Connor Peterson! A man twice wronged by Iron Man's old foe, Justin Hammer! Now his mettle will be tested in his effort to aid the mighty Avengers! Will he succeed? Will he falter? Scroll down, true believers, and take part in his-
Chapter 2: Character Witness Part 2
Within the sublevel parking of the corporate headquarters for Hammer Industries, Roland had joined his four super-powered compatriots as they set to work powering and constructing an exact replica of Hammer's failed electro-fusion energy generator.
"The power output of this thing will draw attention for sure." Shox noted as she primed the terminal calibrations. "If the Avengers didn't know where we were before, they sure will soon."
"Then it's a good thing your roles are nearly completed." Roland mused. "All you need do is defend me and this generator so that we can send a clear message to Justin Hammer uninterrupted."
"We'll get it done, don't worry." Striker promised. A rumble shook the area, causing lights to sway as bits of dust and debris fell from the ceiling. "Those tremors are kinda worrisome, though."
"Electro-fusion energy has a habit of being tumultuous." Roland mused. "We just never noticed in the confines of an immovable steel lab." His calm and cool demeanour assured most of them, but Striker remained uncertain.
Outside, Iron Man had used his scanners to track the energy pulses after a fruitless ground search with the other Avengers. Joining the complete team this time was T'Challa; the King of Wakanda but better known as the Black Panther outside of his country. Together, the team of five converged on Hammer Industries, Iron Man hovering above the building of his corporate rival and using his scanners to x-ray the complex and pinpoint the activity taking place below.
"I count five, plus some kind of generator that's the cause of the energy spikes." He reported.
"What manner of fiendish technology did these mortals construct to cause such a disturbance?" Thor wondered.
"So far, electrical readings are off the charts. Picking up some other particles too, my guess is some sort of generator system." Iron Man replied.
"But what purpose would a generator serve?" Ant-Man wondered astride his flying ant mount.
"Let's take a closer look and find out." The armored Avenger dove to the ground, dropping down on the sidewalk outside the building. "JARVIS, run a full electromagnetic spectrum scan, give me everything." The other Avengers formed around him, awaiting their next move.
Then, all of a sudden, the pavement cracked and shattered, split open by a force from below. The Avengers were scattered, some thrown aside by the sudden upheaval of the road. Rising from the ground, a platform of rock and concrete appeared, carrying with it the forms of Cobalt, Shox, Flare, and Striker.
"Looking for someone, Avengers?" Cobalt taunted, his powers in full effect as he manipulated the simple elements comprising their very foundation. A tremor shook the earth, Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man taking flight to avoid its effects, while Captain America and Black Panther were forced to crouch and contend with the seismic activity.
"Well well well, color me surprised that it's you four again." Iron Man remarked, unleashing twin repulsor rays that were met with bolts of fire from Flare.
"Your treacherous schemes will not succeed, villains!" Thor promised, Mjolnir crackling with ambient lightning.
"Take 'em down!" Cobalt ordered, the rest of his team flying into action. Summoning a pair of pavement pillars, the blue-clad villain struck Iron Man and Thor with heavy battering rams of solid substance. On the ground, Ant-Man guided his mount to avoid Shox's sizzling bolts fo electricity, while Black Panther vaulted over Flare and hurled a trio of Vibranium daggers to counter her fireballs. With energy surrounding his fists, Striker lunged towards Captain America who raised his shield to block.
Combat erupted across the street, passing civilians scrambling to avoid power blows and becoming collateral damage as the heroes and villains brawled back and forth.
Triggering his Pym Particle Belt, Hank grew to massive proportions, switching from Ant-Man to Giant Man and towering over the trio. "That's enough! I'm sure we can work this out peacefully!" He declared, grabbing all three of them in two hands. "Let's just talk about this-"
"Talk is cheap!" Flare growled, unleashing a burst of flame that struck him in the eyes. Hank recoiled with a cry as Shox unleashed an electric burst that caused his muscles to spasm, loosening his grip and dropping all three of them. She was immediately tackled by Black Panther, who took her down as Cap slammed shield-first into Flare. Striker moved to intercept them, only to be stopped by a bolt of lightning as Thor descended from above, Mjolnir aglow with power as storm clouds swirled overhead. As they clashed, Iron Man attacked Cobalt with a volley of repulsor rays, each one striking levitating chunks of concrete as the Betokinetic villain both defended himself and attacked the armored Avenger.
Several blocks away, Wasp flew ahead of a jogging Connor, guiding him from his apartment to Hammer Industries' headquarters. A man who normally went walking and jogging as his personal physical fitness routine, Connor was no slouch when it came to stamina, able to keep up with the flying Wasp for city block after city block. Sweat stains marred the front and back of his hoodie, but he kept going, determined to help Wasp and the Avengers. The clamour of battle grew louder as they drew nearer and Connor was very hesitant about joining the fight. He didn't have any combat experience and his fighting skills were relagated to memories of tag-team video games played as a youth. He didn't want to become a liability…
Then, all of a sudden, the ground trembled so violently that Connor last his balance and was forced to remain crouched on the ground. Wasp took notice but remained unaffected due to her ability to fly.
"Woah! What the heck was that?!" She wondered aloud.
"I-I don't know. New York's not on a fault line." Connor replied, confused by the occurrence as well. As the tremors finally eased, they resumed their journey until Connor paused behind the corner of a building, the battle occurring mere meters away. Wasp hovered close to his face in her diminutive form.
"You sit tight, Connor. We'll deal with these guys and then you can fill them in." She promised, quickly zipping into the fray and assaulting the nearest villains (Cobalt and Flare) with a barrage of her bio-electric stings. "Hey guys! Hope you saved some for me!" She called out to the rest of her team.
"Jan! Look out!" Giant Man cried in warning. Wasp quickly turned and dove to avoid a sizzling bolt of lightning fired by Shox.
"Man! There's only four but they can pack a punch!" She remarked, her hair standing on edge from her near-miss with the static bolt.
"Yeah, no kidding." Iron Man remarked, unleashing a unibeam blast that forced Striker to roll out of the way. The battle was interrupted by another ground tremor, this one far stronger than all the others. The airborne Avengers remained untouched by its effects, but everyone on the ground was flung from their feet.
All of a sudden, the ground collapsed, pavement and sidewalk falling into an open pit several feet below the surface, taking everyone with it. From his position, Connor watched wide-eyed as the Avengers and villains disappeared from sight. Those above, Wasp, Thor and Iron Man, quickly dove down into the open chasm and Connor decided to follow. Sprinting to the side of the opening, he wasted no time sliding down the edge to join those at the bottom, the Avengers and villains picking themselves up.
"Is everything okay?" He asked the group.
"Could've been worse." Cap responded, picking himself up. "You must be Connor Peterson."
"Yeah, that's me," Connor admitted, "pleasure, uh, to meet you, Captain America. You were my favourite subject in history class." He offered. Cap nodded in response.
"Okay, barring any further awkwardness, what're looking at here, Connor?" Iron Man questioned.
"You tell me. So far I've just heard that my former colleagues have turned into supervillains." Connor told him. Then his gaze shifted past Iron Man, glancing deeper into the revealed underground parking garage. "Then again… I know what that is." The Avengers turned and laid eyes upon the source of their troubles.
Roland Reeves stood behind the electro-fusion generator, using a console interface to bring the machine up to full power. Realizing he had been uncovered, he offered the invaders a simple smile.
"Ah… welcome, Avengers! Behold, our magnum opus!" He declared with a grandiose sweep of his hand.
"JARVIS, what am I looking at?" Tony asked. His AI performed a quick scan.
"An experimental fusion energy reactor, combining electrical energy for an output in excess of five-hundred pentawatts of energy." JARVIS announced.
"That's the original generator the six of us were working on." Connor pointed out.
"The one that exploded?" Iron Man wondered.
"Yeah… that one." Connor quietly affirmed, rubbing his neck sheepishly.
"Set to go off once again, only this time, it'll ignite right underneath Justin Hammer and blow him and everything he loves to kingdom come!" Roland announced.
"Man, you're awfully excited about all this." Iron Man remarked, raising his arm and firing off a repulsor ray. Ever so casually, Roland raised his hand towards the incoming blue ray. In the blink of an eye, the energy bolt was transformed into a ray of light, no different than a beam from the sun. "What the-?" The armored Avenger puttered. Roland cackled.
"The very nature of energy is mine to command, Iron Man! The power is mine to decide whether you are as deadly as an atom bomb or as harmless as the beam from a flashlight! You and your Avengers cannot stop us." He revealed. With a flick of his wrist, the blue glow of Iron Man's ARC reactor turned yellow. Doubling over with a gasping cry, the Avenger clutched his chest in pain.
"Tony? Tony!" Hank cried, growing to normal size. "What's wrong?"
"M-My… reactor… It's not… working!" He gasped. Ant-Man quickly deduced the problem.
"The power of his ARC reactor has failed, he could die if this lasts much longer!" He realized.
"Leave us be and his fate can be reversed." Roland promised.
"You can't just kill a man like this!" Ant-Man replied. "Please, let's all just calm down and talk this through. Surely we can help you somehow."
"The only help I want is in giving Justin Hammer what he deserves." Roland replied. "We all banded together to ensure he receives his due penance for treating his employees as lab rats! Deeming us 'property' and stripping us of our freedoms!"
"What'd he do to you?" Wasp demanded. "Sounds like Connor was dealt the low-blow."
"Ah yes… Mister Peterson." Roland mused, finally recognizing his former associate in the room. "You know, Connor, it's not too late to join us. Surely you of all people will agree with me in saying that Justin Hammer is overdue some payback." His head falling, Connor did not respond.
"Leave our mortal ally be, foul villain!" Thor declared, unleashing a beam of lightning from Mjolnir. Lifting his hand again, Roland turned the lightning into a simple laser light.
"Cobalt, stop them!" He ordered. The blue-clad felon summoned his powers to conjure concrete chunks from the ground, quickly ensnaring the entire team within cocoons of asphalt. Despite their best efforts to struggle, the material was binding them tight so long as Cobalt was focused.
"What about him?" Striker wondered as he jabbed a thumb in Connor's direction.
"Oh, he is one of us. Come now, Connor. Join us." Roland offered. "I don't blame you for what happened. But I would like to thank you for your part in it." Connor's head bolted up.
"Thank me?!" He repeated, more than a little bewildered.
"The explosion gave us new life, remade us, turned us from mere humans into beings of godlike potential." Roland explained. "You're more than welcome to join us and transcend the position of Justin Hammer's stepping stones."
"Connor! There's innocent people in this building! Not just Hammer!" Wasp cried.
"E-Even worse…" Tony gasped from within his malfunctioning armor, "that generator… is unleashing energy pulses… that are destabilizing the ground… The whole island could fall apart… and New York… will sink!" Connor gasped in shock at the realization.
"Roland, please, you can't do this! You can't justify revenge on Hammer at the cost of millions of innocents!" He pleaded.
"Oh I'll shut it off, don't worry. I just need it on long enough to show Justin Hammer the irony of his demise." Roland promised.
"But… But there's innocent people in this building!" Connor protested.
"Don't be an idiot, Peterson! Take the damn offer!" Cobalt snapped.
"I'd listen to him, Connor. It's the right thing anyway, giving that self-centred jerk his due." Flare suggested. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Connor had to admit that the offer of revenge felt like a really good idea. To finally give the man who had ruined his life everything he deserved…
"Connor…?" He turned at the soft calling of his name, his eyes meeting Wasp's. It was a silently plea, a call to be true to himself. Another tremor shook the ground above, bits of debris raining down and reminding him of the inevitable consequences. Closing his eyes, Connor took a breath and turned back to his former colleagues.
"No, Hayley. It's not the right thing to do." He replied. "I can't let any of you hurt the innocent people in this office." A growl filled the air behind him.
"Bad call, Peterson." Cobalt remarked, stalking forward. But Connor had already planned ahead and turned around to face him. Both of his forearms began to glow with white veins of light appearing as both magnetic harnesses powered up. He already had a target in mind and reached out, the magnetic forces gripping Cobalt by his belt buckle and tugging him forward uncontrollably. Connor turned and swung his arm, sending Cobalt slamming into Shox and bowling her over as they were both laid out flat. He then turned, his magnetic grip snaring Striker's helmet and guiding him around uncontrollably.
"Hey hey HEY! Let go!" Striker cried fighting with his helmet, only to be pitched to the side by Connor with a wide sweep of his arm and thrown into Flare, the two villains quickly flattened against the ground. Jumping over their bodies, Connor threw out his left arm and grabbed Roland by the brace around his torso, quickly throwing him back and pinning him to the wall of the parking garage. Despite his efforts, his struggles were futile against the invisible grip snaring him.
As a result of the villains losing their concentration, the Avengers were promptly freed from their concrete bonds and Iron Man gasped as life giving ARC energy flooded from his reactor again. Connor did not linger and kept moving on the reactor, his eyes sweeping over its design and recalling his past in working on the device.
"What are you doing?!" Roland cried. "You can't control it, you'll detonate it again!"
"On the contrary," Connor replied, one arm extended as he rounded the console, "the past few months I've been going over the incident in my head. I ran that simulation over fifty times beforehand, there's no way I could've done it wrong." He paused and examined the control panel. "Then it hit me. There was always supposed to be an initial energy spike. Everyone just grew so worried and told me to remove the fusion core. But that was the problem; removing the core caused the final energy spike that overloaded the generator and detonated it." Connor turned back to Roland, offering him a slight smile. "So to answer your question; I'm going with my gut."
Placing his hand on the terminal, data began flying across the screen, a thousand different program executions happening one after another. It was a language, spoken and written in a way few could ever understand. But to Connor, it was no different than spoken english, his mind capable of telling the console exactly what to do. He spoke its language, communicated with it like he would another human being, until the console finally turned itself off and uploaded the shutdown command to the generator, the blue light slowly fading away until it had gone dark and ceased all functionality.
Connor breathed a sigh of relief and released his hand. But as he did, he relaxed his grip on his magnetic harnesses and allowed Roland to drop to his feet. The man picked himself up as Connor turned around to face him. "It's over, Roland."
"No… No!" He exclaimed in dismay. "You've ruined everything! How could you do this to me, Connor? How could you-" He was cut short when a yellow bio-sting struck him between the eyes. The blow was just enough to knock him over, overloading his neural centre long enough to take him down.
"He sure talks a lot, doesn't he?" Wasp remarked, hovering beside Connor.
"To be honest, they all did." He replied with a slight smile at her beaming expression.
Some time later…
SHIELD arrived as soon as they could, after receiving Tony's call. A division of the agency's finest arrived to cuff and tag the five scientists turned villains, adding them to SHIELD's roster of known villains, including the ones gone missing after the breakout. All of them, Roland, Shox, Cobalt, Striker and Flare were guided into secure armored vehicles for transport. As he was ushered inside, Cobalt cast a glare back at the assembled Avengers… his gaze landing on Connor in particular.
"Well met, Connor son of Peter." Thor applauded, a meaty hand clapping him on the back. "Thou hast served us well in the name of true justice."
"Thor's right. You had the chance to take revenge and join them, but you didn't. You opted to do the right thing." Captain America agreed.
"It is impressive to choose the right path in the face of such strong desires." Black Panther added. "You should be proud of yourself, Mister Peterson."
"In a way, I kinda of am." Connor agreed with a shrug. "I mean… I just felt compelled to do the right thing." He explained, Janet smiling at his words.
"Yeah, nice work with those magnets. That's was some impressive work with the generator too." Iron Man concurred. "How'd you do that?" Connor's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh! Uh… that's a bit of an explanation." He said nervously. Motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to find out someone else had arrived on the scene. "Oh boy…" He muttered.
Approaching from amongst the SHIELD agents, a prim and proper Justin Hammer, his hair neatly combed and his suit crisp, approached the circle of heroes. Connor had a feeling he knew what was coming…
"Connor Peterson." Hammer stated, in a tone that was neither civil nor cordial.
"Mister Hammer." Connor greeted in a quiet, timid tone. The circle of heroes around him slowly opened up, the young man feeling vulnerable before the impending wrath of his former employer.
"We signed an agreement, did we not?" Hammer mused, staring down a Connor.
"Yeah…" Connor quietly answered with a soft nod. "Didn't have much of a choice, but yeah."
"You'll be hearing from my lawyers, Mister Peterson." Hammer threatened.
"Now wait just a minute, party-pooper." Iron Man remarked, stepping in between the two and triggering his helmet's faceplate. The golden mask lifted up to reveal Tony Stark in all his glory, complete with recognizable goatee and trademark smile.
"Tony Stark." Hammer growled.
"Yeah, hi. It's me. Miss me, Hammer?" Tony wondered. Before Justin could respond, he continued. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Mister Peterson is a terminated employee of Hammer Industries, for destroying company property and inexcusable negligence while on the job. He signed an agreement upon his termination, stating that he would concede to being banned from all things related to Hammer Industries. And now I hear he's violated this contract, by interacting with stolen equipment and returning to Hammer Industries property." Justin answered. "As such, it is my right to see to his immediate arrest and subject him to the judiciary system for due punishment."
"Punishment?" Wasp cried, taking flight and hovering before Hammer's face. "He just saved you and your employees!"
"It's not your place to stick your nose in my company's buisness." Hammer growled.
"Maybe it is, mister." Cap declared, also taking a step between the two. "Connor just saved the lives of every employee in the building, yours included. His heroics deserve merit, not sanctions."
"Aye. We will not let some pompous billionaire have his way with one truly as noble as Connor." Thor announced, hefting Mjolnir with both hands as he also stood up to Justin Hammer.
"Yeah, what they said," Tony agreed, crossing his arms, "you can't arrest him or sue him for anything." Hammer's steely eyes narrowed.
"And why not?" He demanded in a low tone. Tony quickly wracked his mind for an answer, and a good one at that. He knew Hammer and he knew the man liked everything done by the book. If a reason was not valid, he'd find the loophole and exploit it to no end.
Suddenly, he had it.
"Because Connor Peterson was doing hero work… as an Avenger." His words caused Connor's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Do you think this makes him exempt? That any of you are exempt from proper procedures?!" Hammer demanded. Tony could tell he was getting hot under his collar and allowed himself to smirk.
"Maybe so, Mister Hammer." A new voice stated. Hammer whirled around and found himself facing a man in SHIELD gear, his hair cut close to his scalp and his brown eyes firm. With him was a brunette woman in glasses, dressed in a pinstriped suit and carrying an electronic datapad.
"And just who are you?" The old man demanded.
"I'm Jace Carson, Agent of SHIELD, and this is Jennifer Walters with SHIELD's legal team." The man introduced.
"Legal? What's the meaning of this!" Justin roared.
"We've been looking into Connor's case ever since it was revealed to us," Jennifer stated calmly, "and by the very nature of your own agreement with him, you actually have no grounds for legal action as making a presence on Hammer Industries grounds was not included in the contractual obligations listed in his termination of employment papers." She elaborated. "Furthermore, he was not working with Hammer Industries equipment as Doctor Roland Reeves already confessed to being the owner and constructor of the generator. That it was, and I quote, 'My idea from the beginning'." Jennifer continued. "Pressing any legal action now would leave you vulnerable for a counter suit for defamation of character. Trust me when I say you don't want to do that, as you have no evidence and no grounds for even a defence." She added. While he didn't show it outwardly, Justin Hammer was fuming.
"Sounds to me like after everything you've done to him and everything he's done for you, you owe Connor a thank you and a little restitution." Wasp remarked, even sticking her tongue out. With a growl, Hammer turned back towards the Avengers. There were too many obstructions here, and the man had been in the business long enough to know when it was safe to proceed and when to back away.
"Consider my non-involvement an act of mercy, Mister Peterson." He gruffly stated, turning on heel and leaving without another word.
Exhaling, Connor's shoulders slumped from exhaustion. "Not gonna lie… I don't like him much." He whispered to the Avengers.
"Me neither. But I learned to put up with him." Tony remarked.
"Ugh! What's with that guy?" Wasp wondered. "Are all stuffy billionaires as bad as him?" As the tension of the moment died down, Connor figured it was best to excuse himself.
"Well… I guess I'll be going now. Glad I could help." He offered, having every intention of leaving. Turning around, he started walking,
"Leaving so soon?" Tony's voice stopped him and Connor turned. "I meant what I told Hammer, Connor. You were an Avenger back there."
"But… B-But I'm no hero." Connor sputtered.
"Maybe you don't wear a costume. But you took the high road, you did the right thing. And that's hero material." Captain America inferred. "It's not so much the look of a person, but what they're made of, that makes them Avengers material. Back there, Connor, you were a hero."
"Aye, the Captain speaks truly." Thor agreed. "I would be honored to have you fighting by my side." Suffice to say, Connor was thoroughly stunned. He could not believe that these world-famous, newsworthy heroes were asking him to join them. Him!
"You guys just… give out memberships?" He asked with a nervous laugh, still half expecting this to be some elaborate prank.
"Not to just anyone." Tony said. "Alright, team. What do we think?" He asked, turning the discussion over to his fellow heroes. "Does a man who's been wronged and treated unfairly deserve a second chance?"
"Of course." Ant-Man quickly concurred.
"Yeah, totally!" Wasp chimed in.
"Verily." Thor agreed.
"Absolutely." Cap stated.
"It is the right thing to offer." Black Panther mused. If his jaw could drop any further, it would, and Connor stared at the heroes in disbelief.
"So… you really mean it?" He asked.
"It's unanimous." Tony stated, walking towards him and extending his armored hand. "Welcome to the Avengers, Connor."
In all his life, Connor had never felt more pride in shaking a man's hand.