Alternate Iron #300: The Legion of Iron Men

by Matthew Malek

Chapter Six: Houses of Straw and Sticks

2:32 AM

"Don't think about that, Hap. We'll be lucky." With Bethany's last words still echoing in his mind, Happy Hogan and his two fellow Legionnaires flew towards the center of Futura. Their destination was the makeshift outpost used by the National Guard as an impromptu evacuation headquarters. Mike O'Brien had suggested that they coordinate their work through official channels. This idea was unsurprising, considering Mike's former career in law enforcement. It was also reasonable. The National Guardsmen were already heavily immersed in the evacuation. As such, the Guard should be able to deploy the Legion to where their help was most needed.

Carl peered over his shoulder as they flew. Across town, he could see Ultimo's hulking form rise up again and engage the remaining two Legionnaires in battle once more. "Godspeed," he thought.

Arriving at the National Guard's outpost, the three Iron Men proceeded to locate the officer in charge.

"We come in peace. Take us to your leader," Happy joked.

More seriously, Mike added, "We're here to assist with the evacuation process. Can you bring us to your commanding officer? We'd like to discuss how we can aid your efforts, sir."

Carl fidgeted uncomfortably in the presence of the National Guard. Clay Wilson, his former identity, was officially listed as dead. Tony Stark had used his considerable influence to arrange that. As Carl Walker, he had no criminal record; yet years of living outside of the law had left him uncomfortable with military and law enforcement personnel. Carl knew that he would breathe easier once they had left this place.

"This way, Iron Man." replied the National Guardsman, addressing Mike. "Um, which of you actually is the real Iron Man? Or are you all Iron Man?" His confusion was evident. He had only ever heard of one Iron Man. Had the job actually been held by many?

"I guess for now we are all Iron Man," answered Happy. The Guardsman led the group to a large, heavy canvas tent with the front tarp thrown open.

Most of Futura was now a crumpled and burning ruin; time was of the essence. The meeting with the evacuation commander was short. His instructions were clear. There were large areas of town that the Guard simply could not reach. These were the sections where the fires raged out of control, or where the building collapses had been too complete. Each region was likely to have survivors trapped inside, yet the Guard was unable to rescue them. It was the job of the Iron Legion to get those people out.

"Well, I probably shouldn't head into the fire zone with my bare hand exposed," Mike observed. "Why don't I go into the region of rubble instead?"

"I'll go with you," added Carl. "Being grounded, I can hurl debris a lot more easily than I can reach people trapped on the upper levels of buildings. But let's keep in contact via our helmet radios. How do check-ins every ten minutes sound?"

Happy agreed that this plan made sense, since his armor was the most intact. "Sounds good. Let's get going!" he replied.

As the armored heroes flew off, one National Guardsman turned to his partner. He asked the question that had been on his mind ever since the armored men had arrived. "So why do you think they've got those silly rags draped over them? Did you see the one with the cape?? What was that all about?!"

Happy soared off towards the blocks where the fires still raged, searching for people in need of rescue. Tony had once briefed him on the basic use of Iron Man armor, since Happy had often seemed to end up wearing the "tin tuxedo" unexpectedly in those days. The training had been done with one of the older "classic" models, though. Happy knew how to operate some basic sensors; like infrared and enhanced audio, but he was unable to operate the majority of the newer, more complex armor systems.

Relying on the enhanced audio to locate cries for help, Happy began circling the devastation. He knew that Tony would have used a dozen other methods to more actively seek out survivors, but this was the best that he could do. As it turned out, it wasn't long before this basic approach paid off. From the third floor of a burning brownstone, Happy did indeed detect screams. Flying directly through the crumbling wall, Happy discovered the source of those screams: a young couple, perhaps in their mid 20s, was trapped inside.

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!" shouted the man, as the couple clung to each other.

"We didn't really expect things to get this bad!" blurted the woman. "I mean, we heard the announcements to evacuate! Everyone did! But we never thought... I mean... Then there was this car crashing thought the wall and... Oh, geez! Iron Man, can you get us out of here??"

Despite his earlier words to the National Guardsman, Happy still thought that it sounded weird when people referred to him as "Iron Man". In his mind, that was Tony's role and always had been. It always would be, too, if Tony had somehow survived. There was work to be done, so he pushed the disturbing thought out of his mind. "Tony will be okay," Happy reassured himself. "He always is. Tony's the hero, not me."

"Grab hold and we're out of here!" Happy instructed the couple. Looking at their state of near-undress, it was quite clear to him why these two had chosen to ignore the warnings. They were young, they were in love, and they'd obviously had other plans for the evening. "Wait a minute... I'm actually not sure how I can get you both out at once. I'm certainly strong enough to carry two, but I don't know how to protect you both from the flames." Happy vaguely remembered that Tony had installed flame retarding foam somewhere in the armor, but he had no idea of how to use it.

"Take her first," the man volunteered, recovering just enough from his panic to make a semi-convincing feign of bravery. His companion protested, saying that his safety was more important to her; Happy found their devotion touching. Touching, but pointless and a waste of valuable time. He picked up the woman and clutched her against his iron chest. Holding her thusly, he was able to use his armored form as a shield against the heat of the flames.

"I'll be right back with your husband," he promised her as they traveled to a safe distance away from the flames.

"Oh, we're not married. We've been together for a long time and all but..." Happy flew off without listening any further to the woman's relieved babble. On his flight back into the inferno, he recalled the early days of his relationship with Pepper. How long ago it now seemed. How lucky he had felt when Pepper finally returned his affections. The intensity that characterized their early relationship was among the fondest of his memories. Once they had become a couple, the idea of not getting married to her seemed impossible. Even as the passing years had inevitably cooled some of the passion between them, their connection had grown deeper and stronger. Happy was amazed at all they had gone through together, and he was impressed that their marriage had survived the harsh troubles that had plagued them for the past two years. Now he wanted to give this couple their own chance to grow old together.

"Is Vicki okay?" were the first words out of the man's mouth when Happy re-entered the building. The flames were forcing him into one small corner; soon there would be no safe space left to stand. Happy had no idea how hot it was in this room; his armor's automatic climate control regulated the suit's internal temperature to a comfortable 70 degrees. Although Happy didn't know it, the blazing heat enhanced his armor's strength. The built-in thermocouple was converting much of the heat into power, which supplemented the energy generated by the beta particle power supply.

"She's fine, son." Happy awkwardly tried to comfort the traumatized man. He imagined how he would feel if Pepper had been so close to death. In the same fashion as before, Happy scooped the poor soul up in his iron arms and delivered him to the safety of his partner. Together again, they embraced and cried. While pleased at his own success, Happy didn't have time for this reunion. There must be many others who still needed his help. "It isn't safe out here in the street," he cautioned, although he did note that Ultimo's towering figure had moved further away. "Both of you hang on now, and I'll bring you to the evacuation team." They did as he instructed, still sobbing with relief, and he made good on his word. Finally confident that they were indeed safe, Happy continued scanning the burning buildings in search of more people to save.

On the other side of Futura, Mike and Carl were finding that their rescues required considerably more effort. Several city blocks had been crushed under Ultimo's gargantuan feet. Evacuating citizens trapped here was more complicated than simply smashing one's way in, snatching those inside, and shielding them on the way out. Enormous mounds of rubble and concrete had to be cast aside in order to free the survivors. Thankfully, Carl had a natural aptitude for electronics, and his already-considerable array of skills had been recently broadened by working in Tony Stark's electro-analysis lab at Barstow Electronics. His prowess with technology enabled him to master the operation of most scanning devices within the armor; hence, Carl and Mike were able to locate their targets in a highly systematic and methodical manner. With the two of them working in tandem, the excavation of each wrecked building, and the evacuation of people inside required only a couple of minutes. Yet the sprawling destruction of Futura was vast. With so many ruins to open up, even spending such a short time on each building added up to form a monumental task.

Working on the first few buildings, Mike and Carl developed a system. Mike would begin by using low-power repulsors from his remaining gauntlet to bore through the wreckage. At the same time, Carl supported the ruined structure to ensure that the building would not collapse on top of them (and those who were inside). Once the debris had been broken up, they both used elbow grease to clear a path inside. During this tedious phase of the excavation, the two partners passed time by striking up a conversation. When each building was cleared, they paused their talk and later resumed it when they had moved on to the next building.

"So, Mike, what do you do with yourself when you're not clad in steel mesh and clearing rubble from demolished buildings?" asked Carl amiably.

"Well, I was in law enforcement for some time," replied Mike. "How about you?"

"Since early last year, I've been doing some electronics work for one of Tony's companies." Carl felt himself stiffen up upon learning that Mike had connections to law enforcement. He hoped that someday he would be able to feel more relaxed in the presence of cops. "Actually, I owe Tony more than my job. In a very real way, I owe him my life." Carl recalled how Tony Stark had protected him from Justin Hammer when he had retired from his career as an armored criminal. Iron Man had saved him from Hammer's hired killers, but it was Tony who had dealt with the police on his behalf and arranged for him to be released anonymously into Tony's custody. He really owed Tony a lot, and he knew it. He hoped Tony hadn't been hurt as badly as everyone seemed to think.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." replied Mike, oblivious to his partner's discomfort. "Once upon a time I had thought Tony responsible for the death of my brother. I went after him, and even managed to get my hands on a suit of Iron Man armor. The Mandarin attacked and thought that I was the real Iron Man... so he kidnapped me! It was Tony Stark, not Iron Man, who risked his life to rescue me."

Carl appreciated Mike's willingness to share such an intimate story. "Killed your brother, huh? I'm sorry to hear that. I mean, I know Tony didn't do it, but I'm still sorry to hear that he's gone."

Mike fell silent for a moment before responding. "Yeah, thanks. Me, too. It was a long time ago, but I still miss Kevin. I miss him a lot." Mike regained some composure and began working twice as hard at removing the rocks in front of them. "That is why it is so important to save as many people as we can now. Everyone here is a brother or a sister or a father or a mother or a cousin to somebody. I don't want anyone to mourn for them like I had to mourn me brother Kevin."

Mike's words resonated in Carl's thoughts. For Carl, the role of the protector was a new experience. The past year and a half had been spent as an ordinary lab rat, with the exception of one brief armored encounter. Before that, he had spent plenty of time in armor; yet always inflicting pain, never preventing it. Upon reaching the inside of the current building, they found a family of five inside. Two young children clutched the legs of their parents while an adolescent son huddled near them. Looking at them, Carl considered how many families just like this one he had destroyed during his career as Force. The two Iron Men guided them to safety, and Carl thought about how he once would have considered these ordinary people to be nothing more than meat, objects which were forcefully discarded if they so much as got in his way. Carl contrasted that attitude with Mike's poignant grief over the loss of his brother; he now realized that many others must have grieved similarly for losses that he himself had caused them. "Perhaps just retiring from being Force isn't enough," Carl mused. "Perhaps causing no further pain isn't good enough. Maybe I need to do more in the present to atone for the past." The task they now engaged in, helping innocents to reach safety, felt fulfilling in a way that Carl had never experienced before.

The armored duo proceeded to locate the next damaged building containing survivors. Once again, they began the process of excavation and their conversation resumed where it had left off.

"Working for Tony just since last year, huh?" asked Mike.

"Yup," was Carl's curt reply. Logically, he knew that Mike was just being friendly. There was no reason for the former policeman to be suspicious about him or to investigate his past. Yet talking about himself made Carl extremely tense. In truth, Carl wanted to talk more openly, especially in light of Mike's own candor. Maybe another time he would, but for now the ex-con still could not lower his guard around an ex-cop.

Back in the burning areas, Happy had completed several more rounds of rescues. At the ten minute mark, Mike had signaled on the helmet radio; both sides confirmed that the rescues were proceeding uneventfully. Or at least as uneventfully as could be expected when evacuating a town that has been crushed by a hundred foot tall robot! Although this encounter was far from the first time that Happy had played at being Iron Man, he doubted that he would ever get used to the sheer wonder and exuberance of possessing such amazing abilities. Whatever else Happy could say about his life, it definitely had not been dull. There had been both tough times and there had been good times, but all his years with Tony Stark had certainly been intense!

Actually, the current rescue mission reminded Happy of the first time he had met Tony. As a man intent on living life to its fullest, Stark had been competing in an auto race. When Tony's race car unexpectedly crashed, Happy had braved the flames without the benefit of armor to rescue Tony. As a reward for such selflessness, Tony had offered him a job. At that time, Hap had no way of knowing what grand adventures would come with that job, and with being Tony's friend. The grandest adventure of all, though, had been meeting Pepper and eventually moving away to marry her and raise their adopted children. For several years, their life had been nearly perfect. Finances had always been somewhat tight (and there was one time that Stane had used them as pawns against Tony), yet together they always managed to scrape by.

Life had been good for them until Jake Jordan had come along. After that, everything slowly fell apart. Happy had been trying to eke out a living by training up-and-coming boxers. Jake had seemed like a dream come true; the talented young boxer idolized Happy and he was unbeatable in the ring. Unfortunately, the young boxer really was too good to be true. "Jake" had simply been an alias adopted by the late villain Spymaster in order to exploit Happy's connection to Tony Stark and steal Iron Man technology. Ultimately, Happy and Iron Man had teamed up to defeat Spymaster. Although Happy had sustained a severe beating from in that encounter, he had survived. In contrast, Happy's career did not do so well. When word had spread that Happy had been training an internationally wanted criminal, nobody in the boxing world would have anything more to do with him. Soon thereafter, Happy had been fired; the official reason cited was "cutbacks due to the recession", but those words were a thin veil for the truth.

The loss of his career had not been the worst part, though. With few job prospects available to him, life had looked bleak; yet he and Pepper still had each other and their two adopted children. No, the toughest times didn't arrive for several more months. Eventually, the other shoe dropped when the adoption agency deemed them unfit parents due to Happy's "dealings with known criminal elements." Unlike his former employers, those bureaucrats at Social Services had not even bothered with euphemisms; they simply showed up one day with a court order and took the children away. After that, all he and Pepper had left was each other. For weeks, Happy was unable to sleep well; he had been terrified that Pep would blame him for all the trouble "Jake" had caused, and that she would leave him. Yet the two of them were a team, and a strong team at that. In the face of such sorrow, they had remained together and managed to scrape by on a string of temp jobs and unemployment checks.

Another call for help was detected by Happy's audio scan. Once more, he forced his way into a burning building. A woman in her mid-30s stood holding a child who looked to be about four years old. "Mommeee!" shouted the child as Happy burst into the fourth floor apartment where they had been trapped. The building had clearly sustained severe structural damage; it swayed visibly and several beams from the ceiling had already collapsed. Happy noticed a man's body lying under one of the beams.

"Poor guy," thought Happy. "He's probably dead already, but after I bring out the mother and the kid, I'll get him to the medics to be sure."

"Please save Timmy for me!" the woman shouted frantically. She was doing her best to shield the boy from flames and the falling remnants of the building.

"Don't worry, Ma'am. I'll get Timmy to safety and come back for you in a moment." Happy nestled the child into his arms and left the blaze behind them. He had not been able to "save" his own children, but he would be sure to save this one. While carrying the youngster to the care of the nearest National Guardsman, Happy heard a rumble and turned back to face the building he had just vacated. To his horror, Happy watched the structure collapse into a heap of smoldering ruin. "Nooooooo!" he shouted. Although the body count in Futura was obviously high, this was the first time that Happy had actually seen anyone perish... and it was somebody that he was responsible for rescuing. This child, alarmed by Happy's reaction, began to cry.

"Take good care of this child, officer!" Happy rapidly passed the young boy to a National Guardsman and prepared to return to the caved in building. "I'm going to see if I can still save his mother!"

Time stood still for Happy Hogan as he darted back inside the flaming tomb. He barely noticed as Plexiglas eye and mouth shields automatically dropped into place on his armor to protect him from breathing the smoky air. Happy sifted through the burning remains of the building for several minutes before locating the mother's body. Already it had been charred almost beyond recognition. She was most certainly dead. Here was another family that Happy had been unable to save from destruction.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Happy just stood in the ruin for many moments. Even with such tremendous power at his disposal, he had been unable to save her. His thoughts and mood were black, but he knew that he could not afford to continue brooding now. No matter how terrible he felt, there were still other lives that could possible be saved. Happy steeled himself for a return to rescue duty, but was interrupted by the signal from his helmet radio.

Mike and Carl finished clearing a path out of yet another building. Inside, they found an older couple with limited mobility who had been unable to evacuate. Mike greeted them politely, with deferential respect for their age, "Excuse me for intruding, but we are here to help you leave safely. Please come with us."

"Thank you, young man," said the old gentleman, speaking a little loudly. "The Mrs. and I had thought our number had finally come up. It's not as easy to get about as it was in the older days. If you kids would be so kind as to give us a hand..."

Mike cradled the man in his arms; Carl did likewise with the old woman. As the iron duo delivered the pair to safety, the man addressed his wife.

"I don't get it, Vera! Did you see his hand? They said that Iron Gentleman was actually a robot, but why does a robot have a human hand? Doesn't seem like a robot..."

"You've got me, Henry," his wife. "And I've never heard of more than one Iron Man. Except for that terrible silver one who died a few years back, of course. Maybe they're more of those whatchamacallit... androids. Like that Human Torch character from back when we were young."

With the helmet covering his features, Mike didn't even try to suppress his smile. As they had done with their previous rescues, the Iron Men left this couple with the National Guard and returned to scanning for more trapped citizens.

"Mike, I'm glad that we're able to help so many people. This feels good. In the past twenty minutes we've saved, what, fourteen or fifteen people? Still, it feels like we're putting a band-aid on a severed limb. It isn't enough! If nobody actually stops Ultimo, the whole world could end up looking like Futura, or worse!"

"Aye, but what can we do?" Mike shared his partner's frustration. "We tried knocking that Ultimo out, and the best we could do was knock him down once! Even that was nothing more than a lucky shot, really. He's just a robot, but I wish he came with a simple 'off' switch!"

Carl chuckled a grim laugh. "So we could just switch him off like that, huh?" He snapped his fingers. He knew that Mike had been joking, but something about those words sounded right. Carl thought for a moment, then chided himself for not seeing the answer sooner. After all, he had worn powered armor for long enough to know more about fighting than just fists and energy bolts. "Actually, Mike, you might be on to something there! Perhaps we've been fighting Ultimo all wrong! I've got an idea, but let me call Happy and I'll explain it to you both at once."

"Shouldn't you call Bethany instead? Let her and Eddie handle it?" asked Mike. "That way we could continue with the evacuation work. This is important."

"I know, but I think we're all going to be needed," answered Carl cryptically. "This will only work if the five of us pull together as a team!"

Carl signaled Happy's via helmet radio. Happy answered, sounding upset. "Yes, another ten minutes gone, right? Things are okay here. I'm doing the best I can. Let me get back to it, okay?"

"Wait a minute, Hap! Don't go yet! I think I know how we can finally beat Ultimo! Meet Mike and me back where we knocked him down, then I'll tell you both the plan as we fly back to meet the others, okay?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Happy. "I mean, Beth put us in charge of saving ordinary folk here in Futura. What will happen to them if we leave now?"

"The same thing that will happen to many, many more towns if Ultimo isn't stopped!" snapped Carl. "Look, I don't mean to be harsh. I'm sorry. Really! But there's only so long that Bethany and Eddie can keep Ultimo away from other cities. How long do you think they can continue toying with Ultimo before they get themselves killed? I think I can end this nightmare, but it's going to take all of us to do it. Are you with me?"

"Um, okay. Sure," muttered Happy. Actually, he wasn't at all sure that this was the best thing to do, but right now he didn't trust himself with decisions that impact the lives of others. If Carl thought that he could handle Ultimo, let Carl be responsible for what happened.

"Great!" exclaimed Carl. He was desperate to get going. "I think that it's high time for a rematch with the big guy, and this time he is going down... for good!"

With those optimistic words, the three Iron Men flew off for their rendezvous.