More Money than God
Title: More Money than God
Author: Saichick
Theme: 001 - Rich
Rating: PG-13/t
Disclaimers - I don't own any of the characters (Marvel does). After being decidedly dissatisfied by the largely pre-pubescent 14-year-old-boy fantasy script of Iron Man 2, I decided I might try writing my own darn scenarios. Please critique my work honestly as I would like my work to be pleasing to others (and have absolutely NO clue about how to do dialogue), but please also be kind as this is my first time attempting fiction/non-technical writing.
Prologue: Tony Stark had more money than god, but at what cost?
Tony Stark was rich, so rich that the thought "can I afford it?" had never once crossed his mind in his entire existence. It wasn't as though increasing the fortune left to him by his father upon being handed the reins to his fathers company at age 21 had required any conscious effort on his part. Like any 21-year-old, Tony liked things that were fast, shiny, and cutting edge. If they blew up, made a lot of noise, or got the attention of powerful men with shiny medals on their uniforms, so much the better. What could be more cutting edge than the weapons his father's company manufactured?
Tony wasn't an especially diligent CEO. It's not that he was less capable of closing a deal than the CEO of any other major company, but rather that running his fathers business bored him to tears. If not for the numerous people who took up the slack on the business end, Stark Industries would have collapsed from neglect and Tony would have been eating out of garbage bins long ago. Perhaps it would have been a blessing if that had happened? At least then Tony Stark would have been forced to grow up.
What separated Tony from other CEO's, fortunately or unfortunately, was his vast intellect. His brilliant mind could contemplate hundreds, even thousands of parallel possibilities simultaneously. Unlike most engineers, who only designed things on paper and then let their minions do the dirty work of fabricating their designs, Tony deeply enjoyed using whatever materials were laying around to hand craft his mind blowing breakthroughs. Tony's intimate knowledge of how things physically responded when taking shape in his hands gave him an edge no theoretical genius could ever hope to share.
Tony's greatest worth was when he retreated into the "Stark Cave" in the basement of his Malibu mansion and tinkered with whatever problem Uncle Obediah threw his way. Uncle Obediah always had some fascinating problem entire teams of engineers had failed to solve and, so long as Tony ironed out the wrinkles within a reasonable (often mind-blowingly fast) period of time, Obediah kept the Board of Directors off Tony's back. Tony was the golden child, and so long as he kept Uncle Obediah and his task-masters at the Department of Defense happy inventing the next generation of weapons-tech, the Board of Directors just kept paying his extravagant expense account.
With so much money at his disposal, so many people kissing his backside, and no family remaining alive to reign him in when his behavior went over the top, it was no wonder Tony had turned into quite the playboy. Not only was he rich and a genius, but he had also inherited his mother's dark hair and good looks. Maria Stark would never have allowed her son to develop a taste for shallow relationships and fast women, nor would Howard Stark have allowed him to fritter away his reputation on the evening news. Unfortunately, no matter how much his intellect and his net worth grew, Tony's emotional development had stopped dead in it's tracks the day his parents were killed in a car accident at the age of 17. Tony was "emotionally retarded" when it came to forming any kind of relationship. His closest friendships were the artificial intelligence he invented to run his house (JARVIS) and the two small robots he had invented as a student at MIT.
Then Pepper came into his life. Until Pepper, Tony had a track record of bedding then "promoting" his personal assistants to some other company, often within days of hiring them. Pepper came to his attention when she challenged an accounting error her superiors had failed to catch. He promoted her with the intention of bedding her as well (after all, despite being a bit Twiggy in appearance, she did have great legs), but Pepper was a "good girl." She did things by the book, she took her job very seriously, and she was not about to jeopardize her job for a quick roll in the hay with her boss. The harder Tony tried to coax her into the sack, the colder and more professional Pepper would respond and the more she would crack the whip to get him to do whatever dreadfully tedious task he was supposed to be doing as CEO of Stark Industries. Over time, their banter turned into true friendship, and he couldn't imagine how he had ever functioned, either as CEO or personally, without Pepper Potts standing by his side.
Yes, Tony Stark was a very rich man. Not only did he have more money than God, but with Pepper Potts standing at his side, he could conquer the world.
Author: Saichick
Theme: 001 - Rich
Rating: PG-13/t
Disclaimers - I don't own any of the characters (Marvel does). After being decidedly dissatisfied by the largely pre-pubescent 14-year-old-boy fantasy script of Iron Man 2, I decided I might try writing my own darn scenarios. Please critique my work honestly as I would like my work to be pleasing to others (and have absolutely NO clue about how to do dialogue), but please also be kind as this is my first time attempting fiction/non-technical writing.
Prologue: Tony Stark had more money than god, but at what cost?
Tony Stark was rich, so rich that the thought "can I afford it?" had never once crossed his mind in his entire existence. It wasn't as though increasing the fortune left to him by his father upon being handed the reins to his fathers company at age 21 had required any conscious effort on his part. Like any 21-year-old, Tony liked things that were fast, shiny, and cutting edge. If they blew up, made a lot of noise, or got the attention of powerful men with shiny medals on their uniforms, so much the better. What could be more cutting edge than the weapons his father's company manufactured?
Tony wasn't an especially diligent CEO. It's not that he was less capable of closing a deal than the CEO of any other major company, but rather that running his fathers business bored him to tears. If not for the numerous people who took up the slack on the business end, Stark Industries would have collapsed from neglect and Tony would have been eating out of garbage bins long ago. Perhaps it would have been a blessing if that had happened? At least then Tony Stark would have been forced to grow up.
What separated Tony from other CEO's, fortunately or unfortunately, was his vast intellect. His brilliant mind could contemplate hundreds, even thousands of parallel possibilities simultaneously. Unlike most engineers, who only designed things on paper and then let their minions do the dirty work of fabricating their designs, Tony deeply enjoyed using whatever materials were laying around to hand craft his mind blowing breakthroughs. Tony's intimate knowledge of how things physically responded when taking shape in his hands gave him an edge no theoretical genius could ever hope to share.
Tony's greatest worth was when he retreated into the "Stark Cave" in the basement of his Malibu mansion and tinkered with whatever problem Uncle Obediah threw his way. Uncle Obediah always had some fascinating problem entire teams of engineers had failed to solve and, so long as Tony ironed out the wrinkles within a reasonable (often mind-blowingly fast) period of time, Obediah kept the Board of Directors off Tony's back. Tony was the golden child, and so long as he kept Uncle Obediah and his task-masters at the Department of Defense happy inventing the next generation of weapons-tech, the Board of Directors just kept paying his extravagant expense account.
With so much money at his disposal, so many people kissing his backside, and no family remaining alive to reign him in when his behavior went over the top, it was no wonder Tony had turned into quite the playboy. Not only was he rich and a genius, but he had also inherited his mother's dark hair and good looks. Maria Stark would never have allowed her son to develop a taste for shallow relationships and fast women, nor would Howard Stark have allowed him to fritter away his reputation on the evening news. Unfortunately, no matter how much his intellect and his net worth grew, Tony's emotional development had stopped dead in it's tracks the day his parents were killed in a car accident at the age of 17. Tony was "emotionally retarded" when it came to forming any kind of relationship. His closest friendships were the artificial intelligence he invented to run his house (JARVIS) and the two small robots he had invented as a student at MIT.
Then Pepper came into his life. Until Pepper, Tony had a track record of bedding then "promoting" his personal assistants to some other company, often within days of hiring them. Pepper came to his attention when she challenged an accounting error her superiors had failed to catch. He promoted her with the intention of bedding her as well (after all, despite being a bit Twiggy in appearance, she did have great legs), but Pepper was a "good girl." She did things by the book, she took her job very seriously, and she was not about to jeopardize her job for a quick roll in the hay with her boss. The harder Tony tried to coax her into the sack, the colder and more professional Pepper would respond and the more she would crack the whip to get him to do whatever dreadfully tedious task he was supposed to be doing as CEO of Stark Industries. Over time, their banter turned into true friendship, and he couldn't imagine how he had ever functioned, either as CEO or personally, without Pepper Potts standing by his side.
Yes, Tony Stark was a very rich man. Not only did he have more money than God, but with Pepper Potts standing at his side, he could conquer the world.