Chapter 574 - Precious Smile (1/2)
A/N: Credits to the Iron Man 2 for the scene since most of the dialogues are copied straight. And, in between, I don't mean any disrespect to any country or s.e.x.u.a.l orientation. I know, you guys know this by now but I still felt that I should put a notice beforehand. Of course, I have nothing against vegan guys too.
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Justin Hammer stood up with the intention of destroying Stark with his opening statement despite the opponent's reputation for a glib tongue. Unbuttoning the coat of his suit, Justin took a deep breath and began, ”Anthony Stark has forged a sword with untold possibilities, and yet, he insists it's a shield.” Justin looked at the full room, his words slightly moving for the gathered men and women as the live debate aired through the nation. ”Truly,” Hammer continued, looking at Tony with a mocking grin, ”I would like to feel protected as he asks to trust him as we cower behind him.” Gripping the mic tightly, Hammer raised his other hand in a surrender, ”I wish I felt confident, Anthony. I really do.” He spoke, ”Would love to leave the door unlocked as I leave my house. But this ain't Canada!” Hammer emphasized, ”We live in a world of great threats. Threats that Mr. Stark would not be able to foresee.” Taking a light breather, he nodded towards the crowd and looked at the councilmen on their seats in front of him, ”Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America.”
Under a thin layer of applause, amongst which the minority of the councilmen contributed, Hammer sat into his seat. Meanwhile, Nik looked at Mary's hand flicking about and easily writing down most of the information alongside a few whispers she caught from the crowd of startling stature. ”Woah, that explains so many things...” Nik muttered while gazing at her hands as Mary smiled. A little embarrassed and shy by earning 'that' kind of a compliment in such a serious environment. Although, now she did wish that Nik increased the intensity of the ongoing training. However, she would only admit of her having fun when they actually do it. The toys, now, were an empty pleasure.
”Hey,” Nik whispered, ”I can help you with a few spicy details. Those two,” pointing at two men. One black and one white, both in a decorated Marine's outfit, ”they are planning a s.e.x swing for themselves. Bored by their wives who forced them in a vegan diet.”
”Being vegan doesn't mean that they will plan a s.e.x swing for themselves.”
”Oh, right, they are homos.e.x.u.a.ls with a massive boner in their pants as we speak,” Nik snickered before pointing at an old lady sitting next to a rather bulky man in the prime of his life. ”These two are not what they look like. The s.e.xy woman,” gesturing at the clearly wretched being with his chin, ”She is also undergoing training. I smell leather beneath her clothes while the guy, well,” looking at Mary, he whispered with a pained expression, ”His willy is nilly,” Nik gestured with his index and middle finger smacking against each other akin a pair of scissors. Meanwhile, Mary thought of leather. 'Damn, now I want that kinda play, too...' She groaned internally while jotting stuff down in a less explicit manner.
”That was well said, Mr. Hammer.” The man sitting in the middle with a plate— Sen. Stern— in front of him spoke up, ”The committee would now like to invite Col. James Rhodes to the chambers,” the words instantly pulled surprised and audible gasps from the reporters in the back, including Mary as Nik looked at her with a surprise and instantly took the chance to increase the intensity of the vibration wreaking havoc within her anus. ”Ghhm!” Glaringly, she exclaimed. Partly excited by her body getting toyed with and partly by the fact that she, alongside other reporters could smell a drama. ”James is known to be one of the closest personalities to Tony aside from the myriad actresses and supposed love interests.” She held Nik's hands with excitement filling her gaze, ”And don't you dare increase the intensity. The voice will catch attention!” She warned with a contradictory grin as Nik shrugged. He wasn't planning on listening to Mary either way.
As a young man with a dark complexion walked in, Tony stood with an amazed expression and walked towards the guy with an outstretched arm. ”Rhodey?” Tony exclaimed in surprise while keeping his voice lowered. Not enough for Nik, though as he began giving Mary the details she kept bugging Nik with. ”Hey, buddy. Didn't expect to see you here.” Tony whispered as James shook Tony's hand while they smiled for the camera before Rhodes looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression, already knowing how much he would have to listen for this kind of situation from the 'superhero' himself. With a soft groan, James replied, ”Look, it's me. I'm here. Deal with it and move on.”
”I-I just—” Before Tony could say anything, James coughed softly, ”Drop it!”
”Alright, I'll drop it...” Tony rolled his eyes and walked back to his seat while Rhodey sat with Justin Hammer. As the chamber settled down, Senator Stern continued, ”For the record, Colonel, can you read page 50 paragraph four from the report you compiled for the Weaponized Suit Defence Program?”
”You requesting of me to read a specific section from the entire report that—”
”Yes, sir,” the senator cut James Rhodes short as the man looked down for a moment.
”It was my understanding that I would be testifying on a comprehensive basis detailing the overall effects of the suit.”
”I understand but a lot of things were changed today,” Senator replied with a smile. If it wasn't sure before, now the Senator made sure of his intentions of getting at Stark Industries tech quite clear as Rhodey took a moment of consideration before nodding and flipping the page of the report present on the table beforehand.
”Since he does not report to any definable branch of the government,” James looked at Tony, ”Iron Man presents a threat to the nation and her interests.” Before the senator could take the conversation, the man continued, ”I did, however, summarize the benefits of such a personnal with a high-grade technology—”
”That's enough, Colon—”
”— and how the Iron Man could even provide a service—”
”That's— that's—”
”— to the nation while upholding the law itself.”
”That's quite alright, Colonel.” The senator pulled a forced smile as Tiny cleared his throat and leaned forward, getting closer to the microphone, ”I'll think about the Secretary of Defence if you ask me nicely. However, we would have to shift a few hours here and there.”
His words instantly diffusing the situation as quite a few from the audience chuckled. ”Can we see the images attached alongside your report?” Senator inquired while Rhodey drank from the glass before sighing. ”I think that it is quite premature to demonstrate such images.”
”I would still like to see them,” Senator Stern smiled as the colonel nodded and gestured towards one of the two screens present, ”Show the images.” He stated as the screen was brought to life while the colonel reported, ”The images that are going to be presented are the attempts of creating manned copies of the Iron Man suit. These operations are corroborated by our allies and local intelligence—” As the man continued, Tony furrowed in confusion and took out a see-through device with codes running through the screen. The size of it was barely bigger than a cellphone as he tapped on it a few times before aiming the transparent screen towards the display.
”Alright, let's see what is going on for real, eh?” He smiled as a black dialogue box with running codes appeared on the screen, startling the crowd and the councilmen when the video feedback of a giant robot appeared. ”Right, this is North Korea!” Tony exclaimed as the robot unbalanced itself and fell, instantly launching a barrage of bullets onto the spectators with blood splattering on the screen. The crowd came to a stunning silence as Tony continued. ”Iraq, Russia— Hey! That's you, Justin!”
Tony smiled, showing a video of Justin Hammer alongside a suit-wearing researcher. The suit of metal did look like the Iron Man suit but the moment Justin twisted his waist slightly, the suit twisted completely, alongside the man within. Now pale, Justin Hammer hurriedly stood up as the shouts from the video continued to ring. ”Justin, smile for the video. That's a good job!”
The moment Justin pulled away from the chords, the senator spoke up with a stormy expression. ”I think we all understand your point, Mr. Stark!”
”No! My point is, you can't have my technology. That's simple. It's working. I am your nuclear deterrent.” Standing up, Tony looked back to the crowd, ”I have successfully privatized world peace. You all are welcome—”
CRASH!
The ceiling fell on the councilmen with a ruthless crash as many lost their footing from impact. Amidst the cloud of dust, a man on a vicious looking hovering device descended with his entire body colored green. Yellow eyes looking around for a target and instantly locking on Tony!
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