The sinister scientists at AIM have the dashing Tony Stark cornered! Up against impossible odds with few allies to rely on, this billionaire businessman is gonna need some serious mental fortitude if he wants to combat the havoc unleashed upon him! Does he have what it takes? Are you ready to find out, true believers? Then scroll down to find out how Iron Man fairs-
Chapter 26: Alone Against AIM
Avengers Activity Database, from the files of Nick Fury…
"Entry 1.06.07 - And there came a day unlike any other when Earth's mightiest heroes ere united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born; to fight foes no single hero could withstand. In this case, that threat was Franklin Hall, AKA 'Graviton'… a threat that SHIELD was responsible for. Pretty much every supervillain on the planet as set free from our system of prisons that day, set free by who we don't know. SHIELD was overwhelmed and had it not been for the Avengers, New York City would've been destroyed.
"Entry 1.08 - Iron Man saw the good that they accomplished together and suggested that they work as a team to deal with the escaped supervillains. I chose not to interfere… despite the obvious problems that I knew would arise. These extraordinary individuals had potential, potential all the ed tape and mistrust of SHIELD would only crush.
"Entry 1.09 - SHIELD surveillance satellites track all Avengers activities, but even I wasn't prepared for what they found in the Arctic: Captain America himself, living legend from World War Two, alive and well. Thankfully, Iron Man convinced Cap to join the team."
"Entry 1.10 - One of Tony Stark's rivals attacked Stark Tower, and not in a 'corporate takeover' kind of way. Simon Williams found a way to transform himself into pure ionic energy. The combined strength of Iron Man, Giant Man and Captain America wasn't enough, according to Iron Man's report it seems this 'Wonder Man' fell apart. A failed experiment…
"Entry 1.10B - …created by AIM; the Advanced Idea Mechanics. Thor and Wasp had a run-in with MODOC, AIM's deformed, insane leader. The Hydra/AIM connection is still a concern that I'm working on. My sources indicate that AIM is making a weapon…
"Entry 1.11 - The Avengers responded to an explosion at a Hammer Industries lab, pulling survivors from the rubble and helping to clean things up, much to Justin Hammer's chagrin. The man hates to be perceived as weak, especially by a rival like Tony Stark. Fortunately, the Avengers did the right thing irregardless of Hammer's ill-founded threats. SHIELD is keeping distant tabs on Justin Hammer and the building where the explosion took place to make sure nothing more comes of this.
"Entry 1.12 - The Avengers crossed the boarder into the high-tech nation of Wakanda, a country that's been off-limits for decades. Not only did they save all of Africa from a massive Vibranium explosion, but they got the Black Panther to join them. Now a team of gods, supersoldiers and monsters just added a king.
"Entry 1.13 - The Avengers stopped a terrorist attack on the headquarters of Hammer Industries, apparently some former employees gained superpowers and tried to dish out some payback against their old boss. SHIELD took them into custody after they were defeated. That day the Avengers also recruited Connor Peterson to their ranks; a former employee of Hammer… and a mutant who, interestingly, was NOT on the Mutant Response Division's watch list. How or why he was missed, I don't know, and here I thought most of his kind were in that school upstate. SHIELD will keep tabs on him like the rest of the team.
"Entry 1.14.15 - A dome of pure gamma energy as risen over Las Vegas, Nevada and causing everyone within to be transformed into gamma monsters. Local SHIELD agents have been compromised… as have the Avengers. From what we can tell, only Thor remains within the dome, but Wasp was seen alive and unchanged outside of it, en route with Clint Barton and the Hulk. Hawkeye has every reason to turn his back on SHIELD after what he's been through… and the world hasn't exactly been kind to the Hulk. Let's just hope he's more angry at the Leader because, if they don't stop him, they'll have to rename the whole planet Gamma World.
"Entry 1.16 - Avengers Mansion was attacked, confirming a nasty rumor that someone's been building a team of supervillains to take down Earth's mightiest heroes… Baron Zemo and his Masters of Evil. According to Stark, it was a near thing. Zemo had them all cold, but apparently they underestimated Ant-Man of all people. The Masters managed to escape, however, and are still at large.
"Entry 1.17 - a a joint NASA/SHIELD observatory, Major Carol Danvers observed what could have been extra-terrestrial life. She called in the Avengers to confirm it, a decision that probably saved the world. Danvers, the Avengers and a rogue Kree operative named 'Captain Marvel' engaged a Kree sentry and put Earth right in the middle of a war between two alien races.
"Entry 1.19 - It's finally happened. A force with superior technology has commenced a worldwide invasion of Earth. SHIELD and international armed forces have engaged the enemy, but its only a matter of time before the planet is overrun. I placed the call… because the Avengers are our last hope. A time-traveller named 'Kang the Conqueror' has come to the past to save the future, or so he says… no matter who he has to hurt to do it. It was up to the Avengers to somehow take down a man who literally knew the future… and they did it thanks to their mutant ally, Connor Peterson, now calling himself 'Cybernaut'. He used Kang's own technology against him. It was a team effort, but a lot of the credit for saving the world goes to Cybernaut on this one.
"Entry 1.21 - Surprising no one, Hawkeye has gone rogue to chase down his former partner: the Black Widow. Widow was working undercover for me to infiltrate the criminal organization known as Hydra. Unless the Avengers can reign him in, he's going to flush a year of work down the d-"
"What, is that it? It just cuts out?" Maria asked incredulously as the video file fell to static and white noise.
"That's every entry Fury made. He disappeared a week after this. Just after that incident in Missouri." Assisting her in accessing these private logs was one of SHIELD's most decorated field agents and first responder when it came to events of global precedence; Phil Coulson. Phil was one of the only other people within SHIELD who was close to Nick Fury and since Agent Miguel had vanished along with him, Coulson and Maria were the few left capable of accessing Nick's files in an effort to try and gain some insight from their missing director.
"Seems like this file was cut short on purpose, the editing is too choppy and sudden for it to be part of his usual data submissions." Agent Jace Carson noted. "Something Fury found he wanted redacted completely."
"I don't like it, but I don't have much of a choice." Maria mused. "Doesn't matter. I think I can add a few more entries, fill in a few holes…" With that, she began to expand the file database, creating several new voice files that recapped events Fury had not been present for.
Avengers Activity Database, from the files of Maria Hill…
"Entry 1.22 - The whole world is frozen and giant monsters burst out of the ice and attacked. Captain America calls me later to report in, just like he and Iron Man have been doing with Fury for months. Some kind of Asgardian wizard named 'Malekith' froze everything, the monsters were his people too.
"Entry 1.23 - Hydra and AIM go to war and New York is the battleground. I've got SHIELD forces in place to deal with the situation… and the Avengers interfere. Against direct orders from me they add to the chaos, claiming that the Black Widow isn't a traitor to SHIELD and that everyone is chasing some kind of AIM superweapon that can 'change reality', something called the 'Cosmic Cube'. Who knows how much damage they caused? But then I saw for myself the true danger the Avengers posed…
"Entry 1.24.25 - A robot by the name of Ultron attacked the SHIELD Helicarrier to get to me. As acting director of SHIELD, I have codes to access a worldwide arsenal of nuclear codes. Ultron ripped them from my mind and activated the weapons. The Avengers stopped Ultron and the missiles with SECONDS to spare… but Ant-Man admitted the blame was his. Ultron, as it turns out, was HIS creation. His guilt was overwhelming and he quit the team in shame-"
"After he helped save the world." Phil interrupted.
"Ant-Man himself shut down Ultron, he's the one that finally put an end to that thing." Jace echoed in agreement.
"But not after Ultron tried to systematically eliminate each one of them. Tony reported this into me, do you know why? Because Captain America was in the hospital, along with Cybernaut. Apparently Ultron almost beat him to death." Maria countered, clearly hardlining on the issue.
"Entry 1.26 - The Avengers disappeared from the face of the Earth. Satellite tracking lost sight of them across seven different global locations after a sudden energy pulse of unknown nature and origin. Only days later would Tony report and explain they were transported to the realm of Asgard where they stopped Thor's evil half-brother 'Loki' from conducting an inter-realm takeover." Now with the file up to date, Hill took a step back and pondered everything this little recap had to offer.
"Fury kept half of this quiet, this is incredible. Do you realize how many times the Avengers have literally saved the world?! They're heroes!" Coulson exclaimed. Maria frowned slightly, noting his fanboyish attitude.
"I'm not denying that, Coulson. They are heroes, in fact, they're probably out there right now protecting us all. After all, they're Earth's mightiest heroes." She responded, crossing her arms. "On one point, I agree with Fury about the Avengers. They have potential, but he didn't see that their potential for harm is just as great as it is for good." Jace shook his head slowly, he was far from onboard with Maria's attitude concerning the heroes. In fact, he felt the opposite.
"Director-"
"The Avengers can save the world as much as they want… but from now on, they're going to do it under SHIELD's control." Maria stated firmly. She then turned, leaving Coulson to chew on her statement. "Carson, does Jennifer have the draft ready?"
"Yes…" He said with a sigh, wishing he hadn't. Maria nodded in understanding.
"Then let's go pay Tony Stark a visit."
Later that evening…
As dusk settled across New York City, the lights of buildings slowly began to bathe the city in a metropolitan glow, most prominent among them being Stark Tower. A pinnacle point on the cityscape, heralding the world-changing innovations and hard-to-miss presence of Tony Stark, it stood like a time-honored memorial to corporate ventures, business endeavours and company success stories.
Well, the success part could be debatable…
"As you know, we experienced an eighty percent drop in the value of Stark Industries stock after you announced the closure of the company's weapons-making operations." Simon Gilbert reported.
"Uh-huh."
"And, um… while we've been focusing on aerospace and medical technology divisions, our revenue streams are still-"
"Uh-huh." If anything, Tony Stark was hardly bothered by the concerns of his board members, his focus entirely dedicated to a metal wristband he was tinkering with. His gaze switching back and forth between microcircuits and the small tool case he'd brought with him.
"Mister Stark, are you even paying attention?" Eric Lynch asked incredulously.
"No," Tony flatly replied, setting his tools down, "I'm paying attention to this." He stated, strapping the cuff around his wrist and toggling the central emitter. With a flash of red light, a holographic version of Captain America's star-spangled shield appeared over his arm. "Nice right? Okay, someone throw something at me." He challenged, bracing himself just like Cap would. "Anyone! Come on, who's got a pen?" None of them moved, the board members lost for words in the face of Tony's blatant inconsideration. Even Maria Carbonell, the chairman of the board, had nothing to say. The silence was only broken by a knock on the conference room door,
"Excuse me, Mister Stark?" Pepper Potts inquired, poking her head in. "Your seven o'clock appointment is here." Tony's eyes brightened as the board members packed up and took their leave.
"Pepper, throw your shoes at me!"
"No." Pepper sated firmly, attempting to curtail his childish nature. "Tony, you need to take these status meetings seriously. The board is voicing a lot of concerns… concerns about how much time you're spending with the Avengers." With a roll of his eyes, Tony deactivated his new hardlight shield before dropping down in his chair.
"Really? So they're concerned that I've helped save the world, like, what… seven times now?" He complained.
"They're not wrong, Tony." Pepper insisted. "You've barely been at the office since the whole Iron Man thing started and once you formed the Avengers, even less." She pointedly stated. "Not to mention that you're paying for the Avengers out of your own pocket. If Stark Industries fails, they will too." With another sigh, Tony stood, hands in his pockets as he meandered around the board room. He liked being Iron Man, liked being a hero and doing some good for the world. It was a high he'd been riding ever since he abandoned his place in the harmful weapons industry. He was doing good things for people now, and that seemed impossible to balance with his work.
"What do you want me to do, Pepper?" He wondered offhandedly.
"Your life has become Iron Man Twenty-Four-Seven." She replied.
"That is not true. I'm in the office now, right?" Tony retorted with a trademark smirk he always had whenever pointing out the littlest thing as evidence in his favour. "No Iron Man, no Avengers." He was feeling quite proud, until the ID card in his shirt pocket started to chime. Pepper raised a brow, silently basking in her case proven as Tony sheepishly pulled out his Avengers ID card. Captain America appeared on it moments later.
"Tony, we're ready to move the remaining armor from your armory to the Mansion." He said. Tony shot Pepper a nervous glance.
"Uh, yeah, sure thing… I'll, uh, be right there guys." He replied, tucking his card back into its pocket.
"Are there Avengers in the building right now, moving suits of Iron Man armor?" She wondered, her voice like that of a disciplinarian mother. "Is that what you mean by 'No Iron Man, no Avengers'?"
"Look, I'm moving the armor to protect Stark Industries. The armor makes SI a target. Look at what happened with Ultron and Wonder Man." Tony countered. "I'm not going to put my people at risk anymore, especially you." He promised. Pepper sighed.
"I'm only delivering the concerns of the board."
"Tell me. Do you think they're right?" Tony queried.
"It doesn't matter what I think, but your seven o'clock appointment's opinion holds more weight than mine." Pepper responded, taking her leave. Tony watched her go for a moment, the gears in his mind turning.
"Wait… who's the appointment?"
Outside…
With traffic lacking at this hour, it was certainly easy for the four nondescript blue vans to tear into the ring road around Stark Tower, making quite a scene as they suddenly screeched to a halt at all four corners of the building. Once they were parked, AIM agents clambered out and climbed into the back space, where they proceeded to power up a series of electro-magnetic generators, a red glow filling the van…
"You're late." Maria Hill curtly greeted. Tony merely chuckled as he strode into his office.
"Hi, Maria." He casually responded. "And I see you've brought a friend." He mused, spying Jace standing close by. He promptly walked over and offered his hand to the man. "Agent… Carter, is it?" He wondered.
"Carson." Jace corrected, shaking his hand.
"Ah, right right. By the way, how is Miss Walters doing?"
"So far so good. Bruce's transfusion saved her life it would seem. Any minute later and… she would've been a goner." Jace answered.
"No side-effects? Everything good?" Tony queried, striding over to his desk.
"No, she seems to be recovering just fine." Tony sat with a smile, pleased by her answer.
"Now, what can I do for the acting director of SHIELD?" He wondered.
"I want Iron Man and the Avengers to join SHIELD." Maria stated simply. Tony groaned, pressing his head back into his chair.
"This again… why is it nobody will just let me do my thing? First my board, then my secretary, now Fury's apprentice." He complained.
As the billionaire grappled with this latest onslaught on his personal investment, the Avengers several floors below had a mere two suits of armor left to move. They had already dealt with Tony's other varied standard-issue armors as well as moved his specialized armors, namely the arctic armor, the hydro armor, the space armor and the extreme environment armor. Those that remained, they had very little idea about. "He's been working on it since you guys got back from… wherever you guys disappeared to a few weeks ago." Colonel James Rhodes explained.
"Asgard." Black Panther corrected.
"The realm eternal, stronghold of the gods, whatever you wanna call it. Turns out all that Norse mythology is real." Cybernaut remarked.
"Er… right. Anyway, he's calling it the Mark Nine. Won't say anything more." Rhodey continued. Captain America looked around thoughtfully.
"If all the other suits were destroyed, then what's in that one?" He wondered, glancing at a single solitary armor case standing on its own. Rhodey approached it thoughtfully.
"That's my armor… the War Machine." He answered.
"So why aren't you an Avenger, Colonel Rhodes?" Cap asked.
"Because I'm not interested in being a superhero. I just want to keep Tony safe." James answered. "Safe from himself, mostly." Cap took the answer in stride as Connor sized up the Mark 9 armor case.
"You ever have anything like this in Wakanda?" He asked of Black Panther.
"While Iron Man's armor is unique, I confess we attempted to develop something similar for the Wakandan army. The end result was a powered suit of armor that functioned as a fairly close facsimile, minus the ARC reactor technology."
"Let me guess, powered by Vibranium?" The technopath wondered. T'Challa nodded in affirmation.
"Correct."
"Is there anything in Wakanda that doesn't involve Vibranium?" Cybernaut inquired with a mirthful smirk.
"Our pottery is all made in the 'old-fashioned way'." The king promptly answered. "Once we are finished here, I can show you some samples at the Wakandan Embassy."
"You, uh, wouldn't happen to sell any, would you? I'd love to have a piece, especially if its all purple and black." Connor timidly inquired.
"I will see what I can find." Black Panther promised.
At a sharp nod from Maria, Jace got up with an exhale and strode to Tony's desk, laying out a simple document all done up with proper legalese as well as markings indicating SHIELD ownership. "Director Hill has the necessary paperwork here, for you to sign if you so choose." He stated, though his voice lacked the measure of force and confidence he normally possessed. Tony could read her like a book, Jace was just going through the motions and wanted nothing to do with this. "Although Jennifer I would recommend you read things over, make sure you have understood all the fine print." He quickly added.
"Let me guess, something about confiscation of assets, lack of personal freedom, unpaid vacation times and becoming a general SHIELD bootlicker?" Tony snidely wondered, picking up the document and studying it haphazardly. Maria frowned.
"You do the crime, you do the time." She said crossly.
"What, so saving the world without a SHIELD badge is a crime now?" Tony shot back, tossing the paper back on his desk. "Thanks but no thanks."
"You don't get it, do you Stark?" Maria responded with a frown, leaning against his desk. "This is your grace period, your chance to bring the Avengers under SHIELD by choice. Personally, I don't care if you say yes right now, because if you won't do this by choice then you will do this by force." She added in a low, rather threatening manner. "I meant what I said about taking this to congress and the senate. This will all be legal sooner or later, it's up to you whether you want to walk into the deal or be dragged in." Tony didn't like getting pushed around by anyone, especially under such veiled terms like these. In his mind, Hill was very gradually crossing the line between director and dictator. There was no way he'd ever sign something like this and he couldn't speak for the rest of the team, but he had a feeling none of them were too keen on regulation either.
Rubbing his face, he loosed a sigh. "What would be the point in registration? Pretty much everybody knows our identities. Well, maybe not T'Challa, but SHIELD knows. And if we did work for SHIELD, what then? We'd save the world and then punch a timecard?" He wondered, reclining back and savouring the plush comfort of his chair. "What if I save someone crossing the street, out of my armor? Does every Good Samaritan have to register?" He wondered with a knowing smirk and Jace stifled a chuckle.
"Don't give me that. Good Samaritans don't save little old ladies wearing nuclear-powered battle suits." Maria snapped. Tony raised a brow.
"It's not nuclear." He corrected. Maria got up and started pacing, reminding the three in the room of some stone-hearted general concocting some devilish battle plan.
"I need the Avengers as an example. More and more superheroes are popping up. The Fantastic Four are public, but others like Spider-Man and the X-Men, aren't. There has to be accountability. There are laws, and it's my job to enforce them." She stated, firmly and loudly. Her chocolate gaze turned back to Tony. "If Iron Man steps forward and supports this, the others will fall in line."
"Fall in line? Are you even listening to yourself, Hill?" Jace exclaimed incredulously.
"That's Director Hill, Agent Carson." Maria retorted, her voice calm yet cold. Silence filled the air and Tony didn't like it.
"What if I say no?" He wondered. Maria stared at him, her gaze piercing and resolute in all the wrong ways.
"One day, one of you will mess up. One day, you'll fail, and people will be hurt. And on that day, SHIELD will come after all of you." She vowed.
At that exact moment, the power in the building suddenly died.
"SHIELD isn't coming after me right now by any chance, are they?" Tony wondered as the doors to his office utomatically closed and locked. Outside, Pepper cautiously entered the hall, startled and confused by the lights going dark. She half expected this to somehow be Tony's doing, maybe even related to the Avengers in the building. But when she herald the thrum of a functioning elevator, she grew curious and drew close as a chime indicated its arrival. The doors parted and the redhead gasped in horror…
A team of heavily armed AIM agents emerged from within, fanning out across the hall with rifles at the ready. Pepper tried to run away, only to be grabbed by one who aimed his pistol at her. "All communications are jammed." Another reported. Their apparent ringleader nodded, his visored-gaze turning to Pepper.
"Hello, Miss Potts. Do you know who I am?" He queried.
"An angry beekeeper?" Jested the secretary.
"Not quite. I am the Scientist Supreme of the Advanced Idea Mechanics." He replied. "I am now in control here."
"What do you want?" Pepper demanded. As if on cue, the other elevator chimed to disgorge a second AIM team, this one in possession of a very large containment unit.
"This machine is called Technovore." Scientist Supreme revealed. "It has one purpose; to consume." Pepper watched fearful as the other AIM agents crowded around and started prepping the cage. With a hiss and a rush of steam, the cage door lowered, allowing a glowing red tentacular creature to emerge. It's appearance was so unsettling Pepper couldn't help but gasp in fright. "I have reprogrammed it to seek out ARC reactor technology." Supreme intoned as the other agents trained wary rifles on the beast. "Much like what Tony Stark has in his chest." Pepper began to put the pieces together and it frightened her. "So to answer your question 'what do I want'," Scientist Supreme continued, "I want Technovore to feed."
The truth made known, Technovore darted down the hall in search of its next meal…
As it left, the AIM agents spread out and started taking the board members as prisoners along with Pepper as they left Technovore to its work and moved off to fulfill other nefarious schemes. The nanotech monstrosity skulked through the darkened halls, a serious a photoreceptors searching and tracking ambient energy radiation, disseminating photovoltaic and luminary sources from its true quest… which lay close by. And once Technovore locked-on, it could not be stopped.
Tony and Jace tried to force open the doors of his office to no avail, their physical strength unable to bypass the technology in place. "Magnetically sealed. We're stuck." Tony concluded.
"I appreciate failsafes as much as the next guy, but I thought you were a genius. Why'd you build a set that backfires on you?" Jace asked, earning an eyeroll from Tony.
"I repeat, this is Maria Hill. Come in Helicarrier!" Maria attempted, her comms giving her nothing but static.
"Whatever happened, it shut down my Avengers ID card too." Tony realized. "And that's saying something… This isn't a blackout or a power failure," he mused, glancing out across the city which was still very much lit up, "somene's created a dead zone around us." Tony realized.
"Well, Marcus Daniels is still on the loose…" Jace mused. "Or maybe that Max Dillon character?"
"This is just great!" Maria griped. "You mean to tell me we're-" Suddenly, an awfully inhuman noise resounded from the hall. On instinct, Maria and Jace drew their pistols and took aim at the sealed office door. "I don't suppose that's your next appointment?" Hill wondered.
"I sure hope not." Tony replied, sounding equally worried. Maria and Jace took up leading defensive positions while Tony got behind them.
In the lower levels of Stark Tower, the AIM team had arrived in the sprawling server room, which hosted the necessary computers and databanks to process the vast network that was Stark Industries technology. A pair of AIM agents sat before the central terminal, plugging in data drives as they started to access the millions of folders and files. "Begin downloading, I want every single byte of data Tony Stark owns." Scientist Supreme ordered.
"You're doing all of this to steal Tony's computers?" Pepper wondered incredulously.
"Not just the computers, Miss Potts, AIM is taking everything." He replied.
Several floors above, another team was preparing for a breach and clear mission, setting up a massive door-melting turret outside the Tower's armory. "Scan shows two suits of armor inside. Take them!" A beam of yellow power began to erode through the solid steel door, reducing locks and bolts to molten puddles as metal liquified under the intensity. On the other side, Captain America, Black Panther and Cybernaut prepared for a fight, watching as the door glowed red-hot. "Guess this explains the power outage." The mutant remarked.
"Can you sense how many are out there, Cybernaut?" Cap queried.
"I've got feeds from a dozen or so rifles… and one really big one." Cybernaut replied just as the door came crashing down and smoke filled the room. AIM agents started pouring in as the Avengers used the dark and lacking visual range to their advantage. The instant one drew close enough, Black Panther sprang from his hiding place and took down one of them. Another turned to fire, only to have one of Cyberaut's irons strike him upside the head and knock him unconscious. The sole surviving AIM agents waved his rifle around fearful, his weapon of little use as Captain America burst from the smoke and knocked him out with a single punch.
The AIM agents waiting outside had no idea what had transpired, their only clue coming when a single unconscious body was flung into two of their own, taking them down as Captain America emerged with a rifle, blasting away at the surprised terrorists as Cybernaut and Panther flanked him. A single shot promptly obliterated the turret, the ensuing explosion bowling over most of the other agents while Connor's hail of metal took out the rest.
"Any idea who these guys are?" Rhodes wondered, emerging once the hall had fallen silent.
"The Advanced Idea Mechanics." T'Challa answered, shucking a body of his shoulder to join the others on the floor. "A cadre of scientists seeking to use their technology for profit. They've obviously come for Stark's armor and technology."
"Which means we're officially on guard duty." Connor mused, forming his twin batons.
"You may not want to be a superhero, Colonel, but now might be a good time to put on that armor." Cap told Rhodey just as more AIM agents arrived on the floor, armed and ready for a fight.
Meanwhile…
A chirp from the Scientist Supreme's communicator drew Pepper's attention as well. "Report!"
"There are two Avengers in the building!" Another AIM agent urgently exclaimed from the other end.
"Which ones?"
"Captain America, Cybernaut and the Black Panther."
"Destroy them both… and take any Vibranium the Panther might have. And get those armors!" Scientist Supreme ordered, signing off. Pepper shot him a bemused look and he knew what she was thinking. "There will be no rescue coming for you, Miss Potts. AIM controls this building, we are the greatest collective of minds on this planet and the Avengers are nothing compared to our science." Supreme promised her.
"I'm confused, then. Didn't you say you were here to loot the place?" Pepper wondered.
"This is personal." He replied. "Tony Stark will pay for throwing me in prison as if I were some common criminal."
"Ah, common looter then." Pepper surmised. With a growl, Scientist Supreme dragged her close.
"You should be more respectful to the person who's about to destroy Iron Man and take down Stark Industries!" He threatened, forcing Pepper to look at the monitors they were hacking.
She realized with a frightened gasp that they were targeting the ARC reactor.
Sure enough, another team of AIM agents had infiltrated the lower levels of the building, bringing with them enough packed explosives to blow the entire room to smithereens… and enough to devastate several city blocks once they detonated the ARC reactor.
A distant rumbling had followed the inhuman noises, Jace and Maria fanning out to cover more angles as Tony kept scanning the area. What he wouldn't give to have his Iron Man armor right now…
With a loud crash, the ceiling caved in as Technovore burst into the office from above, tackling Tony. Rolling across the floor, the billionaire threw the creature off of him, Technovore rearing to full height and loosing a grating, mechanized roar from its gaping maw before it pounced on Tony again. Jace and Maria whirled around, opening fire on the beast as energy salvos ricocheted off Technovore's hide. Turning to find the source of his agitation, its photoreceptor quickly scanned over Hill and acquired a readout on her weapon.
Leaving Tony behind, Technovore pounced on Maria, knocking her to the ground with a cry. Her physical abilities proved no match for Technovore's ruthlessness, the mechanical beast pinning her to the floor as a series of tendrils reached from its mouth. Jace towards Technovore, a flick of a switch caused the barrel of his gun to split open and an electric charge rolled through it. Smashing it into the side of Technovore, the beast yowled in surprise and anger, a flick of its tail enough to send Jace smashing into the nearby wall. It's scarlet gaze turned on Maria once more, but before it could continue, a hardlight version of Captain America's shield smacked into Technovore bowling it over as the projectile returned to its generator position on Tony's arm.
"See what I did there? I saved you and I wasn't even registered!" He remarked as Hill recovered. This time, Jace chuckled out loud as Maria shot him a glare.
"Quit patronizing me and just tell me what this thing is!" She retorted, scrambling to her feet and collecting her pistol. "Do you even know what it is?"
"Yeah. Technovore." Tony quickly answered. The name registered with both SHIELD agents.
"From the Vault!" Jace realized. "I've read the file but I've never seen it in person. Just what is it? Experimental earthworm gone wrong?"
"Technovore is a nanotech AI. It was created to destroy data. It went out of control and ended up eating pretty much everything." Tony explained as Technovore rose and circled them, Jace and Jennifer huddling back to back with Tony and Maria as everyone kept eyes on the beast. "I had Cybernaut tracking it and several other tech-based villains, but the trail ran cold… someone's sent it here, after me." He suddenly determined as Technovore paused to scan the group.
"ARC energy signature located. Consuuuuuume…" It intoned.
"It's after the ARC reactor?" Maria wondered in dismay.
"The one in my chest, yeah, I think we should run now." Tony replied. Hearing the fear in his voice, Jace quickly fixed an attachment to his pistol.
"Breaching round going out!" He cried, taking aim at the doors and firing a concussive slug that blew them off their hinges, allowing the foursome to make a break for the empty halls as Technovore gave chase with a roar. The four booked it around corners and down halls… until they ran afoul of an unexpected trio.
"What?!" Maria gasped, recognizing the yellow jumpsuits instantly.
"AIM. Well that makes sense." Tony remarked. One of the agents reached for his comms as they other drew their rifles.
"We have a visual on Tony Stark."
"Then shoot him!" Scientist Supreme ordered from the other end. Then the sound of a scuffle managed to filter through the radio. "Hey-!"
"Tony! Tony they're going to blow up the main reactor!" The billionaire's eyes widened at the familiar feminine voice.
"Pepper?" He gasped.
"Carson, cover us!" Maria ordered. Jace reached for his belt and quickly equipped a scattershot attachment to the barrel of his pistol, but before he could get a shot off… "Move!" Maria shouted, all four of them driven into the closest wall as Technovore came crashing onto the scene. With his ARC reactor quarry nowhere to be found, his hungry photoreceptors lingered on the energy cast by the rifles of the AIM agents.
"Aah! Shoot it!" They cried, opening fire but to no avail. The hungry mechanoid pounced on them, crimson plated body thrashing back and forth as the AIM agents disappeared into his serrated maw with lingering shrieks.
"If Technovore's gonna have a snack, maybe we should bail." Jace suggested.
"Good idea! We have to get to the ARC reactor!" Tony urged, turning the group around and sprinting towards the nearest elevator.
"What we need to do is get out of here." Maria countered.
"No! If AIM detonates the reactor, it'll take down the whole building." Tony countered.
"I kinda hate you right now, Stark." Maria sighed.
Down below…
AIM had come looking for a fight and they were proving to be ready for one. The Avengers took shelter behind various structures, doing their best to fend off the terrorists while avoiding getting hit. Captain America used his borrowed rifle to open fire, cutting down several AIM agents as others erected a heavy turret. Dropping back behind his cover, Cap took stock of their options. "Cybernaut, how quickly can you knock that turret out?"
"Just give me an opening where I won't get shot." The mutant promised. Cap nodded.
"Panther, we need some cover fire. Rhodey, you get to your armor. We'll hold off AIM as long as we can." He ordered. The trio quickly prepped for action as Cap sounded off, "In three… two… one… GO!" Black Panther lept into the air, swinging a pair of violet Vibranium daggers around and taking out the two agents manning the turret as Cybernaut reached out a hand and sent the turret smashing into a line of agents with a simple wave. Cap rolled across the floor on his belly, quickly lighting up the rest of the AIM team as Rhodey dashed towards his armor case…
Tony and Jace worked together to try and pry open the unpowered elevator doors, an effort that seemingly required superhuman strength to say the least. "You wanna hurry that up?" Maria complained, covering them with her pistol.
"Why, do you have a date tonight?" Tony quipped in retort.
"Maybe I do." Maria shot back.
"I wish I did." Jace grumbled. "Boy, anywhere but here with Jenny would be nice."
"Not now, Carson, you're on SHIELD hours here." Maria interrupted.
"Says the woman who was gettin' cozy with Agent Miguel." Jace retorted. Their argument promptly ended when Technovore burst onto the scene. Jace and Maria immediately opened fire, only for them all to get bowled over by Technovore as it lunged towards Tony, pinning him to the ground. The tendrils that filled its mouth reached out and dug deep into Stark's ARC reactor, sucking the energy out of his chest as Tony screamed in bitter torment. The pain was unbearable, the very forces keeping a wayward piece of shrapnel from piercing his heart sucked out by Technovore and drawn into the mechabeast's internal components. It took a hard shoulder check from Maria to drive Technovore off of him and even then the beasts tendrils were far from compliant and pulled out of Tony's ARC reactor only at the last moment, a very close call that was far too close for any of their liking.
"M-Maria… Jace… r-run." Tony gasped, rolling over as his ARC reactor pulsed in warning of low energy. "Get to the ARC reactor, stop aim. I'll hold off Technovore as long as I can."
"You can barely stand, we're not leaving you!" Maria retorted, training her sights on Technovore as Jace did likewise.
But the beast's gaze was drawn away from them, its retinal scanners locking on to a new, fresh source of ARC energy several stories down…
Taking off, Technovore burst through the sealed elevator doors and began to descend, its body winding it was around the elevator cables. "Where's it going?" Maria wondered as they watched it leave.
"Down. Either of you bring a jetpack by any chance?"
"We're agents of SHIELD, we're prepared for anything." Maria boasted, withdrawing an ascender from her belt as Jace mimicked her motions. Together they lept towards the shaft's cab ales and clipped their ascenders into place, allowing them to traverse up and down with ease. Hopping onto Maria's back, with a rather wolffish grin, Tony joined them in the descent…
Captain America, Cybernaut and Black Panther soon found themselves in a slug match with the AIM agents, brawls breaking out left and right as more and more of the suited scientists seemed to show up from out of nowhere and each one sporting more advanced tech than the last. Finally, a single agent leading a fresh team unleashed the power of a gravity cannon that blew the trio off their feet. Through thick smoke, the heroes did not rise and the AIM team moved ahead cautiously. "This is two-two-tone, the Avengers are down. I repeat, the Avengers are down. There's no sign of the fourth man." The team leader reported over comms. "I am proceeding with armor extraction-" He stopped, hearing something. It was faint but growing louder, the sound of whirring machinery and heavy metal steps against the floor. Something was approaching them, slowly emerging from the smoke…
At first, the bright red glow of optical sensors greeted them, framed atop a hulking shadowy form. But then the equally bright red glow of an ARC reactor appeared and the AIM agents cowered before the massive suit of electromechanical armor approaching them. It was broad, heavily plated, and positively bristling with weaponry. The AIM agent looked up in scared awe as the grey armor looked down on him,
"Good luck with that." War Machine remarked.
The ensuing explosion propelled the AIM agent back into an unconscious heap, his allies and the recovering Avengers looking on in shock as a new player entered the scene. The AIM agents took a frightened step back, nervously fingering the triggers of their rifles as their newfound foe prepared for battle. Snapping up both arms, plasma repeaters extended from his forearms as his shoulder-mounted Gatling gun spooled up while his shoulder-mounted rocket launcher prepped its arsenal of warheads. "Cap, Panther, Cybernaut… duck." War Machine ordered. Following his orders, the Avengers hit the deck as the AIM teams opened fire, their rounds ricocheting off the impenetrable War Machine armor.
But when War Machine opened fire, the AIM agents never stood a chance…
"Download is complete." One of the AIM drones announced, pulling a bulky hard drive free from the central server. "We've got Stark's entire mainframe, including ARC reactor and armor schematics." He reported, turning the valuable storage drive over to the giddy Scientist Supreme.
"Team Three reporting in," another drone called out over comms, "there are six minutes left on the ARC reactor explosives. We're pulling out." Supreme affirmed the order and continued to cycle through teams.
"Team Two, what's the status on the armor transport?" Silence met him, the whine of static filling the airwaves as not a single agent responded. "Team Two, respond!" He repeated, gaining nothing more.
"Ooh, that doesn't sound good. I think your team ran afoul of some Avengers. Doesn't that happen every other Tuesday?" Pepper quipped. "You really should have prepared for that."
She was right.
War Machine's vast arsenal cut down the AIM agents in droves, leaving yellow-clad bodies littered everywhere throughout the hall. Those who survived were quickly subdued by the three avengers tailing him. "You guys okay?" Rhodey wondered from within.
"All clear." Cap reported.
"I really, really want one of those." Cybernaut remarked longingly. They were interrupted by a sudden roar as Technovore burst in through one of the access doors and plowed into War Machine and carried him through another wall. The AIM team in the ARC reactor room were not expecting their arrival and quickly vacated the scene as War Machine slammed into the floor with Technovore atop him, its technicals digging into his ARC reactor to feed.
"What should we do?!" One of the agents questioned.
"This whole place is going to blow up, so how about we get out of here." Another replied, turning around… and promptly meeting the business end of Black Panther's fist. The other agents raised their rifles in shock only to have the ripped from their grips by Cybernaut's magnets. He and Captain America laid into them, landing solid punches and kicks that knocked the scientific terrorists out one by one. The last one standing was taken down before anyone could get to him, shot in the back with a stun round from Maria Hill.
"Present from Stark." She explained while tossing the hardlight generator cuff to Cap.
"Tony? Where is he?" Cap wondered as he slipped his new acquisition into place. He had his answer when a shriek from Rhodey drew their collective attention to his struggle against Technovore.
"Get… off… me!" He rasped, the power in his armor failing as his power was bled dry. But then, a repulsor blast struck Technovore from behind throwing him off of War Machine and sent tumbling across the floor. Rhodey picked himself up, and stared up at the bright and shining form of Iron Man.
The Mark IX was a significant update over Tony's previous suit. A little more gold across the shoulders, some additional red on the thighs and, most notably, a triangular-shaped variobeam lens on his chest. "You heard the man… down, boy." Iron Man remarked, repulsors aglow. His HUD swept over the ARC reactor, scanning the bombs in place as War Machine jetted up beside him.
"So… what's the plan?" He queried.
"Not enough time to disarm the bombs." Tony answered.
"What bombs?! I was talking about that thing!" Rhodey exclaimed, gesturing to Technovore. Tony quickly though through his options. He knew there wasn't enough firepower in the room to stop Technovore, and the mechabeast was far too advanced for Connor's mutant powers to manipulate. Their best option, then, was a risky one…
"We're going to give Technovore exactly what he wants; the ARC reactor. Just… not the one in mychest." He decided. At that moment, Technovore slunk up and sprung towards Iron Man, latching on and refusing to give up. It took a couple rockets from War Machine to drop the creature, but even then its oral tentacles ensnared Tony's boot and refused to let go. "JARVIS, connect to the mainframe's emergency backup. Begin reactivation of the ARC reactor at two-hundred percent capacity. Overload it!" He ordered, unleashing a two-handed repulsor blast that struck Technovore in the photoreceptors only to find several tentacles cuffing his hands together.
"What? You said that was bad!" Maria exclaimed.
"Trust me!" Tony shouted back, the room lit by a brilliant glow as the ARC reactor crackled to life. Technovore saw it and lunged, photoreceptors dazzling with extreme wonder. It lunged, like a hungry dog desperate to tear into a steak, and shoved its head into the column of energy, "Consuuuuume…" it intoned, tentacles reaching.
That's when Tony struck.
Launching ahead, Iron Man tackled Technovore and drove him deep inside the energy well. "You're hungry, monster? Then eat this!" He cried, forcing its mouth open and driving Technovore towards the epicentre. "JARVIS, now!" The energy column began to expand, destroying the control consoles and the bombs on them in its wake. The Avengers crowded to one side, Maria and Jace quickly joining them as Captain America used his new tool to create a massive-sized version of his shield to protect them from the stormy onslaught. The group braced themselves as they were swallowed up by the energy well, Iron Man still grppaling with Technovore as he forced the mechabeast to consume so much ARC energy that Technovore began to swell uncontrollably, his body reaching an overload point as Iron Man vacated the scene.
Soon enough, Technovore detonated in a mighty explosion that negated the swelling energy field, the room returning to normal as Iron Man dropped down beside his allies, his armor steaming from the stress. "How did you know that wouldn't set off the explosives?" Rhodey asked, helping him up as the two popped open their faceplates.
"Because they stole that design from me." Tony answered proudly. He stopped suddenly, realizing their mission was not yet complete. "Pepper!"
Outside…
An AIM hovercraft was waiting to move Scientist Supreme and his surviving team to safety, along with their hostage. "Contact the AIM base, let the know we're going to need engineers to decrypt the hard drive." He ordered. The sounds of grunts and the heavy thump of fists impacting flesh forced him to turn around, finding his team unconscious on the ground with the Avengers standing over them.
"Okay boys, who wants to help me break this nerd's glasses?" Cybernaut inquired, snapping his irons together to form a staff. Supreme defensively raised his weapon towards Pepper, intending to use her hostage status to still make a clean getaway. But he was interrupted as War Machine commandeered his ship and Iron Man hovered overhead.
"It's over." Tony commanded.
"Over? I have your precious Pepper Potts!" Supreme retorted, jerking the beleaguered secretary close to him. "I'm still holding all the cards." Suddenly, Pepper turned and elbowed him in the guts, followed by a swift uppercut that caught Scientist Supreme on the chin and laid him out flat on the ground, his weapon falling from his grip. Shaking out her sore hand, Pepper turned as Tony dropped to the ground behind her.
"I expect this to be reflected in my bonus." She remarked.
"Done." Tony affirmed with a nod. Satisfied this was over, Pepper suddenly remembered one crucial detail.
"The hard drive!" She gasped, eyes going wide. "All the data from the mainframe-!"
"It's okay, Miss Potts. It's safe." Cap promised her as Cybernaut held the evidence aloft. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Pepper fainted into Tony's armored arms. He clutched her reassuringly, providing her with a long overdue safe haven as he bore a grin of complete satisfaction.
With the others, Maria Hill noticed his actions and frowned. The simple fact that Tony seemed so nonchalant about things, even though his civilian secretary had been at risk and in harms way because of his actions, drove her up the wall. It only served to reinforce her point about the Avengers harming others. She stared for a moment longer in total disbelief that Tony could do this and then be so ignorant towards her proposal. Maria determined then and there to take up the matter with him again as soon as possible. But later, after this mess had been cleaned up.
"Carson, call the Helicarrier and get a team down here to put these beekeepers away." She ordered promptly. It was only then that Cybernaut realized her presence.
"Hey, wait, what's SHIELD doing here?" He wondered.
"Oh, you know, Maria wants the Avengers folded into SHIELD. The usual." Tony informed him.
"Oh for-… this again?" Cybernaut groaned, rubbing his temples. "You're starting to sound like a broken record… an obsessed broken record." He remarked to the Latina. "Don't you have some spy-stuff to do? You know, laws to break in the name of peace and justice?" He queried, Maria answering with a frown.
"Don't get smart with me, kid." She curtly retorted. "Your vigilantism is putting people at risk."
"I'm sorry, I misheard you, you meant 'heroism' right? Because I don't see SHIELD saving the entire world eight times in a row." Cybernaut retorted, wiggling the hard drive in his hand as evidence. Tony scrunched up his brow, performing some mental math.
"Eight… wait, which one did I miss?"
Later…
Standing alone in his office, Tony caught the briefest of breathers as Maria demanded they reflect on the recent assault. Tony viewed the whole situation as a win, the bad guys had been dealt with, all harm had been reversed, and the day saved. That being said, Tony hadn't been able to do it by himself, and without his armor he had been far weaker than everyone else. And he was humble enough to admit it. "Thank you, Maria. Thank you for staying with me. You saved my life." He told her.
"This doesn't change anything. Registration is going to happen." She curtly responded. Tony sighed.
"This was the part where you were supposed to thank me for saving your life."
"You don't get it. I saved your life because that's my job. But you?" She retorted, tapping the ARC reactor in his chest. "You're putting people at risk. The Avengers put people at risk." Tony shook his head in dismay, even rolling his eyes a little as he returned to looking out the window.
"So I'm guessing dinner is out of the question?" He wondered and Maria shot him a look of shocked awe. It soon turned to one of disgusted chagrin.
She just couldn't believe this man…!