The Invincible Iron Man (Marvel;Re)/Issue 9

This is issue 9 of The Invincible Iron Man.
== Transcript (unfinished) ==
Tony sits in front of a holographic computer, rubbing his head. He lets out a long sigh and types away on the keyboard.
* Tony: Okay... J.A.R.V.I.S?
A voice comes out of the computer.
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: Hello, Mr. Sta-Sta-Sta-Stark. How can Iiiiiiii-- How can I help you to-- *ksscchhh*
* Tony: Nope, that voice box is still messing up...
Pepper walks into the room and puts some coffee on Tony's table.
* Pepper: Tony, you've been doing this all night, you need to get some rest.
* Tony: This A.I. is Jarvis' legacy, Pepper, I can't stop working on it until it's perfect.
* Pepper: If it's just the voice that's messed up, I think you can take a break without worrying.
* Tony: It's not. Look at this. J.A.R.V.I.S., send the Iron Man Model Mark 2 to me.
The Iron Man MK 2 launches out towards Tony but falls apart mid-way through the air, the helmet rolling to Tony's feet.
* Tony: That is my second least advanced armor and the easiest one to launch out by far...
* Pepper: Oh... Well, I'm sure it does at least a few things right, doesn't it?
* Tony: J.A.R.V.I.S., put whip cream on my coffee.
A tiny hand pops out of the table and sprays some whip cream on Tony's coffee.
* Tony: Meet the only thing J.A.R.V.I.S. currently knows how to do...
* Pepper: I don't get it, you've made A.I.'s before, why's this one messing up so much?
* Tony: H.O.M.E.R. and F.R.I.D.A.Y. were only made to help with the Iron Man suits and I added things like their voices or holographic bodies later. J.A.R.V.I.S. is the first time I'm trying to make it all from the very beginning. Plus, he's meant to be able to control the equipment all around the house to help clean up and such in addition to combat purposes so that's also going to take a while...
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: A-a-a-a-ler-aler-aler-aler-aler-aler-aler...
* Pepper: What's it doing...?
Tony punches the holographic projector of the computer.
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: Alert. Avengers Wave alarms have gone off in the center of New York City. There is-is-is-is-is-is...
* Tony: Oh, for the love of...
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: *kksshh* There is a crime currently in-progress. The criminal known as Whiplash is-is-is-is *kssh* is attempting to rob a nearby bank.
* Pepper: Whiplash robbing a bank? That's not his M.O...
* Tony: Honestly, I don't really care. I'm just glad that I have an excuse to leave the lab, finally...
Tony gets up and stands on the suiting up platform. A hologram is projected in front of him, showing pictures of the Iron Man armors.
* Tony: Now, what am I feeling up for today...? Hm... Oh, here's one I haven't gotten to use in a while!
Tony suits up in the Iron Man Armor Model Mark 24 and takes off.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: I noticed you tinkering with a new A.I., Mister Stark. I hope you don't plan on replacing me with it.
* Tony: I don't, don't worry, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Even if he becomes my new armor A.I., you're still irreplaceable.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: Yes, I'm especially irreplaceable when the replacement in question is a hunk of junk that can barely get out a sentence. Correct?
* Tony: Don't insult J.A.R.V.I.S. just cause you're jealous, F.R.I.D.A.Y. I'm sure the two of you will get along when he's done.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: What will become of me when he is?
* Tony: I programmed you to have an understanding of choice for a reason, F.R.I.D.A.Y., you can do anything you want after J.A.R.V.I.S. is finished.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: I want to be-- below you.
* Tony: I'm flattered, but I'm married.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: No. Below you.
An energy whip cracks at Tony and slashes into his armor, causing him to crash to the ground. He manages to quickly recover and stands up, revealing Whiplash standing in front of him.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: I warned you.
*Whiplash: Ah, Iron Man! It's been too long!
*Tony: Same to you, Scarlotti. What's up with the bank robbing? You're a mercenary, not a thief. What's the matter, business slow these days so you gotta rob banks to pay the bills?
Whiplash cracks at Tony with his energy whips. Tony manages to dodge them and Whiplash smashes straight through a car instead. However, Whiplash then cracks his whip again and ties it around Tony's leg, dragging him to the ground and pulling Tony towards him. When he's close enough, he starts whipping at him repeatedly, Tony using a forcefield to block the attacks.
* Tony: F.R.I.D.A.Y., calculate how long he dates between whips!
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: Two point five seconds.
* Tony: So I've got two point five seconds of time to blast him. Okay, let's go!
Out of nowhere, a giant man in armor crashes down right behind Whiplash. The man grabs him, flies into the air, and then flies back down, smashing Whiplash into the concrete floor. Tony lowers his force fields and stands up. The people all crowd around the man in the armor.
* Armored Man: Fear not, citizens! The day is saved! Thanks to...
He strikes a dramatic pose.
* Detroit Steel: Detroit Steel, The All-American Superhero, is here for you!
The crowd cheers for Detroit Steel while Tony stares at him.
* Tony: Uh...
* Detroit Steel: Oh, sorry, didn't notice you there. Apologies for stealing your thunder, friend!
He offers to shake Tony's hand and Tony accepts.
* Tony: Uh... apology accepted... So, what's your deal, pal?
* Detroit Steel: I'm the new superhero on the block! Detroit Steel's the name!
* Tony: N... neat...
Detroit Steel pulls away from the handshake, revealing repulsors on his hands. Tony notices this and Detroit Steel very quickly hides the palms of his hands by putting them on his hips.
* Tony: Nice blasters on your hands...
Detroit Steel nods at Tony, who then looks down at Detroit Steel's chest and sees an Arc Reactor on it. A camera crew walk over to the two.
* Reporter: Mr. Steel! Do you mind an interview?
* Detroit Steel: Not at all, ma'am! A hero isn't a hero without conversing with the press!
Detroit Steel walks off with the reporter for his interview.
* Tony: ...F.R.I.D.A.Y?
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: Yes, sir?
* Tony: Scan that guy's armor.
* F.R.I.D.A.Y.: Scanning... His armor is made of a composite of steel, vibranium, and titanium. There is indeed a man on the inside piloting it. It appears to have repulsors on the hands and chest as well as rockets in the back and at the bottom of the feet. The weapon count is numerous and the armor is quite obviously designed for heavy combat. The technology in the armor... is Stark.
* Reporter: And who exactly created your armor, if you don't mind me asking?
* Detroit Steel: The fine folks over at Hammer Industries! They built me to be their own personal superhero.
* Tony: Hammer back at it again, I see...
Later on, Tony is once again seen working on J.A.R.V.I.S., this time though he is mostly in his Iron Man armor minus the helmet.
* Tony: Say the word "is".
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: I-i-i-is-is-is-is-is...
* Tony: Okay, that's clearly a major stumbling block for you...
In the background, Pepper is on a phone call while Rhodey looks after Morgan.
* Pepper: Yes, I get that, but... no, no, listen, I--... yes... no, I don't believe so...
* Morgan: Why does mommy have to make a meeting with the Hammer people? If they're stealing daddy's things, can't daddy fly there and stop them?
* Rhodey: Unfortunately, no. Your dad never actually trademarked the Iron Man armor. When he started out, he claimed Iron Man was his bodyguard and because of that people thought Iron Man invented the armor so Tony wasn't allowed to trademark it since Iron Man was the inventor but Iron Man wasn't allowed to trade mark it without revealing his secret identity. Now, the technology for the Iron Man armor's so wide-spread and used by so many people that Tony can't get a trademark for it without stepping on the toes of a bunch of people. Meaning Hammer's technically allowed to do the stuff he does.
* Morgan: Daddy's stupid.
* Rhodey: Tell me about it...
Pepper walks over to Tony.
* Tony: Any luck?
* Pepper: Hammer's refusing to dismantle the armor but he's willing to have a meeting with you about it.
* Tony: How soon?
* Pepper: He's free literally now.
* Tony: Seriously? How few visitors does that guy get...?
* J.A.R.V.I.S.: Justin Hammer gets approximately six-sixsixsixsix-six-six-sixteen visitors a month. Abnormally-abnormally-abnormally low for a company owner.
* Tony: Okay, so evidentially, J.A.R.V.I.S. can only recognize questions as requests. So that should be a fun bug to get rid of...
* Pepper: So, I get that it's a reference to Jarvis, but what does his name actually stand for?
* Tony: That's a very good question. I don't know yet... I think the "I" probably stands for "intelligence" or something.
Tony gets out of his chair and picks up the Iron Man armor's helmet, putting it on.
* Tony: Anyway, I'm off to have a talk with Hammer. You don't mind taking care of Morgan for a while, right?
* Pepper: I've been doing it while you're gone this whole time. Why stop now?
* Tony: Sweet. Love you, bye!
Tony takes off. At Hammer Industries, a man and two woman (one older, one a teenager), stand in front of the Detroit Steel armor while a group of people clean it.
* Detroit Steel: You know, I always forget how freakin' huge that thing is until I'm actually out of it.
* Well-Dressed Woman: Yes, we made it freakin' huge so that it'd be intimidating. But we painted it like the American flag so that it'd also be endearing. A lot of thought went into the armor's creation, really.
* Detroit Steel: It totally paid off. I mean, look at that thing! It's nuts! You and your husband have really out-done yourselves this time, Justine! Speaking of which, where is Zeke? I wanna talk to him about some upgrade ideas I've got for the suit.
* ???: Yeah, you know, now that you mention it...
They both turn around and see Tony walking towards them.
* Tony: I've got a couple of words for Zeke, too. I've got a couple of words for you, I've got a couple of words for your father, I've got a couple of words I'd like to say to pretty much everyone...
* Justine: Tony! So glad you could make it, mon ami! So good to see you!
* Tony: Where's Justin?
* Justine: My father thought it'd be a good idea if I handled this meeting, actually. After all, in just a few years I'll be the Acting CEO and then a few years after that, WHAM! Actual CEO! How awesome's that gonna be, right?
* Tony: If you're gonna keep stealing from me then I don't give a crap who's the CEO.
* Armor Cleaner: It's not stealing.
* Tony: What?
* Armor Cleaner: We've done our research. We know that the armor's not trademarked, Stark. You can't touch us.
* Tony: And you are?
The cleaner takes his helmet off.
* Zeke: My name is Zeke Stane. I'm the CEO of Stane Corp and the husband of Justine here.
* Tony: Yeah, I know who you are, Zeke. We've met before. You decked me, like, super hard...
* Zeke: We have? Sorry, I meet a lot of people and it's hard remembering all of them.
Tony doesn't respond.
* Justine: Don't mind him, Tony. Zeke here's just trying to get under your skin! Oh, before I forget, have you met our daughter? She's a tad sick right now so sorry if she coughs or anything while we're talking.
The younger girl walks over to Tony. She sneezes into her hands before offering Tony a handshake.
* Sasha: Sasha Hammer, nice to meet you.
* Tony: Uh... sorry, I'm a bit germophobic...
Sasha shrugs and puts her hands in her pockets. She then coughs, causing Tony step away from her.
* Justine: Maybe you should step out of the room for a bit, Sasha.
* Sasha: You got it, mom.
Sasha walks out of the room.
* Justine: Sorry. As much as I love Sasha, she's a bit of an oddball.
* Tony: It's fine. So, she's got her mother's last name, huh?
* Justine: My father insisted.
* Tony: Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do... Also, I couldn't help but notice she was Asian...?
* Zeke: We're aware, yes.
* Tony: ...Well, okay then...
*Zeke: So, is there anything else you'd like to say before our meeting ends?
*Tony: How did you even manage to get your hands on my tech? I've been extremely careful with the blueprints for it.
*Zeke: If we told you, you'd shut it down.
*Justine: And if we're being honest, we don't really want you to do that. Sooo...
*Tony: What's your game here? Try to replace Iron Man with your own hero? That's never going to work!
*Justine: Oh, we're well aware that'd never work.
*Zeke: That's why we're not doing it...
Tony turns to Detroit Steel.
* Tony: Who the hell're you anyway? You, like... a gangster looking for work that they hired?
* Detroit Steel: My name's Doug. I'm a soldier.
* Tony: No way! There's no way that you're a war vet. Hammer Industries and Stane Corp never hire somebody that normal...
* Zeke: You're accusing Doug here of lying that he's a war veteran now? Stark, you've sunk so low...
* Tony: What? N-no, I'm just--
* Zeke: I understand that you dislike me and my wife, Stark. I've done some terrible things to you as the Iron Monger and my wife's father has been a long-standing enemy of Stark Industries. But try not to allow your hatred of us to spread to Doug. He's innocent in all of this.
* Tony: That's... I... Hey, don't flip this on me! I'm not the bad guy here!
* Justine: Listen. Tony, honey? How about we cut a deal?
* Tony: Not even--
* Justine: How about Hammer Industries, Stane Corp, and Stark Industries all unite together for once? Let us use your tech for Detroit Steel, I'll have a talk with my father and convince him never to try and steal your tech again, and Zeke will upgrade your suits for you!
* Tony: How could Zeke--
* Zeke: I've never invented anything, Stark. Every single piece of technology I've ever used has been upgraded versions of already existing equipment. You can trust me. I know how to upgrade your suits...
* Justine: So, what do you say? Give us the tech to upgrade Detroit Steel and we'll upgrade your equipment in return.
Tony stands in shock for a bit.
* Tony: You know what? How about this.
He points at the Detroit Steel armor.
* Tony: I'll let you use my tech if you two manage to take that suit and shove it--
Smash cut to Tony having a door slammed in his face by Justine. Tony walks out of the building and to his car, where it's revealed Sasha Hammer is sitting on top of it.
* Tony: Get off my car, kid, I'm going home.
* Sasha: You sign over your company yet?
* Tony: They only wanted me to le them use my technology, nothing about selling my company.
* Sasha: Eh, whatever. I'm gonna get your company soon anyway.
* Tony: What was that?
* Sasha: My dad says that he's gonna take your legacy and make it a part of mine. That means that eventually all the stuff you have is gonna be mine...
* Tony: ...Bit of a punk, ain'tcha, kid?
* Sasha: Hehe...
Sasha jumps off of Tony's car and walks off into the Hammer Industries building. Tony then gets into his car and drives away.