#2: Human Plus, Part 2

“I pay you a lot of money, and I expect results.” Justin Hammer looked down at Cyril Sandhurst from the observation deck of the lab. Sandhurst was metres below him, working on something with his tools and instruments. “Tony Stark met with his board of directors today. You know what that means to me? That means I’ve been slighted. I need something to level the playing field, Sandhurst. I pay you to find me weapons. What weapon do you have that will level the playing field, eh?”

Sandhurst looked up. “I might have something for you, sir. We have him contained down in storage cell 94, located him in the Antarctic. He didn’t speak a word of English, but we’ve been training him… Plus, we don’t have an ID on him ye; meaning that no organisation in the world does either, strangely enough. I like that about him. He’s a John Doe.”

Hammer smiled at that piece of information. “What was he doing in the Antarctic, Sandhurst?”

“Very little, but what we’ve been able to discern from his ramblings is the world ‘Captain’. I think that he’s a bit gone in the head.” Sandhurst paused. “I can show you the interview sessions.”

“Please do.”


“I pay you a lot of money. And I expect results.” Tony Stark looked at his board of directors. “I may not have been around for the past few years but God knows I keep track with what’s going on with my assets. You treat the man I appoint CEO like a turd, because you think you each individually have got what it takes to run this company? You try and mess him around, try to make him look bad like your some juvenile frat boys and not the leading corporate suits in this business, and now I have to come back and clean up the mess.”

“Mr Stark, sir--”

“I don’t want to hear it. You are all fired. I never liked any of you anyway. You have massive pension accounts ready for you, if you want them, take the money and run. I will make sure you receive very nice references if you want. But I will not have you muddy up the way Stark is run.” He shook his head, turned away, and sipped his coffee. He turned back and then gasped in surprise. “You’re still here? GO.”

The ten men and women that made up the board of directors of Stark Enterprises bristled and blustered as they rose from their chairs. They filled out the door, some angered, some upset, but all united in their confusion. Law suits were on their minds; thoughts of revenge. Some remembered the offers Justin hammer had made to them individually over coffee the last few weeks. But all of them shared one singular thought:

Where had Tony Stark been for the past few years?


“Hello, yes, Milo, yes! Yes it’s Tony. Yes, yes, I know, forever, of course, yes! Well here’s the thing, yes, it’s good to hear your voice too, but yes. Ok, let me speak? Let me speak so I can get my important bit of talkie out of the way and then we can reminisce about those Lebanese twins we snagged. Ok. Thanks. I have been off the map for what, two years? That means that I haven’t had a real haircut in two years. I had a go myself, you know, because I can’t travel on the company jet like a hobo, but I build machines, I’m not an artist like you. So I’ll be in New York in about an hour, and I need you to clear all your appointments and beautify me. Yes, don’t worry, I’ll pay for the time, I’ll write you a blank cheque, just slot me in, ok?”

Tony took a breath and smiled. “Thank you. And we’ll talk about old times! You know you love it. Alright, ciao!” He hung up, and looked at Pepper and Happy, who sat opposite him. “Right then. The Tower is being restocked with everything I need, Jarvis will be flying in next week, and I am soon going to be back to my old self. You have questions?”

There was a moment of silence as Happy and Pepper looked at each other, and then back at Tony. They spoke in unison: “What the hell, Tony?”

“What? I’m getting my life back in order. I have a list, in my head, of things I have to do. It’s going to be magnificent.” He grinned. His beard was a rough mess, his hair uneven and hacked at, but beneath all that he was happy. He looked healthier than ever. “Now listen, here’s what’s going to happen--”


“Alright, here’s what we’ve got on the subject.” Sandhurst took a disc from his gauntlet and slotted it into the screen by the door of the cell. Hammer looked on, intrigued.

An image sparked up, black and white, grainy, and taken from a security camera inside an interview room. A man, hunched over in his seat, long white hair hanging below his shoulders limply, dressed in a blue jump suit, watched as a doctor sat in front of him.

The doctor arranged some papers, and laid them out on the table. “Hello, my name is Doctor Lawrence. Do you have a name?”

“Name,” repeated the white haired man. “Name. Plussssss.” The man snarled the word, felt it play across his tongue as spit and saliva left his lips. “Plussssskommander. Marhhh. No that isn’t me I can’t--” He grabbed his head, and start to exhibit symptoms of what appeared to be a seizure. A drop of blood fell upon his clipboard, and the doctor checked his nose. “--It’s all too much I can’t, I can’t stay…”

The room filled with light, a crack shot up the glass of the camera and then suddenly the smoke cleared and the room was full of debris, and the only thing left standing was the man, sitting on his seat. There was a red haze in the air. Silence. And then the man sneezed, and wiped his nostril with his sleeve.

Hammer watched in horror. “My God. He just…”

“His heart rate raised a fraction, he released a form of radiation that hasn’t even been discovered yet, and then he went on to blow himself up, sir. And reconstituted instantaneously. He vibrates on a very strange wavelength, sir, and what we’ve been able to analyse is… Alien to us. We filled him full of tranquilisers and we opened him up, and his nervous system is a mess of bits and pieces that aren’t needed. My supposition right now is that he’s interpreting reality on a different level. He’s basically a meta-empowered autistic.”

“Basically.” Repeated Hammer with a smile, “What’s a Plusskommander?”

“Could be a symptom of his genetic mutation, an illusion he crafted in his mania. We don’t know. This is interesting though,” he flicked through a few pages on the clipboard he held. “When we opened him up, his system was wired so that he can trigger the explosions whenever he wants. Using surgical AI, we triggered a heart attack, pushed his heart rate past the level he exhibited when he exploded and nothing happened. He can control the explosions, it’s a conscious effort for him to do it. But he’s on edge constantly. We’ve experimented on him, moved him to a bomb proof cell, and we’ve been able to verify that it’s not stress that causes him to explode. It’s by choice. It’s magnificent.”

“Do we know what caused this ability? If he’s one of those ‘mutant’ characters or something?”

“No, we don’t. But he does not hold the mutant-gene inside him, so that kind of points to him being an altered human. He’s come into contact with something that has changed his DNA to make him a Human Bomb.”

Hammer smiled. “Interesting...”


“Do I look beautiful?” Tony grinned as he spun around for Pepper. Happy had returned to the office to get to work on Stage One of Tony’s plan. He needed names, and he needed them soon. Tony had finished with his stylist, had changed into something that actually fit, and was ready to go. “Please, Pep, tell me I look pretty.”

“I can’t believe you’re back, Tony,” smiled Pepper, as she gave him a thumbs up. “This is all happening so fast. And with all these new ideas you’ve got… Wow. Just wow.”

Tony sniffed, and winked. “You didn’t tell me I looked pretty.”

“You look very handsome, Tony. Now tell me about your IronWorks.”

“Well the concept is simple. During my downtime creating the Iron Man suit, I funnelled money gained from stocks bought through dummy entities into building seven select locations around the world that are testing grounds for the future. I’ll show you one next week, because that’s what Stage Two is all about...”


The man jerked out of his cot, and grabbed Hammer. Sandhurst looked on from the corner, sweating in his exo-suit. He didn’t dare move. The man held Hammer tightly by the shoulders, and began to rant, his body beginning to glow as his body began to change. “They’re coming in their suits skin suits suits we can’t see and they want to take over and take everything we have and love and hold and they did this to me they made me the BOMB!”

“I know who they are, son,” stated Hammer simply. “I know what they’re here to do. And we have the location of their number one man. You want to do your duty for your planet?”

The man stopped suddenly. He released Hammer, and sat back in his cot. “Yes yes number one man take him down help the world save the earth do it help you sir yes sir want to sir.”

“Then you calm down, son. You’re of no use to your planet a mess. You pull yourself together. He’s wearing a skin suit just like the rest. He’s calling himself Tony Stark and he’s going to kill us all, if you don’t act first.”

The man looked up. “Kill Tony Stark.”

Hammer smiled and nodded. “Yes. Exactly.”

“I can do that… yes… I can; but, but I’d like a superhero name.”

“You can have a name, son,” replied Hammer, “We’ll give you a great superhero name. Sandhurst, help out our friend. He’s calm now, he’ll be very helpful.”

With that, they suddenly vanished. Sandhurst and Hammer stepped off of the blue platforms they had been standing on the entire conversation. “Hard light hologram emitters; genius invention, isn’t it Sandhurst?”

“Yes, sir. One of your best acquisitions yet,” Sandhurst looked through the computer screens that displayed the interior of the bomb-proof cell the man was sat inside. “Are you sure sending him in to take out Stark is the best idea?”

“Not the best, Sandhurst, but it’s the one we’re using. Right, call him Nitro, and then give him taxi fare to Stark Plaza.” Hammer exited the laboratory through the blue shimmering door on the wall. He reappeared in his office, and sat down in his chair. “This should be interesting.”

“…The weirdest thing, I’m sitting at home and this guy in a suit just walks up to my door, knocks, and gives me a ticket and an invite to this place. Stark Enterprises is recruiting and you get five thousand just for attending! I mean, I have family down in Brooklyn, but God knows this piques my interest.”

“Exact same happened to me. I was just talking to one of his staff, and apparently for the next week Tony is going to be flying across the world and attending six more of these get-togethers. ‘Recruiting for the future’, he called it. Hey, God, look…”

There was a hush as all these men and women looked up to the stage they were sat before. A man walked on, dressed in a black suit and tie, familiar to some, unknown to others. Tony Stark had entered the building.

“I’m glad you all accepted your individual bribes and invites and joined us today. My name is Tony Stark, and if you accept what I have to say, I’ll be your employer. If you don’t, well, you can pick up your goody bag on the way out and I won’t think any less of you. I’m going to give it to you straight; I’m a scientist just like everyone else in this room. I got rich building micro-munitions technology, tiny bombs, undetectable mines, super-automatic guns, and all that stuff you hate the government for. And you know what? That tore me apart inside. My life fell apart, and I had nothing to live for. I floated through meetings; let my yes-men run the company. But when I had an accident in the Middle East, when a piece of shrapnel from one of my own mines pierced my heart...”

He closed his hand into a fist and patted himself gently on the chest.

“...And everything changed. No longer was my mind full of schematics and ideas to make wars end quicker, or to make weapons that fire lightning, but suddenly ideas on how to prevent wars from happening in the first place, to make this world a better place. With the help of a fellow scientist, a man I called friend from the first time I met him, I was able to escape that terrorist camp, but sadly, he died in the crossfire. I, eh…”

Tony paused, and looked at the glass of water on the podium in front of him. He clutched the glass and took a sip.

“Doctor Ho Yinsen died in the escape, but I remember what he said to me when I first met him, at one of the numerous science conventions we frequented:”

“We used to have to create to survive. We built fire to save ourselves from the cold. We built shelter from the storm. But in this day and age, we build to make ourselves comfortable. To make ourselves soft. The things we build now, the things people like you and I are wanted for, what use do they have? We have lost our edge as scientists, and if we are to survive the coming years, we must find that edge, and reclaim science as the method for furthering our hold on our lives.”

“That’s a pretty interesting thing to say, Doctor,” pointed out Tony, as he took a sip from his bottle of water, surreptitiously filled with high end vodka. “I am inclined to agree, but to survive in this day and age, we need money, and money is gained through making the things that we have no inclination to make. I didn’t grow up wanting to build tiny bombs, my friend; I wanted to build rocket boots! I wanted to touch the sky, and hold the stars in my hand, but there isn’t a place in this world for childhood dreams.”

“We’ll see, Tony. We’ll see.” Ho Yinsen bowed, and then left. “I’ll see you later, my friend. God speed.”

“Yeah, to you too.”

Tony shook himself back from the memory, and then looked at the crowd before him.

“Stark Enterprises is not about the past. It’s not about improving what’s come before, it’s about invention. It’s about constant reinvention and the future of our world. I’m not here to give you a really fast computer, that’s been done, that’s been done by other people. I’m here to give you a computer the size of your palm, with all the hardware synonymous with a super-computer. Because Stark is the future of technology, and we’re here to offer you a place in that future. You have been chosen as representatives of your field because you are the best of the best: The cream of the crop. Now, I’ve got to say, the pay is great, the job rewarding and the benefits unbeatable. Stark IronWorks are testing grounds for the future. Let’s get to it people, let’s guide this world into utopia.” He finished, and there was a silence that filled the hall. He looked around, and then spoke once more. “Any questions?”

His eyes were drawn to a man that stood at the front of the scientists he had invited to his meeting. He didn’t recognise him. In his mind he had the faces of every scientist recorded, every name. This man wasn’t on any list.

“Are you ready Tony Stark ready to die?”

Tony’s alert systems went crazy. Behind his eyes there was a flicker of recognition as his mind began to run scenarios. There was a man standing in front of the stage, white hair hanging limply behind his shoulders, his eyes cold and dead. He wasn’t sweating, he wasn’t shaking, he just looked at Tony, stared straight through him.

“Are you ready to die?”

Tony thought fast. His stomach was turning, and he didn’t think it was because of the panic running through his being. New stomach lining began to grow instantly, his nano-machines doing their job. “You want to kill me? That’s interesting. But I think you should let all these men and women go before you do that. Else it’s not really fair on their friends and families. Can you do that?”

The man glanced at the whispering crowd. “What? He didn’t say anything about the other people, they could be like you, infiltrators in their skin suits and God…” He clutched his head, and started to vibrate. “Go go go.”

Tony looked up to the scientists, and past them, and saw Pepper, Happy, and the security detail funnel the men and women out of the hall. He connected directly with Happy’s brain, the microchip implanted in his head allowing for direct access. <<Get everyone out of here, but I need you to stay. Make sure they clear the building.>>

“What?” Happy clutched his head, and then looked at Tony. <<Dammit, man, don’t do that to me, don’t hack into my head.>>

<<GO!>> Tony smiled, and stepped down from the stage. “So, ehh, who sent you here?”

The man looked up. “Sir. Sir sent me gave me a name and I’ve got to do what he says.”

“He ordered you to do this?” Tony felt a trickle of blood leave his nose. “Hhk.” He activated the filters on the Iron Man Mk I helmet, built in after his return to America and grimaced. He hated that he needed them, but he was thankful that he had had the foresight to build them in. <<Happy, put on the helmet, and tell me what you see.>>

“He did, and he wouldn’t lie to me would he, I don’t know, your flesh suit is pretty good you know that if I didn’t know the truth, then I might not think that you were one of them.”

Happy placed the helmet on and the gasped. “Tony--” <<--Errm, Tony there’s some kind of blue fuzz surrounding the guy, getting thicker as it goes out. What is that?>>

<<You’re looking through radiation sensors. Now would be a good time to lock down the tower. I’ve shut down the security cameras. Now. Please. Run.>>

Happy didn’t second guess his boss, and turned tail and ran out of the lobby and into the square outside. Surprised crowds looked at him, and then he realised he was still wearing the Iron Man helmet. He removed it tentatively, and then turned to the police who had cordoned off the area. “You need to get paramedics here, these men and women may have been exposed to radiation.” The police officer nodded and headed toward the paramedics already present.

Pepper pushed her way through the crowds, and reached her boyfriend. “Happy! Happy, where’s Tony?”

“Yes, Mr Hogan, where is Mr Stark?” repeated one of the officers.

“He’s still inside. He’s trying to talk the guy down.”

“What?!” Pepper shook her head, and nearly ran toward the doors before Happy pulled her back. “You let him?!”

Happy looked her straight in the eye. “He’s dealing with it. Him and his special friend, I assume.”

The same police officer arched an eyebrow and looked at Happy. “Special friend?”

“You’ll see,” shrugged Happy.


“I’m not going to be able to talk you down, am I?” Tony concentrated. He concentrated long and hard and beneath his feet, he felt the gentle tap of metal upon wood, as something floated up below him. His head was swimming, radiation making his brain melt inside his skull. He knew that the man was either wearing something that was emanating the radiation or he was a mutant and his special ability was to make Tony have a headache. He smiled, and heard the tapping again.

“Nuh no,” repeated the man, his body shaking.

“Then I’m sorry.” He tensed his body, and the stage erupted from beneath him, shards of metal and wood flying up in the air. Between the blinks of the man in front of Stark, his armour attached to his body instantly. Beneath his suit the nano-sheath formed, connecting directly with the neuro relays in the armour, and then he was ready.

<<Honestly, I am.>>

“Metal suit.” The man grimaced. “Knew sir wasn’t lying to me why would he lie to me, it’s not a flesh skin suit it’s a metal one.”

Tony didn’t hesitate, he shot forward and grabbed the man, whose body was now beginning to glimmer. <<I don’t know who sent you, but I won’t let you hurt any of my people.>> He grabbed the man and then shot upwards. Scanners ensured that the upper floors were empty, and the man continued to vibrate in his arms. He looked at the white haired man, who thrashed about in Iron Man’s arms, and his sensors recognised a build up of energy inside his body. <<My God.>> He switched his repulsor boots up to maximum, and shot through the roof of the building, hurtling through the top floor, and then higher and higher above New York.

Below in the Plaza the crowd looked up, witnessing the red and gold suit of armour that flew up high in the sky and straight into the clouds above. The gasps were so loud, the crowd breathless in unison. “What the hell?” whispered one of the police officers.

Happy smiled, and nodded slowly. “That’s m’boy.”

Tony Stark’s armour was attempting to set up the counter-frequency to the vibrations, the Stark tempered metals changing their molecular frequency, but that would only delay the inevitable. <<I am sorry. I am so sorry.>> He was out of sight of New York now, the air was thin and then just at that moment…

…Nitro detonated.

Iron Man rode the shockwave down to Earth. <<Aww, crap.>> His systems shut down for a moment, but then absorbed the kinetic energy of the blast to start back up. <<Damn.>> He headed back to Stark Plaza, knowing that this was the time for Phase Three.

He shot back down through the hole in the building, and landed right where he had armoured up. The armour left his body, his nano-sheath dissolved back into the hollows of his bones, and then he took a breath. That was another life he had had a hand in snuffing out. He wiped his nose of the blood that had dried there, and then looked at the armour, still floating in the air. “Form up.” The Iron Man reassembled completely, and then Tony looked at his handiwork. “Beautiful.” He headed toward the exit, flanked by his robotic suit.

The Plaza was by now full of the press, paramedics, and police. The crowd fell silent as Tony exited, his head held low. The crowd then gasped as they saw the Iron Man suit behind him. He looked up. “He’s gone.”

“Who the Hell is that?” asked the lead reporter standing closest, pointing to Iron Man.

“Him?” Tony motioned to Iron Man and shrugged nonchalantly. “This is the man that saved my life. Iron Man. I’ll be willing to answer any questions after I talk to the police about the man sent into my building to kill me and my employees.”

Happy smiled and turned to Pepper with a nudge. “Phase Four.”

“Then… What’s Phase Three?” asked Pepper, confused.

“You’ll see.”

Tony took his time with the police. Let the press cook in their own juices, work up a storm out of confusion and wanting. Iron Man kept at his back. His bodyguard. Pepper and Happy stayed close, and gave as much information to the police as they too could possibly give. When the police were done, Tony turned to the crowds. There was a roar of questions, but Tony put up his hands.

“Stark Enterprises is taking a bold turn as of today. A bold new direction for a bold new world. Because of this we need to talk bold steps to ensure the safety of our personnel. Iron Man is that bold step.”

“Who is he?” Asked a reporter, her hand waving about frantically.

“I couldn’t possibly ask--”

Iron Man placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder, and nodded slowly. He placed both hands on his face plate, and there was a hiss of oxygen being released as he removed the golden visor. The face was unfamiliar to everyone there. “My name is Randall Pierce, and I’m Tony Stark’s security detail. And I gotta say,” he started, with a thick Brooklyn accent, “It’s a pleasure to be the first pilot of the new Iron Man armour.”

“Who?” mouthed Pepper. Tony noticed her.

“That’s all for today, sorry,” Iron Man replaced his visor at Tony’s words, and then looked around. “We have to go.” He nodded at Happy, and Happy nudged Pepper, who then called up the limo, which arrived a minute later. Iron Man shot into the air as Tony, Pepper and Happy climbed into the car, and then followed them from above.

“Who the hell is Randall Pierce?”

Tony grinned. “A computer virus, and a hard light hologram. For all intents and purposes he is a living person, with an apartment on the upper East.”

“Phase Three,” nudged Happy, “Dump a computer virus of Tone’s own creation into the Stark hub that’ll work its way into the SHIELD processors and relay through to every important computer system in the world.”

“You’re a genius, Tony.”

Tony winked at her and continued to grin. “That I am, Pepper. Now who wants dinner? It’s on me!”


The suit handled like a dream. He shot up through the sky, the gentle pull of gravity just niggling at his feet as the repulsors in his boots took him higher and higher. He was suddenly past the cloud field, straddling the higher atmosphere just before the oxygen got too thin for a human to breath. He sealed every compartment in his suit, and activated life systems. Air hissed around him. Even with the under sheath attached to his skin, he felt it. Suddenly gravity ceased to exist and he was there, high orbit, his repulsors still pushing him higher and higher. Tempered Stark metals didn’t freeze. Didn’t crack. And he kept getting higher... and higher...

“This,” whispered Tony, “This is what I always wanted.”

His hand reached forward toward the stars, and then he closed his eyes, and rolled backwards, back to the Earth.

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