he said with a triumphant laugh.
"Una-what?" Mari asked, clearly puzzled.
(Shinji, this implies a theoretical element not currently found on the Periodic Table.) HOMER said.
"I think you'll survive the shock, big guy." Shinji said with a smile. "If I'm right... this new element will serve as a viable replacement for Mr Stark's palladium." he said with a smiled. "Mark VI armor configuration."
HOMER brought up the holographic suit of armor. Once it was up, Shinji placed the holographic element right in the center of the chest piece.
(Unfortunately, if my analysis is right, it is impossible to synthesize.) HOMER said.
"Maybe... but I know this will work." Shinji stated.
"How can you be so sure?" Mari asked.
"Call it an educated guess." he said with a smile.
"A guess... huh?" she smirked.
"HOMER, we've got some work to do. And once you're done with the simulations, please write up a memo to the Journal of Science, and have this new element, called Ununoctium, labeled as Element 118 on the Periodic Table of Elements. It should be listed as a transactinide element, having the atomic number 118 and the temporary element symbol Uuo. It should be a p-block element and the last one of the 7th period. And make sure that it's listed, currently, as the only synthetic member of Group 18, having the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all discovered elements." Shinji declared.
"Oh, Boss, you keep talking like that and I'm gonna have an orgasm right here and now." Mari said as she sauntered up behind Shinji.
At hearing that, Shinji paused and turned towards the young woman. "Pardon?"
Shinji gasped as Mari threw herself square into his line of sight.
"Some girls get turned on by listening to someone read the works of William Shakespear. Other girls get turned on listening to the lyrics to 'Stairway to Heaven'. Me? I get hot when a cute guy starts going all in-depth and sciency."
"Uh...Sciency?" Shinji gulped, noticing her proximity.
"I already really, REALLY, like you! But if you don't stop talking techno like that, I'm gonna throw you to the floor and have my way with you, right here and right now, whether you want it or not!" Mari declared with heavy panting breaths.
Shinji swallowed hard as he saw the intense look in her eyes, telling him that she was serious.
"Right. Sorry." he said.
Mari smiled as she leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against Shinji's ear, giving it a soft blow that had the desired effect of sending shivers up Shinji's spine.
So naturally, the second she walked off back to her own desk and work station, Shinji actually felt his lungs fill with air again.
"Uh... HOMER?" Shinji asked.
(Yes, Shinji?) the AI said.
"I'm gonna need you to tap the Oracle grid. We're gonna need some things from Mr Stark's storage facility. All the equipment from projects Pegasus, Exodus, and Goliath."
(Those projects were housed in the Southern Warehouse.)
At hearing that, Shinji and Mari just looked at each other.
"But... that's here!" Mari stated.
(The original components for those projects are still housed in the remaining 40% that used to be this facility.)
"Alright. Then let's get to work!" Shinji said. "Also, I'm gonna need you to interface with JARVIS at the house so that we'll be able to upload his AI into the Mark VI suit."
(Of course.. Anything else?)
Shinji sighed as he looked at the holographic model of the Mark VI.
"Yeah. After the fight, Mr Rhodes took off in the Mark II. Did he happen to return the suit to the armory in Stark's garage?" Shinji asked.
(Uplink with JARVIS... Connecting... Checking... Negative. Colonel Rhodes did not return the Mark II.)
That's what I was afraid of. Shinji thought. "Well, then, HOMER... we've got a lot of work to do."
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Author's Notes:
There is very little I can say about this update, except... THANK GOD I GOT IT DONE!
Seriously, I have been working on this for nearly four straight hours trying to get it finished. And here it is. I finally managed to get the Iron Man 2 DVD and watched it over and over again in order to create these scenes. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy this, and maybe even Howard Stark will be able to forgive me for stealing Tony's thunder.
Hope everyone enjoys this and will leave me lots of reviews.