Chapter 3: Beware the Cyber-Croc!

'For God's sake, Tony, call the cops!'

'I'm not calling the cops.'

'The guy broke into your penthouse and hacked the computer. It's burglary, plain and simple.'

'No, Pepper, it's not simple! He works with the cops. They've got a freaking beacon on their roof in case they need to call him. For all we know, the cops put him up to it.'

'Now you're being ridiculous.'

'You haven't been out here. You don't know what this town's like. The Batman's not just an urban legend anymore. He's Gotham's very own goddamn superhero. You know what the local tabloids call him? The Caped Crusader! The World's Greatest Detective!'

'Says the man who employs the Invincible Iron Man...'

'And it looks great on the merchandising. Bottom line: if I try to sic the cops on this guy, I'm liable to have a mob waving pitchforks outside my door.'

Pepper sighed. The line went quiet. Tony recognised that silence. She was composing herself, trying to reason with him. It never worked. He hated it when Pepper tried to be reasonable with him. A stand-up shouting match was much more satisfying. It made her scowl and her cheeks go pink in a way that he found especially cute. Just picturing it made him smile.

'Tony,' said Pepper, slowly and deliberately, 'As your Executive Assistant, I strongly advise you to call local law enforcement.'

'And as your boss, I choose to ignore that advice,' said Tony, 'Iron Man and I can handle this. We don't need the cops.'

'But Tony –'

'Goodbye, Ms. Potts.'

Tony removed his earpiece and dropped it in the mug of coffee that was standing on the workbench amidst the battered pieces of his Iron Man armour. Last night's encounter with Batman had left Tony with only a few bruises but his armour had taken some serious damage. Most of it was superficial: dented plates and scuffed paintwork, but the jolt that had thrown him off the roof of the car had fried the suit's electrical systems. It had even disabled his jet boots, leaving him in the humiliating situation of having to call Jarvis for a ride back to Stark Tower.

The next morning he had cleared his diary and disappeared into the secret workshop beneath the building to check and repair every component of the armour. It was going well but examining the damage only made him angrier. How had a guy in a glorified Halloween costume with a bag of tricks got the better of him? He had taken down tanks and jet fighters and techno-terrorist cells single-handed but one man in tights and a cape had been too much to handle.

And why had Batman targeted Stark Industries in the first place? Tony had heard the stories about Batman, of course: the shadowy vigilante waging a tireless war on crime in the one of most notorious cities in the developed world. Initially both the public and the police had been suspicious, even going so far as to issue a warrant for his arrest, but Batman had won them over in a series of high-profile cases, helping the police to take down some of the most notorious crooks in Gotham. So why would he suddenly turn his attention on a legitimate business like Stark Industries? Was there something Tony did not know?

Jarvis entered the workshop, carrying a bottle of scotch and a glass on a tray.

'Would you care for some refreshment, sir?' he said.

Tony took the tray, poured himself a double measure of scotch and downed it in one gulp.
'Leave the bottle,' he said, turning back to the workbench.

'Miss Vale has returned, sir,' said Jarvis. Tony groaned. You spend one night with a woman and then you can't get rid of her. It almost didn't seem worth it.

'Give her the official statement again: incident last night, Iron Man involved, unidentified party, classified information, etcetera.'

'I'm afraid the front of house team has already done that. She is refusing to leave the building until, err,' Jarvis consulted a note from his pocket, "You people stop feeding me this corporate crap and give me a straight answer". It continues in much the same vein, sir'. He put the note on the bench. Tony scrunched it up and dropped it into his coffee with the earpiece.

'I don't have time for this,' he said, 'Just get rid of her. Or let her kick her heels in the lobby. I don't care.'

'Very good, sir,' said Jarvis, adopting the inscrutable expression unique to English butlers. 'I take it that Miss Potts was unable to persuade you to contact the police?'

'Yeah, she was,' said Tony hotly, rounding on Jarvis, 'What, have you two been conspiring together behind my back?'

'No, sir. Miss Potts simply requested some details about last night's incident and –'

'Cram it, Jarvis! For the last time: I don't need any help. I built the Iron Man armour to protect my company and that's what I'm going to do. Clear?'

'Perfectly, sir,' said Jarvis, stony faced, 'Will that be all?'

'Yeah, it will.'

Tony remained alone in the workshop for the rest of the day. While his hands repaired and reassembled the armour his mind was turning over the problem of Batman and his attack on Stark Industries. He could not think of any reason why a man who apparently fought criminals would turn on him and his company. But the more he thought about it, Tony realised that he knew very little about Stark Industries' expansion to Gotham. He had rubber stamped the proposal to install a new arc reactor without a thought. It had been a no-brainer: the plant would create hundreds of jobs in Gotham, boost company revenues and raise their profile as the world's leading 'clean energy' company.

Besides, he had not had much time for paperwork or board meetings since he had started leading a double life. The Iron Man persona had started out as a way to hunt down the Stark Industries weapons that had fallen into the hands of terrorists and rogue states but things had spiralled out of control. Tony had thought that having a superhero 'bodyguard' would protect him and his company but it only seemed to attract more threats: Gargantus, Jack Frost, Colonel Vanko in his knock-off suit of powered armour. He had defeated them all but every battle kept him away from the office and the day-to-day running of his company.

Until now he had had no reason to worry, with Pepper overseeing things for him. Had he put too much faith in her? He dismissed the suspicion. Pepper was honest to a fault. That was the problem. She was a brilliant business woman but she was not infallible. Moreover, she had no experience of the criminal world. Something that she did not even know to watch for could have slipped through.

Tony was just considering downloading all the files related to the Gotham expansion when the workshop's emergency phone rang. It was Jarvis.

'Master Anthony,' he said, 'somebody has just triggered the silent alarm at the power plant.'

'Have security called in?'
'No, sir. Mr Hogan has been unable to contact them.'

A team of a dozen guards was stationed at the construction site at all times. Either somebody very dangerous had just taken out all twelve, or somebody very stealthy had evaded them.

'Jarvis, I'm going down there,' said Tony, already gathering the scattered pieces of armour, 'Tell Happy that Iron Man is en-route to the scene. If he doesn't hear from him in an hour, call the cops.'

'Might it not be prudent to inform the police now, sir?'

'Just do what I said!' Tony turned off the phone. If it was Batman, he wanted to handle it alone. And if it was not, he was confident that he could handle the situation without backup.

Downing one last glass of scotch, he hurriedly donned his Iron Man armour. The earlier models had been bulky affairs, requiring special machines to put on, but he had refined the design to the point where it could be stored in the trunk of a car or a large suitcase. As he lowered the golden visor the familiar luminous HUD sprang up before him, relaying information from his suit and the surrounding environment.

'Computer, open the roof,' he said. A concealed door in the back of the workshop slid open. It led to a narrow, sound-proofed chute running up through the building to a hatch on the roof. Tony stepped into the chute, holding his palms level with the floor.

'Engage!' he said. The jet boots and repulsors fired simultaneously and Iron Man shot upwards and out of Stark Tower. He became a golden rocket arcing over the rooftops of downtown Gotham. He ascended several hundred metres then paused, hovering in mid-air, to get his bearings. He had been working longer than he expected. It was night time now and the lowering skyscrapers were lit up with thousands of lights.

The power plant site was outside from the city limits, thirty miles down the coast, so he had a few minutes to gather information en-route. He tried to remotely access the security cameras at the plant but they were not responding. Whoever these intruders were, they were expert burglars.

Unable to predict what might be waiting for him he flew high, just below the cloud layer, approaching the site from the west to avoid major roads where he might be spotted. The lines of traffic far below were threads of gold, connecting towns and suburbs that shone like swarms of silver fireflies. Ahead, the Stark Industries' Gotham power plant appeared, a collection of dark buildings clustered between two arms projecting from a range of forested hills. There were no lights in the windows but Iron Man's telescopic vision could pick out a few floodlights shining outside the front entrance.

He was about to try and focus in on the tiny figures moving near the lights when his radar gave a bleep. He turned his attention to the readout but it was clear. Iron Man frowned. He had deliberately avoided all the major flight paths into Gotham. He made another scan, this time with all the armour's instruments. Another blip appeared but it was gone so fast that he could not be sure he had not imagined it. Was the armour faulty? Iron Man swore. If the radar was still damaged, his weapons could be too.

The sound of rushing wind, above and to his right, drew his attention. He turned just in time to see a black shape hurtling down through the cloud layer towards him. Iron Man gave a cry of alarm and barrel rolled, avoiding the black object by a matter of metres. He spun again, trying to track it but it seemed to deflect all his instruments: radar, sonar, infra-red. If he could not see it with his own eyes, swooping upwards in a graceful arc, he would not know if was there.

As came level with Iron Man, the clouds parted and the object was silhouetted against the yellow light of the gibbous moon. It was a man in a suit of dark armour with two huge black bat-like wings sprouting from his shoulders, each bearing a type of repulsor engine. It could only be Batman.

The radius of the wings that curled above Batman's shoulders flashed, shooting white-hot energy bolts towards Iron Man. Iron Man dodged left. Batman swooped down on him, still firing. Iron Man fled, zig-zagging between the blasts as he tried to formulate a strategy. He needed a moment's breathing space. Flipping onto his back in mid-flight, he thrust his arms towards Batman and fired a blast of repulsor energy. Batman banked right, only narrowly avoiding the blasts. It was obvious that his flight suit, while fast, was not as manoeuvrable as Iron Man's form-fitting armour.

Batman climbed in a wide arc, trying to get above him. Iron Man fired another blast. Batman lurched clumsily out of its path, turned and returned fire. Instead of avoiding the salvo, Iron Man rushed to meet it, bobbing and weaving between the energy bolts. Batman gave a sudden burst of speed, hoping to fly up and over Iron Man's head before he could get his bearings. But Iron Man was too quick. Twisting in mid-air again, he snapped off a shot from his repulsors that tore a chunk out of one of Batman's wings. The lights on the left-hand engines flared and died away.

Batman spun to the right, his hands tapping furiously at the controls on his belt. Iron Man climbed towards him, hands raised to blast the other wing, when Batman shot towards him. He had managed to regain enough control of the suit for one last manoeuvre. He slammed into Iron Man with the force of a battering ram. An armoured fist crashed into Iron Man's golden jaw, dazing him. More blows followed, fists and knees and elbows, as the two men spiralled towards the ground. Iron Man grabbed Batman's arms, trying to throw him away, but Batman's suit seemed to augment his strength and it was all Iron Man could do to hold him. In desperation, Iron Man pulled his knees up to his chest and gave Batman a double blast from his repulsor boots. Batman gave a yell and fell away, just as Iron Man hit the roof of the power plant.

There was a sharp crack of splitting concrete and cloud of fine dust filled the air. Iron Man lay still, gasping for breath. The readout on his HUD told him that he was not seriously hurt but the wind had been knocked out of him. He staggered to his feet and looked round. He had landed on a small office building at the rear of the complex, in the shadow of the main reactor building. Batman had landed at the far end of the roof. He was struggling with the balance of his damaged flight suit, the right-hand wing dragging him down.

'Nice armour. Should I be flattered?' said Iron Man. The black armour looked heavier and bulkier than Iron Man's streamlined red and gold. Batman's face was hidden beneath a helmet topped, like his usual cowl, with two pointed ears.

'I built this... to fight someone... a lot stronger than you,' he gasped, his voice sounding tinny through the armour's speakers. His hand flicked up, throwing three little black discs at Iron Man. They latched onto his breastplate, sending pulses of electricity through his suit. Iron Man screamed as the currents burned through him. He collapsed to his knees. Their charges spent, the discs fell away.

Touching a clasp on his belt, Batman detached the cumbersome wings from his armour. They fell onto the roof with a clang. Striding across the rooftop, Batman delivered a spin kick that sent Iron Man sliding across the concrete.

'What you doing here? Are you trying to betray Stark?' said Batman. He loomed over Iron Man, his fist raised for another blow. Iron Man gave a wry smile. The repulsor on his chest began to glow. Batman's arm wavered. The repulsor fired a humming beam of white energy that pierced the night sky like a searchlight. Batman dived aside just in time.

Silence settled over the rooftop as the two superheroes wearily picked themselves up. Their armour was dented, scratched and burnt from the battle. They stared cagily at one another.

'Why do you think I am going to betray Tony?' said Iron Man.

'Maybe you're not,' said Batman, 'Maybe you're working with him. Maybe he sent you here tonight, to rob his own facility.'

'What? That's... that's crazy! This is Stark Industries'power plant. Why would we do that?'

Batman shrugged. 'Insurance scam? Fake a robbery so you can put the arc reactor technology on the black market?'

'You've given this a lot of thought.'

'I came here to protectthe power plant!' said Batman, 'Somebody triggered the silent alarm about half an hour ago. I think they're planning to steal the reactor core.'

'What? That's terrible! I've got to – Wait,' said Iron Man, 'How did you know about the silent alarm?'

'I have my methods,' said Batman evasively.

They both turned at the sound of approaching voices. Moving to the edge of rooftop, they peered over. Three men in baggy yellow suits were walking round the main reactor building, searching the area with torches. They each wore a round yellow helmet like an upturned bucket with a thin black visor. All of them were carrying automatic weapons. Iron Man and Batman hastily stepped back out of view.

'AIM,' snarled Iron Man, 'That makes sense. They're –'

'Advanced Idea Mechanics, an international techno-terrorist organisation. I've heard of them,' said Batman.

'They must be after the reactor,' said Iron Man.

'That fits their M.O,' Batman nodded, 'Acquire weapons tech', sell most it off to the highest bidder but keep the best for themselves. But this is a big job, even for them. They must have had inside help... ' He looked pointedly at Iron Man.

'Hey! This has got nothing to do with me. If you're half as smart as you clearly think you are, you'll know that I tangled with these guys last year. Left a big crater in L.A. They were after the arc reactor technology then too.

'Now if you'll excuse me,' said Iron Man, taking a step back, 'I've got to stop 'em again.'

'Iron Man, wait!' cried Batman but Iron Man was already airborne. The three AIM agents on the ground shouted as he soared over them but he was gone before they could even raise their guns. He sped over the reactor building, heading for the main entrance on the other side.

The parking lot was brilliantly illuminated by a series of floodlights. A team of heavily armed AIM agents stood guard by the doors. Another team, in yellow skullcaps and dark goggles, was carefully wheeling a number of containers out of the door and towards a waiting line of HGVS. There were other men, not in AIM uniform, standing guard over the vehicles. Their faces were hidden behind bandanas and balaclavas, like common gangsters.

Iron Man aimed for the HGV directly opposite the door. He landed at the foot of the ramp. The thugs guarding the vehicle raised their weapons but he was ready for them. Seizing the one on his right, Iron Man lifted from him from his feet and hurled him into his companion on the left, knocking them both down. He then turned to the AIM agents, his repulsors raised.

'This is your only warning,' he said, his voice amplified through his helmet's speakers, 'Step away from the arc reactor and give yourselves up, unless you want a repeat of L.A!'

One of the AIM agents, dressed in the domed helmet of an AIM officer, raised his gun. 'Kill him!' he shouted. The AIM agents opened fire at once, bolts of red light leaping from their energy weapons, but Iron Man was already airborne again. His repulsors cracked, scattering the agents gathered by the door. He dived down, plucked two of them from the ground as they tried to find cover, and swung them with a brutal carelessness through the window of a nearby building.

More energy blasts filled the air. Iron Man dodged, slaloming back and forth. He was worried. He could not risk deploying his more potent weaponry for fear of detonating the volatile arc reactor components in the containers. The fight with Batman had already drained his energy reserves, so he had to finish the fight quickly. He located the AIM officer, taking cover behind one of the shipping containers, and made straight for him, firing his repulsors as he went. Two agents fell, knocked clean out.

The AIM officer seized a large rifle-like weapon from one his men and fired a searing beam of energy at Iron Man, forcing him to drop to earth. As soon as he landed, the thugs guarding the HGVs opened fire, spraying him with bullets. Shots pinged harmlessly off his armour plating but the attack was enough to distract him from the AIM agents. Energy blasts exploded all around him. Something struck his arm, sending pain shooting up into his chest.

A cloud of smoke suddenly exploded among the HGVs, completely obscuring the thugs. There were cries, the sound of guns being fired wildly and the thud of bodies hitting the floor. As the smoke cleared, Iron Man could see Batman in the middle of the thugs, laying about him with fists, feet and batarangs.

With the pressure on one side lifted, Iron Man turned his attention back to the AIM agents. He rushed into the middle of them, repulsors firing. It worked. The agents panicked, unable to bring their guns to bear without hitting their own men. Iron Man struck out with his fists, his enhanced strength breaking bones and sending bodies flying with every punch.

'Deploy the cape-killer!' he heard the AIM officer scream, 'Deploy the cape-killer! Get Jones out here, now!'

A deep, throaty roar came from out of the darkness beyond the floodlights. The combatants paused as a huge, hulking shadow appeared. With another roar it leapt up onto the roof of an HGV. The metal moaned in protest under its colossal weight. Iron Man stared, open-mouthed. The man, or creature, stood eight feet tall. It had scaly green skin like a reptile's. Two red eyes burned in its flat, noseless face and its leering mouth was lined with pointed teeth. If that was not enough, AIM had augmented this monster with their technology. Its arms were encased in steel, with steel claws for fingers. A mechanical harness had been mounted on its back, giving it a long mechanical tail that arced over its head, ending in what looked like a large energy weapon.

'Croc, what have they done to you?' said Batman. He sounded horrified.

'Do you like it, Batman?' Croc rumbled, 'When they told me that I'd get another chance to kill you I thought it sounded like a good job but this,' The metal tail swished through the air 'This just made it all the better!'

Croc leapt off the HGV, aiming to crush Batman beneath him. Batman leapt aside, rolled to his feet and flung a batarang at Croc's head. It bounced off, as useless as the bullets that had struck Iron Man's armour. Croc chuckled throatily.

'My turn,' he said. The tip of Croc's tail bent over his shoulder and fired a beam of green energy at Batman. Batman jumped back and threw a smoke bomb at Croc. Croc roared in dismay as a cloud of thick white smoke engulfed him, while Batman disappeared behind one of the HGVs.

'Ignore Batman, you fool!' shouted the AIM officer, 'Iron Man! Kill Iron Man!'

Croc blundered forward, shaking his head to clear away the smoke. His red eyes fixed on Iron Man and he began to trundle towards him, clawed hands raised to grasp and rend. Iron Man moved to meet him, fists balled. Croc made a clumsy grab. Iron Man ducked, weaved past Croc's guard and punched him as hard as he could in the gut. Croc grunted and took a step back.

'Huh. That all you got?' he said. He swung at Iron Man again. Iron Man ducked, stood up and gave Croc a blast with his repulsors. Croc roared and staggered backwards, arms raised to defend himself. With surprising speed, he spun on his heel and lashed out with his tail. Iron Man was caught full in the chest, was lifted off his feet and soared through the air. He hit the wall of the reactor build hard, smashing a hole in the stone facade ten feet from the ground, before sliding down to the floor.

Croc followed him, the laser weapon on his tail poised to cut him in half. Iron Man tried to push himself to his feet but he was still too dazed. Suddenly Batman reappeared, as if out of nowhere. He dived onto Croc's back, a length of chain recovered from a HGV coiled around one arm. As Croc roared and spun round, trying to swipe Batman off, Batman uncoiled the chain and lashed it around Croc's throat. Digging his knees into Croc's shoulderblades he grasped the chain like a horse's bridle, pulling Croc's head back.

'Iron Man! Hit him! Now!' he cried.

Iron Man pushed himself up, using the wall for support, then stepped forward, hands thrust out. The repulsors cracked. Croc screamed as the blasts hit him but he did not topple. Curling his tail around his waist, he drove himself backward into the nearby wall. Batman let the chain fall and leapt clear to escape being crushed.

Croc's tail whipped upright. A green laser beam stabbed towards Iron Man. Iron Man shot into the air and flew straight at Croc, using the force of his jet boots to deliver a punch to Croc's jaw. Croc slumped back against the wall. Iron Man hung in the air, hands raised for another repulsor blast, but Croc was too quick for him. His hands shot forward, faster than Iron Man could ever have expected, and seized him around the chest. Croc squeezed, his metal talons biting into the crimson breastplate. Iron Man screamed as he felt sharp metal digging into his flesh. His arms were pinned helplessly at his side.

Suddenly Batman was there again, leaping for Croc's shoulder. Croc let go of Iron Man with one hand and swatted at Batman. Batman vaulted over Croc's arm and onto his back. He had a batarang in his hand, which he dug like a scalpel into the metal panel connecting Croc's mechanical tail to his spin. Croc flailed at Batman, dropping Iron Man like a discarded chicken bone. As Iron Man lay on the concrete, blood seeping through the gouges in his armour, he was dimly aware of yellow figures moving in the background, wheeling storage containers towards the remaining HGVs, but he was too drained to do anything about it.

With a final effort, Batman prised open the panel on the back of Croc's head and jammed his batarang into the circuitry. With a surprisingly high-pitched screech, Croc threw his head back and then slowly toppled over. He lay splayed on the ground, his arms and legs twitching.

'Oh good. We won,' murmured Iron Man as he drifted into blissful unconsciousness.