The senate room is packed with reporters and a handful of other people in suits and uniforms from every branch of the military. At the front of the room is a raised podium that runs almost the entire length of the wall. Seated behind the podium are seven people in suits, each one glancing at the clock on the far wall that reads just past nine AM. The people seated in the crowd are talking in small groups while the people behind the podium are starting to frown slightly.
One of them, a chubby man with short cut hair and a red tie, waves over a guard before he asks, "Do you know if Mr. Stark is stuck at security?"
"He hasn't been reported stepping into the building yet sir."
The man's frown becomes more pronounced and he turns to address the audience, only for a portal to open up just below the podium. The entire room froze in place except the guards who moved towards the portal with hands on their guns. A second later Tony Stark stepped out of the portal followed by Ezekiel as he said, "I told you it would be worth it."
"It was, let's go back tomorrow." Tony said before he glanced around the room, put on his million watt smile and waved at everyone as he said over the din of the crowd, "Sorry about being late, we stopped to get breakfast."
As one of the guards approached he said, "Mr. Stark, you and your guest need to be screened at security."
"No we don't."
The guard and the others next to him focused on Ezekiel before he said, "It's protocol sir, please follow us back to the security desk."
"So you can check us for weapons? It's pointless. My entire body is a weapon and if I really wanted to do something here, no one would be able to stop me. So let's not waste everyone's time." Ezekiel said with a calm smile.
The guards tensed up at those words but none of them moved as one of the senators said, "It's fine for Mr. Stark and his guest to skip the check-in procedure. Everyone knows who they are and they certainly wouldn't do anything to harm anyone here."
The guards shared a glance and after a few moments backed off and allowed Tony and Ezekiel to move towards the table placed before the podium. Tony took his seat and Ezekiel had to grab a chair for himself since there was only one placed there. After the both of them sat down, the chubby man in the middle glanced between the two of them before he said, "We appreciate you coming by today Mr. Stark…"
"But it's just a senate hearing, you didn't need to bring legal counsel with you?" The man half asked, unsure if Ezekiel was legal counsel or not as he glanced between Tony and Ezekiel.
"Oh, Ezekiel isn't legal counsel. In the subpoena it stated this meeting was about the prosthetic we created."
"Prosthetic you both created?" The senator asked slightly confused as he shared a glance with a couple of other people before he said, "This meeting is to discuss the Ironman weapon you created, not a prosthetic Mr. Stark."
Tony shook his head slightly as he said, "It seems like you were misinformed. The suit I wear sometimes is not a weapon, it's a specialized full body prosthesis that allows me to fly. It was made through the collective efforts of Ezekiel and myself over an extended period of time."
"If it wasn't for me, you would have been fine with the second model and called it a day."
The main senator glanced between Tony and Ezekiel for a moment before he said, "Mr. Stark, Mr. Ezekiel-"
"It's just Ezekiel, no need for Mr."
The man let out a slight sigh before he said, "Today you two were called here to discuss the Ironman weapon system."
"I don't know what the Ironman weapon system is. So if that's all you wanna discuss, I unfortunately can't help you with that."
"Please take this seriously Mr. Stark, you know exactly what this is about. The Ironman weapon system you use to fly around the world and fight terrorists with."
Tony shook his head slightly before he said, "It seems that you're really misinformed senator, I am Ironman, not the suit. Also the prosthesis I use to fly around with is called the Mark Twenty-four and it is not a weapon system."
The senator turned towards the large TV set up on the right side of the room as he said, "Could you please pull up the training footage the Air Force set over."
Someone next to the TV with a computer terminal in front of themselves typed on it before a video popped up. The video footage showed a black screen that read, 'Colonel Rhodes training data.' Below that was a redacted location and date which disappeared as the video started up. The video showed War Machine running through a quick diagnostic check before it took off into the sky. From there the footage changed throughout the rest of the video as it displayed just how formidable War Machine was while it destroyed hundreds of drone tanks, planes and other targets.
Once the video finished everyone focused on Tony as the senator asked in a slightly mocking tone, "Mr. Stark… After watching that, do you really expect any of us to believe that the 'prosthesis' you created isn't a weapon?"
"What you just showed us was called War Machine, something designed from the ground up to be a mobile weapons platform. It's also completely different from the prosthesis I designed for myself and the entire point of why I was called here today."
"Mr. Stark, please don't belittle our intelligence. It's easy to see that both of the suits you created share a lot of similarities. So many that the main differences between the two are the amount of weapons they have."
Tony nodded slightly as he said, "While both of them are similar on the outside, the internal design for each of them is different. If you wanted to discuss the War Machine model, you should have specified that in the subpoena."
As Tony stood up from his seat preparing to leave, the main senator frowned and said, "Mr. Stark, please take this seriously. Both suits you created fall under the reason you were summoned and need to be discussed properly."
Tony glanced towards the man and focused on his name plate before he asked, "And what exactly needs to be discussed, Senator Stern?"
"A weapon like that shouldn't be held in civilian hands. It should be handed over to the government so it can help safeguard the country."
Tony let out a chuckle and dropped back into his seat before he gestured towards the room and said, "So that's what this is all about, you want me to turn over my technology and suits…"
"No, not at all. But the government would like to be able to purchase them from you in bulk. We've already seen how useful they are and would like to be able to field more of them."
"The government can't even afford to buy one outright and I don't take IOU'S or give out loans."
The entire room froze for a moment before some senators and high ranking military officers spoke out and argued against that statement. Senator Stern waited a few moments before he said, "Don't be ridiculous Mr. Stark, even if one of your suits was the price of an aircraft carrier the US government would gladly buy it."
"Fine, if the government really wants to buy one… I'll consider it, if they first pay the rental fee for borrowing the War Machine platform along with the maintenance and munitions fees that have accrued since it was loaned out." Tony said with a small smirk spreading across his face as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"It was my understanding that you loaned out that suit with the strict condition that only Colonel Rhodes could use it."
"That was the main condition of the loan. It also included free maintenance and ammunition resupply for the duration of the loan as long as the government didn't attempt to purchase it outright. Since that seems to be the case, I'll show you the total amount so you can think it over."
Before anyone could respond, Tony pulled out his phone and pushed a single icon. A large holographic display appeared in front of him, big enough that everyone in the room could easily read it. The screen had a large amount of information on it but the most shocking thing was the total at the bottom. Everyone in the room collectively drew in a cold breath as they read that impossibly large red number.
Senator Stern was the first to recover as he slammed the podium with his fist and said, "Do you take us for fools!"
"I thought that was a given since you're a politician…"
Some people in the room laughed as Senator Stern focused his gaze on Tony and said, "Mr. Stark, do you really expect us to believe that the rental fee and maintenance for a single suit is…"
Stern glanced at the number again to make sure it was correct before he asked in a disbelieving tone, "Almost four hundred billion dollars?"
"Considering eighty percent of the technology is proprietary and at least fifty to one hundred years ahead of anything currently available… If anything I'm under charging and giving the government a nice discount."
"Four hundred billion is a discount?!?"
Tony gave a helpless shrug before he pulled up one of the line items. The exact one that was worth almost half the bill alone before he said, "That charge is for refueling the flight system with a material not native to this solar system."
The entire room went pin drop silent except for the faint sound of breathing and a few camera clicks. After a few moments Senator Stern seemed to recover and asked, "If… If something like that was actually needed, where did it come from and how did you get your hands on it?"
Tony glanced towards Ezekiel with a faint smile on his face as he asked in a smug tone, "Ezekiel found it originally and shared a sample with me. He's the only supplier for it currently, unless you know someone else who can travel to other star systems?"
That seemed to snap something in most of the watching crowd as everyone in the room focused on Ezekiel and half of them tried to ask questions at the same time. It took a few moments for the room to calm down and afterwards the room was still focused on Ezekiel as Stern asked, "Is it possible for us to get a fuel sample to verify Mr. Stark's claim?"
Ezekiel pulled out his tablet and tapped on it a few times before he placed it on the table and said, "It's already been independently tested and verified along with ten other materials not native to Earth. Each one was studied by three separate groups that included scientists like Otto Octavius, Bruce Banner, Bill Foster, Hank McCoy, and Hank Pym to name a few. I just posted each of their independent laboratory results including their theorized use cases for the materials online for everyone to read at their leisure."
Some people in the room pulled out their phones to check as Stern cleared his throat and asked, "Would it be possible for the government to purchase any of those materials?"
"I'll sell everything but the fuel, since it can be used to make a weapon."
Stern nodded quickly as he asked, "That's fine… But would it be possible to buy any of this new fuel at some point in the future?"
"Once I find a stable supply it's possible, but for now it's barely enough to sustain more than a couple of suits."
"Speaking of which, did you come to a decision about War Machine or do you need more time?" Tony asked as he pointed towards the red numbers hovering in the air.
Senator Stern glanced at the numbers for a moment before he forced a smile on his face as he said, "I can't authorize something like that, I'll need to confirm certain things first."
"I'm in no rush, but keep in mind that is only to pay off the current rental fee that is still running. Buying a single suit out right will cost one trillion dollars."
Stern almost jumped out of his seat as he slammed both hands against the podium and said, "A trillion dollars!?!"
Other senators and people in the room were just as shocked while Tony helplessly shrugged before he said, "It can't be helped, you are basically buying future technology. Also the purchase price is only for the suit, it doesn't include the fuel or any of the maintenance or upkeep costs."
"What kind of American are you Mr. Stark?!? Do you even have any civic or national pride? Wanting to charge that much and then charge even more on top of that for fuel and maintenance fees?!?" One of the military officers in the crowd with a couple of stars on his collar angrily asked.
Tony glanced at the man with a cocky smile as he said, "I'm a red blooded American who believes in capitalism, General. It's also the reason I loaned out War Machine and paid for its fuel and maintenance cost. As long as the suit is mine and the government doesn't try to purchase it. I'll gladly cover all of its costs till the end of the contract which is fifty years from now."
The meeting didn't last much longer since Tony and Ezekiel derailed the entire thing. Rhodey was never brought in to testify, Justin Hammer wasn't in the meeting because Stark Industries was still the largest weapons manufacturer. Even the 'satellite' photos from the movie didn't make an appearance since Tony agreed to sell them a suit if they could afford it.
Unfortunately public opinion with a lot of help from Ezekiel and JARVIS in the background shut that down quickly. Turns out the American people were happy to have Tony running around as Ironman and even more happy to have War Machine protecting them since it didn't cost anything. The only thing the whole senate meeting did was increase Tony's popularity. As for the information revealed during the meeting, most of it was overshadowed by Tony's new popularity spike.