The Heroes are dead.
After turbulent times, humanity comes together to lick its collective wounds, choosing to mend their ways and look to the future. This is what happened when Pearl Harbor was attacked, when JFK was assassinated, and when the Skrulls invaded Earth. It is human nature to band together and face the odds, no matter what the obstacle is.
Then there was Onslaught.
The greatest and most powerful beings on the planet joined together to face down a threat of such magnitude that its very existence struck fear into every man, woman, and child on Earth. The fabric of reality was at stake. Never before had the world's protectors faced such a menace.
Friends and enemies alike joined to resist the seemingly unstoppable creature. The glorious battle raged on and on, the tide of which swiftly shifting back and forth. Their fight, while long and often wrought with doubt, eventually ended with the villain defeated…but at a price. The legendary champions that had stood to protect humanity through its most difficult trials were gone. Once more the people were compelled to gather and mourn, desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel.
Long live the Heroes.
"Ms. Arbogast, please move tomorrow's lunch appointment to Thursday."
James Rhodes sat back in his office chair, letting out a small sigh as he released the intercom button. It was almost five o'clock and nearly everyone in the building would be clearing out soon, returning to their homes and families. Rhodes, however, would probably be sifting through paperwork for another few hours.
He spun around in the cushy chair to face the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of his office. As Vice President of Stark/Fujikawa, Inc. the veteran black man was privy to a number of perks, a decent view counted among them. Whenever he looked out at the parking lot beneath, the foreground of an expansive lawn that bore various impressive floral arrangements, he more often than not caught his eyes drifting to the looming sky overhead. He let out another tiny sigh as his thoughts flushed back to a time when he would find himself among the clouds.
As the former hero known as War Machine, Rhodes had been in the thick of things every time some fanatical despot or crazed supervillain reared his ugly head. He had fought alongside gods and titans against the nastiest evils the world over. However, many of those fellow heroes had perished several years ago and he just couldn't fill the void that was left behind.
Besides, there were other matters that needed his attention that were just as important. Tony Stark, his friend, confidant, and creator of his War Machine armor, had been among those that gave their lives and his company needed to be taken care of. It disgusted him slightly at how quickly the Fujikawas had swept in and taken over Stark Enterprises, their actions bordering on disrespect. He fought the takeover, of course, and had won a spot as the VP, much to the chagrin of Rumiko Fujikawa's father. As President, Rumiko held majority control within the company but apparently gave Rhodes enough respect to take his opinion to heart.
Tony Stark may be gone but his ideals and memories lived on through his work. Rhodes felt he owed it to his friend to keep his technology in the right hands and away from the wrong ones. He had witnessed firsthand how terrible things could be if one of Tony's many enemies acquired his tech.
"Wish you were still here, buddy," Rhodes said aloud to no one.
The huge plasma screen television embedded in the opposing wall had been on since he came into the office around seven. Even though it was muted he was still bothered by the various news images of rampaging psychos that were sometimes thwarted by what heroes remained. Even though the last crisis had been stopped the world moved on and so did the bad guys.
Rhodes felt the frustration and angst build up within him again. The world needed its champions back. Maybe he had made the wrong decision when he had taken off the armor for the last time. Maybe he should have let the Fujikawas take the company. Maybe he should have done things differently.
Maybe.
Rhodes shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts. He had other things to concentrate on, like approving research into new anti-gravity engines that didn't cost a small fortune to power. At least their R&D department hadn't slacked ever since Tony had passed. Stark/Fujikawa, Inc. was still among the top developers in the world, if not the best.
James Rhodes swiveled back to face his desk, leaving dreams and possibilities behind him. There was work to be done.
________________________________________
ONE MONTH LATER
"This way, Governor!"
The reporters all shouted requests at the governor of New York, a stout man that was actually respected by the community at large. He had followed through on his promised goals when he had been elected and the voters loved him for it. He waved from atop his limousine, the upper portion of his torso sticking through the moon roof. As part of his campaign to get reelected he had opted to tour the state while kissing babies and shaking hands. His aids told him he didn't need to, that they loved him enough already, but he wanted to remain rooted in reality without letting his head get too big. As politicians went he was an honest one, a black sheep among the rest of the flock.
As a former Hollywood actor, his opponents had thought he wouldn't last a second in the position, but he had worked hard to prove them wrong. He wasn't the first celebrity to take office, anyway, and he probably wouldn't be the last.
Dozens of camera shutters snapped open and closed as the reporters continued to jump for his attention. He smiled at a few he recognized, nodding his head in answer to interview requests. He would have rather walked down the street but his security advisor insisted he remained in the limo at all times. Ever since the Heroes had died the people were in need of someone to look up to and the governor knew he could be that person. He wanted to be on the same level as them but he also had to admit that a man in his position was sometime a target. With the Heroes gone, the super-criminals largely ran around unchecked and he was better safe than sorry.
"Governor! How do you feel about SHIELD's tough initiative on wanted supervillains?"
"Over here, Governor! Can you give us some insight into your campaign?"
"Will you be endorsing vigilantes like Spider-Man, Governor?"
The questions, like the camera shutters, never seemed to slow down. He didn't mind; it kept him in the court of public opinion. The moment that started to dwindle—
"Governor, get down!" one of his armed bodyguards yelled over the crowd.
A yellow beam of raging energy struck the back of the stretched car, rocking it back and forth as the driver fought with the wheel for control. The governor fell forward, his chest crushing against the front of the moon roof, the air in his lungs letting out in one burst. The governor tilted his head back to see what was going on and nearly soiled himself from what was transpiring.
The three bodyguards that had been walking beside the car in case crowd control was needed had all drawn their weapons and were firing into the sky. Their firearms, while potent against normal humans, seemed useless against what was soaring down upon them. Sun glinted off the metallic sheen of the figure dropping down, the one who had fired an energy attack. The governor recognized the assailant from various old news reports from years ago when a group of villains had come close to beating the now dead Heroes.
The purple and green armored Beetle swooped down low, his cybernetic wings flapping furiously behind him. Bullets fell harmlessly to the ground after his thick armor absorbed their momentum, a sight that disturbed the bodyguards. The Beetle was coming in fast, his gauntlets pointed over his head at the guards.
"Mr. Governor," the Beetle boomed through his helmet, "I've been sent to tell you that your next term in office has been canceled."
With blazing speed the armored villain came up to the bodyguards, their ammunition long since depleted. His vibrating cybernetic wings granted him precise control over his velocity, which he displayed by coming to a complete stop in midair mere inches from the guards. The Beetle grabbed their empty weapons and crushed them easily in his gauntlets.
"Take a hike," the Beetle commanded arrogantly. "Me and your boss need to have a private conversation. None of that sacrificing yourself bull. Get lost."
The bodyguard furthest away from the armored villain jumped on top of the limo, throwing himself on top of the governor in an attempt to push him back inside the car. The other two bodyguards, apparently ignoring the Beetle's warning, lunged forward with fists swinging.
"Ha!" the Beetle laughed as the first guard broke his hand by trying to punch the bug-inspired helmet. "I even gave you guys a warning. You must be the dumbest Rent-A-Cop in the city to think you'd be able to take me down. I've stood against the Avengers, for crying out loud! Ya know, back when they were still alive."
The Beetle dealt his own blow across the face of the first bodyguard, knocking him down for the count. The second guard, having jumped back after seeing his compatriot crack several bones in his fist, hesitated on whether or not to make a run for it.
"Stay down!" the guard on top of the limo ordered the governor. With thoughts of bravery swimming through his head, the bodyguard flung himself off of the stretched car and onto the back of the Beetle, wrapping his arms around the villain's neck.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." The Beetle raised his opened palm and blasted the guard in front of him into unconsciousness. Gently bending his knees the Beetle looked back over his shoulder at the remaining guard floundering on his back. "Hope you got insurance, pal."
The Beetle straightened his legs and sprung up into the air, carrying the guard with him high over the spreading crowd's heads. The guard tightened his grip but the Beetle's maneuvering was too much for him. He felt his fingers start to slip despite the amount of fight he still had in him.
"You're about to go splat, pal," the Beetle mocked. "Told ya you were dumb. Don't worry, though, the governor will be joining you soon."
The Beetle unsheathed his wings again as he commanded the shell on his back to open up. The lid of the shell pushed the bodyguard's arms out and away, knocking his grip completely loose and sending him falling through the air. The man screamed in pure, unadulterated terror as the unforgiving concrete quickly rose up to meet him.
The wind whipped around the bodyguard's face as he plummeted. Memories of his life flashed before his eyes, a sure sign that this was the final end for him. His wife, his daughter…he would never see them again. He closed his eyes, hoping that the memories would stop since he didn't want to see his wife's beautiful face when he met his demise.
He felt a sharp pulling on his leg and suddenly his fall stopped. He hesitated to open his eyes, scared that the Beetle had swooped down to catch him and play with him some more. There was indeed an armored hand clasped around his ankle, but it wasn't varying shades of purple and green…it was red and gold.
"Relax, I've got you," his savior said. "Try not to wiggle, I'll have you down in a second."
The crowd collectively gasped and camera shutters started to flick open and shut once more. The unbelievable had seemingly happened as none other than Iron Man hovered down to the ground, gently dropping the bodyguard on the pavement. The glistening rays of the sun bounced off of his thick armor, a unique design that had never been seen before. Lines of energy were etched into the helmet and forearms, while the signature pentagon shape of his uni-beam protruded from his chest plate.
One of the Heroes had returned.
"I don't know who the Hell you are," the Beetle called down from above, "but you ain't Iron Man. He's dead, rotting in the ground, six feet under, pushing up daisies, worm food…I think you see where I'm going with this."
"Surrender now," Iron Man ordered through the electronic speaker in his helmet.
"Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen."
Iron Man shot back up into the air, his boot jets propelling him as fast as a jet plane. The Beetle swooped straight down, his fists outstretched to ram into Iron Man, his own velocity increasing rapidly.
KRA-KOOM!
Metal scraped against metal as the two armored figures slammed into each other, sending a shock wave rippling throughout the crowd below. Both men were knocked away from each other, both now furiously trying to correct their trajectories before the other. The Beetle's cybernetic wings batted up and down in an effort to break through his momentum and put him right-side up while Iron Man's gyroscopics spun and whirled to do the same.
"Son of a…" the Beetle murmured. "What's a guy got to do to fulfill a simple hit contract, huh?"
The Beetle flipped over in the air just as he came close to a five-story building, kicking off of it with his armored feet and using the new forward momentum to catapult himself across the sky. Iron Man had also recovered and was heading straight for the Beetle, his boot jets leaving a smoky trail in his wake. The crowd underneath the sparring couple still hadn't fully dispersed, regardless of the immediate danger over their heads.
Still a good distance between them, the Beetle let fly another searing blast of energy similar to the two he had fired before. The yellow light erupted from his gauntlets and cut through the air toward Iron Man, it's intensity almost blinding the spectators below. Iron Man, his helmet display advising multiple courses of action, simply spun out of the way without relaxing his speed. The blast harmlessly dissipated into the atmosphere a mile away as Iron Man raised his own gauntlets to fire at the Beetle.
The Beetle took evasive maneuvers, his wings vibrating faster than a humming bird's. Up and down the villain soared in a seemingly haphazard diagonal pattern. Iron Man's targeting systems quickly calculated trajectories and locked on to the Beetle, alarms chirping inside the helmet. As Iron Man flew closer he tilted his body upward to raise himself slightly higher than his opponent and then opened his glove, his own energy attack lashing forth from his palm.
A powerful repulsor blast swept over the Beetle, its concussive force knocking him off balance in the air and sending him back into the same building he had bounded off of. Iron Man continued the assault in a steady stream of torrential energy, slowly coming in closer to his quarry as the repulsor rays held the Beetle in place. The concrete side of the building started to crack under the pressure but the Beetle was effectively stuck.
"Ah!" the villain whined. "Let up! I give, I give!"
"Do you surrender?" Iron Man asked, the ambient light from the repulsor rays washing over his red and gold armor.
"Yeah, whatever, come on all ready! This…ow, this hurts! Just arrest me or something. I surrender."
Iron Man let the repulsor blast subside as he reached for the smoking husk of the Beetle. Just before the armored avengers clasped his bulky fingers around the Beetle's wrist the villain kicked free of the wall again and slammed into Iron Man's midsection. The pair grappled in the air, the alloys of their armors scraping against each other.
"Now I know you aren't the real deal," the Beetle mocked. "Golden boy never would have fallen for that. What say we peel away the iron mask and take a peek, huh?"
Iron Man buckled forward to gain leverage against his opponent and slammed his elbows into the Beetle's back, driving them between his shoulder blades. The Beetle's grasp wavered but he held onto Iron Man's waste tight, locking his fingers together as he controlled their flight. The Beetle was aiming for another building, hoping to drive Iron Man through the walls.
Bullets started pelting the duo again. "Cut it out!" the Beetle screamed at the bodyguards underneath that had apparently found their backup pieces. "You guys really are stupid. You're even sh—AH!"
Iron Man's red knee guard slammed into the Beetle's chest, finally knocking his grip loose. The armored avenger palmed the back of the villain's skull and forced it back down into his other knee guard, crunching the yellow lenses of the Beetle's helmet. Stuffing his fingers under the Beetle's wing shell, Iron Man spun the would-be assassin around in circles briefly before letting him go, now sailing into the side of another building.
The Beetle tried to change his course but his shell had been damaged and his wings couldn't slip out entirely. He crashed through a third-story window, sending shards of glass raining down into the empty alley.
Iron Man hovered beside the broken window. "Do you surrender?" he asked apathetically.
"G…go to Hell…" the Beetle feebly replied.
Iron Man leveled his gauntlet at his foe, ready to unleash another wave of repulsor rays. The cool metallic exterior held no emotion, no personality, no clues as to who was inside. The Beetle watched as the iris in Iron Man's palm opened, readying to fire.
A wave of wind slammed against Iron Man as the noise of rotor blades filled his audio receptors. Channel Four News had scrambled their twin helicopters as soon as their reporter on the ground had called the situation in. Now the twin crafts circled dangerously close to the building, various cameras mounted on them zooming in and out, recording the whole scene.
"Back away!" Iron Man yelled over the noise of their rotors. "He's still—"
The Beetle launched himself back through the window, throwing his fist into Iron Man's head as he passed. The mysterious hero was knocked back through the air, desperate to correct himself again before it was too late.
"See ya around, Iron Jerk," the Beetle laughed as his cybernetic wings carried him further and further away.
Iron Man, having righted himself, flew after the Beetle but one of the news choppers cut him off. A reporter was leaning out the side hatch, rattling off inaudible questions at the hero. The Beetle had gotten away.
Iron Man looked down to see that the crowd was still yelling for his attention, their cameras all clicking away snapshot after snapshot. He turned his attention back to the news helicopter, paused, and then ignited his boot jets to rocket over the helicopter. Within seconds he was out of sight.
The governor had watched the entire scenario intently from the safety of his black limousine, wondering what was happening. His bodyguards ripped the side doors open to see if he was still okay and the reporters tried to push their way to the front of the crowd, all of them ready to bombard the governor with questions. Was the legendary hero thought dead really back? Who had hired the Beetle? Had this been a publicity stunt?
Was Tony Stark alive?
________________________________________
"Don't give me any excuses!" Rumiko Fujikawa yelled. "Give me facts, not guesses. Get your sources straight, double check, then ask yourself if you want to be wrong the next time you report to me."
The President of Stark/Fujikawa, Incorporated slammed the phone down as hard as she could, almost breaking the cradle in half. Rumiko brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes and took in a deep breathe, trying to regain her composure. All twelve lines on her phone had been ringing off the hook since the start of business, and every single call had been about the armored red and gold mystery man that had appeared over the city yesterday.
"I'm having the tapes from Channel Four sent in," James Rhodes commented. He had entered her office several minutes ago but had to wait while she took several more urgent calls from different departments within the company. He knew better than to cross Rumiko before the time was right. "There's footage all over the damn place flooding the internet. Mostly amateur video, though, that could easily have been doctored. Everyone with a camera phone in the vicinity uploaded it to YouTube. We'll have something authentic to work with once the Channel Four stuff gets here."
"Damn it," Rumiko swore. "It's a total shit storm out there. This thing has gotten out of control. How could we have not known something like this was going to happen?"
"Something like what?" Pepper Potts asked. "We don't even know what it is we're trying to control yet. All we know is someone looking like Iron Man stopped the Beetle from killing off the governor. For now that's a good thing."
Rumiko met eyes with Virginia "Pepper" Potts. The two women had never gotten along too well having once both been after the same man. Tony Stark had meant a great deal to both women at one time or another, but instead of finding common ground they had held a bitter resentment toward each other. However, Pepper had been one of the best assistants Rumiko had ever seen and when Rhodes had hired her as the company's Public Relations Director she had no reason to object. The business always came first.
"It's a good thing that a hero closely associated with this company's history just randomly appeared, got into a brawl with a known supervillain, and then disappeared?" Rumiko stated rhetorically. "How is that good? How is it good that we don't have clue one about anything other than what the press is giving us? Damn it, we're on the sidelines when we should be the referee!"
"As far as anyone knows, we are," Pepper replied calmly. She always kept her demeanor, something she quickly learned was important from a PR perspective. "The company's position will be that our R&D department is close to a major technological breakthrough and has been coordinating tests over the last few weeks, using the airspace we have reserved over our facility in Manhattan. During my press release an hour from now I'll enunciate that the facility in question is only six blocks from the area our armored friend appeared in. Coincidentally, the incident with the Beetle happened during a scheduled test period. Your father is en route from Japan and we're waiting on his arrival to make another announcement."
"When will that be?" Rhodes asked.
"Two days," Pepper replied, smiling slightly. "That should give us enough time to collect more information."
"Nice bullshit, Pepper," Rumiko said with a smirk. "Any of it true?"
"All of it, except for the insinuation that we know who is wearing the armor."
Rumiko crossed her hands behind her back, took in another deep breathe, and focused her attention on the stack of reports piled on her desk. "So the general public will think that Stark/Fujikawa, Incorporated has created a working prototype of the Iron Man defensive armor. Do we have any research to back this up?"
"We still own all of Tony's original schematics," Rhodes pointed out. "His legal team was pretty slick. We still have control of the patents."
"Legal," Rumiko replied. "What do they say about this? Do we have likeness rights to worry about? I mean, was Tony arrogant enough to actually buy his own appearance?"
Before either Rhodes or Pepper could answer there was a slight commotion outside the closed office door. It wasn't anything more than the shuffling of feet and Rumiko's secretary telling someone that they weren't allowed in without an appointment, but it was enough to catch all their attention. Against the secretary's advisement, the door to Rumiko's office was briskly opened by an older man smoking a cigar. His black suit was obviously custom tailored and he carried himself like a man of action. Each of them instantly recognized the man as the head of SHIELD, his signature eye patch a dead giveaway.
"S'cuse me for the interruption," Nick Fury said, "but I think we need to talk. Now."
________________________________________
He sat upon a throne of solid gold, quietly listening to his underling's report. He had seen the footage from the West, with their arrogant bantering and speculation. He knew they had no actual facts to attest to, just their inane ability to make half-educated guesses. He much preferred to hear the elements of the story from his own sources.
The thin man that had pledged his life to him uttered his final statement, bowed, and quietly left the room. The master shifted uncomfortably on his throne, tossing the new information around in his head and viewing it from different angles. His genius was largely recognized throughout the world as he was once a respected business official and fanatical industrialist. It was a simple, exercised manner in which he viewed something from every possibility.
Finally, he arose from his seat and walked down into the center of the great hall that had at one time or another housed a plethora of great and primal forces. Torches lined the walls and support pillars, casting amber light all around the chamber. Bits of the light caught the intricate rings that adorned his ten fingers as he walked.
He had been surprised to hear of his hated enemy apparently returning from the grave. When the mighty and catastrophic event had played out years ago, and the world's admired Heroes had been slain, he admittedly was disheartened to learn that Iron Man would not die by his hands. Now, there seemed to be a chance to change that, even if it was an imposter.
The Mandarin held his growing anger in check, and planned.
Cast
Iron man/tony stark robert doney jr
War machine DON CHEADLE
Pepper Potts Gwyneth Paltrow
Nick fury samuel l jackson
The Mandarin Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Rumiko Fujikawa Kim Hee Sun
The Beetle Hugh Dancy
I FOUND THIS STORY IN WEB BUT I FIX SOME OF THINGS AND I ADD SOME CAST ACCORDING TO THE COMIC AND ORIGIN STORY:
hulk edwaed newton
she hulk megan gale
General Thunderbolt Ross William Hurt
sue storm naomi watts
billy crudup mr fantastic
ryan kwanten human torch
Jeffrey Dean Morgan the thing
Betty Ross liv tyler
Jasper Sitwell dylan bruno