Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction and no ownership of any intellectual property is claimed or implied. Quotes from original sources are included, but rather than disrupt the flow of the story, I will acknowledge them in general here. All instances of irony are likely intentional.
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(Chapter theme song: Future of Mankind – Judas Priest)
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It was possible, Tony Stark admitted to himself, that he had been spending too much time in New York lately. His mind, never still in idle moments, was seriously pondering Manhattan properties he could convert or demolish for a new Stark Tower, even as he was accompanied by his bodyguard to yet another meeting across the Hudson from Manhattan. Upon reflection, he made a note to run it by Pepper and hope she didn't clobber him for giving her more work.
Certainly a business case could be made for it. Stark Industries had been originally based in New York in his father's day. He had moved headquarters out to California for the sake of all the military contracting that went on out there and to get away from the memories of his childhood home. Now that Stark Industries had moved in a civilian direction, some kind of significant presence or even a complete move of headquarters back to the east coast might be a good idea. Since he was going to be spending a lot of money in the town anyway to pay for repairs anyway, he might as well get something lasting out of it. He'd have to see if his new CEO was persuadable.
Setting that aside now that he'd made a decision... to pass the buck to Pepper... he looked for something else to occupy his thoughts and found it easily enough. "There you are again," Tony nodded to one of the five projections surrounding them from where he sat. Mobile, high-tech glass-panel projectors had been deployed around a folding table inside the empty warehouse they were in. Hilariously, one of the bleeding-edge electronic displays was being used for no other reason than to display the SHIELD logo. The one he had indicated, however, was showing WHIH News "You'd think gorgeous, ass-kicking redheads wouldn't be popular subjects on the TV. But... you are! You really really are! Shocking, isn't it?"
Ranma looked over from where she stood beside him and grimaced a little at the reminder of the several on-air interviews she had done. "Almost hate to say it, but I seem to be getting the hang of that stuff." She had been coached heavily before and after the first few 'press opportunities.' The sessions with PR had been almost overwhelming, but she had managed to hang in there for various reasons.
One reason was that the training was extremely fast-paced, especially once that Donna woman had figured out how she could use JARVIS to throw massive amounts of information and testing at the Ki-enhanced perceptions of the martial artist. That rapid pace had helped a lot to keep Ranma's attention on a subject that wasn't exactly dear to her heart. Another reason she endured with little complaint was how they made sure to use only women to work with her during those sessions... taking advantage of the fact she just couldn't say no to girls in any but the most severe of circumstances. A weakness that she was not too sure how to cure, and one other women seemed to pick up with distressing ease.
Out of sheer self-preservation to escape the coaching, she managed to fake comfort and expertise to a high degree as quickly as if she were figuring out a martial arts technique in combat. It was lucky she did. Not only were the times when she had to trot on out in front of reporters unlikely to end any time soon, but she was already getting paid to be a face of Stark Industries beyond whatever public interaction was expected of a hero. On her honor, she was determined to do the job and do it well. As annoying as the training had been, she hated the alternative of making a fool of herself in public... and she liked the attention well enough.
"Oh yeah... Pep will definitely have you play spokesmodel as much as you let her get away with."
"Yeah... I'm worried she'll have me do nothing else. I might need to think of something soon." Ranma gave it quick consideration. "I'll... need to study instead? Like a lot for GED and college?"
"That's worth a try, I guess," Tony shrugged unencouragingly. "She's already committed to your studies... we both have... but you might just be adding to the pile. Oh well. If nothing else, you can soak us for lots of tutors and assistants and materials on the company dime. Beyond the freebies JARVIS gives you."
"Should you be telling me that?" Ranma smirked. "I might need to build you a nice doghouse. That's where American men go sleep when their women get mad, right?"
"Nah... we have 'Man-Caves' these days. Or 'Man-Mansions' in my case. Besides, she'd probably give you the same advice if you asked her directly. Not like we don't have the money. Hmm..." he hummed nonchalantly as he turned a folder on the table to look at the cover. 'AVENGERS INITIATIVE PREMLIMIARY REPORT' is what it read in big block letters. Ranma lifted an eyebrow at the title, reminded of what Natasha had told her.
As the inventor started to open the folder, he was interrupted by Director Fury. "I don't think I want you looking at that. I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore."
Tony and Ranma gave each other some side-eye at the spy-master's tone. "Hang on... so you can afford to haul these thingies around," Ranma interjected with a jerk of her head to a projector, "but you can't afford a briefcase? Or a big book to hide it in? Or a rock to put on top of it?" She mimed placing a large object on something with both her hands.
"Yeah... and he had to read it himself here in this old abandoned building instead of a fancy, secure office. Or... y'know... the car he drove up in." Tony threw an elbow over the back at his chair to throw a faux-perplexed look at his bodyguard. "You don't... you don't suppose he's playing games with us? Again?"
"Couldn't be," Ranma deadpanned.
"No. No. You're right. There's no way a stand-up guy like Nick Fury would do anything like that!" Tony turned around and favored the chief spy with a sunny smile.
"Not like he tried to get you all desperate and stuff so he could back you into a corner, right?" Ranma said as she eyed the director narrowly.
"Not a chance!"
Fury didn't react to their antics as he sat down on the other side of the table, the glowing display of the SHIELD emblem behind him. It seemed he had a script, and he was determined to play it out. "Now this on the other hand," he raised the other folder on the table, "is Agent Romanoff's assessment... of you." He handed the file to Tony. "Read it."
Tony rapidly skimmed through the document, murmuring highlights. "'Personality overview. Mr Stark displays compulsive behavior.' In my own defense, that was last week," the billionaire insisted. "'Prone to self-destructive tendencies.' I was dying! I mean, please. Aren't we all? 'Textbook narcissism'?" He shot the other man an arch look. "Agreed," he conceded casually as he looked toward the paper again. "Okay, here it is: 'Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative. Iron Man: yes.'" He set the file down and gave the director a jaundiced look. "I gotta think about it," he claimed insincerely.
"Read on," Fury instructed expressionlessly. Tony's forehead creased with his raised eyebrows, but he went ahead and looked.
"'Tony Stark not..." he paused in confusion and injured vanity. "'Not recommended'!?" He opened his mouth to protest, then stopped at the creaking of a clenched, Ki-empowered fist. He looked over to take in the thunderous scowl Ranma was wearing. He turned back to the master spy... who was literally a professional manipulator he suddenly remembered, and snorted scoffingly. "That... I don't know what to say about that. You nearly had me going on about my new ticker and the stable...ish relationship I'm in for a second there. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter 'cause you are playing games. Which means you want something from me."
"They want the armor. They all want the armor," Ranma declared as she cracked her knuckles and slowly approached the director.
"No we don't!" Fury protested immediately, showing only the faintest hint of trepidation. His agents started to close in and draw their weapons before he raised a hand to stop them. "The Iron Man armor is far too high-maintenance for us to use without Stark in it or supporting it. The Air Force brass were idiots not to realize that."
"So you're up to something else?" Ranma challenged.
"We're SHIELD. We're always up to something," Fury responded blandly. "That's our job. We're just not up to something when it comes to you at the moment."
"Uh-huh," Tony rolled his eyes. "Pull the other one, it comes with church bells."
"Not gonna spring another Whiplash on us?" Ranma accused.
"If you recall, we helped you with that little debacle," Fury reminded her archly.
"Natasha, helped us with that," Ranma countered. "And I don't think she had time to go to you for orders before she did. All I know is you work for the guys who want the armor. The same guys who want the armor wanted it for Hammer. Hammer freed and armed Vanko. So..." She shrugged elaborately.
"It does seem a bit suspicious when she puts it that way," Tony pursed his lips and nodded in agreement, his eyes twinkling.
"We are not associated with that group. We had no knowledge of Hammer's actions, and we would have shut him down if we did," Fury claimed stiffly.
"Oh yeah? Me you infiltrate." Tony tapped his chest for emphasis. "Me you harass and surround and pen up in my home. Me... who's been making the world peace thing happen in less than a year. Not the guys who've been wrecking it for decades? Really?"
"That's right," Fury said calmly. "We can't be everywhere, and it doesn't help when individuals like you get up to antics that we have to deal with."
"Wow..." Tony said with an awed and chastened tone... one that was very fake. "You SHIELD guys really suck at your jobs. And that sucking only does Ranma here any good." He jerked his head toward his faintly blushing bodyguard.
"You have no conception of what SHIELD does for the world," Fury growled. "No clue just how many people are still walking around because of us."
"You want us to believe that? I can make that happen. Don't even need a hug to do it," Ranma offered as she lit up her aura to expand a meter from her in every direction.
"Don't you dare!" Fury stood up abruptly and stepped back. He waved toward his guards to stop them as they reached for weapons again.
"Aw... what's the matter?" Tony smirked from within the corona of Ranma's life-force. "Can't handle a little truth in your life?" He waved at his own guard, and she shut down the Ki-technique. "Really earning the trust there, Cap'n Hook."
"And that just proves Romanoff's points about you, Stark," Fury claimed as he sat down again. "Too out of control."
"I'm out of control? I'm not supposed to be in control! When did I become a government agent? It's you guys, the actual government agents, who are the ones out of control!"
"Excuse me?!" Fury barked.
"What the hell was all that bullshit you threw at me? Jerking me around one way and the other? That Coulson guy... he was blowing hot and cold every time we saw him!" Tony shook his head incredulously. "One day he's playing thug enforcer, then the literal next day he was acting like my biggest fan!"
"Natasha said Coulson was faking it." Ranma shrugged. "She meant the thug part, but I got no idea which part it really was. Really should have used the Wild Tiger's Instinct Truth Sense on him."
"You definitely should the next time you see him," Tony told her. "He was probably faking everything."
"Agent Coulson needed to perform actions appropriate for his mission," Fury stated blandly.
"Why!?" Tony asked helplessly. "What was even the point? You say you weren't helping Hammer, but he and his bought-and-paid-for generals were the only ones who were getting anything! What were you even doing if that wasn't your objective? How was that... how was any of that controlled?"
"You have no concept of what 'controlled' is. SHIELD does not set policy. We are under civilian administration and we obey that administration's orders. We don't go haring off on our own whims to create chaos," the colonel told them coldly.
"So you create chaos only because you're told to? So that whole schizophrenic deal was because of your civilian masters?" Tony asked. The eyepatched man made no move to answer. "Uh-huh... sounds to me like you're too controlled. You're controlled by so many different people with different agendas that you loop around to uncontrolled again."
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Fury declared authoritatively. "We're getting off the subject."
"Oh yeah? And what is the subject?"
"The subject is how you'll interact with SHIELD going forward."
"Ooooh," Tony crooned with faux sympathy. "That's easy. We won't." He shot a glance at Ranma. "Or I won't. Ranma here can continue interacting with select SHIELD personnel in a highly limited, non-professional, and strictly lewd fashion." Ranma's blush darkened, but she didn't protest.
"That's not how this works," Fury countered. "You know better. Unless you plan to stop producing advanced technology and particularly unless you plan to give up on interfering on the international scene as Iron Man and minion..."
"Now there's a band name I can get behind!" Tony interrupted with an amused look at Ranma. An amusement she didn't share based on the expression she aimed back at him.
"...Then some kind of official scrutiny is going to apply to you," Fury continued. "That will include us, no matter what you say. It will also include other agencies. There is no getting around that. What you need to think about is how much influence you want on that scrutiny. You could be dealing with some outfit you don't know anything about and have no idea just what they're telling their superiors. Or you could deal with us, where you do know who we are. You've got our contact numbers. You know how to have a conversation with us where we can get clarity on both sides before things go off the rails."
"Again. Before things go off the rails again," Tony corrected sourly. The spy-chief just shrugged at that. "You do realize this is only a factor because you lot can't leave well enough alone," he pointed out, not willing to admit Fury had a valid point. "What kind of deal are you imagining here? We're not joining SHIELD. Or this Avengers thing."
"As made clear before, we don't want you to," Fury stated. Less than truthfully since Coulson had argued hard in favor of bringing Saotome into the Initiative. "At this juncture we'd only like to use you two as consultants," he said to get the meeting back on his preferred track.
Tony leaned back in his chair while holding up his outspread hands and shaking his head rapidly. "You say what now? Why would we go along with that? Do you really think you're dangling some prize plum in front of us here?"
His businessman-sense was tingling. Fury had just pulled an old sales trick of seeming to pull one opportunity away... the Avengers Initiative deal... and then replace it with the deal he really wanted them to take. The problem with that was Ranma had already told them what she (or he at the time) had learned from Romanoff about the initiative being Fury's hobby-horse. His and Coulson's. It wouldn't be real unless he and Ranma joined up, and even then there wasn't enough there for them to join up. So this 'opportunity' the director was now offering would actually be doing the man a favor instead. What was really happening was Fury was trying to get something for free.
He had been suspicious of Romanoff's information at the time, thinking it was another ploy she had been ordered to try, but this encounter seemed to be proving the info accurate. Of course, that didn't mean the redheaded troublemaker wasn't obeying someone's orders as a SHIELD operative. The damn agency was schizo, after all.
Still, Tony would use that information and look for a profit. "First off: you can't afford us. Either one of us. Secondly... who the hell are the idiots giving you moronic orders and why would we want any part of them?"
"Like I said. For control. For access. For money too, though I doubt the last is convincing," Fury said. "It's us or starting all over again with Random Agency X. Who will still be under much the same authority as we are."
Tony eyed him askance for a while. Sighing, he stood up and offered his hand to shake. Fury stood as well and accepted it. Slapping his free hand on their clasped ones in faux bonhomie, Tony stated with a narrow, sardonic smile: "No."
Tony freed his hand from the clasp and started to walk away. Ranma backed up with him as she kept an eye on the director and his men. Before Fury could marshal any arguments, he stopped and raised a finger as if he just thought of something. "Then again..." he turned and offered: "I could waive my customary retainer in exchange for a small favor. Two small favors, actually. Make that three."
Fury raised the brow of his un-patched eye in silent inquiry.
"I need Vanko's stuff," Stark said seriously. "His equipment, his notes, his programming, the contents of his apartment, his trash, his random graffiti, his online porn account history... everything. He took repulsor and Arc research in different directions from me, and I want to know what he knew."
"You can get copies of the data from Hammer's equipment immediately, and anything physical from his facility after our own investigations," Fury stated. "Luckily, Vanko burned his own apartment and everything in it, so there was nothing there to recover."
"Luckily?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
"The Russians were all over it minutes after Monaco," the director explained.
"Crap. No telling what was lost, then. Well, to make it up to me, we'll move on to my second item: your bosses. The ones who ordered dropping in all that shit. I want names," Tony said seriously.
"Not happening. The identities of the UN Security Council are confidential for a reason."
"You know how nuts that is, right?" Tony pointed out. "The idea behind civilian control of military and police forces is that there would be accountability. That doesn't sound accountable to me!"
"Regardless, the Council is not any of your business."
"Aren't they? They were trying to steal my stuff for Hammer, weren't they?"
"They were not," Fury promised. "The objective was to maintain containment of the Iron Man technology to avoid proliferation."
"Bullshit," Tony scoffed. "Unless..." He smirked and pointed at the other man. "Unless they were cutting deals with other politicians who were backing Hammer. A go along to get along deal? I scratch your back, you scratch mine? Not like somebody from Europe or Asia was gonna make anything directly off that, so not a UN-level thing like they're supposed to be."
Fury just stared at him silently.
"Riiight. So since you say you aren't in cahoots with that other pack of mysterious politicos, I want the names of everybody in the American government... elected and appointed... who thought it was a good idea to turn my stuff over to Justin Hammer. I want scalps," Tony declared seriously. "Politician scalps."
Fury hesitated a fraction of a second, then said: "Not possible. We gave up the military brass. They overstepped, and we need them gone. Settle for that."
"Psshht," Tony scoffed. "Those guys. I don't mind rooking them over, but we both know there'll be another set of generals that replace them with their hands just as eagerly outstretched for the corporate cash. It's the people who run the game in the first place I want. If you want my help and not my active opposition, you'll give them to me."
"Forget it. We have an interest in those individuals ourselves," Fury said as he crossed his arms forbiddingly. "However..." he raised his voice a little as Stark made to turn away again. "We would have no objection to you rolling up the civilian side of things. There were plenty who were working you over in the press with full knowledge of what the real goal was."
"Other than you guys, you mean?" Stark countered bitingly.
"Other than us," Fury conceded evenly. "We can give you names, money trail, communications. Between them and the military, you'll have plenty of heads to roll. However," the grim director leaned forward and glared as he said: "We can't have any companies fail. Whatever you think of Hammer Industries, they took over to provide what your company stopped and the United Stated government needs them."
Tony shrugged elaborately. "That's out of my hands now. Justin didn't operate in a vacuum. They fucked up severely, and someone needs to pay for the damages. I'm covering it for now, but I will be getting repaid by them one way or the other. Beyond that, though, I can be reasonable. Give me CEO's and other company officers and I'll only go after them. Not like most of them don't bail out with their golden parachutes every few years just before their incompetence catches up with them anyway... only to start up the clown-show again somewhere else. Them and the local politicians they dealt with."
"You can have the CEO's," Fury allowed. "As for the politicians? Don't concern yourself. Trust me, you will likely see some notables 'retiring to spend more time with their family' in the near future, and that would be the best you could manage on your own anyway. You're not getting Stern."
The businessman opened his mouth to riposte before he realized what the director had just deliberately given up. He pursed his lips in consideration. He'd been all but convinced Stern was in on it, but the confirmation was valuable. Valuable enough to let it go for the meantime since he'd need plenty of lead time to really do anything about the powerful senator anyway. "Fair enough," he decided.
"What else?"
"Well... if I can't have Stern's head on a plate immediately, then... let's move on to number three. Rhodey, Ranma, and I are being honored in Washington the day after tomorrow... and we need a presenter," he pointed out solemnly.
"I'll see what I can do," Fury agreed with a nod as he instantly divined Stark's idea.
Tony unsuccessfully hid a mischievous smile.
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"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel, for an exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this," Senator Stern of Pennsylvania sincerely congratulated Rhodey after pinning a medal on his uniform.
"Thank you, sir," the officer replied formally.
"Mr. Stark." The politician's professionally genial expression took on a hint of bitterness as he moved on to stand in front of the inventor. A hint that Tony treasured. "Thank you for such an en exceptionally distinguished performance," he said with audibly less enthusiasm and some deliberately slurred superlatives. His smile became a bit more real as he said: "You deserve this."
"A-hem..." Before he could push the medal's pin in just a little too far, Stern's plan for petty revenge halted in his tracks. His eyes shifted left toward the petite powerhouse standing beside her boss. A crimson eyebrow had risen above impenetrably dark sunglasses in a subtle, but very, very clear warning. Ranma now knew why she'd been told to wear what her new friends called 'bodyguard wear' of a black bodysuit, white mandarin-collar shirt, black vest, and black, mirror-polished leather boots to go with the eyewear. It seemed to be an ensemble that people were instinctively intimidated by.
"H-hrm..." the senator coughed uncomfortably and proceeded more cautiously. "Yes... your nation thanks you, Mr. Stark." Carefully he set the pin properly and painlessly, then stepped in front of the Ki-adept.
"Ms. Saotome," he began. "Thank you for such an en exceptionally distinguished... um..." Stern had some well-hidden biases where immigrant, minority, lesbian woman heroes were concerned, but that wasn't why he couldn't bring himself to take the last half-pace forward to present the medal. The air was still, yet it was like a hot, dry wind was holding him back as the young lady stood there with a still crooked eyebrow. "Uh... distinguished performance. Uh..." He struggled to maintain his dignity as his nerves quietly scrabbled for purchase in the face of a wave of hostile Ki. He found himself clenching the muscles of certain portions of his anatomy to avoid any embarrassing, childish accidents.
Well in the view of the cameras, Tony Stark smiled broadly. No doubt it was from his great pride in his employee and protege. And no other reason.
Really.
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"And what is this?" Thanos rumbled. He reclined upon his hovering throne in the splinter-dimension he used for his base. Shattered remnants of worlds... trophies and reminders of the more recalcitrant species he'd had to correct... floated about under the influences of forces that had more to do with his whimsy than the physics of the universe at large. That universe could be seen beyond the boundaries of the place at all times, as per his will, to make sure he never forgot his great purpose.
"Sire, this was found floundering through the Void near your Sanctuary," the blind-folded being known as The Other answered with his gurgling, reverberating voice. Thanos's servant had once had a name. Indeed, he had been a warlord in his own right. But he had been broken to the Titan's purpose so long ago that even Thanos himself failed to recall the lost name, and 'that other warlord' became 'The Other.' The crippled and humbled being's 'eternal empire,' was similarly forgotten, as he, his Chitauri, and his Staff of Domination were all that remained. All at the devoted service to the greater conqueror.
A sickly pale, double-thumbed hand cast a humanoid in armor and cape of various shades of green at the feet of the one known to the galaxy as the strongest of all. "It spent more time in the Void than its constitution and sanity could bear, yet it has a curious tale to tell." His master merely quirked a brow-ridge at him and his delivery.
"I-I..." The captive shuddered and twitched as he lay on the ground. "I-I am Loki!" he rasped. "K-King... k-king of... Asgard! You m-must... you m-must..."
"Silence." Thanos projected the force of his internal power along with his command, making the mind-shattered thing stop talking as it fainted. "Asgard? If it is truly Asgardian despite its delusions, it could be useful someday." He leaned back in his throne and waved a dismissive hand. "Find a place to store it somewhere. Arrange for it to be interrogated. Find out how much of its mouthings were true and how much was fantasy. Strip it down to its core, and condition it that it might serve."
"Yes, Your Eminence," The Other bowed in obedience.
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Author's notes: FFN's policy forbids posting a chapter that is entirely an announcement, so I sat on this for a bit until the first chapter of the next 'book' in this series was ready to be posted. The second story, "American Wuxia," contains its own baddies, its own struggles, its own original characters, its own character development, and its own world-building. I was tempted to go straight to the Avengers timeline, but two years is far too much to put in an info-dump chapter. Way too much. Please check it out, I hope you enjoy it.
Also, FFN had their e-mail issues that seem to be resolved for now, so I will get this out while the getting's good. If there's a problem again, I'll bet most people figured out a way to find their updates anyway, but I didn't want to post the new story until it was fixed. I'm using a phone app when needed, but I do not know if there are more ways to get notifications beyond checking "story alerts" in your user profile.