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New York, Hammer Industries Blacksite.
"DNA extraction complete!" Cho exclaimed happily, giving him a cheeky grin.
Justin zipped up his fly, shaking his head, "I'm fairly certain that's not the scientific way to successfully extract a DNA sample." He pointed out, wryly.
Cho shook her head, striding over to a sample fridge, capping the vial full of… Science. And then placing it in the fridge. "Who's the scientist here?" She quipped, looking back over her shoulder with a coy little smile playing at her lips, "I say it's a fully common sense extraction method."
Justin wasn't going to argue too hard, he'd been expecting a blood draw or a cheek swab, and received something… Much different. "Are you sure you don't need a more conventional sample?" He asked, to make sure.
He didn't want to have to come back, he could only take Cho in small doses.
Cho puffed her cheeks out, "You gave me plenty to work with, not to worry, and at least you're less stressed now, right? You look dead on your feet." Her face took on a look of slight concern as she gave him a once over. "I could…." She started slowly, a glint of something else in her eyes.
Justin held his hands up, "No thank you, I'm perfectly fine." He looked towards the cradle that dominated Cho's lab, meandering towards it, hoping to derail any further 'Cho science' by asking, "And you're positive you can create Vibranium tissues and muscles?"
Cho nodded, an excited smile on her face as she walked over, stroking the top of her cradle with one hand fondly. "My baby can handle anything, it won't be a problem, the hard part will be incorporating your DNA in a way that doesn't weaken the structure or destabilize it."
"You're certain you need my DNA for it to work?" Justin asked again, slightly nervous to give Cho free access to it.
Cho shrugged, "Most of it." She said, her eyes wide and innocent, which he knew to be a dirty lie. "With Extremis, the Vibranium won't bind to you without your DNA within it, Extremis would handle it as an invasion or disease otherwise."
Justin nodded, feeling like he had to just trust that things would work out. The idea of adding Vibranium subdermal armor, or muscles and tissue to Extremis and the Super Soldier Serum had popped into his head when he'd basked at the cache of Vibranium they had from Klaue - so he'd immediately sought out Cho, remembering the cradle had built Vision in a future that would never happen.
It better never fucking happen.
"Well, I have that meeting with Doctor Hansen." Justin said awkwardly, Cho the one person he just wasn't sure how to behave around.
Except apparently for certain things, because he had no damn self control, he thought, annoyed at himself.
Cho immediately ran around the cradle and hugged Justin, her hands slipping down to grab at his ass as she pushed the limits of the hug.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later, Helen." He said quickly, extracting himself and leaving the lab at a fast clip, trying to make it seem like he wasn't running away.
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In the lab, Helen Cho clapped her hands together eagerly, an unholy glint in her eyes.
"Yay!" She called out excitedly, staring intently at the sample she'd gotten.
She could do so much with this!
----------------------------------------
Having escaped Cho's lab, he soon found himself at the new cell holding the Winter Soldier, Maya Hansen standing outside it, waiting for him.
Justin peered through the reinforced glass, pleased to note that Bucky Barnes wasn't quite as robotic as last time he'd been by.
He was sitting comfortably in an armchair reading a well worn book, Lord of the Rings, if he wasn't mistaken. Instead of a barren cell, he had a writing desk, a bookshelf filled with literature, and a radio.
Quite a turn around, considering they hadn't completed the Extremis and Super Soldier Serum amalgamation yet.
Quite more than he'd expected, really.
"I disagreed with moving him to a more comfortable location, with less restrictions, but I stand corrected, Doctor Hansen." He acknowledged, sending her a fleeting and approving smile. Knowing the woman didn't care at all for the niceties, he didn't bother with effusive praise.
She was fully married to science at this point.
If only Cho could take some notes… He thought.
There were still many hurdles to cross of course in the conversion of the man, but the rapid progress seen already - was a good sign for his plans for the man.
Maya Hansen finished what she was doing, slipping the tablet into the crook of her elbow, stepping closer to the glass, "I can't take all the credit." She said matter of factly, pointing out several emitters in the ceiling, "With your hiring spree, we snapped up a young blowhard called Beck, who had some intriguing ideas that he lacked funding and technological know-how to implement."
Of course if there was anything Hammer industries had a lot of now, it was money and technological know-how, so they were a perfect fit then.
Justin glanced at the matte black emitters, they were simple looking small disks, implanted in the ceiling. Where have I heard the name Beck before…? He thought, before focusing on the now, "If you're telling me you've built a holodeck, I am afraid I'm severely underpaying you." He told Doctor Hansen dryly.
"Boys and Star Trek…" She muttered, shaking her head, her lips in a thin severe line, "This is not a so-called holodeck, Sir. It is a holographic illusion emitter."
Sounds like a holodeck to me… Justin thought, keeping it to himself, having a busy enough schedule without wasting time annoying one of his top scientists. "And this is how you've managed to come so far in the treatment?" He questioned, already thinking of the benefits of holographic tech for training his security division.
Doctor Hansen shook her head, "This is fairly new, as the Vanko's were too busy to assist, we've only been using it for several days at most." She frowned minutely, "It is coarse and unfinished and hardly lifelike as of yet, but the subject seems to respond well so far, so it is helping."
Justin raised an incredulous eyebrow, "You've gone from the Terminator to that?" He gestured to the solemn man sitting quietly and reading, no sign of a military posture. Although there were clear signs of tension in his face and the set of his shoulders."All of it in a few days, and you call it coarse and unfinished?"
Doctor Hansen gave him an exasperated look like he was particularly thick. Justin was not used to that, anymore. "Do you not read any of my reports, sir?" She asked sharply, "The therapy team we've spent a fortune on has slowly worked to get the subject at least comfortable, and got him to this stage - even if they've failed to ensure the subject is willing to cooperate with testing." She finished in a grumble, looking displeased.
Justin didn't exactly always have time to go through the minutiae of every email he received, but it was a lost cause to explain that to the good doctor, so he moved on, "Testing is no overly important yet, not without the solution anyway, we need the carrot, not the stick." He reminded her.
"Testing is always important." She stressed, looking annoyed, before she let out a huff, gesturing towards the cell, "As you've requested, he's available for a discussion, I trust you can handle the display, sir?" She asked somewhat tartly.
Justin gave her a dry look, "I do have an engineering degree."
She sniffed, "I never assume anything."
Justin shook his head, a wry smile appearing on his face, it was almost refreshing to speak with someone who really didn't give a damn what he'd achieved, as long as he kept the science funding coming.
Hansen made to leave, uninterested in the human angle of the experiment, Justin stopped her with a raised hand, one last question on his mind, "How is it going with Doctor Cho?" He queried hesitantly.
"Her expertise is doing wonders to the Super Soldier project, we'd probably be done already if she'd been here making herself useful from the start - instead of in a hole wasting her time." Doctor Hansen informed him archly, a small grimace on her face as she continued, "As for her mental state, you need to either unfuck her, or fuck her more, whichever method sets her straight again." She chided, definite disapproval in her voice. "She'd be twice the scientist if she didn't spend so much time mooning over you."
Justin sighed, and let her go, watching her walk off, already tapping away at her tablet again with a concentrated look on her face. He could only take so much of Doctor Hansen, despite the quaintness of her attitude.
As for Cho, if she was doing good work, he'd just leave it be as it was. His focus turned instead onto the Winter Soldier, as he stepped closer to the controls, turning the opaque glass clear, even as the speakers were turned on.
"Mister Barnes, I'm glad to see you in a better state, I'm Justin Hammer, the man responsible for your rescue." Justin said easily, a charming smile on his face, as Bucky stayed in his position, glancing his way from behind a curtain of hair - with a spark of intelligence visible despite the dullness of his eyes.
"What do you want?" Bucky asked quietly, placing his book down carefully, after placing a bookmark between the pages.
"To give you your life back, and to help save the world." Justin said simply.
There was no need to get overly complicated in this first meeting, it would just overload him. Being who he was, with his likely high level of suspicion to any offer he could make, it would just lead him in a circle of trying to find the trap behind Justin's words if he tried. So he wouldn't, not yet.
"Save the world, I've heard it before." Bucky said without interest, his expression flat.
Justin nodded slowly, "No doubt you have, and I wouldn't expect you to believe me quite yet, rest assured that even if you should refuse to assist at the end of your rehabilitation, I will let you go free with no strings attached."
Well… It's not going to come to that, Justin thought, studying the broken man in front of him. Therapy was slowly working, but the trigger words would still be there. Their method might not even work, in which case the man would never be free.
"Sure." Bucky said, not even bothering to show his disbelief, just blandly staring at Justin.
Justin sighed, pulling a chair forward, settling down for the long haul, gods this will be annoying… "The world is missing Steve Rogers…. The beating heart of America, it's patriotic soul. He would have wanted someone to pick up his mantle…"
Because fuck Steve Rogers…
----------------------------------------
Hours later, New York.
"What's next, Elena?" Justin asked, massaging his forehead wearily, fruitlessly fighting a migraine. "And remind me next time we're in New York to get a damn Helicopter, this traffic is ridiculous!"
They were in one of his armored limousines, cruising through rush hour New York traffic… Whatever he had next, they might arrive a day late at this rate.
After the whole Stark thing, he'd flown Elena back from Cairo, the workload was too large to handle without his personal assistant. Of course it would mean Sunil's workload would be larger, but quite frankly…
Justin could live with that.
"The meeting with New York's mayor over the plans for the new head office, and then your three pm with Wilson Fisk." Elena answered promptly, handing him several pills and a bottle of water, staring at him sternly until he took the medication.
Justin dry swallowed it, waving away the bottle of water, leaning his head back, the pills were useless anyway, something Elena should know, but he didn't waste his time arguing the point. He was still annoyed that Extremis apparently allowed headaches and migraines, but not the medication to relieve it.
"Cancel the meeting with the Mayor, he's our bitch at this point anyway, he doesn't need me there to hold his hand." Justin ordered quietly, feeling the shift in the leather seats as Elena moved away from him, to make the phone call without exacerbating his migraine.
Another unintended consequence of his success had led to the plans for Hammer industries headquarters to go ahead, years ahead of schedule. Hence the meetings and correspondence with the Mayor and city council, as well as the Governor and a myriad of other officials who had no business being involved but still were.
With outstretched hands awaiting a bribe.
So business as usual.
He couldn't wait for the invasion and buy land cheap in the aftermath as he'd planned before all of this set off. Quite frankly, he'd been more successful in his efforts than even his wildest dreams could have foreseen, and he needed his new headquarters yesterday. He couldn't wait four years, he needed to strike while the iron was hot.
And of course reinforce the fuck out of the building, because alien invasion…
He was keeping a close eye on Stark too, long distance cameras watching his Malibu Mansion like a hawk, his people in Afghanistan keeping an eye on Gulmira.
He was waiting for the reveal of Iron Man, because it would give him some openings. Tony had been arrogant in mouthing off to him about his superiority, Justin had a much stronger grasp on the media than the playboy could even imagine.
Once Tony stepped a foot out of line, Justin would bury him in bad press and busy work, chaining him to his board of directors, and slowing down his planned expansion.
He grimaced as his migraine intensified, all mental, his doctors had insisted. Justin blamed Stark for giving him more work, even if he himself was partly to blame for getting him out early.
He needed the damn man and his genius, but he was so damn annoying.
Granted, the migraine could also be from his recently upgraded implants. After weeks of working on it, the implants in his skull meant to stop mental intrusions and control, had finally been successfully upgraded by Ivan.
They no longer melted brains.
A definite upgrade.
With Extremis Justin had been able to handle that inconvenience, but now he didn't need to, the implant viable for anyone. That, of course, had led to everyone in his circle being given time for the procedure to get one, except Eileen who'd taken a leave of absence to deal with the Mystique situation.
The entirety of the management structure of Hammer Industries and his security division were on the waitlist to receive the same implants, upper management already halfway through the process.
Emma Frost and the like would not be able to fuck with him anymore. Also suck it Xavier!
Of course, Justin had taken it a step further, hooking his glasses into the implant, allowing him to send messages, craft emails and use the facial recognition software and everything else, with his mind - instead of having to train the software to react to certain eye movements.
Elena now had a similar pair of glasses on her face, albeit in a slimmer more attractive look, really setting off the hot secretary kink of his.
When she looked at him seriously with the glasses slightly down, just brrrr, Hammer like!
Thanks to the fact the glasses were so useful, the joke was spreading around Hammer industries that he was infecting people around him, as several of the highest levels of management were sporting glasses now - due to the convenience of being able to answer emails with their mind.
Stark blabbering about getting a set of glasses out for the public so soon, hah! Justin was already allocating factory space for the new product line, nowhere near as useful as his own, of course. But for the regular person, being able to use simple things like GPS, texts and emails through their glasses would be novel enough to sell, even if it took actually reading the manual to figure out how to use them properly and train the software to follow their specific eye movements.
Surely at least part of the general public would be intelligent enough to figure it out…
Stark was used to being the biggest dick on the block, Justin had fallen slightly into that during their meeting, knowing the man's skills - but once he'd calmed down, he'd realized the man really couldn't deliver what he'd promised. Not yet.
That didn't make the man any less annoying however.
Already a video was trending online of Stark answering a question about the H-phones while leaving a board meeting, because of course reporters would play into the whole rivalry thing.
"Hammer phones? I guess I can understand people buying inferior products when I wasn't available to show them the real stuff, Stark industries is going to release a whole new line of electronics GUARANTEED to make Hammer's look like toy phones making animal noises!"
Justin had been worried for a bit, until common sense and logic had set in. Stark was miles away from being able to actually deliver on such a promise. He had the capabilities to create something superior, but not the capacity or supply chain to just sweep the market like that.
All his factories were already producing other products, retooling and retraining wasn't the job of days, no matter how effective his AI was. It just wasn't possible to go from nothing to market in such a short time.
And if he switched off one of his current factories he'd risk being unable to deliver his already existing product lines to the military. So the man needed new factory space, new staff.
Good luck finding those easily, Justin was hiring so many people half of them didn't even have jobs, he just shuffled them off to Africa to help until he had an actual position for them. And that was still with his absolutely stringent background checks, or he'd have millions of new hires just spending time making roads in Africa while waiting for their real positions to be created.
At worst, Justin had a few months before he had to worry about Stark beginning to compete, and realistically, a year minimum. And he intended to ensure he was not in a worst case scenario. Stark and his genius was something he needed for the world, but it didn't mean Hammer would allow himself to lose to the man.
He already had plans in the work to limit the man's options.
While absolutely hammering Stark for overpromising, continuing the narrative of how untrustworthy he was through his media contacts. It helped that Tiberius Stone disliked Stark and was happily onboard for further tarnishing his reputation.
Elena sat back down next to him, her phone call done, she gently tugged on him, and Justin let himself fall into her lap with a tired sigh. She must have been very quiet in her call, he hadn't even noticed.
Or he was that distracted.
"Just rest, sir. I'll take care of everything until your meeting." She said soothingly, running a hand through his hair, long nails raking against his scalp, settling some of his stress.
Having been doing consistent 18 hour days for so long now, it didn't take long for Justin to fall asleep to the soft humming and singing of his personal assistant.
His last thoughts, why is she singing in Russian? It's beautiful…
Then sleep took him.
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New York, Fisk international.
Slightly refreshed, Justin walked into Fisk international like he owned it, flanked by Domino and Elena.
They were immediately met by an odious little man, who showed them to a private elevator, meant to take them to the top floor of Fisk tower.
Thankfully, the weasel looking man didn't join them for the trip. Hammer got serious Grima Wormtongue vibes from the guy.
"What did I miss while I was dead to the world?" Justin asked, straightening out his cuffs, giving a quick polish to his cufflinks, knowing his people were smart enough not to reveal anything sensitive in someone else's building.
If Justin recorded sound and video in every one of his elevators, the damn Kingpin surely wasn't so lax as to follow privacy rules.
Elena sighed dramatically, "Tony Stark is in the news again, I'm afraid." With the way her lips were twitching he knew this would be good. Justin gestured for her to go on, already smirking in anticipation as the elevator climbed past the halfway point.
"He's been constantly locked in board meetings and the press keeps camping outside, waiting for a soundbite, and today, they managed to ask Stark about the arc reactor." Elena said, eyes glittering with malicious satisfaction.
Justin took in a deep breath, savoring it, "Please tell me he was his usual belligerent self?"
Domino chuckled, "If his previous statement went gold, this one went platinum, boss!"
Slightly wrong terminology, but good to know, Justin thought, rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation. "How bad was it?"
Elena smirked, looking inordinately pleased to be able to deliver good news, "He got annoyed at the consistent questions and said he could have cracked it anytime, reminding them of his genius, then dismissively said the world wasn't ready before."
Oh, Tony… This isn't the old world anymore…
The elevator reached the top, just as Justin closed his eyes and just savored it. Tony Stark was still the man that would cockily tell Congress to suck it, it seemed. He didn't realize he wasn't the media darling anymore - it had been a mistake of his inner circle to not keep him back.
Although he acknowledged how impossible that likely was. Pepper Potts was a miracle worker - but no one was that good.
This wasn't something that would hurt his bottom line, it wouldn't harm his business, not really, not yet. But it would set the narrative in stone, without Justin needing to do anything.
Tony Stark does not care about you.
Justin couln't out engineer Stark. But in logistics, media, planning and management, he was going to crush him.
He could already feel his migraine completely dissipating, the tiny niggling pain that still existed after his nap abating, his earlier stress about Stark's announcements lessened by his new gaffe.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Really, the man was going to make this easy for Justin, if he didn't wake up to the new reality and began acting like he needed to win people over. With Justin curing people from Alzheimer's and every deadly disease around, Stark couldn't afford to come off as the aloof genius unconcerned about the common man.
Mostly because Justin would continue to hammer him on it, just following up his continuing press campaign from before. His PR team's assertion that Tony Stark could have always done clean energy, but didn't care to help the average joe, or the poorer countries, fit better than ever now - it was something which definitely paid off with this one careless comment from Tony.
He stepped out of the elevator, into a perfect killbox, right before the Kingpin's penthouse office. His glasses immediately identified the twelve guards and their armaments, plus the hidden weapons emplacement behind the mahogany wood panels.
He eyed the security team, gesturing for Domino and Elena to join them, "Don't steal all their hearts now, girls." He quipped, strutting through the door that was quickly opened for him by a butler. Justin's glasses flashed, as facial recognition got a hit, as he glanced at the butler on his way through.
A serial killer as a butler. The Kingpin did have a sense of humor, it appeared. Although he doubted the butler was ever around for the more legal meetings, he was fairly well known in New York after all…
"Justin, welcome to the beating heart of my empire." The larger than life man said, clad in his usual white suit as he fixed himself a drink, "Drink?" He asked casually, holding the crystal decanter in one meaty hand.
Justin strode forward, a polite smile on his face, hiding his distaste. "Wilson, it's been too long, unfortunately I still have plenty of business to conduct afterwards, so no drink for me I'm afraid."
Wilson Fisk made an agreeing noise, grabbing his drink and making his way over to the large windows overlooking New York, gesturing for Justin to join him.
Justin held back a twitch at the temerity of this lowly criminal and stepped up to the window, hands behind his back as he coolly observed the New York skyline, already picturing his new headquarters rising far above this piddly little tower.
"A shame about Osborn beating you to the punch, I would have expected the military to be begging for you to be their supplier." Fisk murmured lowly, thoughtfully, taking a sip of his whiskey.
Justin met the dangerously intelligent eyes of the Kingpin of crime, quirking his lips, speaking up in an almost mocking drawl, "Norman can have his day in the sun, we both know he'll mess it up dramatically, the man's not well after all, and then I'll swoop in as the savior, again."
Fisk raised an eyebrow, face nonplussed, "Oh, not worried about the competition? I hear Frost industries are advancing power armor on their own too, France and Great Britain have already placed orders."
Justin hadn't heard that, which annoyed him, as he gave the Kingpin a searching look, what are you after with this conversation, Fisk? He wondered. The fact everyone was scrambling for inferior power armor annoyed him, because he didn't want a profiligation of the armors yet. At least he'd still hold the advantage, as only his armors could actually use actual arc reactors. Not that anyone but him and Stark could miniaturize the things so far anyway.
Of course Stark would be able to use them as well, but so far he hadn't debuted yet.
At least with the inferior works, they all depended on his batteries, so if any countries started misusing the armors against his interests… Well he'd quash that easily enough.
"Quality will win out in the end, there is no comparison to my armors." Justin said eventually, after a pregnant pause.
Fisk nodded, sloshing around the liquid in his glass, staring out at New York, "It is indeed." He muttered, "And if someone were to inquire what it would cost to get one of these armors for their most loyal subordinate?" He enquired softly.
Justin shrugged lightly, "I suppose it entirely depends on if I would find an endeavor like that worth it."
It was unlikely he'd end up following through on that, but if the Kingpin could offer enough of an incentive… One knockoff armor with low power wouldn't be much of a threat to him, and would allow the Kingpin to continue to project his power across New York.
At least until the city became Justin's city, once his headquarters was up, and the invasion defeated. In Justin's city, there would be no need for a Kingpin…
Fisk smiled, greed shining through briefly in his eyes, before he controlled himself, "Indeed, well, let's talk partnership then, you've come to me for a reason, Justin."
Justin nodded, pleased with the greed in the other man, his want for armors would make this deal much easier to push through, without him ever having to follow up on continuing the partnership later. "You expressed an interest in Extremis in Bern. I have decided what I want in exchange." He said with an easygoing smile.
Fisk gave him a measured look, likely recognizing he was in a limited bargaining position due to bringing up power armor before this discussion. "And what can Fisk industries do for you, Justin?" He asked mildly.
"Tony Stark will be massively ramping up his company profile, I want you to take no contracts with Stark industries or its subsidiaries for one year, stopping any you have going currently." Justin said, a feeling not far off from an orgasm running through his body at the flex of his own business and reputational power.
It was a heady feeling, controlling fates all over the country, sometimes the world, like this.
It was no wonder supervillains went a bit kooky at times.
Fisk mulled it over, eyeing Justin shrewdly, "You're asking for something that will cost me a fortune." He rumbled, despite knowing his bargaining position was weak.
Fisk international was a logistical company that although it did do work in shipping and international trade, it was mostly known for having a controlling interest in the transportation business in North America. If you saw a truck transporting something, odds where it belonged to Fisk, either directly or through one of his many logistics subsidiaries.
Justin had done the calculations, if Fisk refused to deal with Stark, SI's current business would see over a thirty percent drop in productivity until Stark found a way to replace the supply chain issues with other companies, companies that did not have the reach and support that Fisk industries had.
As for any expansion? Good luck with that.
No one knew quite how much Fisk really controlled as he hid behind several companies and subsidiaries through shell companies and tax havens, although Justin had come up with the number 70 percent give or take a few, by extrapolation and examining what he could find. The fact he controlled the teamster union as well, added to his complete dominance in the sector.
Not that most people knew that second fact.
This. This is why Stark would never beat him, because he didn't have the cojones to deal like this.
"One year of slightly lower income isn't going to break you, Fisk." Justin said dismissively, adding a slight carrot to make the deal go down easier, the man looked like he liked to eat after all… "My own company has the need for more trucks, so I'll happily pick up some of the contracts to keep you steady."
"It's still not enough, you're asking me to break contracts, it will impact my reputation, cost me millions in litigation." Fisk said coldly, appearing to be completely against the idea.
Justin knew better.
He scoffed, turning back to the view, speaking as if unconcerned for the reception of the words, "We both know your real reputation, Fisk, don't act like this is that much of an impediment, like you can't bribe or threaten judges to tie everything up or dismiss it outright…" Justin smirked slightly, glancing back at the Kingpin, "And we both know you can use your subsidiaries to take the brunt of the reputation loss, so no personal loss for yourself - your main company will be insulated from the consequences so don't try and play the player, we both know you'll agree to this."
Fisk seethed and didn't respond for a minute, the big man taking a steadying breath as his hands clenched. Justin knew no one talked to Fisk like this, no one that lived long anyway.
Justin luxuriated in the feeling of watching the Kingpin have to just take it, because he wanted what Justin had to give.
And because for once, the Kingpin wasn't the biggest shark in the room, and he knew it.
The big man finished his drink in one big gulp, turning to Justin, his body language calm once again, "You aren't entirely wrong, but you're still asking for me to put considerable expenses onto my companies, at the very least put the power armor on the table." He entreatied.
Justin laughed, cold and amused, like hell, take what I'm giving and swallow it you fatass… He stepped away from the window, "If regeneration and decades more of life isn't good enough for you, perhaps you'll find someone else to do business with you?" He said, moving to leave.
He got ten feet before Fisk growled under his breath, "Wait."
Justin turned, a questioning eyebrow raised, "Yes?"
Fisk stepped away from the window, "No power armor, we'll leave that open for the future, I am… Open to your idea, but need something more to sweeten the deal."
Justin scoffed, not open to giving away anything more to what was basically a simple monster, with some extra pocket change, "Is that so? I believe my offer is practically charity as it is, giving pseudo immortality for the price of less business for you for a year and a bit of tarnish on..." He searched for the words for a moment, a sardonic look on his face, "Your no doubt virgin-like reputation."
"This is not how business is done, Justin." Fisk said warningly, his bass tone almost echoing around the office, giving a perception of strength.
Justin had transcended normal business practices now. The likes of Shaw was a threat, so was Emma, so was Stark, and Osborn even in some small way, but Fisk? What was he going to do? Send Bullseye after him again?
That worked out so well the first time…
Like hell he would give anything extra for the man who'd tried to kill him, even if ineptly.
He would use the Kingpin, and then one day in the future, he would end him. Because he was well aware that if it weren't for the Kingpin wanting, needing, what Justin had on offer - he'd still be trying to kill him.
Fisk was small minded, too wedded to the idea of New York, too stuck in his mobster ways to truly thrive internationally like Justin was. Justin brushed some imaginary dust off his cuffs, making to step away again, "I hold all the cards, I decide how business is done, Wilson." He said, walking away.
As he'd thought…
He didn't get within five feet of the door before the Kingpin capitulated.
Extremis and the potential for power armor above and beyond what the military would have, was too strong of a lure.
Justin knew people.
Another avenue where he'd beat Tony Stark.
Where he'd already beaten him, in his humble opinion.
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New York, later that evening,
"Hammer! Where's revenge, huh?" Ivan shouted the second Justin walked into the room. "My revenge!"
Considering the spread of vodka bottles, Ivan had been busy for a while. Justin grimaced as he stepped around the mess, somewhat glad to see that the elder Vanko wasn't present.
Trust Ivan Vanko to create a super Vodka to get around the fact Extremis made it impossible to get drunk…
With Extremis, drinking alcohol was entirely for flavor now, and well… Ivan was hardly chugging Vodka bottles on the regular because he liked the flavor, was he?
"Ivan… I believe I told you that revenge wouldn't be something as simple as death…" Justin admonished his top scientist.
Between Vanko and Cho… Why couldn't people be less complicated? Was it too much to ask for well adjusted worker bees?
Ivan blinked heavily, trying to pour vodka into his mouth, his mouth moving, as he poured the bottle two feet to the left of his mouth, the liquid hitting the floor, soaking into the mess of take out containers.
Jesus Christ, when they emailed me about the issue, I hadn't expected this…
"Stark is enemy, need to pay, you said." Vanko slurred, trying to point at him, but missing by a mile.
"He'll pay, he's already being humiliated in the media, and we're miles ahead of him, you'll still get that Nobel prize, you, the creator of arc technology, not Stark." Justin pointed out, not sure how much of a point there was to it, Vanko was obviously absolutely shitfaced, and likely wouldn't remember a word that was said.
Ivan scrambled over the mess, the accumulation of filth gathered only over the two days he'd stayed here, waiting for Justin to come to New York and meet him - he exclaimed happily as he found a large needle, with a glowing liquid inside. Before Justin could do more than open his mouth to protest, Ivan inserted it into a vein.
"You better not be on drugs, Ivan!" Justin blustered, not sure what to do.
Ivan groaned, settling down onto the bed, his eyes clearing up, "Is quick fix to much drinking." He muttered, holding his head in his hands, greasy hair hanging down like a curtain, his tattoos very visible against pale skin.
Justin pinched the bridge of his nose, "You invented super alcohol and immediate sobriety?" He questioned, before he had a thought, frowning at the now empty syringe. "Can you make it less glowy, and work for normal alcohol?" Seeing the potential for a new product.
But not while it glowed like radioactive waste… People might be slightly hesitant to inject that, even when shitfaced.
Ivan groaned again, "Still get hangover." He complained, and Justin let it be, there wasn't much point in instant sobriety if you couldn't skip the hangover.
Perhaps as a tool for soldiers or his security, in case they'd been drinking, as a way to get sober quickly. It was unlikely for it to be very useful as it was for the public market, yet.
He'd have to see if he could get Maya and Helen to look at it, Improve it.
But they wasn't why he was here, so he stepped closer to Ivan, stepping over a pizza box that had been haphazardly thrown onto the floor. "So, Ivan, I've been told you're displeased?" He asked softly, not wanting to make the hangover worse.
Ivan glared at him from under his curtain of hair, "Da, why Tony Stark not suffer more?" He demanded.
Justin frowned, "The man has shrapnel in his chest constantly moving to his heart, and an arc reactor shoved into his chest cavity to keep it from killing him, he must be in constant pain." He pointed out, hoping Ivan wasn't going to be problematic about this.
He still couldn't have Tony die on him, not even for Ivan. And he really didn't want to lose his golden goose.
Ivan tilted his head, mulling that over, "Good start." He decided, still looking angry, the mullish look not leaving him, "Not enough, da? He not realize yet, how him and his father, ruin lives."
"What do you want, Ivan? I'm not killing Tony Stark." Justin said firmly, arms crossed. "And frankly this behavior is beneath you, you're the man that pioneered Arc technology, power armor, and a dozen other inventions - not to mention your assistance on the cradle and Extremis… Tony Stark is an afterthought."
Ivan slowly grinned, grunting out his approval of his accomplishments being listed. "Those are good, da, but still not the crying of Stark's women, still not broken sad man paying for sins." He finished gutturally, a vicious sneer breaking out on his face, replacing the grin.
Justin reiterated his question, "What do you want, Ivan?"
Because he needed to solve this, his main man had been spending two days being utterly pathetic instead of doing his job. And his job literally revolutionized the world.
Justin couldn't afford to have Vanko switch off, the entirety of Earth depended on men like him.
Ivan looked up suddenly, his bloodshot eyes deadly serious, "Get me meeting with Stark. I tell him myself."
Fuck.
"... Alright, I'll see what I can do, but it might take a bit, buddy, okay? It's not exactly easy to meet the man right now, especially with any request from me." Justin said, giving himself some time to figure this out.
Damn his people for being actual people! Why did they have to have wants and needs that were so damn complicated. What was wrong with money?
It used to be that people just wanted a boatload of money.
His people though… They wanted complicated shit.
Ivan Vanko and Tony Stark in a room together…
That's only going to end well, he thought glumly.
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A week later, Andrews Joint Air force base,
"See, I take you to nice restaurants, great little places with amazing food. And where do you take me when we both have the chance to hang out? An Air force hangar." Hope teased him, nudging him in the ribs as they walked into the hangar. "Are you absolutely sure you're supposed to be a player?" Her grin was warm, and she didn't seem to be actually upset, curious if anything, so Justin let the teasing flow over him.
"I'm sure you'll be suitably impressed in short order." He said with a mysterious smile, gesturing to the grouping of people that were standing further in.
Within which there was a very recognizable person, with a very recognizable security detail around him.
"Justin!" Hope hissed, looking flustered, "That's the President of the United States of America!"
Justin smiled proudly, walking forward with some swagger, patting Hope's hand as held onto her arm, "It's not a big deal, I asked him to be here and meet you is all." He said casually.
Hope put a hand to her hair, hissing out of the side of her mouth, her voice slightly squeaky, "Justin! I can't meet the President of the United States of America! I didn't wash my hair today!"
"Your hair smells amazing, and so do you." Justin assured her, feeling a little bit put out, the emphasis on the title, the slight panic, why did she never act like that for him?
It was just Ellis, no one important.
Hope's cheeks tinged pink, as she grasped his hand, nails digging into his skin, "Justin, you can't say something like that!" She almost wailed, "Not when I'm about to meet the President of the United States of America!"
Even as she continued to panic slightly, she sported a small pleased smile though.
"Stop saying it like that!" Justin chided her, wondering if his plan was about to backfire on him. She might be too shocked to listen properly.
"Ellis." Justin said with a slight nod, as they got close to the man, his secret service protection just a few feet away.
Hope immediately slapped his arm, turning to Ellis right after with a horrified look on her face, "I'm so sorry Mister President, he's not house trained yet." She rushed out,
Excuse me? Justin thought, deeply offended.
President Ellis smiled affably, shaking Hope's hand, "Not to worry, Miss Van Dyne, I'm well used to Justin by now." The way he said it, despite his smile, did not indicate that it was a pleasant connotation.
This is not going quite as planned… Justin thought, beginning to feel quite annoyed, sending Ellis a warning look.
"And there is Colonel Rhodes." The President said with a pleased smile, "Welcome to our little mysterious get together, Colonel." He said, rubbing his hands together.
Justin immediately grasped Hope's hand again, now that the President had let it go. Hope staring curiously at former Colonel Rhodes.
Rhodes walked up, escorted by a member of the secret service, looking wary at spotting Justin in the gathering, "It's an honor, Mister President." He said strongly, before grimacing minutely, "I am no longer in the military however, so I can't answer to Colonel."
It looked physically painful, Justin observed, for the man to not only admit that, but to be forced to correct the commander in chief.
"Well, that's part of what we are here to correct." Ellis said, switching to a more serious mien. "I have an offer, for both you, Colonel Rhodes, and you, Miss Van Dyne, in regards to serving your country."
Rhodes immediately straightened up even further, somehow, while Hope looked politely confused, but not quite willing to ask the President what he was smoking - to lump her in with an obvious career soldier.
Justin had set this entire thing up, using the President to lend gravitas to the occasion and to convince the two of them of his desires. Of course Ellis would get what he wanted through it as well, just not as much as Justin would…
"First of all, irregardless of what you may choose here today, your rank and career has been reinstated by request from a very important person to national interests." Ellis said dryly, everyone turning towards Justin, who waved at Rhodes, a coy grin on his face.
"I assume you accept as much? Obviously your previous position as the liaison to Stark industries is yours if you desire it as well." Ellis offered, hands behind his back as he regarded Rhodes.
Justin hadn't added that second part that was the President adding his own spin, but considering Justin had access to all the juicy intel as part of the World Security Council, he knew that Stark had already managed to run off two new liaisons - this week. So in the end, it was a sensible option.
Rhodes looked like he'd lost his voice for a moment, before he snapped a picture perfect salute, "Yes sir!" He said with conviction.
"Good… Boys, unveil Hammer's gift, please." Ellis said, waving to his security detail, who immediately moved to the side of the hangar, where something was hidden by a large hanging tarp.
The tarp was dropped, unveiling something that drew gasps from both Hope and Rhodes, and got the President's eyes glittering with glee.
"I give you the War Machine." Justin said grandly, stepping in and taking over. Not quite identical to what would have been, since Vanko engineered it, but the look was similar enough. "It will be on loan to the US Air Force under the stipulation that its pilot is Colonel James Rhodes, and some other small conditions…"
Rhodes was looking at him like he was crazy, "Define conditions," He said quickly, eyes roaming across the suit of armor, before his eyes widened as he obviously came to a realization. "Shit, Tony is going to kill me!" He moaned out, before he realized the company he was in and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, Mister President."
Ellis scoffed, "Son, I've heard a lot worse than that before in the Senate, nothing to worry about."
"As for the conditions." Justin piped in again, practically skipping forward, "The President can explain that, it's where you come in as well, Hope, dear."
Ellis nodded, as Justin came up to stand next to him, "The United States of America, has hired Hammer industries to provide private security through a superhero team to protect us from threats like Wakanda super soldiers, Magneto or worse dangers, that can not easily be deterred by conventional forces."
"Like from a comic book?" Hope asked skeptically. "Superheroes, really?"
The men all wisely decided not to clarify things with the woman, because some things were just sacred.
"War Machine will be available to you on the condition that you're available for this team in case of global or national threats." Justin said, a shit eating grin on his face as he peered smugly at Rhodes. "You do owe me a favor, Rhodes…"
Of course he'd be used by the military for the most part, Justin could hardly trust him for most missions, but it was just delicious to 'steal' Tony's best friend for the real threats, which was why he had entreated Ellis to make the offer. Rhodes was a die hard patriot, he wouldn't, couldn't, say no to this.
Rhodes seemed to be thinking hard, looking conflicted, so they left him alone for the moment.
Justin and the President both turned towards Hope, both men rearing back slightly at the very cross look on her face, her arms crossed under her bust as she tapped a foot impatiently on the cement.
It seemed she'd realized something, and whatever it was she was none too pleased about it.
"And me? Is there a reason all this had been decided without even asking me if I wanted to be dragged into it?" Hope said coolly, her eyes flashing as she glared at Justin, "Apparently you know about… That! Have you been spying on me? And you didn't bother talking about it once!"
Justin started to feel like he might have made some slight miscalculations. "Ah, I wanted it to be a surprise…?" He said, stepping back slightly, using the President of the United States as a shield.
The secret service did not look impressed with him.
Hope snorted, shaking her head, before looking at Ellis, "I'm sorry, Mister President, I assume my misguided friend has deigned to share things about me?"
Ellis hesitated for a moment, before a practiced politician's smile slid into his face, "About you wielding the Wasp suit? He did inform me, quite recently in fact. He argued quite strenuously that you were perfect for this hero team."
Justin nodded quickly, "You're absolutely perfect, Hope!" He said, hoping to score back some brownie points.
Hope pointed at him, "You, shut it!" She hissed out, "I'm still mad at you!"
Ellis looked between them, seemingly amused at Justin's situation. "Should I take that as a no, Miss Van Dyne?" He queried.
Hope shook her head, her ponytail swishing through the air, "No, Mister President, but I'd like to know more about how this works before I sign on the dotted line so to speak."
Ellis looked at Justin, who didn't want to speak up and draw Hope's ire again, not when this whole plan was to manage to recruit her and Rhodes, mostly her.
Ellis chuckled, looking more amused by the second, "Of course I'll lay it out for you Miss Van Dyne, and you as well Colonel Rhodes." He gestured to the War Machine armor, "You'll be joining the team already consisting of Whiplash, Vulture and the Scorpion, with one more name pending, depending on evaluations." He glanced at Hammer, who silently shook his head, before continuing, "You'll be officially sanctioned by the United States government to act within our borders as you see fit on matters of national or global security, and we'll quickly achieve the same with NATO I'm sure, making it legal for you to intervene there as well." He paused, looking worn all of a sudden, "With the state of the UN and everything going on across the world, I do not know how many other counties would be willing to allow your team through its borders, so we'll have to see about that."
"Is that… Legal, Mister President?" Hope wanted to know.
Ellis smirked briefly, "I'll make it legal." He promised, before chuckling, "I'm sorry I had to, but not to worry, Miss Van Dyne, all the legalities have been taken care of, at least for our country."
"What's the name of the team?" Colonel Rhodes asked warily, which still indicated his tacit acceptance.
President Ellis looked slightly pained, "As it is a private team hired by the United States government, naming rights belonged to the man running and paying for the upkeep of the team…"
Hope and Rhodes both stared hard at Justin.
"The team name is Hammer, isn't it?/The team name is Hammer, isn't it?" They both said at the same time, both sounding absolutely done.
Justin smiled excitedly, "You're saying it wrong, it's H.A.M.M.E.R." He corrected them, thrilled that his ploy worked in getting Hope onboard, she was playing hard to get, but he could tell she would sign up.
Before he got Ellis involved, he'd doubted his chances, precisely why he got him involved - it was hard to say no to the President asking you to do a solid for the country after all.
Some people were silly like that, thinking that a man deserved loyalty just because he managed to hoodwink more mouth breathers into voting for him.
Hope looked at him through narrowed eyes, "Any chance you had of getting this!" She gestured to herself, "Just died an agonizing death." She promised severely.
Justin grimaced.
She'll grow to like the name, he thought optimistically.
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A day later, White house, Washington D.C.
"Your benefactors speak highly of you, but I'm unsure what exactly it is you're hoping to achieve here." President Ellis told his guest, in the oval office.
Frankly, it was nice to deal with people without being almost summoned, like it was with Justin Hammer.
He needed the man's money to get re-elected, or at least needed it, because if he pissed him off and got him to back the other side, he'd lose.
After the side show at Andrews, it was nice to get to feel properly Presidential again, with his guest showing all proper levels of respect.
The man having had several Senators of both parties vouch for him to boot, not something Ellis saw often anymore in the increasingly partisan world of politics.
He was practically a lock for one of the Congress seats as well, an oddity for an independent in a race to replace hundreds of Congressmen.
Bolivar Trask smiled grimly, "Only the salvation of mankind, Mister President."
----------------------------------------
Malibu, California
Tony threw the remote down in disgust, having turned off the TV beforehand, to save himself from the absolute lunacy that was the press.
Obie, sitting across from him and smoking a cigar, shook his head slowly, taking the cigar out of his mouth, pointing it at Tony, "I warned you, Tony. It's a brave new world, the kind of shit you could get away with before, just doesn't work any longer." He gestured to the turned off TV, "You can't say whatever you want anymore and expect it will wash off due to your genius, there's another one on the board and he's more popular than you."
Tony gave him an annoyed look, "So you've said, repeatedly." He drawled sarcastically before he frowned, his mind drawn to the reporter, feeling annoyed at the man for asking him in the first place, and at himself, for his flippant devil may care answer.
In his defense, the public used to love that exact attitude.
Hell, his PR team used to play it up, because it sold. The devil may care playboy with a genius no one could match - people loved that shit.
It had been over a week and the media was still playing it over and over again, different talking heads ripping him for being elitist.
Since when was that a bad thing? He wondered.
Pepper piped in, face severe as she crunched numbers, having followed the damage on every network, "With Hammer providing clean energy and Panacea, sometimes at cost even, his reputation is through the roof, and people are comparing the two of you… It's not coming off well so far." She said with a wince, drawing a dark look from Tony.
Stop bringing up Hammer… He was ten times the man that phony ever was, even if he begrudgingly admitted the man at least knew how to hire good people and take advantage of them.
He'd been fighting with the board for over a week now, pushing his improvements, struggling to get them all through. Clean energy was one where he'd failed time and time again, even Obie had refused, claiming the timing wasn't there yet.
He didn't care, Arc reactor tech was his, even if he hadn't commercialized it, because he hadn't figured out how to make it useful yet before his vacation time in the desert. But he'd begrudgingly had to acknowledge it was too hard a battle to wage right now.
Hammer had advantages that were just hard to beat at the moment to enter the energy sector. He'd hoovered up all the talent for one, Tony not able to compete when his comprehensive health plan - the best in America - was suddenly worth less than jackshit compared to free Panacea for Hammer industries employees.
Not to mention the absolute bullshit political support Hammer had across the world - how the hell he'd managed Tony couldn't understand. Probably illegal shit… He thought darkly.
Tony wasn't a damn criminal, but he'd admit crime definitely seemed to pay off in this case. And Justin Hammer was definitely slimy enough to be doing some backroom deals…
He could build arc reactors no problem, Jarvis had already analyzed Justinium (ugh!) and he could easily synthesize the same. But he had neither the personnel to run it, nor the money to undercut Hammer, who in Africa was literally losing money selling contracts to build arc reactors as a charity case to the poorer countries.
He didn't have the infrastructure either, to begin synthesizing the new element to the level Hammer was. Let alone the problems that came from the douche no doubt patenting it, artificial products not found in nature could be held solely to the patent owner even down to the manufacturing process after all. So Tony had been forced to agree with his godfather. Pick a battle you can win, space, consumer electronics, robotics.
If he spent all his time on clean energy, he'd just fall further behind everywhere else, he'd have to make do with arc reactors for his own factories… And ugh, use Justinium under royalties or something, he'd put the lawyers on it.
With Hammer's health plan and good (Insane)PR, Tony couldn't even hire enough people trained to do the jobs he needed done. Everyone wanted into Hammer industries, they'd lost fifteen percent (!) of their own workforce for just that, while Tony was gone. Which in a way was a good kick in the pants, as he'd been forced to come up with a solution for the future and studied plans with Jarvis to invest heavily into robotics.
If he couldn't have the staff, he'd build his own staff, with the benefit of not having to pay them or worry about healthcare, and he'd let Jarvis run his factories down to the last man - ensuring quality control.
He was beginning to play around with a second AI, he might need it if he was going full in on robotics.
Sadly, that all was likely at least a year or two away before it was reality for even a few factories, let alone all of them.
Plus… It wouldn't be a great PR look either, he knew. Having to think about those kinds of things now.
He had severely underestimated how much Obie had been doing over the years to make things work after he'd come up with a brilliant idea - never having involved himself much in the process involved after creating something.
"The world's changed too much in two months…" He didn't whine, just complained, like a man. He didn't usually have to worry about the logistics, it took care of itself.
Except now he'd been hit in the face with the fact that Obie was the one who usually took care of it, and even he had limits.
Like scrounging up factories, offices and staff, for an expansion in several sectors all at once. While trying to get out of selling weapons.
The board was throwing a hissy of epic proportions, hence why Tony had been forced to actually go to board meetings. Everyday. This new world was lame and annoying.
His suit was taking longer than expected due to all the interruptions and meetings he was forced to attend. If he could replace his board with robots as well it would certainly make for a smoother process…
"We need to get a better PR team." He acknowledged distastefully, pretending he didn't see the knowing look between Obie and Pepper. He wasn't a complete manchild.
"We have a PR team, I believe their last email to you mentioned 'Don't speak to the press without it being a pre-scheduled interview', sound familiar?" Pepper asked, doing air quotes as she brought up the issue, voice dry.
Tony looked at her, pursing his lips, "Isn't it your job to handle my email?" He said, making a disapproving sound, "Way to fall down on the job, Pep!"
"It is my job, just like it was my job when I told you that exact sentence over a week ago, before your board meeting, reminding you." She replied, managing to sound ever drier than previously.
Obie coughed, drawing their attention, as he put his cigar out in the crystal ashtray on the table. "Tony, I've hired you a PR coach, they're going to be with you for a month, don't go anywhere in public without your coach, we can't handle more bad press, not with how good Hammer looks comparatively."
Tony really was getting tired of the H word, so he immediately pivoted to something else, "Is she hot? I bet she's hot, you got to be, to work in PR." He spoke out of the side of his mouth at Pepper, who grimaced.
Obie answered instead, looking serious, "What kind of fool do you take me for Tony? It's not a woman for God's sake, not with your impulse control - please control yourself for five minutes, we can't keep taking beatings, there's only so many times we can take a count before the bell rings."
Tony thought that was a little bit unfair. He'd already provided a dozen defensive upgrades that would sell with the military, plus a new phone, watch and tablet configuration to enter the consumer electronics market with style, it wasn't like he was being lazy.
Hell, he wasn't even sleeping, so they couldn't say he wasn't working!
Although he'd had to start taking naps lately, due to allowing Yinsen into the workshop to help with the suit - and the man was annoyingly pedantic about stupid things like eating, showering and sleeping.
Tony was going to get PTSD on his PTSD because of his disapproving stares.
The man had saved his life, so he felt he owed him a lot of leeway, but now he was ridiculously acting like his damn nanny or something. And of course that traitor Jarvis was completely supporting him in his quest.
Tony had never needed sleep before, he didn't need it now, didn't have time for it.
He had hundreds of inventions to bring into the light, to show Hammer what was what. Let him have his slices of the pie, but Tony would go down in history as the real innovator. And he could do it totally guilt free, since Hammer had started it all and completely thrown the world into insanity, it wasn't Tony's fault now if a tech race caused further instability, he didn't start it.
"Tony…" Obie said, drawing his attention again, as he'd drifted off, studying Pepper, who was tucking her hair behind her ears self consciously, in a way that looked just perfect.
"What?" He asked, defensively.
"You don't do the business side, you're the ideas guy, I get it. Why don't you leave it all with me, huh? You sit in the lab and knock out more about this robotics thing, and some knick knacks - " Tony was immediately offended, knick knacks! As if! It's all the best new thing! "- And I'll deal with all the business and PR side of things, okay?"
Tony sighed, the many hours of no sleep pressing in on him, he eyed the worried looking Pepper idly, wondering what he was even doing wasting time, when Obie was making perfect sense.
"Sure, Obie, you handle all the business stuff, I'll wow you with what I can whip up!" He said, an easy grin on his face that hid the stress and nightmares crawling under his skin.
He'd get over it soon enough, he was fine now. Fine.
Obie can handle it,
He's right, I'm more of the ideas guy anyway… He thought, mind already turning to the necessary fixes needed to implement a fully robotic production line for all of his factories.
Before he could completely disappear into his mind, his eyes caught on to Obie's phone as he checked on something, cheek twitching in annoyance.
"Wait… What phone is that, my trusted and respected godfather who would never betray me?" He drawled out.
Obie choked on his spit, almost fumbling the phone. "What!?" He exclaimed, staring wide eyed at Tony.
"Your phone, what is it?" He asked again with narrowed eyes.
Obie looked relieved for some reason, as he slipped the phone into his pocket, not answering Tony. "Well, I got to go smooth things with the board, Tony. Listen to your PR coach, alright, they'll be good for you."
"Obie! The phone, a competitor!"
"It's not really until we've put one out, Tony, and it's the best one on the market right now, it's security is top notch…"
"Traitor."
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