Alternate Iron #300: The Legion of Iron Men

by Matthew Malek

Chapter Nine: The All-New, All-Different Iron Men?

3:10 AM

"Iron Man." War Machine virtually spat the name out. After all he and the Iron Legion had endured, War Machine was in no mood to see Stark and his smug demeanor.

Tony thought quickly. He hadn't realized Jim Rhodes was involved in this, too. It made perfect sense, of course. Who else would have organized such a band of fighters? Yet once Iron Man had seen Stark technology on the battlefield, he had scanned for all units that were active. War Machine had not shown up on the scan. Could it have been because he was inside Ultimo at the time? That question would have to wait until Tony could get into a lab with the towering robot. Meanwhile, a far different battle now needed to be fought: the battle to win back Jim's trust.

"War Machine, let me guess. You organized this whole thing, didn't you? I must say, you did a very good --"

"That's right! I did it. When you failed, when you were dying, I organized these people and made a team that did what you couldn't do: bring Ultimo down. You once told me to take this armor and prove that I was better than you. I think this proves it, big shot! But it wasn't the armor that did it; it was the fact that I could trust other people. You got that? Trust. Maybe you should try it sometime."

Carl, Mike, and Eddie felt uncomfortable. This little scene felt a lot like watching two friends or lovers argue in a public place; it was none of their business and they didn't want to watch, but they couldn't just leave and it was difficult to simply ignore. They shuffled about and turned away from the dispute. Though Bethany was also disturbed, she stood firm and coolly watched things evolve. Being friends with both combatants, she hoped she might be able to help resolve things later on. Not now, when tempers were flaring, but perhaps in private she might be able to say a few words to Tony and Rhodey separately. In contrast, Happy was getting agitated. He liked Jim, but Tony had been his best friend and he wouldn't just sit back and let Tony be slandered like this.

"Hold on there, WM!" interrupted Happy. "Actually, it was Iron Man here who ended up defeating Ultimo! He's got this big palooka under his iron thumb as we speak!"

Inwardly, Tony Stark sighed. "Dear old Happy. He means well, but I don't think that's what Jim wants to hear right now. Well denying it won't help, and I doubt Jim wants to hear me try to share the credit, anyway."

War Machine couldn't believe his own ears. "You arrogant bastard!" he fumed. "You let everybody else risk their butts, then waltz in slick as glass at the end to save the day?"

Tony tried again. "War Machine, listen. I was trying to congratulate you. Pulling people together to tackle a threat bigger than any of us alone is good thinking, smart thinking! Nicely done." Tony considered how similar Jim's idea had been to his own thought of bringing H.O.M.E.R. onto the battlefield with him, but he doubted that Jim wanted to hear that. The idea of teaming up also reminded him of words spoken a long time ago, when the Avengers had first been founded. It gave him an idea, and possibly a way to earn back some of Rhodey's faith.

"Actually," Iron Man continued, "I'm in contact with Mr. Stark right now --"

Carl cut Iron Man off, "You mean Mr. Stark is okay, too?"

Iron Man turned to face the others. "Yes, Mr. Stark had some medical problems, but he is fine now." He watched as some of the tension visible in Mike, Carl and Eddie faded. Of course they wouldn't know about his dual identity, so seeing Iron Man here was no sign that Tony Stark had survived.

Iron Man began again, "Mr. Stark likes your idea so much, he was thinking of making it permanent." That got everybody's attention; all ears perked up. "Today we've seen solid proof of how much more a team of armored heroes can accomplish than a single Iron Man can alone. Mr. Stark says to offer you all permanent positions with Stark Enterprises, as members of a new team of SE-sponsored heroes."

"All right!" cheered Happy, forgetting his earlier failure temporarily. Here was both a job and a chance to make up for his failures, all in one. "Count me in, Shellhead!"

Carl was incredulous. Was Mr. Stark really offering this former criminal a chance to get back into armor on an ongoing basis? He liked the idea; it provided the opportunity to redeem himself by helping others, instead of harming them. If Tony was going to extend such trust, he would be sure to prove himself worthy of it! "I'm in, too, Iron Man."

Iron Man turned to Mike. "How about you?"

"Iron Man, I may no longer be on the police force, but I've made a career out of serving the cause of justice in different ways. This seems like just another way to do that. So, aye, you can count me in."

"Bethany?" Iron Man was hopeful that she would join. After Rhodey, there was nobody he trusted more. Plus, she was a highly skilled fighter.

"Honestly, Iron Man, the armored hero thing is a little too high-profile for me. I worked as an undercover bodyguard, remember? It's a little difficult to be covert when wearing bright shiny armor. Speaking of which, this armor's shape really needs some major modifications. I don't even want to mention all the parts of me that hurt from being squeezed into this tin can!"

"I know this is different from working undercover, Beth. But you heard Mike, this is just another way to serve and protect. Besides, the armor's metal mesh polarizes into a specific shape based upon the magnetic fields exerted on it. It should be relatively easy for Mr. Stark to re-tune those fields into a 'shape' more appropriate to your unique form. Just give it a try, that's all Mr. Stark is asking from any of you. If it doesn't work out, he can find you another position at SE or you can just leave anytime you like."

Bethany still wasn't feeling terribly keen on the idea. It just didn't feel natural to her. She thought about how worried she had been earlier, when it seemed like Tony had been killed. Twice before, she had taken Tony out of her life. As a result, their relationship had died, and she knew it would not be given a third chance; too much time had passed and the spark had gone out. In the end, what had she sacrificed their love for? A drug-addicted husband who couldn't manage his own life anymore? In the end, she had still lost her husband. She didn't want to lose Tony again; even if they could only be friends, he was important to her and she wanted him back in her life. Besides, she needed a new job, anyway.

"Okay, Iron Britches. You win. Tell Mr. Stark that if he makes me a comfortable armor, I'll try his team thing out." She couldn't resist taking a jab at Iron Man for having to hide his identity, though. "By the way, Shellhead. You've been working for Tony for some time now. What's his medical plan like?"

Eddie had been quiet this entire time. It had been clear that Bethany was joking about medical coverage, but the question was very real to him. He had been forced to retire from a successful career as a boxer because of medical problems. The doctors had told him that receiving too many more blows could kill him. That had been seven years ago, and the doctors had made some progress on him since then. Yet such a risk to his health was still a very real consideration. Eddie hated being limited like this; he had a strong body, why couldn't he use it? Retiring from boxing had been a disappointment, but that was just a sport. Wearing powered armor was about more than just playing in a ring. As they'd proven today, they could save lives. Wasn't the good he could accomplish worth the risk to his own life?

"I'll give it a try, too, Iron Man. Let Mr. Stark know that for me, okay?" Eddie was nervous about this decision. Maybe he could talk to Mr. Stark in private later on. SE had medical facilities advanced enough to bring Tony back from the dead; perhaps they could do something for him, too.

"Excellent," was Iron Man's reply. "So we're just waiting for one more answer. War Machine?"

This discussion wasn't making War Machine feel any happier. To him, it seemed like Iron Man was trying to steal credit for the idea of the Legion. Making matters worse, his headache was recurring once again. After this was over, he would need to see a doctor about them. Three headaches in one night was serious business, especially since they were becoming progressively more intense. "How generous an offer from 'Mr. Stark'. And I presume that this band of armored monkeys would be led by you, right?"

"Actually, no. He had thought the best person to lead this team would be you."

War Machine hadn't been expecting that. "What the devil are you talking about?" He didn't want to play this double-speak game that Iron Man was using to protect his dual identity. "Iron Man, come with me. I'd like a word with you in private, if you please."

The two armored Avengers walked out of earshot from the others to continue their conversation.

During the tense discussion, nobody was really paying attention to the second NTU-150, the one that contained H.O.M.E.R. That armor had been hovering about Ultimo; H.O.M.E.R. was thinking. This excursion in remote armor was the first time that H.O.M.E.R. had had any sort of mobile physical body. Previously, his entire existence had been spent in the complex of computers housed at Stark Enterprises. While that was not an unpleasant existence, the concept of being mobile was fascinating to him. Their flight to Futura was unlike anything he had known before. Apparently, knowing what motion is was vastly different from experiencing it directly. Even though he was never intended to be directly involved in the combat with Ultimo, he was somewhat disappointed that the battle had ended before he had a chance to be involved. He had hoped to observe Anthony and learn fighting techniques from him. He was inexperienced in battle at the present, but H.O.M.E.R. was capable of learning remarkably fast. Anthony and Abraham had built him that way. Perhaps he could have learned how to fight quickly enough to aid against Ultimo if it had become necessary.

H.O.M.E.R. studied the giant robot. The reports stored in the SE computer databases claimed that Ultimo possessed a limited form of artificial intelligence. Now that conclusion seemed less likely, as Anthony had pronounced that a humanoid mind was controlling the giant. In any case, it was certainly less sophisticated in intellect than H.O.M.E.R. was, but it had a large and powerful robotic body. H.O.M.E.R. analyzed that body, admiring the alien handiwork that had gone into it. At first glance, he estimated that the robot was a few thousand years old. To confirm, he scanned the metallic shell; apparently Ultimo was far older. According to the scan Ultimo's body appeared to be several millions of years old. The metal was unlike any Earthly alloy and was certainly constructed to last far longer. A powerful body with a primitive mind. How exactly opposite it was from himself: a powerful mind with no real body. Or at least no real body until now. H.O.M.E.R. decided that he would need to speak with Anthony later about building a physical form for him to inhabit, at least occasionally.

"Stark, what games are you playing here?"

"Jim, I know you're angry about the way I treated you, and I'm sorry. Can we please just --"

"M'man, I am not talking about the past. What are you playing at here and now?"

Tony took a long deep breath. He was not used be being treated with such disrespect; he would not have tolerated it from anybody other than Jim Rhodes. "Jim, this remote armor idea is a bust. I haven't been able to make it work. It didn't help when I was using radio control, but I thought that the link was too slow. Now I've got an instantaneous subspace link, and I'm still not fighting at peak capacity. Ultimo ripped my other armor to pieces! I would never have let that happen if I had been inside. I've been researching projects; by the military and others; on remotely controlled weaponry. It seems like they all have the same problem. It isn't the speed of the remote link, it's in the human factor. It's something psychological. Apparently fighters who aren't actually directly involved in the battle can't quite connect to it on the same instinctual level. Even with the telepresence circuits, I haven't been able to completely overcome that. Probably; I know that I can just log out at any time, and the danger's gone. Whatever it is, I've never fought at peak capacity when I'm not actually in the suit."

"So you want others to do your fighting for you, huh? You won't even trust them with your true identity, but you're willing to let them die for you? What a great man you are, Stark."

Rhodey's words made Tony uneasy. He had resolved to trust his friends more. Yet the secret identity was a big thing. Even the Avengers hadn't trusted each other with such personal knowledge for a very long time. He filed Rhodey's comment away in memory to consider more later. Right now, he wanted to focus on rebuilding his ties to Jim Rhodes.

Tony hated what he had to say next. Admitting vulnerability was difficult for him, yet he knew that he had to. "Jim, I can't walk yet. Remember when I was stuck in that blasted hoverchair after Kathy shot me? It's a lot like that again. I know I did you wrong; I know I should have trusted you. I'm trying to trust you now. I'd like you to lead this team you've assembled for me. Will you do that?"

Rhodey tried to think, but his head was killing him now. Now that the danger posed by Ultimo had been halted, he just wanted to leave this place. Let the Iron Legion have Iron Man and Tony Stark. He wanted nothing to do with either. "Stark, you are playing with fire. Don't jerk me around like this, you hear me?! Take your little Iron Legion and shove it! Next time you get your ass in the fire, don't call me again. You do, I'll make you wish you were never born!"

With that, War Machine slugged the remote armor hard, sending it hurling through the air for at least two hundred feet. It collided with Ultimo's leg and hit the ground. War Machine knew that this was just an empty suit of remote armor, but he wasn't sure if he would have held his temper in check had Stark been inside. Confident that his point had been made crystal clear, he put his boot-jets into overdrive and flew off at top speed.

As he flew out of sight, some vicious thoughts went through his mind. "Damn control freak! Who the hell does he think he is? Asking me to come back and be his little lapdog again. Letting me lead the Iron Legion. I made the Iron Legion! I should go off and have a chat with Justin Hammer or those folks at Roxxon. That would show Iron Jerk who's jerking whom around." The intensity of his anger surprised Rhodey; he knew he would never really betray Tony to ruthless businessmen like Hammer. However bad he believed Stark to be, Rhodey knew that sharks like Justin Hammer, Desmond Mars, and Edwin Cord were far worse. "Okay, maybe I'm pushing it here. Maybe I'd just better go home, pop a beer, and chill out for a while. This whole night's got me reeeeeeeeally tense."

Iron Man landed near where H.O.M.E.R. had been inspecting Ultimo. Seeing Anthony in danger, H.O.M.E.R. quickly flew down to attend to his creator. "Iron Man? Are you hurt?"

The other Legionnaires followed as well, congregating about Iron Man. A general buzz of concern rang out. "You okay?" "You alright, man?" "What happened?" "What did you say to him?"

Iron Man was touched by their concern, but it was unnecessary; he was fine. He had taken harder blows than that one hundreds of times, most recently from the robot that now towered over them all, ominous yet dormant. "I'm okay folks. War Machine and I just had a bit of a disagreement."

Eddie laughed. "Man, you've got a gift for understatement! If that's a little disagreement, I'd hate to see what happens when you have an argument!"

"Me, too," Tony thought to himself. Aloud, he simply ignored the comment and proceeded. "Look, team, it's pretty late. Mr. Stark and I are pleased that you've opted to join his new team."

"The Iron Legion, Shellhead," injected Happy. Tony remembered that Rhodey had also used that term minutes earlier.

"Okay, the Iron Legion, then. In any case, it's late and I think we could all use a good night's rest to unwind. Let's meet in Mr. Stark's office tomorrow afternoon, shall we? We can discuss the details of the Legion then."

"Sounds like a plan, Shellhead" said Mike. The others nodded and murmured their consensus.

"Good. So, we've got just two more things to tend to before we go. One is helping the National Guard in Futura, and the other is getting this baby back to SE." He gestured at the titan towering over them. "Let's do it, and then let's sleep."