Vanko Takes Over
Dancing on the stage, Justin Hammer felt like he was on top of the world. Not only had he secured a slot at the Stark Expo, but he was also about to blow Stark Industries out of the water once and for all. The audience cheered, and he knew he was about to have the best night of his life.
“Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. Thanks for coming.” He grinned at the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place 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 it’s just too bad.
“Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press if faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink.”
A few people clapped, but Justin knew they would all be impressed in the moments to follow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military! The Hammer Drone!” Gesturing behind him, he brought attention to a platform that rose out of the ground.
They saw many drones that looked like soldiers standing together as music from each branch of the military played. “Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines!”
He smiled and raised his arms in the air. Then he got ready for the biggest reveal.
“That’s a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders. Let me tell you.” He laughed. “But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battlesuit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!”
At the front of the stage, another platform raised up and then Rhodey was standing in front of everyone wearing the suit with its full gear. The crowd went wild as he saluted, and the drones copied his movements.
Justin nodded in happiness. “For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for…”
Suddenly a loud rumbling noise was heard from the sky behind them. As everyone turned to see what caused the disruption, Iron Man and Supergirl came rushing in. Then the crowd went crazy as the two heroes landed on the stage.
“We’ve got trouble,” Tony told his friend.
Rhodey sighed. “Tony, there are civilians present. I’m here on orders. Let’s not do this right now.”
Kara waved with a fake smile and then looked at the boys. “Give them a wave, boys.”
“All these people are in danger. You got to get them out of here.” Tony said while lifting his arm.
“Trust us for the next five minutes, Rhodey,” Kara said, the smile still plastered on her face.
She wished she had a mask for situations like this.
“I tried that. I got tossed around your house.”
“Listen, I think he’s working with Vanko.” Tony interrupted him.
Rhodey paused. “Vanko’s alive?”
“Apparently,” Kara muttered, her eyes searching the skies for any threat.
Walking forward, Tony faced Justin. “Where is he? Where’s Vanko?”
“What?” Justin faked shock but knew he was caught. “Who?”
“Tell us,” Tony said quickly.
“What are you doing here, man?” Justin stuttered.
Kara had had enough. “Drop the act; it isn’t working.”
He looked at her. “Ah, the infamous female accomplice. I hear you have a name now. ‘Supergirl’?”
“Don’t make me fry your ass.” She whispered so only they could hear it.
Suddenly, Rhodey started to yell. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
Before they could do anything, the gun on the back of his suit lifted and locked in the attack position.
“Is that you?” Tony asked him.
Rhodey panicked. “I’m not doing that. That’s not me. I can’t move. I’m locked up. I’m locked up.”
Tony turned to his sister. “Can you fry the suit?”
She used her vision to look inside, but couldn’t tell where the feed was coming from. “I can’t. I don’t know which systems he’s messed with, and if I hit the wrong one, I could hit Rhodey.”
“Guys, get out of here! Go!” Rhodey shouted at them. “The system’s compromised.”
Launching himself into the air, Tony sighed. “Let’s take it outside.”
As the men in suits flew away from the crowd, Kara prepared herself to follow. Then the drones were engaged and left the building. “Oh shit.”
Jumping into action, Kara tore apart as many drones as she could find. Unfortunately, it seemed as though they just kept coming. “Oh, come on!”
She chased the drones out of the pavilion and used her vision to sear their heads off. Looking over to her right, she saw a small crowd huddled together with three drones approaching.
“No!”
She barely registered her own shout as she flew over, knocking two out of the way. The third started shooting as she landed in front of the people and held her cape out to catch the bullets. The looks on the civilians' faces were scared, and Kara knew it wasn’t just because of the drones.
The world didn’t really know her yet, so they didn’t know they could trust her as they did Iron Man. She didn’t have time to worry about that, but later she would make sure they knew.
When the drone stopped firing, she grabbed its body in hand and the head in her other and ripped them apart. Then she turned to the people. “Get out of here! Grab anyone you see and leave. I’ll hold them off.”
As they ran away, a man turned back to her. “Thank you.”
She smiled and nodded before shooting up into the sky.
It wasn’t long until she came to an obvious realization. “These guys are going to keep coming as long as Vanko’s out there.”
Taking a breath, she hovered above the chaos on listened for any sign of Vanko. She didn’t find one, but she did overhear Pepper yelling at a scared man. Glaring, she shot off in their direction.
…
Justin ran over to his tech man in a panic. “What is it? What’s happening?”
“The software’s been overridden.”
“What? What do you mean it’s been overridden?” He asked incredulously.
“He slaved the drones.” The man told him.
“That’s impossible. Call the guards.”
Another man ran over. “All the phone are down, sir.”
“Well, then call their cells!”
“Cell phones are not working, either.”
Justin swore as his tech spoke again. “He’s locked us out of the mainframe.”
“Who locked you out?” Pepper asked as she stomped over, Natasha close behind her.
He groaned. “Please, please, go away. I’ve got this handled.”
“Have you now?” Pepper questioned in anger.
“Yes, I do!” He shouted back. “In fact, if your guy hadn’t shown up, this wouldn’t be happening. So please go away! Thank you.”
Then he turned to the man at the computer and whispered in his ear. “We need to get these bitches out of here.”
Without waiting for another word, Natasha stepped forward and slammed his body into the table. “Tell me who’s behind this. Who’s behind this?”
“Ivan. Ivan Vanko.”
There was a crash, and everyone looked up to see Kara standing behind Pepper. “Where is he?”
“He’s at my facility.”
Kara looked at Natasha. “You want a lift?
She shook her head. “I have to change. I’ll meet you there.”
“Sounds good.”
She started to take off before stopping and walking over to Hammer. Then she punched him in the face.
“Hey!”
“That’s for all of this and more.” Then she paused. “And never call them bitches again, you got that?”
Then she was gone.
…
“Tony, we found Vanko. He’s at Hammer Industries.” Kara said as she flew. “I’m headed there now.”
“Yeah, uh, you’ll have to do that alone. I’m a little busy!” He shouted back. “JARVIS can’t override the suit.”
“Shit. Well, I bet we can get it back online.”
“We?”
“Agent Romanov is meeting me there.” She smirked.
“Yeah, no, scrap that. Let her go.”
“Tony…”
“I need you here! This is going to be bad.” He told her. “Meet us at…”
“Just do your thing, I’ll find you.” She told him as she grabbed a slab of concrete and threw it away from the people running for shelter.
“Supergirl!”
“I’m coming!” She shouted and followed their repulsors into the night.