"Is this the start of Iron Man 2?"
Whiplash, Ivan Vanko, had finally appeared.
Vincent knew Vanko's ambition. The Arc Reactor design came from Howard Stark and Anton Vanko. The sins of the fathers were visited upon the sons.
Tony had been too high-profile. Vanko saw the Arc Reactor on TV and built his own out of scraps and hatred.
Vincent disentangled himself from the two beautiful octopuses clinging to him.
Sandi Brandenberg was limp, completely drained.
Inez (The Outlaw), however, had bright eyes. She stared at Vincent's steel-like body with admiration.
She told herself she wasn't being taken advantage of. She was taking advantage of the Ice Demon. Sleeping with a god was every woman's fantasy.
"Rest well. I need to go out. Starting tomorrow, you join Oscorp. Report to Raven," Vincent ordered.
"Raven? Mystique?" Inez gasped.
"Yes."
"You tamed the famous Mystique?" Inez was excited. Mystique was a legend among mutants. A revolutionary leader.
"Raven left the Brotherhood. Magneto abandoned her. Now she's the Vice President of Oscorp," Vincent said casually. "I need manpower. You two are perfect for her enforcement team."
Vincent dressed quickly.
Sandi looked at him with puppy eyes. Ruthless man.
Inez was pumped. "Working for Mystique? That's way better than mercenary work."
They had a patron now. A powerful one.
Flushing Meadows Park.
Vincent flew through the air as a stream of water, arriving just in time to see the chaos.
Tony Stark was using lasers to slice through Hammer Drones.
Ivan Vanko, in his Whiplash Mark II armor, was thrashing both Iron Man and War Machine with electric whips.
BOOM.
A figure landed between them.
"Tony, looks like you're having trouble," Vincent smirked, adjusting his suit.
"Vincent Hall?" Tony frowned inside his helmet.
"You dare interfere?" Vanko laughed. He lashed out with an electric whip.
Vincent caught the whip with his bare hand.
He yanked.
Vanko was pulled off balance, flying toward Vincent.
Vincent grabbed Vanko's neck.
CRACK.
Vincent snapped Ivan Vanko's neck like a twig. The Russian genius went limp instantly.
Vincent tossed the body aside.
"Vincent... he wasn't really a threat. I had him," Tony stepped back, wary.
War Machine (Rhodey) aimed his guns at Vincent. His HUD identified him: Vincent Hall. Oscorp Chairman. Stark Shareholder.
"He didn't deserve to die," Tony said, looking at the body.
"Tony, you have no idea how many people want your reactor," Vincent shrugged. "If I let him live, I might be tempted to steal the tech from him. But I'm a shareholder. Stealing from my own investment is bad business."
"You own Tesla Lighting," Tony noted. "With the Arc Reactor, Oscorp could crush Stark Industries."
"Market cap is just a number. Oscorp has its own clean energy," Vincent said, eyeing Tony's chest. "Besides... you're dying, Tony."
Tony froze.
Rhodey tried to intervene. Vincent blasted him away with a jet of water.
"Relax, he's just stunned," Vincent said. "Tony, your palladium core is poisoning you. You need a new element."
Tony stepped out of his armor. "How do you know?"
"The reactor keeps the shrapnel from your heart, but it leaks radiation. It's killing you."
"I can save you," Vincent offered. "Build me an AI. A 'Jarvis' for Oscorp. In exchange, I remove the shrapnel and detoxify your blood."
"An AI? No backdoors?" Tony asked.
"None. And you know the consequences of cheating a demon."
Tony thought for a second. "Deal."
Vincent placed his hand on Tony's chest.
Hydro-Kinesis: Surgical Extraction.
Tony felt his chest freeze.
Black blood and tiny metal shards were pulled out of his body, encased in a sphere of water.
The pain was gone. The poison was gone.
"Done. You still have a hole in your chest, but it's clean. The water is accelerating the healing," Vincent said, holding the ball of toxic sludge.
"Also, find a new element. Palladium sucks."
Vincent turned into water and flew away.
"Jarvis, scan body," Tony ordered, stunned.
"Sir... blood toxicity is zero. Shrapnel is gone. Health is 100%," Jarvis reported. "There is a residual energy accelerating tissue regeneration."
Tony looked at Vanko's corpse.
Oscorp security teams arrived and secured the body and the tech. Vincent didn't let good scrap go to waste.
S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ.
Fury watched the footage grimly.
"If Tony builds him an AI... we're in trouble," Fury said. "An unleashed Jarvis in the hands of the Ice Demon could hack the Pentagon."
Hill was silent.
"We found Bruce Banner in Brazil," Hill reported. "But he's unstable."
"We need a team," Fury muttered. "Banner, Stark, Cap, Natasha, Barton. Reed Richards is busy with Doom. Namor is isolationist."
"What about Black Bolt?" Hill asked.
"The Inhuman King?" Fury shuddered. "He's a walking nuke. If he speaks, cities fall. He's too dangerous to recruit."
"The Ice Demon's power spike in the Atlantic... he's getting stronger," Fury noted. "He's not just Ice anymore. He's a catastrophe."
"Natasha and Barton are in London," Hill said. "Investigating an attack on a gene lab."
"Harry Osborn?"
"Yes. Half an hour ago."
"Is Connors there?" Fury asked sharply.
"Possibly. And Peter Parker."
"Peter... his father worked with Connors. They might have the key to genetic enhancement," Fury realized. "We need those serums. S.H.I.E.L.D. is outgunned."
"Natasha is worried about returning to Vincent," Hill said softly.
"She has to," Fury said coldly. "Oscorp is hiring executives. Maybe... maybe you should apply too, Hill."
Hill glared at him. "I'm not joining his harem."
"Just get the serum," Fury sighed. "The world is changing. If we don't evolve, we die."
Now Get The FULL NOVEL at Once!
Get 50% OFF for limited time only.
@patreon.com/Authorizz/shop