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Luke hadn't expected Vanko to exceed the design specifications.
The original concept had been crude—essentially Tony's cave-built Mark I, just a proof of concept. Hydraulic power couldn't compete with modern armor technology. But Vanko had taken that rough idea and made it work.
The processing chip bottleneck was easy to solve. Stark Industries was the world's leading supplier of industrial control chips. Luke simply placed an order through normal commercial channels. Tony's company was happy to sell—they had no idea who was buying or why.
What Vanko couldn't understand was the aesthetic direction.
"Why does it need to look like this?" The Russian engineer studied Luke's sketches with poorly concealed bewilderment. "One eye? This is... impractical."
Luke had originally wanted something like Space Marine power armor from Warhammer 40K. Vanko had firmly vetoed that—the proportions were impossible given current materials and power sources.
So Luke had compromised: Zaku-style armor from Gundam.
The result was a two-meter-tall powered exoskeleton with a single optical sensor and distinctly mechanical aesthetics. Not quite a mobile suit—more like a mobile suit had been shrunk down and made practical.
"Form follows function," Luke said, which wasn't really an answer but sounded profound.
The real limitation was firepower sustainability.
Ballistic weapons required ammunition—heavy, bulky, and prone to sympathetic detonation if the suit took damage. Energy weapons sounded good in theory, but atmospheric conditions caused severe power degradation. Real-world directed energy had nothing like the range or damage of movie depictions.
Luke's solution was elegant in its simplicity.
Each Zaku unit would carry a massive battle-axe. One side was a curved blade; the other was a reinforced hammer head. Pure steel construction, heavy enough to require powered assistance just to lift.
Against conventional threats, the built-in rocket launcher and gatling gun would suffice. When ammunition ran out, the axe came into play. With the exoskeleton's hydraulic strength behind it, that weapon could cut through damn near anything.
Production was the bottleneck. Umbrella's manufacturing capabilities were still ramping up. Conservative estimates put the second Zaku suit at least a year away.
Still, one working prototype was better than nothing.
Pepper Potts arrived at Umbrella Corporation looking exhausted.
She was juggling multiple crises simultaneously. Tony had tasked her with finding the weapons leak inside Stark Industries. She was also responsible for keeping the company running while her boss played superhero in his basement. And now Tony wanted her to negotiate a partnership with the mysterious company that had discovered Fosterium.
Michelle Harper practically vibrated with excitement when Pepper walked in. Meeting her professional idol in person—the legendary assistant who'd managed Tony Stark for years—was a dream come true.
But business negotiations weren't Michelle's domain. She referred Pepper to Emil Garrett.
"Partnership?" Emil frowned, reviewing the proposal. This was above his authority. Normally he'd consult a board of directors, let shareholders debate the merits.
Umbrella didn't have shareholders. It had Luke Foster.
Luke received the message and raised an eyebrow.
Tony wants to partner now? Strange timing. The billionaire should be focused on catching his corporate mole, not pursuing new business ventures.
The proposal was aggressive. Stark Industries wanted to license—or potentially buy outright—the Fosterium patents. They were offering substantial compensation, either in cash or stock.
Luke rejected everything.
He didn't need money. Umbrella's coffers were already overflowing. Stock swaps were pointless—he had no intention of going public. And selling his patents to Stark Industries would undermine his entire market position.
Besides, he already owned ten percent of Tony's company. If anything, Luke should be acquiring more Stark Industries shares, not giving Tony leverage over Umbrella.
Pepper had suspected the negotiation would fail. When her research revealed that Umbrella's mysterious founder was the same person who'd bought up Stark stock during the crash, she'd known this wouldn't be a simple deal.
The meeting ended cordially but without agreement. Pepper returned to Stark Tower with nothing to show for her trip.
Tony Stark had other plans.
If the mountain wouldn't come to Mohammed, he'd go to the mountain himself. A face-to-face meeting with this Luke Foster might yield better results than corporate formality.
Before he could act on that impulse, everything went wrong.
Obadiah Stane had realized he was being investigated. SHIELD's surveillance wasn't as subtle as they thought, and the old man had decades of experience navigating corporate treachery.
He decided to move first.
Coulson arrived at Stane's residence with a small team—enough agents to handle the executive's security detail and bring him in for questioning. They'd confirmed his involvement in the weapons trafficking. The evidence was solid.
What they hadn't expected was the Iron Monger.
The massive suit of armor crashed through the building's wall like a nightmare made metal. Three meters of powered steel, crude but devastatingly effective. Stane had been working on it for weeks, ever since the Ten Rings delivered the Mark I wreckage.
"Oh my God," Coulson breathed, which was about all the reaction time he had before the monster started shooting.
The SHIELD agents scattered. They were professionals—among the best in the world—but they weren't equipped to fight a walking tank. Coulson called for backup while his team tried to stay alive.
The pursuit spilled onto public streets.
Stane wasn't being subtle anymore. If SHIELD knew about his illegal activities, if Tony was investigating him, then the game was already over. His only option was to eliminate witnesses and disappear.
Iron Monger carved a path of destruction through the city, hunting Coulson's fleeing vehicle.
Then Tony arrived.
The Mark II wasn't ready for sustained combat. Worse, Stane had stolen Tony's primary arc reactor, leaving him dependent on the original prototype he'd built in Afghanistan. That unit couldn't maintain full power to the suit—he was operating on borrowed time.
The fight was one-sided.
Iron Monger was bigger, stronger, and Stane had nothing to lose. Tony was faster and smarter, but his power reserves were depleting with every exchange. After the third impact sent him crashing through a building facade, it became clear he was losing.
Fury reached for his phone, ready to call in military support. The political fallout would be enormous—explaining why two powered armors were battling in downtown—but letting Stane escape was worse.
Then something unexpected joined the fight.
A new machine stepped onto the battlefield. Smaller than Iron Monger, smaller even than the Mark II, standing just over two meters tall. Its single optical sensor swept the scene with mechanical precision.
In its hands was a battle-axe that looked like it belonged in a fantasy epic—curved blade on one side, massive hammer on the other. Pure steel, heavy enough that the pavement cracked beneath the machine's feet.
Luke, inside his Zaku, watched Tony get swatted aside by Stane's latest attack.
Time to test this thing for real.
He charged.
Stane barely had time to register the new threat before the hammer connected with Iron Monger's torso. The impact was catastrophic—hydraulic-enhanced force concentrated on a single point. The armor's chest plate buckled inward, steel splitting along stress lines.
Iron Monger staggered back, systems screaming warnings.
Tony Stark stared at the newcomer with complete bewilderment.
What the hell is THAT?
A one-eyed robot. A giant axe. No obvious connection to anything in his database.
The situation had just gotten significantly weirder.