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

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

[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)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lovely. Why are we fighting them again? The guidebook was pretty slim on the information there.

[She takes another sip and waits for Tony]

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.

Edited 2012-07-17 21:48 (UTC)

[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.]

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.

[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.

[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.]

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?

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.

[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.]

[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.

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.]

[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.]

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]

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.

[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.]

Asgardians too, if you want to count them. I tend not to, but I tend to subscribe to the theory that they are literally the Norse gods. I've seen Thor and the others pull off one too many feats to believe they're just aliens. There aren't very many of them, either.

[She finishes her drink and nods, though]

There are tons of other alien species out there though. I'm sure you'll run into them eventually. And they mostly aren't unfriendly. There may even be other species on Earth, hiding in out of the way places. Thats how it was for mine, anyway.

[Well, she'd know more about them than he would--not that he ups and admits that.]

Something to look forward to then, I suppose. SHIELD's pretty good at keeping secrets, even from people like me. So it's just a matter of playing the waiting game.

They could be both. [Pepper interjects there, not so eager to believe in deities as portrayed in mythology. Aliens are easier, somehow. Funny how perception works.] There's been debate for years about ancient gods actually being aliens. People just didn't have to take it quite so seriously before.

[She's quiet again though, when Tony talks about SHIELD keeping secrets. Phase Two had been bad enough, from what Tony had told her, not to mention the nuclear missile. Given the story Sue shared, Pepper is pretty concerned about what they might come up with next.]

Well, you could say that, but there are too many coincidences. In my world, Thor and his people just faced Ragnarok a few years ago, and he's been missing ever since.

[She just throws that word out there like its nothing too. Ragnarok.]

It may be different for you, but shaking hands with Baldur and Heimdall is something entirely different from dealing with an alien.

Speaking of...has Hercules revealed himself in your world yet?

[At least the nuclear missile hadn't been Nick Fury's idea, and he'd come around on Phase Two. Not that it didn't mean trouble could still be ahead, but after Loki, Tony is a little more inclined to give Fury the benefit of the doubt.

He gives Sue a deadpan look.]

Hercules, too? And I thought Thor was bad enough. Let me guess--you're going to tell me Santa and the Tooth Fairy are real next.

[Pepper isn't going to press the argument. Honestly, it falls squarely into the realm of things she doesn't want to consider, and getting into the details of aliens versus gods versus perception only leads further down that road.

Thankfully, Tony's himself, and takes everything in stride. She has to laugh at his quip, even though she's very aware that they might be in Sue's world.]

[Sue laughs openly and honestly. When she'd first met Hercules she felt the same thing. The Asgardians and the Olympians had, however, just become part of their lives. Yes, it wasn't anything like the world she'd grown up in anymore, but...]

I wouldn't know, I've never looked. Herc's a good guy though, and an Avenger. One of the bravest men I've ever met. Not counting you, of course.

[She grins at Tony. He really is a brave man, underneath the jokes]

Well--'brave' isn't typically the word ascribed. [He glances teasingly as Pepper--'reckless' was usually the adjective that came first.] But I'll take it.

[He leans back and takes a sip of his drink.] Remind me to make that my next order of business when I get home--find Hercules. And Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

[She may have meant it as a joke, but Pepper has seen enough women flirting with Tony over the years to think that Sue's coming rather close to that line. And considering that many of those women have also been married, she doesn't assume that a ring will stop her.

Then Tony looks at her, and of course Pepper agrees. She might also say 'insane' on his worst days. She grins, more genuinely than a moment before.] I'll put it at the top of the list, Mr. Stark.

[That is ONE thing Pepper will never have to worry about from Susan, she'd never seriously look at anyone other than Reed. Find attractive? Maybe. Namor fits the bill. Joke around with? Of course. Actually let it progress past that? Never in a million years.]

Good. If you want a real treat, do a complete flyover of Antarctica, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. Keep your eyes peeled for a jungle at the very center.

And...I'll be right back myself. Another drink feels appropriate.

[Sue stands and walks back down the bar, ordering a second]

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