Chapter 16 – Rally The Reporters, 2011

The conference hall at Stark Global was massing with people; a hundred conversations overlapping at once with phone calls and text message tones. Some people were checking their appearances in the large mirror at the back of the room; mainly the on-screen reporters, but Tony noticed some very publically vain people there as well. The mirror had been installed at Tony's request for dual-reasons, one; for Tony to see how many reporters were there to harass him some, and two; so Tony could pull faces at them and calm himself before he went up to the small podium to make his speech.

On the other side of this mirror at that very moment, was Tony Stark and Nick Fury. Tony was un-characteristically quiet, which was a given, considering the things that had happened.
"Relax." Fury said. "You've done this a million times, why are you nervous?"
"It's a little different now, y'know? My best friend kidnapped my daughter and almost killed her, and me." Tony retorted. He then sighed and took a very deep breath.
"Five minutes, boss," Happy said from the doorway.
Tony glanced at him and nodded slightly, "Thank you, Happy." He said and walked towards him to head along the corridor towards the door which led to the stage. Fury followed him, "So, Nicky, are you nervous? Your first "rodeo"?" Tony asked.

Fury scoffed, "Bring it on." He said, which made Tony laugh.
Together they went out onto the small stage and sat in their respective seats behind a long table, along which there were several senators that Tony felt didn't need to be there, several other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, and Obadiah Stane, Tony's second in command on the Stark Global board of directors.
Stane patted Tony's shoulder as Tony sat down and cleared his throat into the microphone. The reporters all settled down, camera's continued flashing, or filming, depending on their purposes.
Tony quietly cleared his throat again, "Good afternoon." He said, "I suppose you'd all like to know what happened at the Stark Global factory."

A reporter Tony recognised as Ben Ulrich, from the Daily Globe in New York raised his hand, "Mister Stark, I know everyone here would love that explanation, but I think I know that everyone would rather know the answer to these questions; Was all this a big publicity stunt to draw attention to a dying company? That you originally staged your kidnapping in order to put this whole thing into motion? That you yourself created that...War Monger suit for you best friend so you could gain the trust of the public again?"
Tony's jaw flapped as he tried to answer, then he smiled when Ulrich finished, "I see J. Jonah Jameson still has that multi-track mind." He said sarcastically, raising a few laughs, specifically from the teenage photographer who had managed to snap Tony's "shocked" reaction to Ulrich's questions. "No, Mister Ulrich, none of this was staged, manufactured or faked." He said.
At this point, Fury took over, "James Rhodes is now considered a criminal, over the years he's seen a lot of combat and for some men it's just too much."
Ulrich didn't seem satisfied. "And what do you say about the millions of pictures of you in that suit?" he addressed Tony, almost ignoring Fury.

Tony shrugged, "What are you saying? Are you calling me a superhero?"
At his words both Fury and Stane sat towards him, murmuring under their breath, but Tony shushed them and stood up, taking the microphone with him, "Maybe I am, what's to say that I shouldn't be able to put on that suit of armour and protect the country that I live in, the country that I made weapons for to kill members of other countries? Maybe this is the Stark Global way of leaving Stark Industries and war profiteering in the past." He said.
He looked out over the crowd of faces, and they all lifted recorders and boom microphones towards him, "I have single-handedly," he paused momentarily to send a glare towards Fury, "Ushered in a new age of peace; we're all living in the Age of Iron. Well technically it's not iron, it's a gold titanium alloy, but...y'know, Iron Man would look better in all the papers, right?"
"Mister Stark?" spoke the photographer, "I'm Peter Parker," he said, not that Tony thought he would remember that name, "So you wear an iron suit of armour, and we call yourself Iron Man...what's next?"

Tony was actually stumped by the question, "Next?" Tony shrugged, "Wait for the next disaster, and save the world."
Stane and Fury jumped to their feet in shock, and voices crossed over each other from the reporters. But Tony hushed them all with the raise of his hand. He remained silent for a few seconds as he replayed a lot of the events of the past few months, "Have this for your headlines; I am Iron Man." He said and was immediately blinded by flashing cameras.


"Mister Stark." Senator Stern said, "I will say this again, you must relinquish the Iron Man armour to the U.S. Military!" he said, his tone exasperated.
Tony leant across the table in the courtroom, and slapped the table as he spoke, "I've told you already, you can't have it!"
"And I'm asking you again, why?"
Tony sighed, "You really want it? You can't have it. Check the patent, the armour, both armour's are patented under the Stark name, as are the plans for my Arc Reactor," he said. "Not my company's name, Senator, my name." Tony said with a triumphant tone, "You want them. You can't have them! They're me, I'm them; we're one. You don't like it, tough." He shrugged, like he was scolding a little boy.
Senator Stern gritted his teeth, realising now that he was stumped, and would most likely fire the person who had looked at the documents for him.

"The only people allowed near my suits are myself, my wife and my little girl." Tony said, standing up.
"Mister Stark this meeting isn't adjourned, please sit down." Stern said after him.
"Yes it is," Tony said, "I've already proven the point, you can't take the suits from me." Tony said and smiled at the cameras around him, "World peace is a product of the Stark genius, ladies and gentlemen." He announced and walked out under a barrage of voices.

As soon as he was outside, he felt the vibration of his phone in his inside-jacket pocket. "Hello?"
"Well, well, Anthony Stark," said a familiar voice.
"Nicky, I haven't heard from you since the press hearing, what can I do for you? Not weapons, I hope?"
"There's some trouble, in the Nevada Desert, we could use some Stark Tech to help us." Fury said.
Tony thought about it, "Vegas? Sure, I'm on my way."
"Oh, and Tony? You don't need to bring your new suit." Nick said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Tony frowned a little, "I'm on my way." He repeated and hung up, heading straight for his Audi R8 coupé.