Tony's sister - Book 1

Chapter 10

The Starks had attented the Senate Armed Services Committee the next day as Tony received a letter from an Agent named Marshall. Sydney took place next to Pepper as they all listened to Mr. Stern. "Mr. Stark, could we pick up now where we left off?" The man said, however Tony was too busy talking to Pepper as she had to mention to listen to the man. "Mr. Stark?"

"Yes dear?" Tony asked, turning back around to face Mr. Stern.

"Can i have your attention?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"

"I do not." Tony said.

"You do not?" Mr. Stern asked and the man shaked his head.

"I do not. Well, it depends on how you define the word, weapon." Tony said.

"The Iron Man weapon."

"My device does not fit that description." Tony defended himself.

"Well... How would you describe it?" Mr. Stern asked.

"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator. It's a high-tech prosthesis. That is... That's actually the most apt description i can make of it." Tony explained.

"It's a weapon. It's a weapon, Mr. Stark." The Senator said.

"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen-"

"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the Unitated States of America." The senator interrupted Tony.

"Well, you can forget it." Tony said. "I am Iron Man. The suit and i are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in. You can't have it."

"Look, i'm no expert..." The Senator said. "I'm no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I'd now like to call, Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."

"Let the record reflect that i observed Mr. Hammer entering the chamber, and i am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance." Tony said, a little annoyed while Juston Hammer started laughing before talking.

"Absolutely, i'm no expert." He said. "I defer to you, Anthony. You're the wonder boy. Senator, if i may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad. Howard Stark." Sydney scoffed silently as she looked at the man who was standing up to talk to the whole audience. "Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear. He was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we're here. In the last 6 months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish i were comforted Anthony, i really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when i leave the house, but this ain't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God blass America."

Sydney looked at her brother who shaked his head, as they both locked eyes. The woman could tell he was angry, but she didn't mind. If someone had talked to her like that, she would also be mad.

"That is well said, Mr. Hammer." Mr. Stern said. "The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber."

"Rhodey?" Tony asked, looking at Sydney, who shrugged in response, also not knowing why one of their greatest friends had to come in. Both of them turned their heads to the door, and the black man walked inside, wearing his uniform. "Hey buddy, i didn't expect to see you here."

"Look, it's me. I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on." Rhodey replied as he shaked Tony's hand before the man walked up to the front.

"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you pkease read page 57, paragraph 4?" The Senator asked.

"You're requesting that i read specific selections from my report, Senator?" Rhodey asked.

"Yes sir."

"It was my understanding that i was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner."

"I understand." The Senator said. "A lot of things have changed today. So if you could just read-"

"You do understand, that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final-"

"Just read it Colonel. Thank you." The Senator interrupted the man.

Rhodey took a breath in before he started reading. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests." He finished. "I did, however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh the liabilities. And that it would be in our interest..."

"That's enough Colonel." The Senator cut the man off. "That's enough."

"...to fold Mr. Stark into the existing chain of command, Senator." Rhodey finished, not listening to the man.

"I'm not a joiner, but i'll consider Secretary of Defense, if you ask nice." Tony spoke up. "We can amend the hours a little bit."

"I'd like to go on and show, if i may, the imagery that's connected to your report." The Senator said. 

"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time." Rhodey said.

"With all due respect Colonel, i unerstand" Mr. Stern said. "And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful."

"Let's have the images." Rhodey said and a screen lit up shwoing the weaponized suit intelligence. "Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr. Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground, indicating that these suits are quite possibly at this moment, operational."

"Hold on one second buddy." Tony said and sets up his device to connect with the screen showing a few pictures. "If you will direct your attention to said screens, i believe that's North Korea." The video showed a robot that tried to walk but fell down.

"Can you turn that off?" Mr. Stern asjed and Justin stood up as he waled over to the tv screen, trying to turn it off, while Tony kept playing different video's of countries that try to built the Iron Man suit, but failed.

"Is that Justin Hammer?" Tony asked, when he saw the man with a suit on. "How did Hammer get into the game? Justin, you're on tv. Focus up."

A smile appeared on Rhodey's and Sydney's face as they knew Tony was about to win this. In a second the tv was shut down and Justin walked back to his place, very angrily. "Wow, i'd say most countries, 5, 10 years away. Hammer Industries, 20." Tony said.

"I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived." Justin said, defending himself.

"I think we're done." Mr. Stern said. "Is the points that he's making. I don't think there's any reason..."

The point is, you're welcome, i guess." Tony said.

"For what?"

"Because, i'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You wan't our property?" Tony said, mentioning Sydney. "You can't have it. Because i did you a big favor. I've successfully privatized world peace." Tony said, and everyone in the room got up as they started to applaud for Tony, however, Pepper and Sydney were looking at the man a bit annoyed since he wasn't taking anything seriously. "What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns."

"Fuck you Mr. Stark. Fuck you." Stern said.

"We're adjourned for today." Tony said and put on his sunglasses. "You've been a delight. My bond is with the people! And i will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. And there's one thing i've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself." And with that, Tony left the room.