[COLOR=DARKGRAY] [center][img] https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230509/73361ab564d2b9956383d2dcd81b8bc0.png[/img][/center][indent][sub][color=gold][b]MARVEL REIMAGINED:[/b][/color][color=dc143c] Iron Man[/color][/sub][sup][right][b][color=gold]ISSUE #1:[/color][/b] [color=dc143c]Fragile Heart [/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr][indent][color=gold][sub][b]New York City [color=dc143c]♦[/color] New York [/b][/sub][/color][/indent]
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"Run it again, JARVIS." Tony Stark splayed across the couch like a lion on its rock. He was the king of a concrete jungle: a billionaire, a genius engineer, and a world-class superhero. Untouchable. Unassailable. He tore a chunk from his latest successful hunt- a greasy cheeseburger from the joint down the street. He'd lost count of how many Kwikkee Meal Deals he'd eaten ever since moving into Rhodey's apartment. 

Tony was unbelievably broke.

A series of simulations flashed across the television, the laptop plugged into whirring angrily as it tried to process the experiment's thousands of unique variables. A full-sized arc reactor popped open on the screen to reveal its internals: hundreds of individual plates placed so close together the human eye couldn't discern the gap between them. The plates rotated around the core at murderously high speeds, driven only by the Casimir effect. The vacuum in the chamber allowed the reactor to maintain its current energy production indefinitely...theoretically.

One of the plates in the simulator began to flash red. "Error in plate one hundred and four," JARVIS warned in a cheery English accent. "Sheering along the joint will cause it to break off after thirty-seven years, six months and twelve days of use." As JARVIS spoke all the surrounding plates began to flash as well. "Catastrophic failure follows shortly after."

Tony ran a hand through his hair in irritation. It was long, wild, and about as greasy as the burger. His beard wasn't much better. He stood from the couch to get a better view and began to pace. Increasing the size of the arc reactor had only made the design's flaws more apparent. No modern metal alloy could hold together under that much pressure for long. Even the gold-titanium his suit used proved insufficient. A carbon fiber mesh would be tougher, of course, but making a mesh that [i]large[/i] was difficult and expensive. And making a hundred and twenty-eight meshes? Not viable.

"How much energy do we lose if we add thrust in the opposite direction to maintain a sustainable speed?" Tony asked, stopping to spin the television remote on the coffee table. 

"Those calculations may take some time, sir."

"Do it." Tony nodded, despite talking to a computer program that couldn’t see it. "And give me my messages while you’re at it. Filter for job offers and anything from the lawyers."

This time Tony’s cellphone buzzed in response as JARVIS left the laptop to its diagnosis and scrolled through Stark’s email. "You have thirty seven job related messages."

Stark’s expression lit up. "Any takers?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. All thirty seven are rejection letters."

His expression fell like a pile of bricks. Well, at least they’d been polite enough to actually respond, Stark mused. In his previous batch of applications half the agencies saw his last name on the resume and blocked his number. Obadiah Stane- Tony's former friend, mentor, and current enemy for life- had done his damnedest to ensure Stark would never work in any relevant industry again. Maybe Kwikkee needed a new burger flipper.

Tony dropped back into his couch and pulled the phone out himself to check his bank account. There was a distinct lack of zeroes behind the prime numbers. Not unexpected, but still concerning. His reserves were running dangerously low. If he couldn’t find work soon…

He flipped to James Rhodes’ main account. Not something he was supposed to have access to, [i]technically,[/i] but curiosity and a guilty conscience didn’t mix well. Rhodey was Tony’s oldest friend and one of the best men he’d ever known- he was also prone to taking on more than he could handle. It wouldn’t be long before Stark’s problems caught up with Rhodey.

Tony paused. He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths. He couldn’t drag Rhodey down with him. Wasn’t happening. 

“JARVIS, do I have anything from that Pentagon rep?”

There was a moment’s pause as the machine ran through Tony’s emails once again. “Yes sir. I moved all of Major Talbot’s messages to spam as you requested. You have sixteen unopened emails from his address.”

“Alright, let’s set up a meeting. I’m grabbing a scotch.” 
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