In the streets of Harlem, New York, a giant pale green monster was stomping around and flattening civilians. A few soldiers on the ground shot an anti-tank missile at it, but the monster grabbed the rocket and bit the warhead off the top before spitting it back at the soldiers, who dove for cover but were incinerated by the explosion.
The abomination that once was British Special Operations soldier Emil Blonsky grinned in a smile that would make all those who looked at him not sleep for the rest of their lives. He had finally gotten the power he had craved for years.
He continued to rampage across the borough as the two dozen vanguard drones Tony had deployed did their best to evacuate civilians and shut off gas mains.
The abomination was distracted by a loud thud from down the road and looked in curiosity, which then turned to anger as it saw The shorter, dark green figure burst out of the rubble and began to charge at him.
As they collided, the ground shook, and over the course of several minutes, they proceeded to kick the shit out of each other using the surrounding objects, all while Hulk was trying to stop civilians and soldiers from dying. Occasionally, a vanguard drone would get too close, trying to save someone, and would be swatted by either of the mutates, with the wrecks then exploding a few minutes later.
Eventually, Hulk managed to overpower the abomination and only stopped short of ripping him to shreds after Bethany Ross begged him to stop. He stared at her for a long moment before an attack helicopter shone a spotlight on him and as he decided to escape.
Thadeus Ross watched the no longer green Blonsky pass out on the ground and was about to begin ordering his detainment when a red and gold figure dropped from the sky between him and Blonsky.
The general, upon realising what was about to happen, said, “You have no right to be here; this is a US military operation!”
He froze as he heard the man of metal say, “Since you have proven incapable of controlling yourselves and have created a second monster after already creating one, I think you’ve lost the right to be in control of this situation.”
"Men, if he attempts to take Blonsky, you open fire, is that clear?” he said. The several soldiers around us seemed to hesitate for a moment before raising their weapons, as an attack helicopter came down right behind them, hovering menacingly.
Tony just began to chuckle and said, “I wasn’t asking.” and a split second later, both he and Blonsky were gone, from right in front of them.
…
BARF was actually incredibly useful since it could not only control visible light but almost all other bands of light, making even my Mk.5 almost invisible to infrared and radar.
I had some vanguard drones follow Hulk as he went across the Canadian border and eventually lost his pursuers, who weren’t tracking him from orbit with gamma-ray receivers, a little addition II had added to the most recent satellites I had sent up in my hunt for the Marvel research ship, which still remained elusive.
I had the drones carry the passed-out hulk up north to Thor Island, where I also headed with a heavily sedated Blonsky. The reason for me kidnapping both was different for both. For Blonsky, it was because I didn’t want Hydra getting their hands on him and unleashing him in desperation once I started making bigger moves against them openly.
As for Banner, I knew he would eventually get control of his anger for the most part, but I wanted to help him confront Hulk, and hopefully they can sort out their differences soon or later. I also kind of need his brain; he was not only a genius gamma-ray physicist and an engineer almost as good as me, but a biologist and medical doctor that could help me with several projects.
…
“Reload!” shouted Ross as he downed the fourth lime green shot while smoking a cigar. The irony of the colour of his chosen vice didn’t elude the man. He now had a slight headache, which was a combination of the drinks at this late hour and his advancing age.
For the past week, he has fought tooth and nail to not get a court martial, as the army investigators and congressional aids seemed to constantly be buzzing around him. It was almost midnight, and the only other people in the bar were a man passed out in a booth and the bartender, who was a retired major who had saved his life in Vietnam and now runs this bar.
The subtle music turned into a new song. He took another whiff of his cigar as he continued to stare at the drink that had sat on the bar for the last twenty minutes and was beginning to turn warm as he heard the voice he had cursed a thousand times come from beside him as a man in his mid-fifties took a seat at the bar with a single empty stool between the two.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Best Scotch you got, Neat, please.” said the man in a strong British accent as Ross stared dumbfounded at the man, who seemed to have half-Asian, half-Caucasian features with styled black hair and a sharp chin.
He had spent hours watching news clips trying to find out who this man was; that voice was unmistakable, yet it confused the man. Whoever Ironman was, they were the most elusive figure in the world; no one in the intelligence community even had a clue as to who it could be.
Yet here they were, right in front of him. Ross was about to get angry when the man spoke, interrupting his thoughts: “I wanted to have a chat with you, General, and this was the only place I could find that was secure.”
Ross was getting more and more curious as his instinct began to tell him to at least hear the man out before beating him to a pulp like his inner fury was telling him to. He then responded, “Really, this place?”
“Well, I sedated that poor fella over there, and after some research, I know the bartender will only speak about anything you tell him to.” Andrew said as he took a sip of the Glenfiddich and then winced slightly at the taste.
Ross turned to the man, held out his hand, and said, “General Thadeus Ross of the United States Army.”
“Colonel Andrew Gardener, also known as Iron Man,” replied the man with a firm handshake.
“What was it you wanted to talk about?” asked Ross, finally finishing his fifth shot, which was promptly refilled.
Tony let out a deep breath and said, “You're a patriot, aren’t you? At least I hope you justify your actions that way.”
“At one point in time, I believed so,” he said, grimacing as he forced down the fifth shot.
Andy seemed to pause for a moment before asking a question that made Ross freeze: “Do you remember the first life you took? Like, does it flash behind your eyelids each time you close them?”
“I remember mine; my unit was made up of about a dozen men and we were sent to reinforce a small village on foot. I was a young idiot. Fighting in a war I shouldn't have been in because I thought it was the right thing to do. I’d lay down, covering fire, and even call artillery strikes at people, but in the middle of the chaos, you can refuse to admit their blood on your hands.”
“When we got to the small village, it had already been taken by the enemy, and they were piling up all the bodies of the soldiers we were sent to reinforce; you could see where most of them had been shot in the back of the head through our binoculars.”
“We waited, and eventually most of them left, leaving only about two dozen men to guard the position since it was on a road and supply trucks were going to reinforce the position, attacking further up.”
“When most of them were asleep in the middle of the night, we launched our attack. I was in front of our four-man fire team. We came around the corner, and around a fire were about four men trying to keep warm and be on watch. I remember raising my rifle and squeezing the trigger and sending one round into a man’s chest as he shot back and collapsed like one of those string puppets if you cut all the strings.”
“I can still clearly see the face of terror on the one who was awake enough to reach for his weapon as the others woke up from their shots; it's that face I see as I close my eyes. But the thing that makes me even more disturbed, is the fact it didn’t feel like it was a mistake, you know” Tony said as he finished the rest of the scotch.
“I was a tunnel rat,” he responded as Andy just nodded, not needing him to say more. “How’d you end up as The Iron Man?”
“I got a chance to make a difference, found out what the world is truly like, and decided to take the chance,” Andy responded.
The general took what he swore was the last shot before wincing and then saying, “Why are you here though? You're taking a big risk by letting me know who you are.”
“Eh, I’m a spook,” he responded, shrugging. “Besides, while I could probably stop the world's woes with the strength I have, it would be best to leave force as a last resort. So, I’m recruiting allies.”
“And what makes you think I will betray my country to help you?” Ross asked, genuinely intrigued.
I just smiled as I pulled out the classic manilla folder and said while passing it to him, “I don’t. Your loyalty is to the constitution and the people for which it stands, not this so called government.”
Inside the folder were the records along with proof I had about the extent of Hydra’s influence in the government, along with the files about the dozen or so reporters, soldiers, and government officials who had tried to stop them over the years.
After several minutes of intense reading, Ross looked up and said, “If I believe you, and that is one hell of an if, what exactly do you want me to do about it? I might not even be a general in a few weeks.”
“We’ll come to that when we come to it.” Andy said, holding his scotch out in a toast, “To Justice.”
“And May all Pasty Englishmen grow webbed feet,” he responded as they clinked their glasses together.
Ross then raised his eyebrow and said, genuinely curious, “Why’d you take Blonsky anyway?”
"Well, when things go sideways, would you want the twenty-foot monster on the other side?” he responded.
Ross seemed more cautious now, as he asked in a hesitant voice, “When does it go sideways?”
“The revolution, of course.” as he got up to leave and picked up the folder and placed a hundred dollar bill on the counter, “We’ll be in touch” and then he disappeared right in front of the general’s vision.
Ross then turned to his friend, and before he could say anything, the man said, “I only see whatever you determine happened tonight, Ted,” as he turned back to polishing the glasses at the bar.
He looked with a concerned look at the spot where the man had been moments ago. He would have to investigate the man’s claims, but if they turned out to be true, then things were really going to get even worse for him.