First Shield: A lack of unstable molecules...[Action/Voice]

[shieldsup]

[Action]

[Early in the evening of July 9th, Susan Richards wakes up in a very, very strange place, an unfamiliar couch. In YOUR living room. She blinks and looks around, extremely confused. When this strange, blond woman sees you...her eyes go wide she disappears, clothes and all. Astute listeners may hear the sounds of her feet as she gets up and moves away from you and the couch.]

Wha! What on Earth?! WHO are you and WHERE am I?

[Susan's voice is pretty demanding for an invisible person who just woke up in your house, and it seems to be coming from all around you, her powers distorting it.

Maybe you could help talk some sense into her? Explain the situation? Perhaps you're feeling pretty mad? Break time, go nuts! This isn't locked to anyone!]


Voice

[Much, much later, Susan's voice will appear over the journal after she's collected herself and gotten out of whoever's house she wound up in]

Hello everyone. This is Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four. If there are any members of the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men, or even anyone that just recognizes my name I would appreciate it if you would get in touch with me. Hell, even if you are just feeling helpful and are willing to share information, I'd really appreciate it. I've just arrived and I need help getting my bearings. I don't want to impose, but I really need some answers.

Also, if anyone comes across a blue jumpsuit with a 4 on it, I'd ask that they not touch it, its made of highly unstable molecules that can react oddly to anyone that isn't me.

[Her voice isn't terribly upset, more confused. Its not like she's never woken up in strange places or been in rough situations alone before. Thats...sort of what the Fantastic Four do!]

(OOC: Feel free to break time with the action portion of the post! I've got nobody in particular who needs to find her so she can wake up in anyone's living room that wants an Invisible Woman)

Comments

[alloys]

Claims differ. The Malnosso want us to believe that they--The Spartans, the Third Party--oppose their experimentation and and trying to stop them--then again, the Malnosso also claim they're trying to get us home by said experimentation, but--you know, I'm not too inclined to believe them.

[But he's been on three drafts now. It's enough to convince him of one thing.]

One thing is for certain--the Third Party is not our friend. They want us dead.

[thelittlemacthatcould]

It's always cool, meetin' somebody here who ain't too far away, back home. Even if they're sometimes from a diff'rent time or version a' New York than me. Version don' sound right, but y'know what I mean?

[shieldsup]

I do. Its not that strange an idea, really. My family and I have a fairly regular habit of winding up in other dimensions.

[handing]

[The enemy of my enemy. Pepper's had this conversation before, except from Sue's perspective, so can understand why she asked.]

And fighting is definitely better than being killed. [Pepper doesn't want to think about Tony being worse off than just limping around with a broken leg, thank you very much.]

[shieldsup]

Well, if they want us dead just as much as the Malnosso want us here, then its pointless to even consider them any different than an enemy.

[She doesn't really want to be caught up in fighting, but if its fight or die then she knows where she stands. And where the others here would too.]

And I don't buy that nonsense about them wanting to send us home. If they did, they wouldn't lock us up like prisoners.

[alloys]

[He can agree with that. Even if dying here isn't permanent, it's still not a record he'd like to break. He's pretty good at cheating death, after all.

He won't mention what a close call it was on the moon. Not just against the Dream Shifter, but the General as well.]

Take everything you hear with a grain of salt, but some people think they're just as trapped here as we are. That this isn't their own world at all. [He shrugs.] It's anyone's guess, really.

[handing]

[All good decisions, on Tony's part.]

Either way. When it comes down to it, we're probably our own best bet for getting home.

[Because the one time the Malnosso tried--well. Pepper's heard that story. Rogue's a sweet girl, but Pepper isn't keen on the idea of anyone's memories being manipulated, especially not to that degree.]

[shieldsup]

I don't think it matters much if the Malnosso are trapped here or not, they're still our captors. Pepper's right, we shouldn't be counting on them to do anything for us.

[This was complicated. Dammit, why didn't they have the luck for Reed to show up too. Or even Victor. That'd be better than nothing]

Basically all we know for sure is that we're stuck here, and its not our reality, then?

[alloys]

You're telling that to the guy who's been stuck here a year.

[He knows it's in their hands. He's known that since day one--and it's only been clearer since he came back. He doesn't count on favors from just about anyone--least of all secret-keeping organizations that force children on battlefields and play with their minds every month.

But he doesn't want to spoil the conversation that badly. He isn't in the mood.]

Depends on your definition of reality. It's real--it exists. We exist. But the popular theory seems to be, yes--we're in another dimension.

[handing]

[Pepper gives Tony a look of sympathy, moving a hand under the table to touch his knee. She knows it's nothing he needs to hear, that he's felt the weight of that responsibility for the entire time he's been in Luceti. And she also knows there's a lot he doesn't say then, some things that she's been told and others that she hasn't. But Tony's silence is revealing enough.]

From what you were telling me earlier, Sue, you've got a fair bit of experience with that. [And anything she can offer that Tony might find helpful is worth hearing. Considering the man made an arc reactor in a cave, and an element in his basement, Pepper doesn't underestimate what Tony can accomplish, even with very little.]

[shieldsup]

[Sue gives Tony an apologetic look, she feels bad that an ambitious man like him has been trapped her for so long. They may not be seeing eye to eye at home, but Tony was still a brave, brilliant man with a can-do attitude.]

I do. I've been to more parallel realities than I care to count, to be honest. Like I told you earlier, my family, the Fantastic Four? We're not really super-heroes. We help out, but mostly we explore. If there's something that needs looking into in deep space, or at the bottom of the ocean, we're usually the first ones there.

[voice ]

[breezing]

Nope, he's pretty unique.

[voice ]

[shieldsup]

Sounds like. Well, Ikki...I think I should get going. I need to keep looking for my suit. Stay in touch, ok? I'd like to meet you sometime!

[voice ]

[breezing]

'Kay! Good luck with your suit!

[action]

[quicktoanger]

"A couple, but usually once they piss off the wrong person they either make it right or stay the hell out. It's not a perfect system, by any means, but it's the one we've got."

I chuckled.

"Also, I've been to New York. It's almost as friendly as Chicago."

Which is to say, not remotely.

[alloys]

Modern-day voyages of discovery, hm? [It's easy to let the conversation shift here, away from the ongoing battle in Luceti against the Third Party and the Malnosso as well.]

And do you find much out there? Deep space, I mean. We're sort of only just discovering life exists outside of Earth back home.

[In a big way, but still.]

[action]

[shieldsup]

Good to know that even in other worlds, New York still has that surly reputation. I'm from upstate New York, Glenville to be specific.

[She laughs]

So basically, we're just a democratic mass of people. Nobody tries to take charge, and everyone does things out of charity? Call me crazy, but that sounds rather nice, to a point.

[handing]

[Leave it to Tony to grossly understate things.] I think it's been firmly confirmed at this point. [In Pepper's mind, anyway. The aliens pretty much made their existence clear all over Manhattan.]

[shieldsup]

Yes, we've found quite a lot. Aliens aren't entirely uncommon on Earth to begin with. But we've found at least 4 entire extraterrestrial empires, the Skrulls, Shi'ar, and Kree being the most prolific. I understand from Pepper that you've encountered the Chi'tauri as well.

[An apologetic look. The Chi'tauri were bad news, not Skrull bad, but bad.]

The bigger discoveries? The Negative Zone, a universe outside our own. Think...if reality divided by zero. Then there's the Titans and Celestials, mad star gods. And Galactus...

[She trails off there. He's...not her favorite subject even if Reed's technically his friend]

[thelittlemacthatcould]

I bet.

[Comic book characters always embark on bizarre and thrilling adventures to engage readers and to keep a series fresh... Well, that was thinking of things strictly from the perspecttive of his world where, sadly, superheroes exist only in fiction. Of course, he intends to treat her as any other human being.]

What's the coolest place y'ever been to?

[Regale him with tales of your journeys!...A Coles notes version will do, too.]

[shieldsup]

The coolest place? Probably the universe where the Ice Age never ended. It was really cool.

[Oh Sue, you joker]

The most interesting place? Probably Attilan. The capital of the Inhumans.

[thelittlemacthatcould]

[He struggles to decide which world to inquire about.]

...Inhumans, huh? So what's the deal with the place? Why'djya choose that?

[shieldsup]

Attilan was the first real adventure we'd had with a happy ending. We met and befriended the Royal Family of Attilan, and when they were betrayed by a jealous subject we helped. After that, things changed. We stayed good friends with the Inhumans. Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal and Gorgon especially.

[alloys]

That we did.

[He's really not a fan of those guys.] Asgardians, too. If you count them as aliens. [Which in his book, he does.]

Sounds like you've got some fun neighbors out there. Good to know the rules of physics are a lot more flimsy than original thought. In your universe, at least.

[handing]

[Pepper can't imagine anyone on earth who would be a fan, considering. And she nods at the inclusion of the Asgardians, though they had (thankfully) been much fewer in number.

She'll take a sip of her drink then, not adding anything more to the conversation just yet. Pepper's not entirely comfortable dismissing the possibility of other alien species outright because there are so many parallels between the universes--but there's also a significant number of gaps.]