Chapter 98: C98 Hammer
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"...I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor." Senator Sterns says.
As the big wooden doors swung open, in walked a blonde man with glasses and a very expensive-looking suit. He looked to be in the same age range as Tony, whom he was staring at with a smug smile on his face.
[Insert picture of Justin Hammer here]
Justin Hammer is a military contractor, and the CEO and majority shareholder of Hammer Industries, which had formed a strong business rivalry with Stark Industries. Seeking to improve his own position as a contractor for the US government and get one over on Tony Stark, Hammer is working alongside Stern and attempting to damage the public's view of Tony.
Not to mention the fact that he was promised to be able to study and replicate Starks Iron Man suit and arc reactor upon their combined success.
Hammer was called as an expert to prove that Tony Stark's ego and his monopoly on his Iron Man armor was now a danger for the United States of America and its people, as part of Stern's attempt to force Stark to give the Iron Man suit technology to the government.
Though, in Peter's opinion Sterns could have chosen a better partner in crime than Justin Hammer.
Whilst overconfident, Hammer is also incompetent in terms of the quality of his technology, some of which are faulty altogether and even dangerous to the user. Even the normal guns that Hammer Industries sells have a 50/50 chance of jamming during usage.
This is why, although, Hammer sees Tony as a rival, Tony doesn't reciprocate that feeling whatsoever. In his eyes, Hammer is nothing more than a wannabe that couldn't make a working piece of tech to save his life.
"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr. Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance." Tony comments, causing many to laugh and Hammer to scowl as he made his way up to a podium in front of the panel of government officials.
"Senator, if I may." Hammer says into the microphone, doing his best to ignore Tony's remark. "I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad. Howard Stark. Really a father to us all, and the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion..."
"Senator, did you invite this man, who just admitted to not being an expert, here to monologue about his weird fantasy for Tony's father?" Peter cuts Hammer off before he could continue rambling. "Since he isn't an expert as you've said, maybe he should leave so we can finish this."
Hearing Peter's words, Sterns didn't know how to legitimize Hammer being there anymore, which goes to show that he shouldn't have worked with Justin in the first place. The man is simply incompetent.
Before Sterns could form a rebuttal for Peter's words, Hammer just steamrolled ahead, ignoring the opposition.
"...We all know why we're here. Last year, Tony Stark created a sword with untold possibilities, yet he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada. We live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee..."
"You're right, but that's what the Avengers are for, not Tony or Iron Man." Peter cuts him off once again and turns to the senator. "Senator, let's move on from this one. He's obviously not an expert, so I see no point in hearing him ramble any further."
As Peter finished speaking, Tony was smirking like a madman while Sterns and Hammer were turning red from anger.
"The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber." Sterns says through gritted teeth.
Tony's head snaps backward as the doors swing open for a third time and Rhodes walks in wearing his military uniform with an ever-present scowl on his face.
He looked like he didn't want to be here and most likely was ordered to attend by his superiors, but Tony was currently blinded by the feeling of betrayal so he didn't seem to notice.
"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel Rhodes. Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?" Sterns says as Rhodes takes Hammer's place at the podium.
Shuffling through his report, Rhodes finds the exact paragraph and starts reading.
"Very well, 'As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests.' I did, however, go on to say that..." Rhodes says but the Senator cuts him off.
"That's enough Colonel." Sterns says, getting exactly what he wanted. "You can step away from the podium now."
Rhodes stood rooted to the ground, shocked that the Senator would act so shamelessly with this whole situation.
"This is all very confusing to me because Iron Man is a member of the Avengers. As an Avenger, we operate at a higher level than any single government branch. Although you have the power to summon my good friend Tony here, as he's an American citizen, Iron Man is already a member of an extra-government agency.-"
"-You know, the longer this farce goes on, the more it starts to look like you and that idiot over there-" Peter gestures to Hammer, who sat at the side. "-simply want to take what doesn't belong to you."
"While I agree with you, Spider-Man, we do have a problem." Rhodes says as he digs through a folder and pulls out some pictures of human-like robots. "Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Tony's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational."
Just like in the movie, Tony starts doing something on his phone, which triggers the TVs in the room to light up and start playing videos of different military tests from the pictures that were shown.
"Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on." Tony says with a smirk.
"What is he doing?" Stern asks in bewilderment.
"If you will direct your attention to the screens, I believe that's North Korea." Tony says and the robot starts to walk before stumbling and exploding in a fiery mess.
Sterns starts yelling for someone to turn off the TVs and stop Tony from continuing as more and more examples of failed Iron Man copies were shown. All of them ended in destruction.
"No grave threats here." Tony says as the screen changes to a video with Hammer in it this time. "Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game? Look, you're on TV. How exciting!"
The video plays and shows a test pilot in some clunky Iron Man copy. Hammer directs him to twist his body, which causes the armor to overturn and snap the test pilot's spine with a sickening crack. The screams of the poor guy fill the room as Hammer finds the TV's plug and pulls it out.
"Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries are five or ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty." Tony states as he sets his phone down.
"I think the point that he's making..." Sterns tries to speak but Tony cuts him off.
"The point is, you're welcome, I guess." Tony stands up with his hands spread.
"For what?" Sterns asks incredulously.
"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it, but I did you a big favor." Tony says as he turns to the cameras. "I've successfully privatized world peace."
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"I've successfully privatized world peace." Tony's image plays on an old TV in a rundown Russian apartment.
Ivan Vanko stands in the center of the room, where his father died before his very eyes, dressed in metal straps and mechanisms with an orange glow on his chest, similar to Tony's arc reactor.
Holding two lightsaber-looking objects in his hands, which were wired to the device on his chest, Vanko presses buttons in each hand, causing the two hilts in his hands to ignite in orange light.
[Insert picture of suited up Vanko/Whiplash here]
A/N: 1439 words
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