Caroline Stark

Chapter 16

"There" I say. Tony makes a sharp turn onto the church road and parks a little ways in. We walk over, to where dozens of news trucks are parked. We pick out the one with the biggest sattelite and wait until the guy leaves before we go in. 

Tony powers on the computer and checks the reading. "That ain't gonna cut it."

The news guy comes back in. I immediately grab a wifi box and turn invisible, in case I need to knock him out. 

"Excuse me sir, I don't know who you think you are-"

Tony turns around and makes the "shh" signal. 

The guy's face lights up. "Mom, I need to call you back, something magical is happening." says the guy into the phone. He hangs up. "Tony Stark is in my van!" he says excitedly. 

"Shh!" says Tony. 

"Tony Stark is in my van!" he says louder.

"No he's not" says Tony. 

"I knew you were still alive!" he says excitedly.

"Come on in." Tony says quietly. 

The guy excitedly comes in and I reappear. I set down the wifi box. 

"Oh my god! Both of the Starks are in my van!" he says even more excited. "I am your biggest fan."

"Okay first, is this your van?" Tony asks. "Is anyone else coming in here?"

"No no no no, just us." he replies. "I'm Gary."

"Gary." Tony greets. He shakes his hand. 

"Oh, wow." says Gary. "You're really pretty." he says to me. 

"Hey, don't hit on my daughter when I'm right here." says Tony. 

"Or ever" I mutter. 

The guy smiles in awe.

"I get a lot of this. It's okay" Tony says. 

"Can I just say-" starts Gary. 

"What do you want?"Tony asks, his smile becoming fake. 

"I don't know if you can tell, but," Gary takes off his hat and gestures to his face. "I have like, patterned my whole look after you. My hair's a little, it's not right because there's no product in it."

"Right" says Tony. 

"I don't want to make things awkward for you, but I do have to show you-" he rolls up his sleeve, revealing a tattoo of a head. "Boom!"

"Uhh, hispanic Scott Bayo."guesses Tony. 

Gary laughs. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, is that me?" TOny asks. 

"Yeah." says Gary happily. "It's- I mean- I had them do it off of a doll that I made, so its not like it's off a picture-"

"Oh he made a doll of you!" I tell Tony.

"Okay listen to me, okay?" Tony asks, grabbing Gary's shoulders. "I don't want to clip your wings here, we're both a little over excited. I got an issue, I'm chasing bad guys. I'm trying to grad a little something for some hard-crypt data files, but I don't have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof, okay? Recalibrate the ISDNs, pump it up by about forty percent."

"Got it." says Gary. 

"It's a mission." Tony tells him. "Tony needs Gary."

"And Gary needs Tony." says Gary. 

"Be quiet about it. Go." Tony says. 

Gary jumps out of the van and climbs onto the roof. 

"That was nice of you." I tell Tony. 

"What?" he asks. 

"You were nice to your creepy stalker." I reply. "Maybe you should ask him to make a doll for you."

Tony ignores me. I minute later, Gary bangs on the wide of the van, telling us that it's re-calibrated. Tony knocks back in response. He logs onto the government website with Rhodey's information and Bam! We're on. He pulls up the information on Chad Davis. A video pops up. 

"What would you regard is the defining moment of your life?" asks a voice. 

"Well, I think that'd be the day I decided not to let my injury beat me." replies Chad. 

Tony clicks a few more things. A video with a girl pops up. 

"Will you please state your name for the camera?" the same voice asks. 

"Ellen Brandt."replies the girl. 

"Okay, so, the injections are administered periodically." the camera turns to face the speaker. I give  asmall gasp when I see it's Aldrich Killian. "Addiction will not be tolerated, and those who cannot regulate will be cut from the program." 

Tony clicks some more stuff, and a different video of Aldrich pops up. 

"Once misfits, cripples. You are the next iteration of human evolution. All right everyone, I promise you, looking back at your life, there will nothing bitterer than that glorious risk you foolishly elected to forgo. Today, is your glory." the video shows People being strapped in and prepared to receive injections. "Let's begin!" The girl, Ellen, is injected with some orange stuff, and her arm miraculously begins to regrow. It looks kind of like magma, and she groans in pain. The guy next to her begins to scream, and he becomes completely orange. "we gotta get out of here! We gotta get out of here!" Aldrich calls to all the scientists. "get out!" The guy continues to glow, the orange filling his eyes and mouth. He explodes, filling the room with a bright light. 

"A bomb is not a bomb when it's a misfire." I say. 

"The stuff doesn't always work, right pal?" asks Tony. "The stuff is faulty but you found a buyer, didn't you?" he asks the computer. "You work for the mandarin?" Tony chuckles. "Got you pal."