Link : https://m.fan fiction.net/s/12929041/1/The-Perfect-One
WC : 326k+
Plot : SHIELD. The Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division protects the world from a much weirder one. But they soon meet someone with a unique ability set that makes him a force of nature. One of Earth's mightiest heroes will turn into its last hope from total annihilation. You don't mess with Inhuman perfection.
Chapter 1
The Perfect One: From humble beginnings comes great destiny
Atlantic City, New Jersey: 2010
Atlantic City, New Jersey was known for a few things in history: beaches, boardwalks, casinos and for being the city that inspired the board game Monopoly. But soon it would be known as the city where one of the world's mightiest heroes would be born. The city was a popular destination for people looking for a vacation or a good time and mostly home to tourists while the people who worked and lived in the city got use to the casinos and packed beaches of tourists.
One such person was a young 21-year-old man who was just trying to live his life. His name was William Detmer. William never knew his birth parents since he was dropped off at an orphanage when he was just a baby. He was then adopted by the Detmer couple, a happy married couple who couldn't conceive so they adopted him when he was a baby. William's adopted father was Harold Detmer, a former Airforce captain/member of the Air Force Combat Control Teams before he retired and became a police captain while his mother Mary Mace Detmer was a doctor. William had a nice childhood, his adopted parents were amazing and William was happy. He went to school, played soccer, track, and field up through high school, got good grades and lived his life. (1)
William earned a full ride at NYU to study psychology and mechanical engineering. William liked to tinker with things as much as he liked to try and understand the complexity of the human mind or as his dad put it, mess with people. He loved shows like Law & Order, Criminal Minds, and the Mentalist so possibly pursuing a career in that field seemed like a great idea to him. It was the middle of his spring term of his junior year and he had a long weekend, so William went home. It was Friday night and William was at a party with some of his friends from High School near Great Island, close to the water. William had a few beers in him and was walking by the water to clear his head while his friends were enjoying themselves.
He finished his beer and kicked a stone into the water as he looked up at the clear night sky with stars flickering above. [Sighs] "Damn I missed this." William said to himself, enjoying the peace and quiet.
He put his beer down and sat on the ground as he looked at the stars and noticed one of them glow brighter and brighter and seemed to be getting closer. It was getting really closer when William knew it wasn't a star and quickly ran back as the meteor flew from the sky and crashed into the sand bars near the water. William dove to the ground and covered his head, thinking it would be a huge explosion but it was fairly mild. The sound could have been mistake for a large firework or a car backfiring if you didn't see the meteor.
William stood up and dusted his jeans as he looked over to where the meteor fell and saw it had a faint blue glow to it. "Holy shit." William said to himself as he walked over and saw the meteor was about the size of a car tire. It was a chunk of glowing blue rocks that looked like diamonds or crystals. Will got closer and saw that the entire meteor was made of the crystal structure that glowed a bright blue/white. It pulsated every few seconds and when it did it glowed brighter, then dimmed and repeated. He could feel heat radiating from the meteor yet it felt comforting.
William took out his phone and began recording video of the meteor. "Holy shit. This is insane." William said as he walked into the crater and got closer. "No one is going to believe this."
William walked closer to the meteor as his curiosity got the better of him than his sense of danger. He looked and saw the veins of the meteor were glowing blue like the rest of the meteor. William slowly reached his hand out and touched the rock and it felt cool, like the first cold wind of fall. When William touched the meteor, he accidently pricked his finger on a sharp edge and a drop of blood hit the rock.
"Shit." Will said as he pulled his hand when he saw the meteor began pulsating more frequently like your heart would if you were running or scared. William stepped back as it began pulsated more and more and then began to glow bright blue/white and shined on Will with an intensity that made him shield his eyes. Will then felt rush of cold air whoosh past him like someone hit him with an air gun.
"Argh…" William grunted in pain as he grabbed his head with his left hand, experiencing one hell of a migraine but managing to stay on his feet. William noticed the meteor was started to dim but the veins of the meteor began to pulsate like a liquid was running through them.
Will looked at his arms and saw they were glowing bright blue/white, just like the meteor as the glowing seemed to melt into his veins and blood as he saw channels of the blue light course throughout his arms. If someone was watching Will, they'd have seen the blue light course throughout his entire body like someone put dozens of blue tracers in his blood and muscle pathways. The glowing energy then began to dim as the meteor shot out a blue beam of energy that hit Will. It looked like the veins in the meteor were being drained into Will as they pulsated less and less. When the veins were empty, the beam of energy stopped, and Will felt blood dripping from his nose but that was the least of his worries as his migraine turned into feeling like his brain was going through a blender.
"ARGH!" William shouted as the pain was unbearable and it was now accompanied by an extremely loud ringing. His head felt like it was going to explode. He then hit the ground and passed out from the pain. In his unconscious state, he missed the meteor pulsate one more time before it disintegrated into dust. The powder collected on the ground and was blown away by the wind and water. (2)
Line Break xxxxx
William squinted his eyes in pain as he opened them and immediately shut them because there was a bright light in his face. He slowly opened them and used his arm to try and block some of the light so his eyes could adjust. He saw a whole bunch of other lights shining down at him.
"Whoa, hang on. He's waking up." William heard as he looked to see it was his friends looking down at him and the bright lights were the flashlights on their phones. "Hey, Will. You ok? We saw this bright light and came over and found you on the ground."
"Yeah…give me a moment." William said as he felt like he was getting over the biggest hangover of his life. "I must have…passed out. Did you guys see it?"
"See what?" One of them asked.
"There was a meteor." William said as he looked saw the glowing meteor was gone.
"Will, there was nothing here. Come on. Let's get you home." One of them said as they helped Will up and the soberest person drove him home. And when he got home he immediately crashed in his bed and didn't wake up until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
William woke up in his bed groggy and confused as to what happened last night. He looked at his alarm clock and saw it was 2 in the afternoon. "What the hell happened last night?" Will asked himself as he managed to stand up. He still had a slight headache from last night but he didn't know if it was from the alcohol he drank or the lingering brain ache.
He walked over to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face to try and wake him up. He wiped his face with a towel and looked in the mirror, not noticing anything different so he ruled out a weird mutation from the meteor. He pulled his eyelid down and saw his eyes were ok, a little tired but nothing that wasn't abnormal. He scratched his hair and walked to the kitchen where he saw his mom and dad talking.
"Will, are you all right? You're usually up earlier than this." Mary said as she walked over and hugged him.
"Yeah…I'm fine." Will said as he sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed his forehead.
"You sure, Will?" Mary asked as she got him a cup of coffee.
"Too much fun, last night?" Harold asked as he looked over the paper.
"No…nothing like that." Will replied as he took a sip.
"What's wrong?" Harold asked.
"Dad, was there any report of a shooting star or…meteor crashes last night?" Will asked.
"No, not that I've heard." Harold replied as he and Mary was confused.
"Well, last night I walked near the water to get some air and peace when I noticed a shooting star getting closer and closer and saw it was actually a meteor." Will told them.
"A meteor?" Mary asked as Will nodded.
"Yeah, a blue glowing meteor the size of a car tire. Wait, I got a video last night." Will said as he pulled out his phone and showed them the video. They watched and to Will's credit, it was an actual blue glowing meteor. The video showed the meteor glowing and then of William touching it.
"You touched it?" Mary asked as Will shrugged his shoulders.
"I got…curious. But nothing happened until it got a serious headache and then I passed out. My friends woke me up and when I came to the meteor was gone." Will said as Mary walked away to get some medical tools to give Will a quick check over.
"What were you thinking? You could have been infected with some kind of bug or that thing could have been putting out a whole bunch of radiation and could be killing you." Mary said as she scolded him and checked him over.
"Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Besides, I'm fine. I'm not coughing up blood or growing a third eye. Just a bit of a headache." Will told them as Mary finished looking him over and he seemed fine.
"Well, you seem fine but I think we should get you to the hospital and get you checked out." Mary said as Will nodded.
"Fine, but first we need to see if the meteor is still there. If that thing is actually dangerous than we need to find it." Harold said as he got up and grabbed his gun and keys. "Let's go."
The Detmer's drove out to the place where Will and his friends had the party and when they got there they saw the signs and garbage that a party had taken place. "It's over by the water." Will said as they walked over to where Will saw the meteor and saw the impact crater. "It happened right here. Where did it go?"
"The impact crater proves you're right but it's gone. Could it have gotten washed out by the water?" Mary asked.
"No, the tide doesn't come this close in. Unless it grew legs and walked away, maybe someone came and took it. I'll make some calls and drag the water just in case and have everyone on the lookout for anything unusual." Harold said as he began making calls.
"In the meantime, let's get you to the hospital." Mary said as they drove Will to the hospital to get him checked out.
A minute after they left, dozens of black-tinted vans arrived and began forming a perimeter. Men in black suits, tactical gear and hazmat suits got out and began setting up equipment. In one of the lead vans, one of the men in black suits stepped out and looked around. He was wearing black shades and had a sense of authority and duty about him. He took out a phone and made a call.
"Coulson reporting in. Alpha team on site and beginning investigation as to the possibility of an 084." Agent Coulson said as he finished his call.
Will and his family were at the hospital as Mary used her pull to get a private room to do her own examination on her son. Will was stripped down and in a hospital gown while his dad was making calls. Will had just been through several blood and urine tests, an x-ray scanning, an EKG, and a brain scan and frankly he hoped that was it.
He sat on the hospital bed, his eyes shut and concentrating as his headache was finally gone. "Will?" Will opened his eyes and saw his dad. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Headaches finally gone and I feel fine." Will said.
"Good, but we'll see what your mother has to say." Harold told him as Mary walked in with Will's charts.
"And she doesn't have much to say. According to every single medical test we ran, you're completely fine. No irregularities in body function although your blood did show a slight uptick in your Electrolytes." Mary said as Will shrugged.
"It's all that Gatorade." Harold told him as Will chuckled. "Anything else?"
"No. Everything seems fine. Your brain scan showed nothing abnormal and your body is fine." Mary told him.
"I guess that meteor was just a regular glowing rock." Will said as he stood up, grabbed his clothes, and went behind a curtain to change.
"There's still a possibility that the meteor exposed you to radiation or something that we don't even know about so I want you to take it easy for a bit." Mary told him as Will popped his head out from behind the curtain.
"Mom, I feel fine. And if something does happen, we'll take care of it." Will said as he stepped out, dressed in blue jeans, black sneakers, a black t-shirt, and a dark blue sweat shirt. "For now, I'd like to get out of here. Hospitals still give me the creeps."
"Fine. Let me put my things away and we'll get dinner." Mary said as they left.
They grabbed pizza and drove home, enjoying a nice dinner. After, Mary had paperwork to finish and Will was helping his dad finish fixing his black and red 1970 Harley Davidson Titan V-rod Motorcycle in the garage. (3) The motorcycle was his dad's pride and joy and was the culmination of 10 years of work and scrounging for parts. The engine block of the bike was completely custom and designed to run better than before but the hard part was that he was using all pre-1980 parts so no electronic chips or anything.
"Will, hand me a socket wrench." Harold said as Will handed him one. "And can you get me another screw from the box?"
"Got it." Will said as he walked over to the box of parts and grabbed the tools. He walked over to his dad when he got hit with a major headache.
"ARGH!" Will shouted as he dropped to his knees and grabbed his head as his brain felt like it was going through a cheese grater.
"Will!" Harold shouted as he ran over to his son and tried to help him. "Will, what's wrong? What's happening?"
"ARGHH! To…much…noise…." Will shouted as he looked at his dad and Harold couldn't believe his eyes. Will's normal brown eyes were glowing blue and so were his hands. "ARGH!"
Everything in the garage began to shake as things were sent flying across the room. Mary ran in and saw what was happening. "WILL!" Mary shouted as she joined her husband to try and help her son.
"I…can't focus…to much noise!" Will shouted as more things were sent flying and the motorcycle and his dad's police car began floating off the ground.
"Will, you need to relax and calm your mind. Just listen to my voice." Mary told him as Will tried to calm down but his headache was going crazy.
"I…need to…. release…ARGH!" Will shouted everything in the garage was blown out into the street like a huge gust of wind knocked them away but surprisingly Will, Harold and Mary stayed on the ground.
Will's hands and eyes stopped glowing and the things in the garage stopped moving. Will tried to catch his breath as he felt his headache was completely gone and he felt fine. "What's happening to me?" Will asked as Harold and Mary were a mixture of confused and scared as to what just happened.
"How did you do this?" Harold asked.
"I…I don't know. I don't think I even meant to do this." Will said.
"Are you ok? Any more pain?" Mary asked, extremely concerned as to what is happening to her son.
"No. In fact…I've never felt better. It's like the headaches and cloud on my head are gone." Will told them. "But how did I do this?"
"It must have been the meteor you found. It did this to you." Harold told him.
"But I did tests at the hospital and nothing was different." Mary said as they thought for a moment.
"Maybe because Will wasn't going through the headache. Before it happened, Will got the headache and his eyes turned blue." Harold said.
"My eyes turned blue?" Will asked as his dad nodded.
"Yeah, and so did your hands. And then everything started moving. When we were at the hospital you were fine so maybe nothing showed up on the tests." Harold said.
"But am I going to be having another headache episode?" Will asked as they thought.
"You said you needed to release. Release what?" Mary asked.
"Release pressure. My headache felt like my brain was going through a cheese grater but I also felt a lot of pressure." Will said.
"Maybe…that shockwave was you releasing pressure." Mary said as Will looked around and saw everything that happened.
"Jeez. I hope this doesn't happen again." Will said.
"Well…whatever happens we'll protect you, Will. Above all else, we'll keep you safe." Harold told him as he hugged his son.
"And how do we do that? You saw what I did. I'm a freak!" Will told them.
"You're not a freak. You're just…unique. It's like those comic book superheroes you read when you were a kid. Or like Tony Stark. You know, Iron Man." Mary told him.
"Tony Stark is a billionaire with a metal battle suit. I just made a mess." Will told them.
"Maybe we just need to help you control this." Harold told him.
"And that can happen tomorrow. Will, why don't you get some rest. It's been a long day." Mary told him.
"But what about the mess?" Will asked.
"I'll take care of it. Go, listen to your mother." Harold told him as Will got up and went to his room.
"Do you think we can help him? I mean making things move is way beyond helping him with his school work or dealing with girls." Mary asked.
"I don't know, Mary. But I do know one thing. If we tell people what happened to Will, he'll be whisked away to be a science puppet for whoever wants to find out what happened to him. And I'm not going to let our son become a lab rat." Harold told her as Mary nodded.
"I know and neither do I but Will has changed. How do we know he can control this?" Mary asked him.
"You saw what happened to the garage. He sent everything flying yet we're fine. I think he did that. He didn't want to hurt us. He can control it. Our son is strong." Harold said with confidence in his son.
"I know he is. So, what's the plan?" Mary asked.
"I train him like I trained in the Marines. If he can control this then we have nothing to worry about." Harold said as Mary nodded.
"And if someone does come looking for him? We protect our son however we can." Mary said as Harold nodded as he began cleaning the garage.
Line Break xxxxx
Will woke up the next morning and to his relief, nothing in his room or the house was destroyed or sent flying so he didn't have an episode when he was sleeping. He brushed his teeth and went to the bathroom before going down stairs for breakfast and saw his mom making pancakes, bacon, and sausage.
"Morning, Will." Mary said.
"Morning, mom." Will replied. "Mom…are you ok? After last night, I mean."
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you." Mary said as Will smiled.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry I brought this to our door step. I shouldn't have touched that stupid meteor." Will said as he sat down.
"We can't change that now. But don't worry. Your father and I still love you and no matter what happens, we'll get through it together." Mary said as she placed down the food.
"Whoa, what's with the huge breakfast?' Will asked.
"Well, your father told you he'd help you control your new…powers. And knowing him, he's probably gonna put you through the ringer so you'll need your strength." Mary said as Will drank some coffee and ate a pancake.
After eating a nice breakfast and waiting about 30 minutes so he didn't puke right after, Will walked out to his backyard where his dad was waiting with a bunch of small items. "Morning, dad." Will said.
"Morning. So, I figured if we're gonna get control of your new…powers, then we'll need to understand them. But after seeing what happened last night, maybe we'll start small." Harold said as he tossed Will a baseball.
"Ok, good plan. So, what should I do?" Will asked.
"I want you to try and send the baseball flying like you did last night. But concentrate. First thing I learned in the marines is that a soldier's mind is their greatest weapon." Harold said as Will nodded as he exhaled. "Just clear your mind and concentrate."
"Ok, concentrate how? What should I do?" Will asked.
"Just concentrate on moving the baseball." Harold told him as Will closed his eyes and cleared his mind. He did his best and when he opened his eyes, he saw his hands were glowing blue and if he had a mirror he would see his eyes glowing blue as well. Will looked at the baseball in his hands and it slowly began to levitate but as it was rising in the air it was shaking, like Will's control wasn't perfect.
The baseball floated until it was eye level with Will and stayed there. Will then concentrated on making the ball spin and seconds later the ball began to slowly spin around.
"I'm doing it." Will said, excited that it was working.
"Nice. Now slowly move it over to me." Harold told him as Will concentrated and the ball slowly moved through the air like it was being carried by someone. When it near his dad, Will concentrated on the ball and it dropped out of the air and into his dad's hand. And when it did and Will relaxed, his eyes and hands stopped glowing. "Nicely done. So, what did that feel like?"
"It felt somewhat natural. I just focused my mind on what to do and it happened." Will said as Harold nodded and put the baseball down. He then picked up a plastic cup.
"Now, I want you to lift this up and bring it to you." Harold told him as Will nodded.
Will shook his hands and concentrated like before and his eyes and hands glowed blue. The cup then floated out of his dad's hands and moved over to Will. Will then tossed the cup in the air and before it hit the ground, his powers caught it midair. He then used his powers and put the cup down on the ground.
"You seem to be getting the handle on this." Harold told him as he tossed him a golf ball and Will caught it in his right hand.
"Yeah, this small stuff anyway." Will said as the golf ball floated out of his hands.
"Well, before nothing like this happened until the garage when your headaches came. Perhaps releasing all that pressure makes it easier." Harold said as Mary came out with some water bottles.
"How's it going?" Mary asked as Will moved the golf ball back to his dad.
"He's getting the hang of it." Harold said as Will focused on the water bottles in his mother's hands and brought them over to him.
"I see. So, he can move things with his mind?" Mary asked as Harold nodded.
"Seems to be. He focuses on the object and it moves. Will, heads up!" Harold shouted as he threw the baseball at Will's head. Will ducked as a reflex but the ball stopped in front of Will's body. "And his powers also act on reflex."
"What was that?!" Will asked.
"Another test. It seems your powers react not only to what you're thinking but as a reflex as well." Harold said as Will lowered the ball into his hand.
"So, Telekinesis." Will said as the ball shot 15 feet in the air floated there. "That's what I can do."
"Telekinesis?" Mary asked.
"Yup. The ability to move or interact with objects with the power of a person's mind. And seeing as how I'm not physically moving them, then that meteor must have done this to me." Will said he saw one of the lawn chairs and tried to move it. He held his hand out towards the chair and focused but the chair wasn't moving. He focused harder as the lawn chair began to tremble and float an inch above the ground when Will noticed blood coming from his nose and stopped.
"Will." Mary said as she and Harold walked over to check on him.
"You ok?" Harold asked as Mary got a napkin and wiped the blood from his nose.
"Yeah, just a slight sting in my head. I tried moving the chair but it wasn't as easy as everything else. So, I focused a lot harder and it began to move when my nose started to bleed." Will said as he wiped his nose.
"Does it hurt?" Harold asked as Will didn't feel a headache or anything, more like a slight pinch in his head.
"Kind of like a small pinch. Like when I pulled that muscle during spring training in Highschool." Will said as Harold thought for a moment.
"You said Telekinesis is the ability to move things with your mind, right?" Harold asked as Will nodded. "So, your mind needs to be trained with your new power. Your brain is like a muscle and if you overexert a muscle too much it breaks. The nosebleeds are telling you your limit."
"Is that true?" Mary asked.
"We're in uncharted territories here. But it makes the most sense. Will could move the smaller stuff no problem but the larger things that required him to concentrated more led to the nose bleed. We'll be careful." Harold said as took a little break so Will could recover from the nose bleed. They continued with the training using a bunch of other small or medium size items like the baseballs to books and Will's backpack. With the small and medium size stuff, there wasn't any strain on Will's brain when he used his powers and he was getting the hang of his new powers.
He could move and push the items around with ease like he was holding them and he could move multiple items at once. Will trained with his powers until dinner and he had to pack because he was going back to school. He promised to stay in contact with his parents if anything bad happened and Will promised to be careful at school. He said he would practice in his dorm room to make sure he didn't have an accident but he wouldn't use his powers in front of someone.
While he was at school, he fell into his regular routine of going to classes and hanging out with his friends but he felt a lot more pressure because he had to make sure he didn't accidently use his powers to hurt someone. When he finished his work, and was alone in his dorm room, he trained with his powers by moving things around his room. Things like his alarm clock, his chair, notebooks, and textbooks. After 2 weeks of training, he was able to lift his bed off the floor with ease.
He kept up his regular schedule as he finished his junior year and didn't have any accidents or episodes with his powers. He finished his semester on the right track for his double major in mechanical engineering and psychology and got an internship at PSEG for the summer. His powers had grown and he could move, push, pull and levitate objects with ease. When Will returned home with two weeks before his internship started, he showed his parents how his control with his powers got and he was able to lift his dad's police car a an inch off the ground.
Will was eating some cereal in the kitchen watching the news coverage of the Senate Armed Services Committee and their mission to get Tony Stark to hand over the Iron Man Suit. "Will." Will heard as he saw his dad walked in with some paperwork.
"Hey, dad. I thought you had work?" Will asked as Harold put his paperwork on the table and got some coffee.
"Nothing I couldn't take and work from home. So, what's going on?" Harold asked.
"Oh, that Armed Services committee thing about the Iron Man armor." Will said as Harold chuckled.
"Oh, yeah like that's a good idea." Harold said.
"You don't think having the Iron Man armor in the army is a good idea?" Will asked.
"A good idea, sure. Heck, that armor would turn the tide in any fight and save a lot of lives. But like the nuclear bomb, when that thing gets in the wrong hands then a lot of people will get hurt. And we'll have a new war that threatens the planet." Harold said as he got some half-and-half for his coffee.
"So, you'd rather had the Iron Man in Stark's hands?" Will asked as Harold scoffed.
"Stark makes really good tech and weapons but I'm not sure if having anything like that in the world is good. It's like you, Will. Now other people having your powers would be dangerous but I raised you and I know you're a good kid who makes the right decisions. It's a complicated situation." Harold said as Will nodded.
"Well, it seems Stark is milking the Iron Man for his own benefit. His company's stock is at its highest and with the Stark Expo out he's probably got a good thing going on." Will said as Harold sat down next to him.
"You know, if you want to go, I've still got a friend at Hammer who can pull some strings and get us a pass for the day." Harold said as Will shrugged.
"Yeah, that's sounds cool." Will said as Harold nodded and they watched the news and saw Tony walking out of the meeting with his ego on full display while Senator Stern cursed him out.
Will enjoyed the time off until his internship started and he kept himself busying by readying himself for the job and training his powers in his free time. He learned how to stop objects from moving, changing the directional course of objects and that he could crush objects with his mind which was pretty cool. Will was in the living room, practicing with his powers by levitating a bunch of coins and building a small tower with them to refine his control and precision. He was also watching TV so it practiced his mind's ability to multi-task as he wanted to watch the Monaco's grand prix, which his dad got on pay per view.
"You've got to be kidding me." Will said as he watched Tony Stark replace his own driver for the race. "Guy's got a pair on him but a race car is a piece of cake compared to a battle suit."
Will began moving the coins to make a copy of the Eiffel tower as he watched the race when he saw a race track worker step out onto the race track. The camera zoomed in as the man opened his jumpsuit to reveal a glowing chest piece and a mechanical harness. Long wipes of lightning appeared in his hands as the top part of his jumpsuit burned off, revealing an intricate mechanical harness.
"Whoa." Will said as he focused on the TV and the coins he was controlling dropped to the ground.
He saw the whip guy slice an incoming race car in half, sending it flying into the sides of the track. "Holy shit!" Will said as his eyes were glued to the screen. The racetrack officials and police tried to get everyone clear as people exited the stands while the cameras were focused on the man.
Stark's car came racing by as the man sliced the front and sent Stark flying through the air and crashing into the side. The man walked slowly towards Stark as other cars on the race track tried to stop and ended up crashing into each other. The man then sliced the car in half but Stark appeared behind him and hit him with the car door but the man knocked him back. He swiped at Stark a few times as Stark managed to get away but was knocked to the side.
Stark then jumped on the fence as a Rolls Royce bashed the man into the fence. It looked like it was over but the man recovered and began slicing the car when Stark got what looked like a red and white briefcase. He touched it with his foot and it began unfolding. He grabbed the handles of the briefcase and pulled them apart as the briefcase unfolded into armor and Tony Stark now stood in a new version of the Iron Man armor. With one kick, he sent the Rolls Royce skidding out of the way as he faced his assailant.
Iron Man raised his palm to fire a repulsor blast but Whiplash slashed him with his whip. Iron Man tried to fire again but Whiplash hit him again and damaged his left gauntlet. Iron Man fired two repulsor blasts but Whiplash deflected them. Whiplash threw out his whip and it wrapped around Iron Man's neck and then wrapped his other whip around his right gauntlet. He threw Iron Man across the pavement and smashed him to the ground, then against the car and again on the pavement as the electricity from the whip began to destroy the armor.
Iron Man then walked forward and began wrapping the whip around him, getting closer and closer. And when he got close enough, he punched Whiplash in the face, the stomach and then threw him over his shoulder. He finished it by ripping out the glowing chest piece as the electricity from the whips shut off and the police came and took him into custody.
"Hey, Will. How's the race?" He heard his mom ask as she came home.
"Uh…put on hold for the time being. But I think I saw Iron Man fight a super villain." Will said.
Line Break xxxxx
Will had his internship starting on Monday leaving him the weekend to enjoy before he went to work. And lucky for him, his dad got passes to attend the STARK Expo on Saturday with access to the panels on that day. Will and his parents were at the Hammer Industries panel in the back of the stadium as other military officials, members of the press and visitors got into their seats. Music began to play as Hammer stepped on stage and began dancing as everyone clapped.
'Geez, does everyone in the weapons business have a huge ego.' Will thought as he clapped along and Hammer made his way to his podium.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about. Thanks for coming." Hammer said as he straightened up and got serious.
"Ladies and Gentlemen…for too long, this country has had to put its brave men and women in harm's way. But then the Iron Man arrived and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair, that's not right and that's just too bad. Regardless, that was one impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. But today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink." Hammer said with a smile as there was a small applause throughout the crowd.
"Ugh, what a dumbass." Will said to himself as Harold chuckled while two stage hands removed the podium so Hammer could move around freely.
"Ladies and Gentlemen…today I present to you, the new face of the United States Military: The Hammer Drone!" Hammer shouted as a marching theme began to play and images of various members of the US's armed forces began to play while parts of the stage began to move to reveal platforms and drones hidden under the stage.
"Army!" Hammer shouted as 8 steel colored Iron-man-like drones appeared with a glowing chest piece and a heavy duty .50 caliber machine gun on their back.
"Navy!" Hammer shouted as 8 blue colored drones appeared with double stacked rocket pods on their shoulders.
"Airforce!" Hammer shouted 8 grey colored drones appeared, more slick and aero-dynamic than the previous two groups.
"Marines!" Hammer shouted as 8 camouflage print drones with heavy machine guns on their arms appeared.
"Yeah! Whoo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you. But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to present in the theater of war. Ladies and Gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype of the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, and its pilot, air force Lt. Colonel James Rhodes!" Hammer shouted as another rising platform appeared in the center of the stage.
"Rhodey?" Harold asked as Will looked at his dad.
"You know him?" Will asked as Harold nodded.
"Yeah, we went through training together in the Airforce. I saved the son of a bitch a few times in Afghanistan. He owes me a six pack of beer." Harold said as Will chuckled. "He told me he's been a liaison with Stark."
"Guess he's a liaison for Hammer now." Mary said as they watched a black colored Iron-man suit with red eyes and a glowing chest piece. While Iron Man was bright red and gold and was flashy, this one was made for someone in the military as it had two wrist mounted machine guns, a M134 7.62 mini gun on its right shoulder, heavy armor around the body, and storage for ammo.
"Ok, that's officially cooler than Iron Man." Will said as he clapped along with the crowd.
Rhodes then saluted as the other drones did the same as did Hammer. "For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for…" Hammer was cut off as everyone heard the rumbling of a jet engine getting close. They all turned around and saw something flying fast and closing in and knew what it was. It stopped near the stage and landed in a crouch to reveal Tony Stark in a new Iron Man suit with a triangle chest piece.
The crowd went ballistic as they cheered and applauded as Iron Man walked over to Rhodes. "How about that Will? Iron Man shows up. Isn't this great or what?" Mary asked as she clapped along.
"Yeah, great." Will said as he clapped along. He saw Iron Man walk over to Hammer and they seemed to be talking when Will got this tingling in the back of his head. Will immediately began to feel on edge and worried as he felt that something was wrong. "Something's wrong."
"Will?" Harold asked as they saw the minigun on Rhodes's suit activate and lock onto Iron Man. Then all the other drones raised their guns at Iron Man as Hammer ran and Will grabbed his parents.
"Move!" Will shouted as they ran out of their seats as Iron Man flew away while the drones fired at him, destroying the glass ceiling above them and causing everyone else to run.
Will and his parents made it to the exit when he turned back and saw the War Machine suit and air force drones take off into the air while the army and navy drones began walking off the stage and following the crowd of people. Will and his parents ran from the panel hall and through the Expo to get to their car as the drones marched throughout the expo. People ran in fear for safety as the military drones stalked the crowd like evil robots from a sci-fi movie.
The navy drones fired their rocket pods and the rockets exploded throughout the expo. One got dangerously close to Will and his family but Will quickly got in front of his parents and moved the rocket off course and it hit the side of a building instead. More rockets were fired as they hit the side of buildings, sending concrete and debris on top of people. Harold and Mary helped some people get back on their feet while Will saw another missile heading straight for a group so he stopped it in mid-air and crushed it, turning it into a ball.
"Will, you need to help these people." Harold told him as they saw everyone run away.
"Help them how?" Will asked.
"Use your powers, help Iron Man stop those things. The police can't stop them." Mary said as Will was nervous.
"But, I've never used my powers like this. This is a huge step from lifting my bed." Will said as Harold grabbed Will and so he looked at him.
"You can do it. I saw you do it with the missile and you have control of this. Remember, it's your power, you control it." Harold said as he looked at the fleeing crowd. "These people need you now more than ever. Maybe whatever happened to you was an accident or maybe it was divine intervention, fate, destiny or whatever but I know that it couldn't have happened to a better person. You can do this, Will."
"I'm not leaving you and mom alone." Will said.
"Your father and I will be fine. We'll be helping people get to safety. Your father's right, they need you. Go!" Mary told him as Will had mixed feelings but saw how frightened and scared everyone was and saw the people who were injured or already killed by the drones.
"Ok, but you two stay safe." Will said as he hugged his parents and they hugged him back. He then ran towards the drones which were moving towards the west side of the park.
"Be careful." Mary said as she watched Will run.
"He'll be fine." Harold said as he helped another person get up. "Come on! Get to safety!"
Will ran towards the drones when he ran passed a destroyed gift shop. He looked around and noticed a destroyed security camera and knew that if he used his powers to stop the drones, those cameras still active were gonna record him in action so he grabbed a sweatshirt with a hoodie and put it on. He then ripped a t-shirt in half and wrapped it around his nose and mouth to make a face mask. With his impromptu disguise ready, he saw a navy drone about to corner a group of people so he ran at it.
The drone raised its arms and prepared to fire when it was pulled backward and sent tumbling against the ground. The people looked and saw a masked and hooded man with glowing hands run up next to them.
"Go!" Will said. The people ran way as the Navy drone got back up and set its targeting reticle on Will. Will got the tingling sensation in the back of his head again so he turned and saw the navy drone aim its arm machine gun and fire a torrent of bullets.
"RAH!" Will shouted as he held his hands out and the bullets stopped mid-air about 2 feet in front of him like someone hit pause. "Take this you terminator rip off!"
Will then thrust his hands forward and the bullets flew back at the Navy Drone and peppered it with holes. The drone wobbled for a bit before it fell over, oil dripping from the bullet holes and sparks flying from the destroyed circuits. Will walked over and saw the glowing power core had shut down so it was dead.
Will looked to his right and saw missiles heading towards a group of people so he ran forward and to his surprise, he was actually moving faster than he normally was. He would have been enjoying that new-found power but he had to stop those missiles. Will got in front of the crowd and raised his hands, as the missiles flew towards him and smashed into a telekinetic shield, saving them. Will grunted, trying to stay focused as he felt the burden his shield was taking from the impacts.
The crowd ran as Will covered their escape and kept them from harm. He then reached out his hands and part of the ground cracked open. Will grunted and concentrated as chunks of concrete ripped out of the ground and floated in the air next to him. Will then threw his arms forward and the concrete flew through the air and smashed into a hammer Navy drone, smashing it to pieces. Will ran over and saw that one arm was severed and the chest was heavily damaged, but it was still functional as it tried to stand up, so Will kept it from moving.
The sound of bending metal could be heard as the drone attempted to move but found itself incapable. Will then shouted as he made a ripping motion with his two hands and the drone was torn in half. Will turned as he saw more Navy drones heading towards him, but they stopped. They dropped their arms and turned around as Will was confused. He watched the drones fly away using their rocket thrusters and were going to the west side of the park. Will looked and saw all the other active drones were doing the same thing and going in the same direction.
"Now where are they going?" Will asked himself, curious as to what the hell was going on so he followed them. Will ran through the park, going in the same direction as the drones were flying but he was on the ground. He was running for about 5 minutes through the park which was pretty much empty as everyone had made it to an exit by now. Will ran past some destroyed rubble and stopped to take a breather.
"Dammit. Where the hell did they go?" Will asked when he heard the sound of gun fire coming from the encased ecological bio-dome. He ran through the park and over to the bio-dome when he heard the sound of a jet and looked up to see another drone fly into the bio-dome. Will's curiosity got the better of him and wanted to see what was happening so he entered through the front entrance. He stayed hidden in the trees and saw the wreckage of a battle between the Hammer drones and only Iron Man and the military upgraded black Iron Man suit were standing.
He now saw a new Hammer drone but this one was larger and seemed more armored and advance. Will looked and saw Whiplash, the man who attacked Iron Man at the Monaco race track in the suit.
"Good to be back." Whiplash said.
"Oh, this ain't gonna be good." War Machine said to Iron Man as Whiplash unleashed his two plasma whips which were twice as strong as the ones he used before. "I've got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the ex-wife."
"With the what?" Iron Man asked as War Machine's shoulder came apart to reveal and small rocket launcher. It was primed before flying out of the launcher and hitting Whiplash but did nothing. It bounced against his armor and landed on the ground and fizzled out, completely useless. "Hammer tech?"
"Yeah." War Machine replied as Whiplash smiled.
"I've got this." Iron Man said as his shoulder mounter rockets fired but Whiplash's armor closed up and protected him.
Whiplash flipped his whips and swiped down as War Machine and Iron Man dove to the side. War Machine fired his three machine guns which just bounced off of Whiplash's armor as Whiplash swung up and destroyed War Machine's minigun. He then swung at Iron Man who flew in the air and spun, firing his repulsor blasts but he missed. Whiplash snagged Iron Man around the waist and threw him against a rock. Before he could attack him, War Machine fired his two remaining guns to get his attention as Iron Man flew forward in a charge but Whiplash knocked him away and sent him tumbling through the trees.
Whiplash then lashed out and grabbed War Machine. His whips reeled War Machine in so Whiplash punched him and sent him flying back. Iron Man yelled as he jumped back into the fight and began swinging at Whiplash's head. It seemed to be working but Whiplash headbutted Iron Man back and lashed his whip around his neck. War Machine fired his gun but Whiplash just stepped on him, the metal making cracks in the armor. Whiplash retracted the helmet and smiled, thinking he had the upper hand.
Iron Man grabbed the whip and tried to pull when all of a sudden, Whiplash was thrown backwards as his whip disconnected from Iron Man. Iron Man and War Machine were confused as one second Whiplash had them on the edge and then he was thrown backwards like he was hit by a truck.
Iron Man looked and to his shock, there was a guy with a hoodie and face mask standing there with them in the dome. But the most shocking thing was that his hands were glowing blue. Whiplash got up and looked to see who attacked him, thinking it was another Iron Man armor but it was just a man.
"Kid, get out of here!" Iron Man shouted as he saw Whiplash spin a whip and threw it at the kid. "NO!"
"RAH!" Will shouted as he held his hands out and stopped the whip from hitting him to Iron Man, War Machine, and Whiplash's surprise. Whiplash threw out his other whip and it hit the ground near Will and the debris hit him in the face. Will backed up, rubbing his eyes to get the dirt and grass out. The tingling sensation came back as Will rolled away just in time to avoid being cut in half.
Iron Man fired his two repulsors and hit Whiplash in the back, knocking him forward as War Machine kept firing his guns. Will got up and wiped the dirt away to see Whiplash hit Iron Man away with a whip and kick War Machine into a tree. Will held his hands out and ripped out two chunks of the ground. He threw his hands forward and hit Whiplash, knocking him back and saving War Machine from getting hit. Whiplash stood up and threw out both his whips as Will threw his hands out and the whips stopped. Whiplash tried to move his body but the computer system said there was an error as the armor wasn't moving and responding to his movements.
Will grunted as he kept Whiplash from moving but could feel his pull getting weaker. Will concentrated harder than he had before as his nose began bleeding. Will shouted as he threw his arms out and Whiplash's armor was ripped down the middle with half of it being throw to the side while the other half stayed on the man. Will dropped to his knees to catch his breath and recover from the stinging headache as Iron Man and War Machine were amazed at what they saw. This kid just managed to tear off Whiplash's armor with some kind of invisible force.
"You lose…" Whiplash managed to say as his chest piece began blinking red and beeping rapidly.
"All these drones are rigged to blow! We've got to get out of here, man!" War Machine shouted.
"Pepper!" Iron Man said as he flew away while War Machine grabbed Will and flew into the air.
"AHH! Let me go! Let me go!" Will shouted as he struggled to get out of War Machine's grip as he saw his feet leave the ground and dangle at least 400 feet in the air.
"Kid, stop moving! I'm saving your life!" War Machine shouted.
"No, please! I hate flying! Rhodey let me go!" Will shouted.
"How do you know my name?!" War Machine asked as Will managed to get loose and fell out of War Machine's arms and began plummeting to the ground. "Oh, shit!"
"AAAAHHHH!" Will shouted as he began falling to the ground while War Machine flew down to try and catch him. Will flailed around as he fell through the air and saw the ground getting closer and closer. He held his hands out as he subconsciously began to tap into his powers and his descent began to slow down. Will threw his hands out and when he was about 15 feet from the ground, he sent out a huge telekinetic push to the ground, creating a small crater about 10 feet wide. The push acted as a parachute as Will's fall was slowed tremendously and he even seemed to be floating before he dropped 8 feet and hit the pavement.
"Uh…that's gonna hurt in the morning." Will groaned as he managed to pull his face out of the dirt. He spit the dirt out of his mouth as he looked up and saw one of the wrecked drones in front of him and by the sound of the beeping from the core, it was going to blow. "Oh, shit!"
Will ran away as fast as his legs could take him when the drone exploded as Will dove to the ground and covered his head. Will heard other explosions in the distance, meaning the other drones must have exploded as well. Will looked up and saw the burning remains of the drone with the potent smell of oil filling his nose. Will gagged a bit before running to find his parents. He ran through the park, tossing his face mask and hoodie into the fire as he ran to the nearest exit or police escort where he blended in with the horde of people trying to leave. He managed to find his parents and Will left the Expo thinking that no one was the wiser as to who he was and what he did…only if that were the truth.
Tony had just saved Pepper and she was spiller her heart out as to Tony's erratic behavior and essentially quit as CEO. But the two had a moment and one thing led to another and the two locked lips.
"Weird?" Tony asked about the kiss.
"No, it's not weird." Pepper replied.
"It's not weird, right? Ok. Run that by me again." Tony said as they kissed.
"I think it was weird." They heard as they stopped kissing and saw Rhodey in his suit, sitting on an air vent like he had been there for a while. "You guys, look like two seals fighting over a grape."
"I had just quit so we were not—" "You don't have to do that. I heard everything." Rhodey stopped them.
"You should get lost." Tony said.
"I was here first. Get a roof." Rhodey replied as Tony chuckled.
"You kicked ass back there by the way." Tony said as Rhodey nodded.
"Thank you, so did you." Rhodey replied.
"So, where's that kid you grabbed?" Tony asked.
"Kid?" Pepper questioned.
"A long story." Tony told her.
"I…sort of dropped him." Rhodey said as they looked at him. "He's still alive. He somehow stopped himself before he hit the ground. I lost him once all the drones exploded. Speaking of which, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm going to have to hang onto your suit for a minute, ok?"
"Not ok with that." Tony replied as Rhodey stood up.
"Wasn't a question." Rhodey told him as the face mask came down and Rhodey flew away.
Line Break xxxxx
The next day, Tony was escorted to a SHIELD secured warehouse for a debrief with Director Fury. Several agents were outside the warehouse for security and even more around the block to keep any potential enemies or attacks against the director from happening. Inside the warehouse, more agents were there for security while there were various monitors and computers that showed news coverage of the fallout from the STARK Expo, something from an attack at a college that involved the military and something in New Mexico.
Tony was sitting at a table, waiting for Fury to arrive so he decided to look at one of the files in front of him that read Avengers Initiative: Preliminary Report. Tony looked at the file when Fury pushed it down.
"I don't think I want you looking at that. I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore." Fury said as he sat down across from Tony. "Now, this on the other hand is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you."
Tony took the file and read it. "Uh…personality overview, Mr. Stark portrays compulsive behavior." Tony said as he looked at Fury. "In my own defense that was last week."
"Uh…prone to self-destructive tendencies. I was dying, I mean please. And aren't we all?" Tony shrugged.
"Textbook narcissism." Tony said as he looked at Fury. "Agreed. Ok, here it is. Recruitment assessment for Avenger initiative, Iron Man yes. I'll have to think about it."
"Read on." Fury told him.
"Tony Stark not…not recommended. That doesn't make any sense. How can you approve me but not approve me? I've got a new ticker, I'm trying to do right by Pepper, I'm in a stablish-ish relationship." Tony said.
"Which leads us to believe that at this juncture, we'd only like to use you as a consultant." Fury said as Tony looked at him. "Provided you give us everything you can on the individual who helped you stop Vanko."
"Individual?" Tony asked as Fury looked at one of the screens that showed the camera footage from one of the hammer drones that Vanko took over and it showed a masked figure with glowing hands and eyes rip apart the other drones and tear up chunks of the ground without touching them. "Oh, him. Guy was brave, I'll give him that."
"He's someone we have no information about. And that never happens. We need to know what you know." Fury said as Tony thought about it for a second and then stood up and shook Fury's hand.
"I got nothing. And you can't afford me." Tony said as he walked away but then stopped and turned around. "But I'm willing to waver my customary retainer in exchange for…a small favor. Rhodey and I are being honored in Washington tomorrow and we need a presenter." Tony said.
"I'll see what I can do." Fury said with a nod.
"Good luck on the manhunt though." Tony said as he left and walked to his car. He pulled out a small earbud and put it in his ear as he got in the driver's seat and turned the car on. "Jarvis."
"Yes, sir?" Jarvis replied.
"Bring up all the security footage recovered from the black box at the expo. Let's find our mysterious savior before SHIELD tags and probes him." Tony said as he drove away.
"Right away, sir." Jarvis said as Tony drove to catch his plane to DC.
Will was starting his internship at PSEG and he was happy to put the business at the STARK Expo behind him. Not that there wasn't a little adrenaline rush with fighting large robots and single handedly saving Iron Man and the other Iron Guy from Whiplash, but it was nice to go back to normal. And judging by how he wasn't taken into police or federal custody, then he was counting himself lucky no one knew who he was. Although, there was now some amateur footage floating around the internet from the fight at the expo. Most of it was about Iron Man but there were a few small snip-its of him in action. Luckily, the video quality was so low that all you could tell that it was someone about 6ft with glowing hands, nothing else. That made him feel a bit easier, but he'd keep a lower profile for now. Besides, it's not like he was a trouble magnet.
Unknown to him, there was a serious battle/attack/invasion in New Mexico between the police/government agents, weird people with swords and a giant grey metal suit. It was the first physical altercation that SHIELD had with beings that were not of this earth. It turns out that the legends of Asgard were true as Thor, the god of thunder defended earth from an attack. The fight was brief, and no clear answers were given about why this battle even had to take place, but one thing was clear, there were other people out there and they were dangerous. So, Director Fury knew that this attack could be the first of many, so SHIELD and the world needed to be ready.
Fury was at the Triskelion, primary headquarters of SHIELD in his private audience having a meeting with the World Security Council about the recent attacks at the STARK Expo, the incident in New Mexico and the attack by the Hulk at Culver University. These kinds of attacks have been escalating and it was only a matter of time before another one happened and who knows the destruction and death it could bring. Fury was in his office, secured, encrypted and by himself for his meeting.
He walked up wall monitor and pressed his hand against a palm reader and his eye against a retinal scanner. They scanned it for a second and lit up green. "Call World Security Council." Fury said.
"Calling." The computer said as his screen was split into 6 sections for the six members of the world security council.
"Directory Fury." They all said as Fury nodded.
"Councilors. I'm sure you're aware of the recent uptick in unusual and dangerous incidents that have been occurring." Fury said.
"That's an understatement, Director. Armored machines attacking in New York, The Hulk squaring off with the military at Culver University and now this attack in New Mexico. What SHIELD has always feared seems to be happening." Councilor 1 said.
"These events are escalating. Dealing with Iron Man or the Hulk have been easy, but this newest attack has us worried. These being, Asgardians…should they be considered a threat?" Councilor 2 asked.
"I'm afraid I can't make that conclusive statement, Councilor. It's safe to say that Asgard has its fair share of good and bad people like Earth." Director Fury said.
"That doesn't reassure us, Director. These aren't a few random terrorists who happened upon a cache of weapons, these are beings from another world with abilities and technology that is beyond anything we have now. What's the status of the destroyer robot that attacked the town?" Councilor 3 asked.
"It's being analyzed and secured as we speak. I also have a few of my scientists trying to reverse-engineer the robot's weapons system. Highest level clearance and security to make sure that nothing is leaked." Director Fury said.
"Good. We'll need an edge should something like this happen again and based on the pattern we've experienced that would seem to be the case. We'll be giving SHIELD additional funding to prepare for future extra-terrestrial or global threats. We want you to begin testing and analysis on the Tesseract as well. The cube could give us the edge against future threats." Councilor 4 said as Director Fury nodded.
"I believe I have someone who can help us proceed with the Tesseract project." Fury said.
"Good, and we want further progress on the Avengers Initiative. Aside from Mr. Stark, who else is SHIELD looking into for the project?" Councilor 5 asked.
"Agents Romanoff and Barton are ideal candidates for the project as well as Mr. Stark's associate, Colonel Rhodes. From the report Agent Coulson gave me, Thor can be considered an ally so if contact with Asgard is made, Thor is another option." Fury told them.
"And the mysterious individual who aided Mr. Stark during the Expo?" Councilor 1 asked.
"Still unknown at the moment, councilor but we'll have an assessment soon." Director Fury said.
"Soon may not be soon enough. War is on the horizon, director. And the world needs SHIELD to be ready." Councilor 2 said as Fury nodded and the video conference ended.
Fury then walked into his office and pressed a button on his intercom and Agent Hill walked in. "Sir?" Hill asked.
"Get me Coulson, Barton, and Romanoff. I want a full assessment and file on the individual from the expo in 48 hours." Fury said.
"Yes, sir." Hill said as she left.