Matthew Hart knew that if he wanted to have true power, then he would need his own army. An army that agreed with his ideas and beliefs, or at least could be manipulated to follow his orders. With a powerful army backing his orders he would be feared and obeyed. Only this was the age of marvels and an army, no matter how big, could easily be squished with the right amount of super-powered opposition. He needed a team that could stand up to any threat, no matter how overwhelming the odds became, and come out triumphant.

Matthew smiled to himself. The answer had become obvious to him. He needed an army of his own super-powered goons. His grin increased sevenfold as he plotted further. With the return of the Heroes people wanted more and more super-heroes to come into and protect. It would be easy to convince the public that they need a little extra protection from the super-villains of the world that only him, Matthew Travis Hart, could provide. Now, all he needed was a few guinea pigs. It would cost quite a bit of money but money was something he had quite a bit of. After all, he was the owner of Hart Enterprises and also had several less than legal ways of boosting his pocketbook.

Matthew swiveled around in his chair and pushed a button on his desk. A loud buzz came over the intercom. “Yes, Mr. Hart?” His secretary’s voice chimed in. His secretary, Miss Jennifer Cage, had been in her position for two years. She was a good hard worker, yet a stereotypical Eagle scout. Naturally, Matthew never fully disclosed the nature of his business to her.

“Get me Tony Stark on the phone. I haven’t talked to my good friend in ages.” He heard the familiar click of the intercom being turning off as his secretary dialed up his old business partner. No matter what Matthew called Tony Stark, they were not friends. They were once a long time ago, but they had grown apart over a difference of opinions. Matthew heard Jennifer saying that Tony was on the line. It always amazed him that she could get Tony Stark on the phone. Although dialing a number never presented a challenge to even a well-trained chimp, even a well-trained hostage negotiator would have a difficult time getting him to actually respond.

Matthew picked the phone up and placed it against his ear. “Tony! How you doing? I heard you got kidnapped or something. You alright?” Matthew asked. He tried to sound as sincere and as worried as possible.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking, Matthew. But I’m sure you didn’t call me up to inquire about my recent dealings with terrorists.” Tony said flatly. No matter what people thought of Tony, he was an inventor not a business man. He liked to get straight to the problem without a lot of hassles.

Matthew decided to switch strategies. “You always could tell when I needed something Tony. Well, I got a little preposition for you. That is, if you’re interested.”

“I don’t feel the overwhelming urge to destroy a small country or to buy one and sell it off piece by piece or any other business idea you have. I’m a very busy man, Matthew, and if not for our past history I’d never have allotted you this much time but now I really must go.” He heard Tony start to put the phone down and Matthew realized that he had to act fast.

“Tony, wait! It’s not like that, I’ve changed!” Matthew heard Tony pick the phone back up, he decided to press his advantage. “I know in the past that we’ve differed many times over the philosophy of business...”

“Destroying people’s lives for finical gain isn’t a philosophy,” Tony interrupted. Matthew decided to ignore him and keep going.

“But,” he stressed, “I’ve seen the error of my ways. I see now that I was approaching things all wrong. I’ve decided to make a change.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Tony replied, “I want to believe you, I really do. It’s just the same old song and dance, Matthew.” Again, another pause. “What change are you thinking of making?” Matthew smiled to himself, Tony was starting to circle the bait.

“I was thinking of funding a new super-hero team. With the return of the heroes I noticed a revival of hope. I realized that the heroes are needed badly. That’s why I called you, you have a long history with the Avengers.”

“Matthew, I love the fact that you’re interested in funding a team but it’s a huge hassle. Frankly, you have no idea what you’re getting into.” Tony started to nibble on the bait.

“Well, I’m taking you up on your offer to assist anyone on their projects. I want to hire you to help me.”

“Why not just help fund the Avengers or Fantastic Four?” As soon as Tony asked, Matthew feared that Tony was on to him.

“Those teams are already established and have quite enough funding. Besides, I think it’d be better to have more heroes out there.” Matthew was quite pleased with that lie and congratulated himself upon his quick thinking. There was a long silence during which Matthew was afraid Tony had started to doubt him.

“I’m going to be at the Charity Auction for the Woo Children’s Hospital. We can meet there and talk further.” Tony had taken the bait; hook, line, and sinker.

The Charity Auction was held the following Tuesday. It was black tie party attended by the most wealthy people of New York City. The entire party seemed to consist of those worthy to be on the cover of GQ or Playboy. Tony Stark and Matthew Hart met at a quarter to nine in the back room.

Tony walked towards Matthew. “Now, how did you have this sudden realization that heroes were needed?” Tony’s voice had become filled with doubt and sarcasm. Matthew took in a breath and reminded himself to play it cool.

“I can’t describe it. At least, I can’t do justice to it. It’s as if I have only opened my eyes for the first time and seen what good the heroes have done for this city, no, the world.” Tony smiled at this. Matthew knew that Tony’s romantic ways would make him an easy target.

“Good. Well, I can give you a few phone numbers. You’re gonna want to get government approval. It won’t help you directly, but you’ll find it a lot easier to move without a hand up your ass. You’ll also want to talk to some already established heroes as well as getting in new blood.” Matthew stretched his hand out to Tony.

“So, you’re gonna help me?” Matthew asked. Tony grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously.

“Sure, I figure how often does a guy grow a new heart?”

Over the next few weeks, calls went out to some of the most influential people of the planet. President William Clinton. Doctor Reed Richards. Doctor Henry Pym. Doctor Moira MacTaggert. Doctor Leonard Samson. Professor Charles Xavier. Special Agent Valerie Cooper. Doctor Henry McCoy. Special Agent Gyrich. General “Thunderbolt” Ross. Each had there own bit of advice on the subject, each one thinking they knew what was best for the world.

Matthew sat in his office, with Tony sitting beside him, and nodded at each and every suggestion. By the end, he felt as if his head was going to explode. Matthew had imagined in his mind’s eye that he would call a lot of heroes together and let them fight it out. Winners got to be on the team while the losers were taken out back and shot. However, Tony assured him this was the best way to do it.

Matthew awaited the day when he could see some of his new troopers in action.

Doctor Bruce Banner has had a difficult life since his early childhood. Raised by an abusive father, his natural intellect was anything but nurtured. However, his childhood could not compare to his adult problems. While working on a gamma bomb test site, he was exposed to radiation which turned him into a monster, the Hulk. He’s since gone through several transformations involving his irradiated blood. Originally, he transformed when he became enraged, later it was the night, and later still he became the Hulk permanently. His current situation is one of the oddest, his transformations are at random.

Doctor Bruce Banner was sitting at a small table in his comfortable prision cell reading the morning’s paper when Matthew walked in, General “Thunderbolt” Ross strolling behind him. Dr. Banner looked over at the General then glanced back confidently over towards Matthew.

“May I help you?” Dr. Banner asked in a calm “Mister...”

“Hart. Matthew Hart, and I think you have your question backwards.”

“You help I may?” Dr. Banner asked in his deadpan voice arching an eyebrow.

“No, what I mean is how may I help you.” Matthew corrected him.

“Well, you could get me a cup of coffee that doesn’t taste like it was scraped off the bottom of a soilder’s boot.” Dr. Banner responded and looked back down at his newspaper. Matthew looked over at General Ross, who stood there chuckling.

“Look, maybe I haven’t made myself clear. I’ve come here to help you by making you an offer.” Dr. Banner kept reading his paper. “I could get you out of here.” Almost immeaditly Bruce looked up. Matt knowing that Banner wanted out played with it. “You could live with your wife again.”

“How?” Dr. Banner asked suspicously.

“I just have to say the word and they’d release you into my custody.”

“Who are you and why do you want to do this for me?”

“I told you, I’m Matthew Hart, and I need a man with your special abilities and talents. I’m forming a new super-hero group, government sanctioned, of course. I need your brains and your brawn.” Dr. Banner gave a look to General Ross who was standing behind Matthew.

“Look, I’d love to take you up on your offer, but I’m afraid the Hulk hasn’t had the best track record when it comes to teams. He’s not excatly what you’d call a team player.” Dr. Banner rose to his feet. “So, I’m afraid you’ve come all this way for nothing, Mr. Hart.” Dr. Banner extended his hand to Matthew. “I hope you have a safe trip back home.”

“The world needs heroes, Dr. Banner. Heroes to protect the weak from the strong and stupid. The weak that are beaten and destroyed by the mighty.” A lifeless gaze came over Dr. Banner’s face and Matt was glad he’d read Banner’s file and remembered Banner’s traumatic childhood. A dead silence

“I’ll give it some thought.” Dr. Banner replied.

“We need you, Doctor. And so does the world.” Matthew added.

“Let me talk it over with my wife.”

“I wouldn’t dream of anything less.” Matthew bowed and excused himself. General Ross stayed for a moment.

“Get yourself outta here. You got a wife you got to take care of.” And with that General Ross turned and left, leaving Dr. Banner with his thoughts.

Matthew Hart sat on the roof of a building in Hell’s Kitchen for half-an-hour before he saw the masked man he was looking for. Daredevil, the man without fear, stood before him. Daredevil, a tall man, seemed to loom over Matthew. He was wearing his usual suit, bright red tights with two dark red D’s on his chest. And, the most frightening part to Matthew Hart, two small red horns poking out of his head.

“Why are you here?” Daredevil asked in a gritty voice.

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Matthew replied.

“I don’t like deals. You got something to say, say it.” Daredevil crossed his arms and stood there silently. Matthew felt a cold breeze blow, and he realized that he’d never been more scared in his life.

“Look, I understand where you’re coming from. Just hear me out.” Daredevil only stood there. “Yeah, well, jsut listen, alright? I’m starting a new super-hero team and I was wondering if you wanted in."

“Why start another team?”

“The world needs more heroes. Daredevil slightly tilted his head slightly to the left, but said nothing.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I swear I’m not.” Again Daredevil tilted his head, this time to the right. Daredevil shook his head.

“I don’t have time for this. I don’t know what you want with me, but this isn’t about helping the world.” Daredevil replied. Daredevil turned and took a step away.

“How can you say that?” Matthew yelled out. Daredevil swiftly turned around, quickly extracting his Billy Club. With a flick of his wrist, Daredevil sent the hook of his Billy Club flying, a cord becoming exposed attaching the handle and hook. With his free hand, Daredevil grabbed Matthew by the collar and started running towards the roof edge. When he came to the edge he jumped off.

The first thought to go through Matthew’s head was that he was going to die. He clenched his eyes shut tightly and felt the wind blowing around him. He then felt a sudden stop and realized there was something solid underneath him. He opened his eyes to realize that he was on a window ledge on another building.

“This is where I live. This is where I work. Look at it.” Matthew looked down to see they were over an alley. In it there laid several bums, two of them started fighting. “This is where I am needed. This is where I can make a real difference. Not as your little stooge.” Daredevil paused, allowing his words to sink in. “I’m sure the cops will get you down.” And with that Daredevil leapt of the building and landed gracefully on the ground.

Matthew sat there in awe of Daredevil’s grace. After Daredevil stopped the two bums from killing each other, he set off. It was then that Matt realized what Daredevil had meant about the police getting him down.

In an underground chamber just outside of New York there rested a hero. As soon as one of Matthew Hart’s information sources had pinpointed the location of it, he went right away. He arrived at the bunker thirty minutes later. He was met by a man in a white lab coat with quite a few red and black stains on it.

“Doctor Alsobrook? Edward Alsobrook?” Matthew asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Alsobrook responded, “what do you want?”

“I was sent here about your little project.” Matthew responded. “I hear you have someone I’m looking for.”

He was shown in by Doctor Alsobrook. Doctor Alsobrook then walked him downstairs towards his lab. “I’m glad someone came, I’m running out of funding. It is quite expensive to keep such a case on life support.”

Matthew stopped and turned to the man. “If he’s a lost cause then why not let him die?”

“He’s far from a lost cause, Mr. Hart. It’s only that as much money as it costs to keep him alive, it would cost ten times more to fully revive him.”

“How much are we talking here?” Matthew asked.

“It’s not cheap. You’re talking about the rewiring of neural circuitry. As well as the general hardware and computer artifical intellegence enhancements."

“How much, ballpark figure?” Matthew rephrased.

“About twenty to twenty-five million dollars.”

“Done.” Doctor Alsobrook froze in his place. “If, he’s as good as he is said to be.”

“Oh, he is,” Doctor Alsobrook reassured him. Doctor Alsobrook opened the door to show the remains of a man laying on a table. The man, once known as Michael Collins, had become a a cybernetic experiment and taken the name, Deathlok.

Matthew walked over to the body. Metal covered over ninety percent of his body, leaving only the left half of his face exposed. The metal had seemed to become dingy and dented. The sound of a machine beeping and raspy breathing filled Matthew’s ears.

He remembered seeing the televised fight of Deathlok’s last battle. He had taken on seven other cyberneticly-enhanced humans before he became too damaged to fight on. A grin crossed Matthew’s face. For twenty-million dollars he could be restored to new, but Matt started thinking about putting in fifty million in to make him even better.

Matthew looked over his list of already established heroes. The list was dwindling. A majority of people had already turned him down. Apparently the Avenger’s roll call consists of more than half of the super-hero population and the other half is in hidding, refusing to let Matthew anywhere near them.

At least I got a few of them, Matthew reassured himself. Doctor Banner had called him up the next day to confirm his place on the team. Deathlok would be fully operational after ten more days, most of the wait was due to Matthew’s demanded improvements.

Tony Stark had managed to gather up a few other heroes on his own. Including USAgent, She-Hulk, Wolverine, and Spider-Man. Not too shabby, now all Matthew had to do was get them working together as a team and soon, everyone would fear him.