War Machine - Tumblr Posts
Avengers Reassemble Ch 1
*SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME & AVENGERS:ENDGAME
“This is a terrible idea,” Peter Parker gulped, looking outside of his aunt’s car.
It was a peaceful evening in Queens as the teen watched his classmates dart into the building of Midtown High School. With the student’s senior year ending tomorrow and graduation in a week, the staff decided to hold a farewell party.
The problem was that the school begged Peter not only to attend, but to also give a grand speech to everybody there. Peter still remembered the class presentations, the charity balls and the court trials, and he remembers screwing up every one of them. But he wasn’t the type to say no to teachers, so here he was.
“Well, no turning back now, kiddo,” Aunt May grinned, “Come on. I overheard you rehearsing it in the bathroom for the past week. It sounds great!”
Peter blushed, tugging at his tie, “It really doesn’t.”
May sighed, placing a hand on the kid’s face. This boy’s been through so much. He’s lost his parents, Uncle Ben, Mr. Stark. He’s lost any chance of a normal life, but he still kept fighting. Even after his secret came out to the world, he still hasn’t given up.
“Hey, Peter, you deserve this,” May smiled, “A break from supervillains and world-ending disasters can’t hurt, right?”
Peter chuckled, “Guess not.”
“You’ve got this, kid,” May pecked a kiss on his cheek.
The boy opened the car door and began to walk towards the building. Students greeted him on the way in. A lot of them brought him into group selfies and asked for autographs. All Peter could do was put on a fake smile and put on a facade.
Peter began to mutter to himself, “Okay, Pete, you can do this. You’ve taken on Thanos, Vulture, asshole reporters. It’s just a simple graduation speech. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Once Peter reached the doors of the gymnasium, he groaned, “Oh, I am so screwed...Alright. Come on, Spider-Man. Come on, Spider-Man.”
He pushed open the door to hear the sound of blaring music and bright neon lights. The gymnasium of Midtown High was buzzing with energy as the class of 2025 was partying it up. He recognized everyone there, including a few members from his decathlon team.
The young boy walked towards the podium, chest out and back straight. People began to clap for him as felt his classmates patting him on the back and congratulating him. What was only a few feet away from him felt like an eternity away.
Once Peter finally got there, he began to fumble with the microphone. Loud noises screeched from it as he tried to set it up. The audience cringed, but at least he got their attention, right?
He laughed nervously before clearing his throat, “Hello, class of 2025! How’s everyone doing tonight?”
The response he received was applause. He heard people cheering out his name, cheering for Spider-Man. It wasn’t easy after his identity was revealed, but with time, he was able to regain at least a little of the people’s good will.
He giggled a little, “Well, I know we’ve all got things to do and, uh, places to be, so I’m keeping it short. Kind of like me, heh!”
The lack of laughter caused Peter to begin to worry. He pulled out a stack of notecards and began to read them out loud.
“Now, I want you to go out there-Wait, no. That’s the, uh, last part. Must’ve mixed it up,” the boy stammered, “Let me just resort them.”
As he tried shuffling them back in the right order, he accidentally dropped the pile, causing the cards to fly away. Peter cursed at himself as he tried desperately to get them back together. The awkward silence caused him to start shaking as he nervously stuttered apologies to the audience.
Before Peter’s anxiety could completely engulf him, he finally noticed a certain someone in the crowd. His girlfriend, the amazing Michelle Jones.
The usually somewhat dour woman looked beautiful that night (hell, she looked beautiful every night) as she gave him a reassuring smile and a knowing look. MJ knew he was Spider-Man even before the incident with Europe and she’s been helping him with his job ever since.
One look from her reignited the boy’s confidence in himself as he dropped his cards, got back up, and leaned towards the microphone. He could do this.
“Now, I know we’ve been through a lot,” he started, “Europe, the Battle of New York...The Snap.”
He noticed the uneasy glances some of the students gave to one another as the memories of these events flooded back. They were raised in a world of iron men and god, where their city could be destroyed at any moment. Hell, they lost five years of their lives to a maniacal alien overlord.
Peter nodded, “Yeah, I know. It can be overwhelming, the world we live in. We thought we would never make it out alive. We thought we were doomed. But we made it. We persevered, we worked our asses off, and we got to where we are now. Well, as it weird as it may sound, that’s honestly no different from adulthood. We think that this is the end of our lives, that we won’t have any future, but...if we can survive Thanos, I think we can survive college!”
Laughter erupted through the audience, reassuring the child that everything was going well.
He smiled, tears of joy starting to well up, “I am so grateful, not only for having been your classmate, but also for being...your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Thank you, Midtown High!”
The sound of clapping and cheering almost deafened Peter, as everyone was chanting his name. As he stepped down from the podium, he waved to everyone, almost like a president would wave to his citizens.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!,” he grinned, “I’ll be here all week! Well, not literally, but...you know what I mean.”
Peter walked across the room to finally embrace one of the people he cared about the most. MJ buried her neck into the boy’s shoulder as Peter stood on his toes to reach her.
Peter sighed, “Well, that could’ve gone better.”
“Well, it was better than that bio presentation from last month,” MJ pointed out.
“You ever gonna let me forget that?,” he asked.
“Not in a million years, Web-Head,” she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Better than being the Menace of Queens, right?”
“Oh, I’d rather not think about Jameson right now,” Peter groaned.
“Yo, Pete!,” cried a voice from behind Peter. He turned to see his best friend, Ned Leeds, standing behind him, wearing his fedora and everything.
“Ned, holy crap, man!,” he hugged his friend, “I heard about you getting the Osborn Scholarship, congrats!”
“Thanks, Peter!,” Ned beamed, “Looks like you’re not the only one working for a billionaire!”
“Ey, last time I checked, Stark Industries is still on top,” Peter bragged. He was happy that even after the passing of Mr. Stark, his wife, Mrs. Potts, still wanted Peter to work for her at Stark Industries. It was only as an intern, but it was still nice to be working for the company he idolized for years.
“Whatever, man,” Ned scoffed, “By the end of this year, Oscorp’s gonna be the best of the best all thanks to yours truly.”
“Well, I’m sure your plans for a fully-functioning Lego Death Star will thoroughly impress your boss,” Peter commented.
“Don’t give Oscorp any ideas,” MJ snickered, “Knowing them, that’s totally something that overly-patriotic, corporate douchebag would build.”
As Ned and MJ went about their usual back-and-forth on Oscorp’s beliefs and policies, Peter could only watch and smile. This was what he loved about this school. This was what he was going to miss.
…
After a few years, the night ended and everybody began to head out. Ned headed out with Betty a half-hour before the party was over, leaving MJ and Peter on their own.
Everybody was heading over to Flash Thompson’s house to keep the party going. MJ wasn’t the type to party, but she did like skulking in the back to creep out the party-goers. Peter usually liked to watch, but he was just dying to go out and fight crime.
The two walked out, hand-in-hand, as Peter begin to fiddle with his web-shooter on his left arm.
MJ couldn’t help but notice the gadget on the boy’s wrist, “You are just itching to get out of here, aren’t you.”
Peter gulped, quickly tugging his sleeve down to hide the object, “Oh, I, uh, I’m sorry, MJ, this speech’s just got me thinking.”
After a moment of silence, the taller girl scoffed, “Well, you gonna share with the class?”
Peter shook his head, “It’s just that...it’s starting to hit me. I’m now the only superhero still working in New York. I mean everyone else is either retired or...gone. It’s just me.”
The somber look on the boy’s face prompted the young woman placed an arm on his shoulder, “Hey, loser, you might be the only one in this city running around in spandex, but you sure as hell aren’t alone.”
“Thanks, MJ,” Peter said as he embraced the girl he cared about.
“Don’t stay out too late,” the girl commanded to him.
“I make no promises,” he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He only walked a few steps before rushing back, giving MJ a kiss on the cheek. The sight of her blushing got him to snicker as he hopped over the gates of his school and started swinging away.
MJ slowly lifted a hand to her face, “Oh, that nerd.”
…
The boy sat on the roof of a building in downtown Queens. Crime in the city was lax tonight, so Peter didn’t even have anyone to fight. He took of his mask and sighed, looking over the place that raised him.
Peter couldn’t help but feel alone now. He hasn’t had contact with any of the Avengers in about two years, not since Mr. Stark’s funeral. He knew that there were other heroes out there, but he hasn’t heard about them in news in a while.
Dr. Banner and Mr. Barton retired, Thor’s in space, Captain Rogers is in hiding, and Agent Romanoff and Mr. Stark are...gone. No one’s guarding the planet now.
The world needed protectors. Was Peter going to be the only one to step up for that role?
He sighed, “How did Mr. Stark do this?”
“You know, usually a guy getting out of high school would be out partying.”
Peter quickly turned around to see a man in a giant grey suit floating behind him. The guy was so large that even when his slow landing created a loud thud. The helmet popped off of his face to reveal a familiar face.
“Sup, Pete. Been a while,” greeted James Rhodes, the War Machine.
Peter met the soldier briefly during Tony’s funeral. He was nice, helped comfort him during the process.
The boy stuttered, “Rhodey, hey! I mean, Mr. Rhodey! I mean, Mr. Rhodes! Or is it Colonel Rhodes?”
The older man raised his hands up, “Whoa! Slow your roll there, kid. Rhodey’s fine. What are you doing up here?”
“Uh, just patrolling the neighborhood, keeping the city safe, the usual.”
“I saw you walk out of your school,” the colonel said, “You know, when Tony got of high school, the end of the year party he held at his place was something out of a dream. It was the type of thing older Tony would regret.”
“Yeah, figured,” the kid nodded, remembering the stories of Tony from before he became a superhero.
“Not that big of a party guy, huh?”, Rhodey noticed the shy look on the boy’s face.
“Pfft, before tonight, the last real party I had ended with me almost getting killed my homecoming date,” Peter laughed before regaining his composure, “Yeah, I...Parties have never really been that great for me. With everything that’s happened...I’m really not in the mood, you know?”
Rhodey nodded. He was more the type who would get dragged to parties instead of going on his free will, “I can get that. Sorry, I couldn’t help you with that whole Europe thing.”
“It’s cool. I know you’ve been busy,” Peter nodded sympathetically, “So, what brings you to Queens?”
The man in the armored suit began to shuffle awkwardly, “Well this is gonna sound crazy, but…I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”
everyday i am reminded the reason rhodey put on the war machine suit for the first time was because his best friend was using the iron man suit for party tricks
Back-and-forth Dialogue With A Friend: Callie Visits the Conquerors
(Callie belongs to Toblerone, who is an awesome artist and also one of my best friends so please check her out thank you UwU)
(Also none of this is canon sry)
- me
~ Toble
-- Setting the scenery/explaining the scenario to Toble --
“-It's kind of like a medieval kingdom with high-technology. The floor is made of marble tiles. The planet is only half of a destroyed planet conquered by the organization long ago.
- There're illumise propaganda banners and quotes plastered around every corner or being projected onto screens that hang over the city.
- And there're controlled soldiers marching patrols amidst the conversating people of mixed factions as they run amuck through the city. Some poor scmuck in a mask is being apprehended by some soldiers for graffitiing a building around the corner. People stick to their own factions mainly, especially when it comes to anyone in the Interceptor faction (Characterized by grey/black eyes instead of blue or red)
- "Some other places that you could visit are the Reclaimer Sector" Quail said, her astral finger pointing to the left through a cyan arch,
- "The Interceptor Sector," She continued, pointing to a grey brick gateway in front of them,
- "And the main Pavillion, which no one really uses because they don't get a long too well is over there too." She threw a thumb over her shoulder at the pristine white and black archway marked with the Illumise insignia on it. "The boss of this place lives up there," Quail turned around and pointed at a cylindrical tower extending up from the Pavillion, which was topped by a sphere of one-way glass, "But no one goes there. It's crawling with elite guards, and no one visits him unless he wants them to."
- "Good luck," she grinned mischievously, and promptly vanished.
----------------Roleplay line--------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ Calli stared out onto the street. It was very different then the smooth walls and streets of the cities she had lived in.
- Around the corner sat three figures, conversing in low, excited voices, all wearing crimson cloaks. One had theirs pulled over their head, who seemed to be talking the most.
~ Her eyes landed on them, and she stared for what could be a little too long, wondering.
- The three figures continued talking until one of them, with fiery pink hair buzzed on one side, noticed her looking. Callie noticed the metal plate and eye grotesquely grafted onto the left side of her face. The hooded figure rolled up a piece of paper that the three of them had been looking at.
~ Calli only raised an eyebrow, she was almost 60 percent metal herself anyway.
~ She then realized her ears and tail were in plain view, and she stepped back to hide them.
- The hooded figure turned towards her, a suspicious frown barely visible on his face. "You don't seem like you're from around here," He said suspiciously.
~ "You would be correct." Calli answered.
- He walked toward her, pocketing the paper inside his cape, and held his hand out expectantly. "ID?" He asked.
~ "I've done nothing wrong," She said. "But I suppose I'll humor you." Calli raised a metal gloved hand and a hologram shot into the air, showing her name and other info common for an ID. It was a fake ID, of course. Calli had no intention of being truthful to a rude stranger.
- The other two cloaked figures looked at her hologram ID in a mixture of shock, confusion, then a sort of sinister smirk. In front of them, the hooded figure smirked, then pulled something from his pocket. The second cloaked figure was now moving behind the hooded figure, and walking silently behind Callie. "I meant one of these, sweetheart," He said sweetly, holding out a square of metal and glass in one biker-gloved hand. It sparked, then bright red letters scrolled across the glass panel's surface. "But close enough." The second figure grabbed her from behind.
~ Calli smirked.
~ She twisted and threw her attacker on the ground, so hard that a snapping sound could be heard. She then half morphed her arms, until they were sharp, battle ready weapons. "Bad idea." She hissed angrily. Her ears and tails became visible again, and her tail lashed angrily around her legs. Calli’s ears were pinned flat against her head.
- The second cloaked figure groaned on the ground. The hooded figure smirked, then snickered, which turned into a full scale laugh. He abruptly cut off, and pulled a small pen-like rod from another pocket in his cape. He flicked his hand out, and it extended into a shortstaff. The end crackled with red electricity. He lifted his hood, Surge stared at the freak with his mismatched eyes, one cornflower blue and the other black and red, through the metal plate covering half his head. Twelve sets of coordinated footsteps were approaching from the right. "You've poked the wasp's nest, freak," He said sinisterly, red electricity sparking from his staff. "Be ready to get stung." He lunged at her.
~ She smiled. Within seconds, her helmet engulfed her head, hiding her face under a black metal helmet and a turquoise visor. Her whole body was now in the black metal suit, and she moved deftly, jumping forward to meet him. She hit him backwards and he stumbled back a few steps. Calli then pulled a black sword from seemingly nowhere and it blazed to electric blue life. "I see you want to play with lightning." A electronic voice echoed, mockingly.
- This weirdo might be a handful, Surge thought as he fell back onto his knees, then shook himself. Reinforcements should be here any minute now. Besides, I didn't become the general for nothing. He gritted his teeth and stood up. "More like a short-circuited toaster." he taunted as he strolled past her. She swung at him, and Surge immediately dodged under, sweeping her legs out from under her. "Believe me, you'll be taken care of in no time," He finished as he prepared to swing at her again.
~ She threw a small box at the wall, a similar box in her hand. In a flash of blue, she teleported out from under him, and she stuck to the wall. "Ah, sweetheart doesn't understand what he's dealing with." she turned her sword from blue (stun), to red (kill). "I'm sorry to take you down so soon." She leapt off the wall and swung her sword, and she saw it get so close that his cloak began to burn.
- After barely dodging the blade that swung above him, Surge leaped into the air and shouted, "You're one to talk!" Didn't wanna have to try using this, he thought hesitantly, a blue glow beginning to emit from his hands. The two soldiers on the ground, after seeing the glow, immediately scrambled to their feet and ran away. He focused his concentration into one plea, repeating over and over: A beam of light. A beam of fire. A beam of lightning. A beam of... FOR THELOVE OF G0D JUST MAKE IT SOMETHING EFFECTIVE FOR ONCE. The energy gathered in his hands, and he unleashed the unpredictable energy towards the cyborg. It frazzled in midair, then grew bigger and more triangular until a full-sized grand piano was hurtling towards Callie. That works, Surge thought as he landed stomach down on the ground.
~ Calli started for a second and took a step back as the piano slammed powerfully into her energy shield. It knocked her back a bit. "Fine, if I stop fighting will you just imprison me?"
- Surge got up steadily, trying hard to mask the relief on his face while he answered, "Gladly." Two hands grabbed Callie from behind, handcuffing her as they escorted her towards the middle pavillion. They put a blindfold over her eyes, and sounds around her indicated she was in an elevator going downwards. The blindfold lifted from her vision, showing her a mess of an underground laboratory. The walls were covered halfway with tally marks. Stasis chambers, all but one of them empty, lined the rim of the semicircular room. A few corpses littered the room, their bodies covered in marks from a scalpel. A steel door covered in claw marks stood on the back wall. A girl with wolf ears silently rocked in the left corner, and a teenage boy with bright seafoam hair was chopping a severed finger into tiny bits with a bloodied scalpel in the right. He looked up as Callie was shoved into the room. "You'll stay here until we find a way to use you," the voice of one of the soldiers said ominously from the elevator. "Try to survive until then.” The doors closed behind him.
~ Calli went freely, as she knew she could kill everyone in the elevator without thinking about it. However hard her opponent had tried, she could tell he was relieved. She didn't like to kill when she didn't have to. She stepped into the room, and tore the blindfold off. Calli surveyed the few people and stood silently.
- The teal-haired teen looked up from the gore he was cutting and smiled, waving one chained hand. 3, said a number on his white bloodstained longsleeved shirt."Heya, Catgirl! They leave you for dead too?"
~ Calli let her suit recede into nothingness, and she stepped forward. Looking totally human now.
~ "Yes." was all she said.
- "Great! Nice suit ya had there. Or was I just seeing things again?" He tilted his head, looking from his scalpel back to her. He stood up, and the chains around his hands flashed green for a moment. "Name's Vian. Welcome to the Failure club!!! That is, unless you can somehow magically get us out of this place."
~ "You saw a suit. And I can. Get you out, I mean." Calli turned to look at him. "My name is Calli, in case you were wondering."
- "Nice to meet you, Cassee! I'm Vian." He reached his hand out to shake hands with her, but the chain on his hand pulled it back, flashing a cautionary yellow. "That over there's Scion," He introduced, pointing to the figure in the stasis chamber wearing a respirator. "And that's Threshen," He groaned, pointing forlornly at the rocking figure in the other corner. "I think she's a little bit off her rocker, if you know what I mean," He stage-whispered.
~ "I see." She said politely. "Well, do you want out of here? I can get us out in a snap-"
- The girl suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream that filled the room, and Vian plugged his ears. "SEE WHAT I MEAN?!" He shouted over her as she continued to scream.
- Threshen stopped screaming and continued rocking in place. "THAT WOULD BE LOVELY, CARLIE," He continued, seemingly unaware that she had stopped screaming, "IF THE GUARDS WEREN'T PATROLLING OUTSIDE." His chains flashed yellow again. "I COULD PROBABLY HELP BETTER," He continued, "IF I DIDN'T HAVE THESE CHAINS ON ME." He gestured to the black metal chains around his wrists.
~ "I can do something about those too," She said. "And she's stopped screaming, you can talk normally again." Her ears moved forward.
- "Oh," He said. "Right." The elevator made a whirring noise, as if someone was beginning their descent down.
~ Calli turned quickly and ran at the elevator doors. She ripped them open with super human strength, and then she reached in and tore the elevator cable. The sound of something heavy falling whizzed past and a muffled scream reached their ears too.
- The elevator fell to the bottom of the shaft, a woman in a white, blue and red robe sprawled on the ground.
~ Calli looked down at her in disgust.
- Vian gasped. "Is she dead?" He said excitedly.
~ "I don't think so." Calli said. "Who is she?"
- "Oh, one of those converter people," He said, waving his hand. "Probably come to make you into another soldier."
- "Another pawn."
~ Calli stepped over to the woman, and kicked her in the jaw, knocking her unconscious.
- "Another slave," He pressed, slowly leaning forward on his chains.
~ "Now, do you want to get out or not?"
- Vian's eyes lit up. "R-r-really?" He hesitated, looking down at the scalpel still in his hands, then back up at Callie with a fearful expression. "I... Don't think that's a good idea..."
~ "Why so?" She asked. "Anything would be better then living down here in fear." Calli's eyes darkened. "Even death."
- He stood fearfully. "I've done things," he admitted, gesturing at the bodies of scientists strewn all over the floor, "Bad things. I... don't trust myself." He was straining against the chains now, and they were flashing orange on and off now.
~ "But why throw away your chance to change?" She asked. "I've done horrible, even evil things myself. But I've changed myself. I'm much better now."
- Vian stopped, contemplated this, and smiled. "You're right. Let's get out of this place."
~ Calli grinned. ~ "I knew you'd come around." She said, then stepped toward him. "Do you mind if I..?" She pointed at his hands.
- He stepped away from his chains , holding them tight and away from him so she could cut them. The chains flashed red, and a burst of blue light sparked on the cuffs on Vian's wrists with an electric ZAP. He yelped and collapsed to the ground in pain, then rose slowly and gestured for Callie to cut them.
~ Calli first wrapped metal gloves hands around them, and the dull black glow slowly dimmed, and then, she plucked them off effortlessly and dropped them to the floor.
- Vian stared at the rings of Litchenberg scars that marred his wrists. "T...Thank you," he said in bewilderment. Threshen stood behind them, stumbling slowly towards the door, glaring at Vian as she passed with her glassy eye. The other was scratched out. Calli noticed that Threshen's right arm was missing as Threshen sat in the elevator shaft's base.
~ She shook her head. "it's just what I do." She gestured, "Follow me, and then, she walked to the other side of the room, away from the elevator."
- Vian smiled and nodded, walking toward the door with her. When Threshen didn't follow, he sighed, took her hand and dragged her toward the door, despite her screaming, clawing and thrashing.
~ When Calli stopped at a wall with no door and far away at the elevator, Vian seemed confused. "Come closer. I'm blowing the stilts off this building and if you're anywhere out of my shield you'll be killed." Calli began to place at least six or seven glowing charges in a circle around her, all electric blue.
- He stood in shock for a second, then nodded solemnly, dragging Threshen closer in as the three of them braced for impact. "Welp," Vian murmured low under his breath, "Guess the Clone's gone."
~ "Do you want me to get Scion?" She asked, "I haven't set the charges yet."
- "He's got weird regenerative powers," He explained. "Being a clone of the boss, and all that. He'll be fine."
~ "Alright," She said. A blue shield went up around them, and the charges began to beep. "Get ready, it's gonna be loud."
- "Roger that," He said, covering his ears, and gesturing for Threshen to do the same.
~ A loud cracking sound came first, and outside the shield a blue smoke seemed to attack the energy field. Then the blackness came, filled with blue lightning. The building began to collapse, falling in on itself and pieces of the walls and ceiling began to hit the shield like hail.
-----------------Roleplay Line------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had to stop at this point because of the fact of it being near midnight but...
Some ideas of what I believe would’ve happened:
1. Vian played Callie and goes crazy stabbing everyone once he gets to the surface, including Callie, and they have a “OMG YOU BETRAYED ME D:” Talk.
2. Callie would’ve met with the boss of Illumise, severely injured/killed them, and left. :>
So ya that was fun!!! UwU
Back and Forth Dialogue With a friend: Matrix visits Chicega
The second half of a dialogue trade with Toblerone ^-^
(Srsly this girl needs some support PLEASE MAKE A SOCIAL MEDIA SO I CAN TAG YOU YOU AMAZING ARTIST WRITER BFF YOU-)
So, like last time, this is a thing where a character from one person’s world is thrown into the universe of the other’s. Last time, it was Toble’s character Calli in my setting of the Illumise Headquarters. Check it out sometime! :D
- Me
~ Toble
Also sadly, none of this is canon :(
===Toblerone Explaining Scene===
“~ So I'm gonna do the Raid on Chicega, which is basically a large city much like New York
~ The government may have had bounds in tech but the public hasn't
~ The cars are more high tech tho, so are billboards
~ Cameras are everywhere, and a guard in a helmet and high tech suit is on every corner. They all have pulse guns.
~ The Area Tower is the tallest tower in the city.
- so a Dystopian futuristic New York?
~ Yes
~ The city has a huge industrial zone to the east, and it’s surrounded by plains
~ And that’s about all. Ready?”
-------------------------------Roleplay Line--------------------------------
- Matrix wanders into the city with a coffee cup in his hands, gazing at the brightly colored signs.
~ The sky was clear above Chicega. Zilo cast a casual glance into the street, standing outside Dale's coffee shop.
- Matrix's eyes wandered over to a nearby coffee shop. Maybe they have pastries there? He wondered, opening the doors and walking inside, waving hi to the barista.
~ Zilo brushed a strand of bright blonde hair out of his face and went inside the shop, seeing Dale working busily behind the counter, and Calli and Hailey sitting at a small table in the corner. Zilo's eyes drifted to the newcomer.
- He felt eyes on his back, so Matrix turned to see a blonde-haired boy seated at a window table staring at him. He waved at him awkwardly.
~ Zilo smiled at him and waved him over.
- Matrix hesitated, then sighed and sat down with them. "No offense, but it's a a little weird to stare at someone from across the room."
- "You could have just said hi," He smiled.
~ "I've just never seen you in the shop!" Zilo answered. "We usually have the same people in and out at the same time." He shrugged. "Bad habit. Can I get you something?" Zilo gestured at the glass display case of foods and other things.
- He glanced at the display case with his watermelon eyes, and set his sights on a raspberry cinnamon roll the size of a dinnerplate. "I'd like that one," He pointed at the roll, "But I'll buy it with my own money, thanks." He began walking over to the cashier, but stopped midway. He turned to the blonde boy and said, "I'm Matrix, by the way."
~ Zilo grinned. "I'm Zilo, and alright, suit yourself. " He laughed lightly, swinging around to face his sisters, who were talking quietly with grim faces.
~ Calli suddenly shot up straight in her chair, knocking her coffee of the table. Black cat ears appeared from her head, standing up and alert. Hailey also looked concerned, and feathers appeared from behind her ears, also straight and alert.
- Matrix’s eyes widened in confusion.
~ Zilo jumped up and sprinted to them. "What's wrong, Calli?"
~ She quietly said, "I hear planes."
- "Good planes or bad planes?"
~ Zilo let his own gold wolf ears appear, and then he heard them too, the low menacing buzz of an engine.
~ He flipped around. "Matrix, Dale, you guys need to leave. Run. Get out as fast as you can."
- “Wait,” Matrix said. “I can help you guys!”
~ "How?" Zilo said. "Can you stop over fifty planes?"
- "Maybe," He muttered. He paced around a bit. "Do you know where the nearest cell tower is?"
~ "Here I'll take you there." Zilo waved to his sisters, who were crashing through the front window. "There they go!"
- "Great! I'll follow you." He ran through the doors of the café and after him. "*Huff* I shouldn't *huff* have worn *huff* a fluffy jacket," He panted as they ran down the city streets.
~ Zilo weaved through the streets, fighting through a crowd of joggers and up to a tower. "Okay look, I have a plan."
- "I do too, but I'm listening."
~ "I don't know how you're gonna stop the planes but I'm going up there." Zilo pointed to the top of Ara Tower. "Signal me with this before you crash the planes." Zilo handed him a black flare with a white button and sprinted off towards the tower.
(It was at this point that the story split for a moment into two separate ones. I’ll do Toble’s first then mine :>)
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Zilo took a flying leap and a loud cracking sound emanated from his feet. His boosters flashed and he rocketed upward, towards the tower. Hailey flew along beside him, her wings letting her glide effortlessly. "Where's Calli?" He asked, nervous.
"I don't know, she took off towards the other side of the tower." Zilo nodded, then felt his side vibrate. His emergency teleporter was flashing. He grabbed it and pulled it out as he slammed face first into the towers roof, cutting his face on a wire sticking out of the air conditioning unit.
Zilo stood up as the air to his left flashed brightly and suddenly Calli was there, her own emergency teleporter in hand.
Calli chuckled and pulled out a launcher, that was already charging. "Where's your friend?" She asked, a little winded.
"He's supposed to signal me soon." Zilo said, turning towards the cell towers direction. Calli kneeled on the tower and aimed the launcher upwards towards the swarm of black dots in the distance.
Zilo saw the flare go off and yelled, "THERE IT IS!"
===============================================
- "Good luck!" He called after him. Matrix then looked at the tower's floor map, which was hung in a frame over the receptionist stand, searching for the broadcasting floor where the computers were.
- "Floor 19," The map said. Just under the top floor. He sprinted up the stairs, tying his navy aviator jacket around his waist. "Please, let this work," He muttered as he pushed in the doors to the room alight with computer screens. "Broadcast, broadcast..." He mumbled as he checked the labels on each of the cords plugged into cameras, microphones and computers. "Input, output, phone charger... Broadcast!"
- He brandished the USB cord with triumph for a moment, then paused. "Now, here comes the painful part..."
- He held the USB in one hand, and an Input cord in the other. After a deep breath in and out, he plunged the two cords into the side of his arm. "Please work, please work, please work, please work," He said through gritted teeth as his form started to flicker and pixellate, and, as he slowly disintegrated into pixels, he pressed the white button on the flare he was given before it clattered to the ground. The computer flashed for a second, and a beam of electricity shot up a cord, heading for the tower's antenna.
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Calli nodded as she began to be encircled in an electric blue sphere, soon she was almost hidden inside. A crackling sound came from it.
Abruptly, the sphere around Calli shot forward with an exploding sound and hit one of the bombers head on. It exploded into shards that rained down on the streets.
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Bravo Fighter 3 sat in the cockpit of jet number 33. She flew over the cell tower confidently, preparing to double back and open fire on the city at the boss's orders when a small ERROR message on her ship's console caught her attention.
Suddenly, every monitor on the console flashed orange, then faded to a pastel pink. "What in the..."
A chat menu had overlapped the ship's electronic controls.
Messages were pouring in the dash, one at a time: "Hmm, what to say to crash this..." read a message at the top. "Um, I could count to two hundred in French? Yeah, I'll do that."
She looked at the dash in confusion for a moment as the bot continued, "Un de tois, quatre-something..." until she noticed the messages going faster and faster, until they blurred upwards in astonishing speeds. The engine behind her had began to run hot. She noticed a type area for her to type in as Bravo Fighter 7 flew above her, and crackled onto her radio asking why she'd flown off-course. However, she was busy talking with the bot. He seemed... friendly, almost?
She continued talking to the craft until she noticed her ship dipping towards the ground. She yanked the flying gear up, but the ship was unresponsive.
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Zilo saw the MAG begin to fall over the cell tower and he yelled in triumph.
Hailey shot towards another MAG, literally tackling it from the air and towards the ground with a loud smashing sound.
Zilo followed Calli into the air, as both leapt towards a mechdropper.
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As the ship began flashing red and the pilot hit the eject button, one more message popped up on the screen: "Don't text and drive."
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Calli threw a punch at the cockpit, bending the MAGMD in two and it exploded as they passed through flying debris.
Zilo grabbed Calli's shoulders and threw her upwards. She latched onto another MAG while Zilo fell downwards onto a MAGMC.
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=( ( ( ALL TOGETHER NOW ) ) )=
- More and more ships began dipping downward. Any ship that flew close enough to a dipping one began to malfunction the same. Two dozen pilots in parachutes floated down from the sky, where the others were waiting. Zilo examined one of the fallen jets, and the earpiece in his ear crackled with static. "Hey Zilo! Got them down for you!"
- "Also, you guys are surprisingly good at this," Matrix's voice continued from Zilo's earpiece as Zilo took down another MAG.
~ Zilo laughed. "Kind of my job!" he said offhandedly, throwing a fire charge at a passing fighter and then landing flat on the street, barely saved by his shield.
- "So, I've hacked into a lot of their jets, and I have a cool magic trick I can show you," He said excitedly. "Watch this!" His voice said from the earpiece.
- Below them, the crashed jets that still had their miniguns were aiming them at the few jets still in the air. A few careful, precise shots from the machine guns took down all the remaining jets that had stayed away from the ones that had crashed.
- The debris from them fell to the ground like demented snow."Abra Kadabra," He said from the earpiece.
~ "HAHAHA YEAH THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Zilo yelled in happiness and victory.
~ But he screamed when the MAG flew into his side.
- “NO-O-O-O-O-”
~ Zilo hung to the nose of the jet, coughing up blood. His ears hung limply, and Calli and Hailey were nowhere to be found...
- "Oh no, oh nonononono," Matrix said from the earpiece. "What the heck is up with this dang jet's antivirus software?!," a moment later. "Hang on, Zilo, I can save this, I-I can save this..."
~ "Just do what you can-" Zilo coughed, cutting out. "Can't blame ya, the Russians are weasels." (Just a part of her story, I’m sorry)
- "I CAN DEFINITELY SAVE THIS," He cried through the earpiece. In the background, a mechanical voice repeated "Access denied. Virus detected."
~ Zilo screamed and suddenly the jet was no where near. Calli gave him a thumbs up from the top of the now flaming jet.
- "Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected. Access denied. Virus detected."
~ "WE'VE GOTTA SAVE MATRIX!" he screamed. (Which gave me the idea to...)
- "OH GOD ZILO I'M SORRY, I'M SO SORRY I COULDN'T-" Silence.
~ Hailey suddenly flickered out of the air and appeared in the cyber space. She grabbed Matrix's pixelly arm and yanked him into reality.
- Hailey came out of the computer, tugging a half-pixelated arm free from the computer. It hung limply.
~ Hailey's eyes widened and she yelled in terror and sadness. Zilo started to cry, and Calli looked up in horror.
- The hand began to disintegrate into pixels, until it flickered green for a moment.
- Zilo’s earpiece buzzed.
- Slowly, the arm regenerated itself, then a sleeve, then a shoulder...
~ Zilo began a small smile, reaching for Matrix hopefully...
- until Matrix was lying on the hull face down, his pistacio hair discheveled. "uuuugghhhhh," He groaned.
- "Dang, I haven't come that close since the comet," he muttered as he got up onto his knees.
~ "Oh thank god you’re okay" Zilo hugged him.
- Matrix hugs him back.
- “Did we do it?” He asked, glancing at the thirty or so wrecked ships.
~ “Yeah, mostly. We still have the mechs to deal with, though.”
- Matrix turned to hear the stomping of mechs in the distance. "Oh, come on," he moaned, then shook himself. "Okay, let's do this," He said confidently.
- And the four of them sprinted off, ready to fight again. -
The End :3
If Robin Hood was a new recruit in Infinity War
Invincible Iron Man #7 - “Fight the Future” (2023)
written by Gerry Duggan art by Juan Grigeri & Bryan Valenza
MCU CHARACTERS I DON'T LIKE THAT MUCH/THINK ARE OVERRATED
Tony Stark
Natasha Romanoff
UNPOPULAR/HATED ON MCU CHARACTERS I PREFER
Clint Barton
Sam Wilson
Carol Danvers
Jane Foster
Peggy Carter
Hank Pym
Pietro and Wanda Maximoff
Bruce Banner
OTHERS I COULDN'T FIT
James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Sharron Carter
Now this does not mean I hate Tony or Nat at all I just think they are way over hyped and I can't find much to like about them. Idk maybe my opinion will change with the Black Widow movie coming out in a couple months. I STILL LOVE TONY STARK AND NATASHA ROMANOFF.
tony: rhodey and i get along perfectly
rhodey: i have never been more stressed out in my entire life
rhodey: i’m doing dry january
pepper: i’m doing veganuary
tony: i’m just trying to make it to february
tony: what’s up sluts? i’m back from jail
rhodey, concerned: sluts?
pepper, even more concerned: jail?
rhodey: why is tony on the counter?
pepper: he likes to be tall
rhodey: do you wanna talk about your trauma?
tony: trauma? you mean the reason i’m so fucking hilarious?
rhodey:
rhodey: no
tony: i never brag
rhodey: you once called your face the proof of god's existence
tony: i’ve learned some very valuable lessons from this
rhodey: i’m guessing they are all horrible distortions on the lessons you actually should’ve taken away
tony: death isn’t real and i’m basically god
tony: when have i done anything rash or irresponsible?
rhodey: i keep a list. it’s alphabetized
rhodey: you look like a corpse that was pulled out of the river
tony: wrong. i look like a cool rock star who just od'd in their own pool. big difference
rhodey: tony, up and at'em, time to go
tony, groaning: i don’t wanna go back to school
rhodey:
rhodey: tony, you’re like fifty
tony: why do people believe i’m incapable of doing anything nice ever?
rhodey: experience