Earth-717: Iron Maiden Vol 2

Chapter 2: Exchange

"Full three-dimensional display."

"As you wish, ma'am."

Tasha held out her arms as the blue hologram operating system expanded across the room, showing display screens, data files and holographic images all around her. Her hands behind her back, she walked throughout the system, the blue light beams that formed the images receding themselves out of her path as she moved. For a couple of minutes, she looked around at all of the data she had on Advanced Idea Mechanics.

"Sure this is all of it?"

"All of the data that I am privy to at this time, ma'am. I must admit, even I am somewhat perturbed by their elusiveness. Mostly small data caches and internet speculation. I can only surmise that they are in possession of an incredibly durable electronic security system."

"Yeah, no shit."

"I am still working on finding more leads as we speak, but I don't know if I'll find any workable information anytime soon."

"Keep trying," said Tasha. "Has to be some way of tracking these guys."

Tasha approached a hard-light hologram data screen, grabbing it with her palms. She started twisting it around as she read the information on it, detailing her secret appeal to the United States government where she claimed that AIM was behind the attack on Stark Tower. Due to lack of evidence, it was dismissed. She sighed before tossing the data screen away.

Folding her arms and concentrating, she didn't notice Happy walking into the room with a McDonald's bag. He approached her, but stopped just outside the radius of the hologram system.

"Uh . . . . Tash?"

Tasha perked up and looked at Happy.

"Lunch to order?" said Happy.

Tasha scratched her head for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.

"Oh yeah, thanks," replied Tasha. "Could use something to munch on. Help me think."

Happy awkwardly gestured towards the hologram system.

"Uh, will I, uh . . . . break your video game if I walk in there?"

"What? No! Get over here, dammit."

Happy hesitantly stepped through the blue line of light at the edge of the hologram system. Noting that nothing happened, he then breathed a sigh of relief and continued to walk up to Tasha, holding the bag out to her. She seized it from his hands and pulled a burger from inside the bag, greedily gobbling it down.

"You're welcome," said Happy, once she finished the rest of her food and tossed the bag in the trash.

"Thanks, bud."

"Who always gets you whatever you need, huh? Me! I'm an enabler, I tell ya."

"You're so good to me."

"I know. What do I get for it?"

Tasha raised an eyebrow before counting off several items on her fingers.

"A very tidy salary. Competitive benefits package. Free room and board. My eternal friendship?"

Happy shrugged.

"Eh. Guess we're even then."

Tasha and Happy shared a hearty laugh.

"Thanks, Happy. You do help. A lot."

"It's what I'm here for."

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Janice.

"What's up, Queen Victoria?" asked Tasha.

"There's . . . . an incoming call, ma'am," said Janice.

"So? What's with the hesitation? Don't tell me it's my landlord."

"You have a landlord?" asked Happy.

"No, genius," scolded Tasha. "It was a joke. Thanks for ruining it."

"No problem."

"The incoming call isn't from any conventional line. It's funnelling directly through the hard-light hologram system."

"What? To do that, you'd have to have one of your own," said Tasha. "Who would . . . ."

The hologram of a man faded into existence in front of Tasha. His entire form was tinted blue due to being made of the light of the hologram system, but she could immediately tell who it was.

"Killian."

"Hello, Tasha," responded Killian. "I heard you've been looking for me."

"Hey," said Happy. "Hey, hey, that's the guy. The guy, right?"

Tasha responded without taking her glare off of Killian.

"Yeah. That's him."

"Good thing your lapdog has a certain level of visual comprehension," said Killian. "I'd hate for the slaves of the great Tasha Stark to be incompetent."

"Stow the fancy words, slick," retorted Happy. "You wouldn't be talkin' like that, you were facing me man to man."

Killian let out a disingenuous chuckle.

"Stand down, Happy," said Tasha, gently pushing Happy aside. "I can deal with this."

"You say so, Tash. I'll uh . . . . be outside if you need me."

Happy turned away and walked out of the room. Tasha furrowed her brow and folded her arms as she stared at the holographic man standing before her. He smugly smiled to himself as he looked away from the door and back at Tasha.

"Surprised to learn I have a holographic operating system?"

"No," answered Tasha. "Surprised you called."

"Yes. I suppose that is the question of the hour."

Killian looked around at the various data feeds regarding AIM.

"You've certainly spent a lot of time trying to find me."

"I have. Why step into the light now?"

Killian took in a deep breath, placing his hands behind his back. He started to pace around the room as he spoke.

"Because something has changed that could affect the both of us going forward. We've been playing our little cat and mouse game for some time now, Tasha, and for the most part, I've enjoyed the sport. But now, there's something that could shift the balance of power in ways that might prove difficult for Advanced Idea Mechanics . . . . and for you."

"What would that be?"

"I have my suspicions that there is a splinter movement within my organization. Someone is trying to oust me, or at least undermine my authority. I've heard rumours of back-handed deals being carried out by some of my operatives. I don't know how far the corruption goes."

Tasha snorted.

"So? AIM people are rebelling? Try serving better food in the cafeteria."

"It goes beyond that."

"Okay. Then I have a better suggestion. Tell me why should I care."

"Because it involves you. Peripherally."

Tasha gritted her teeth, readying herself for whatever information Killian was going to hit her with.

"I'm listening."

"Whoever these traitors are, they've gotten bold. I have information that they've stolen some prototype tech from my labs and are planning to sell it to a third party. I have the location and time of the deal, as well as the intended buyer, but the identities of the traitors are still unknown."

"Waiting for the part where this involves me."

"The tech that they stole . . . . is an arc reactor. Based on your design."

Tasha's eyes widened.

"You son of a bitch! You're getting pissy because your own people sold you out by stealing what you stole from me?! You ransacked my building! Killed my people!"

"I'm not denying any of that, at least not to you," responded Killian. "But this is more important than you or I. I know that may be difficult for you to believe given your ego, but you haven't yet heard the most crucial bit of information. The buyer."

"Who is it?"

Killian inhaled before answering.

"Victor Von Doom."

Tasha gulped, feeling the blood drain from her cheeks.

"Shit."

"Thought that might get your attention."

"You're serious."

"You know what he's capable of. What he did to the UN. What he's still doing now. Doom is one of the most intelligent people on the planet. Imagine what he could do . . . . what he would be willing to do . . . . with a working version of your tech."

Tasha fumed. Killian stopped pacing and stood in front of her.

"You make it sound like this is my fault. These are your people."

"Not anymore. They stopped being my people when they betrayed me. We may be enemies, Tasha, but neither of us want to give Doctor Doom an edge."

"So, what? You're gonna give me the information? Can't take out your own trash?"

"I would take care of it myself, but right now, I don't know who to trust amongst my operatives. Ironically enough, you're the most trustworthy person I know right now who has the ability to deal with something like this."

"How do I know this isn't a trap? Seems like the sort of sleazy plot you'd pull."

"You're a smart girl, Tasha. Tell me, why would I risk contacting you directly if this wasn't legitimate? Don't you think there are a thousand more subtle ways for me to lay a trap? I'm charting perilous territory just coming to talk to you. Whether you believe me or not, it doesn't really matter. Regardless of what you think of me or my organization, I know that you would never allow Doom to walk away with your technology. You and I both know he's the bigger threat."

Tasha looked away from Killian, turning around and thinking to herself. After a minute of rumination, she turned around and stared into his eyes.

"I'll get my tech back. But I'm doing it for me, not for you. I see AIM people there, I take them down."

"Go ahead. They betrayed me, remember?"

"Janice! Grab the info and hang up on this prick."

"As you say, ma'am."

Killian gave Tasha a villainous smirk.

"Goodbye, Tasha."

Killian's hologram faded away. Tasha then marched over to her armour containers.

"I have the location pinned to the map in your heads-up display. The deal will be happening within the next two hours, at a coastline location near the border of Mexico."

"Time to give the new girl a test drive."

"The Mark Three, ma'am?"

One of the armour containers opened up, revealing Tasha's latest suit, with a red and silver colour scheme.

"You make it sound so sterile, girl. She needs a real name, just like her sisters. I'm thinking, Mark Three, designation . . . . Juliet."


"This is a terrible idea."

"Don't wanna hear it, Rhodey."

"You listening to yourself, Tasha?" yelled Pepper. "You're going after Doctor Doom!"

"I knooooow!"

"I don't think you remember. I don't think she remembers."

"She probably doesn't remember," said Stane.

"Obadiah and I were at the United Nations during his attack, Tasha!" shouted Pepper. "He had an army of evil robots! And he fought the Fantastic Four! And got away with it! I almost died! It sucked! Right, Obadiah?"

"Fairly accurate, yeah."

"Yeah!"

"Relax, Pep," said Tasha. "I know he's a dangerous bastard, but the Mark Three is a dangerous bitch."

"I admire your bravado, Tasha, but this is different," scolded Rhodes. "Doom isn't like one of AIM's flunkies. He's the most feared man alive for damn good reasons. Going into this without backup is a mistake."

"Pffff. Have you seen Juliet's upgrades? I am the backup!"

"Pardon my boldness, ma'am," interrupted Janice, "but I believe it would be most prudent to consider the wise counsel of your friends at this juncture. They are, after all, most concerned as to your personal well-being. Victor Von Doom is generally considered to be the most dangerous supervillain on the face of the planet. The entire Fantastic Four working together were only able to fight him to a stalemate."

"But he's never fought me."

"Confidence is one thing, ma'am. Brazenness is quite another."

"I'm not gonna listen to this anymore. I have to do this. Don't wait up for me guys, and Janice, don't argue with me."

"Understood."

The com link shut off as Tasha flew towards the warehouse on the docks. The Pacific Ocean was beyond the pier, only moderately visible given the night sky. Landing on the edge of the warehouse's roof, she then slowly walked across to the far side. Peering to the dock below, she saw Brandt standing there, along with two AIM operatives in their beekeeper outfits.

Standing across from them, next to a hi-tech shuttle, was Doom. He was flanked on his left by Lucia von Bardas, and on his right by Lily Madison, the Beetle. Tasha sneered upon seeing the Beetle's armour, and how remarkably similar it was to her own. Brandt walked up to Doom, holding a metal suitcase. She opened it and showed its contents to Doom.

"Stark's miniaturized arc reactor," said Brandt. "As promised."

Doom stepped forward to examine the reactor. Unable to hold herself back, Tasha then leaped off the roof and boosted downwards. Taken aback, Doom retreated a step as Tasha flew between him and Brandt. Tasha looked down at Brandt, whose mouth dropped at the sight of the flying hero.

"Hey, hussy!" chirped Tasha.

Tasha then kicked Brandt across the face.

"Ugh!"

Brandt dropped the suitcase on the floor and spun around in the air multiple times before landing on the concrete. The two AIM operatives dropped their weapons and ran off. Tasha then turned to face Doom.

"As for you, Vic . . . . two tips for you. One. You want Stark tech? Get it from the source. Two. You want Stark tech? Don't bother! I don't make a habit of selling my stuff to supervillains."

Doom didn't respond to Tasha. Rather, he looked down at the arc reactor, which was now on the floor. Tasha followed his gaze and aimed one of her hand repulsors at him.

"Don't even think about it."

Lucia immediately held up her arms, which transformed into laser cannons.

"None may threaten Doom!" she yelled.

Lucia opened fire with both of her arm cannons, and Tasha boosted into the sky to dodge the onslaught of pink lasers. Tasha fired two repulsor blasts at Lucia, who sidestepped them. Lily unfurled her wrist energy blades, and took off into the sky. Doom stood still, both motionless and silent as he watched the battle.

"Oh, look! A female assassin hit squad! The hallmark of any fashionable dictator!"

Lily yelled as she tried to slice at Tasha's gut, but was outmanoeuvred by Tasha's agility thrusters. Tasha punched Lily across the face, but Lily quickly recovered and attacked with a chain of combination strikes, several of which sliced at Tasha's armour. Tasha tried to blast Lily away, but was struck from behind by an energy blast from Lucia.

"Get outta here, you wannabe!"

Tasha performed a vertical spin kick, connecting her foot with Lily's chin. As Lily was knocked away, Tasha somersaulted backwards so that she was behind Lucia before firing a cluster bomb from her wrist cannon. Lucia jumped away from the flurry of explosions, but was still blasted into the air. She crashed into the side of the warehouse, but landed on her feet and spun around, continuing to fire at Tasha as she flew overhead.

Lily then boosted straight towards Tasha, vaulting over her and grabbing both sides of her head. Tasha yelped as Lily spun over her and performed a guillotine throw, smashing her against the ground. Lily then tried to land a downward strike on Tasha with her energy blade, but Tasha rolled out of the way just in time. Tasha then aimed her repulsors at both villains before getting blasted in the chest by a green beam fired from Doom's hand.

"Ayugh!"

Tasha stumbled to the floor. Doom then finally spoke.

"Enough."

Tasha looked up at Doom to see him standing, holding the arc reactor in his right hand. Both Lucia and Lily immediately returned to his side. Panting as she glared at Doom, Tasha watched as he then crushed the arc reactor in his hand and tossed it to her feet. She looked down at it in dismay before looking back up at him.

"I no longer require your technology, Stark. It seems that my own has already surpassed it."

Doom then turned around, calmly approaching his shuttle.

"Come," he said. "We're returning to the embassy."

Doom, Lucia and Lily all boarded the shuttle, which then blasted off into the night. Severely weakened by the fight, Tasha fell to one knee, grabbing at her chest piece. Remembering Brandt, she looked all around at the dock, but the woman from AIM was already gone.