An Outsider

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Personally I think you've been doing a great job of Cap, BD.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Have I freaked anyone out yet?

@Blue Demon

YES!

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

The Man of T.O.Morrow

_{Silicon Alley, Manhattan, New York}

Cross-town New York traffic was a thing of the past for Tony Stark. When he was wearing the Iron Man armour he was the true man of tomorrow, and for the man of tomorrow taxi choked avenues and traffic light littered cross-sections were replaced by clear sky lanes. The trip from Coney Island to Manhattan's Silicon Alley barely took half a minute, and yet it still seemed to take an eternity to Tony. People were in trouble, and he was taking too long to get there.

The New York S.T.A.R Labs was in sight now though, the fifteen story glass fronted building looming large in front of him. The police had managed to set up a wide cordon around the laboratory, but spectators were already straining against the thin blue line that stood between them and calamity, eagerly ignorant of the dangers to them, all in the quest to catch even the barest glimpse of the action.

That was New York, Tony mused, so desensitized to the superhuman scene that they treated situations like this as nothing more than an amusing distraction from their otherwise hum-drum lives. Don't treat the dangerous criminals who would as soon kill you as look at you as a threat though, oh no, regard them with the same respect you would a living-statue street performer.

He made one fly-by of the building, letting J.A.R.V.I.S scan the labs and the surrounding area, managing to identify the officer in charge in the process, an African-American female lieutenant with a wild bush of dark hair only partially stuffed under her cap, handing out orders to the other police present, yelling at the civilians, and really doing quite a commendable job of looking like she was still in her comfort zone. He was also quick to notice two twisted, burning hunks of metal that dimly resembled police cruisers, as well as several areas of scorched, blackened concrete along the surrounding buildings an streets.

Tony ratcheted down the jet engines in his boots, hanging in the air in front of the lieutenant for a moment before dropping to the ground in the three-point landing that, thanks to some clever marketing, was now synonymous with Iron Man. At the sight of him the lieutenant's ice-cool composure disappeared for a heartbeat, eyes going wide with shock as she took an involuntary step back, but she quickly recovered before any one other than him noticed. The crowd gathered behind her were as equally impressed by his appearance, many turning Lexphone camera's in his direction, or calling out support for him. Unlike Superman or Spider-Man, Iron Man had a much easier time connecting with the general public. He liked to think that it was because he was a 'self-made' man, that his powers were all directly related to his own hard work and intelligence, or that he was willing to share his true identity with them, that he wouldn't hide behind a mask. In reality though he was pragmatic (read: cynical) enough to admit that it was probably because he could afford a much better PR team.

“Lieutenant. . . . Knight,” He got the name from her badge. “What's the skinny?” She didn't answer at first, instead incredulously looking him up then down, not really sure what her next move should be. On the one hand she knew – like most people since President Kelly's inauguration – that inside that red and gold suit was none other than local billionaire Tony Stark, and that while he was a hero kitted out in the most advanced exo-suit on the planet, worth more than she could make in a lifetime, he was still technically a vigilante operating outside the law. She wasn't sure if legally she should tell him to get back and join the rest of the civilians, or to demand if he had a permit for the weapon he was wearing.

On the other hand the situation with S.T.A.R Labs was really over her pay grade. The yellow garbed terrorists had been equipped with firepower that made mockery of the pistols and shotguns she and her fellow officers carried. If there was ever a need of a man like Iron Man, then this was it. Tony was used to law enforcement types constantly having this very struggle with him. New York might be getting used to Superheroes, but the NYPD still hadn't found a convenient place to slide them into the chain of command. That's why he'd stopped sliding the visor of his helmet up when speaking to people, like he had when he'd first started out at this 'job'. He'd found people we're more likely to defer to the grim, steely frown of Iron Man, than they were to the fleshy regular-person face underneath it, even if that face did belong to one of the richest men on the planet.

Thankfully that frowning face plate worked seemed to work it's magic again, as after a few moments indecision lieutenant Knight decided that teaming with Iron Man was really her best option.

"I doubt I have much to report that you don't already know, sir. Twenty minutes ago we got a call from a panicked scientist, claiming that unidentified armed assailants had stormed the building, and were going room to room, taking anyone they found prisoner. The call was cut-off when the scientist was discovered. We responded to the crisis as quickly as we could, but by the time we arrived the bad guys had the place locked down. That's two of our cruisers out there, burning in the street. We've set up the cordon, placed sharpshooters on the surrounding buildings, and SWAT's gearing up, but we just aren't trained to contend with that level of fire-power. . . " She fell silent then, her gaze misting over as she scanned the lab, her fists clenched tight. "Only two officers got out alive. One of those will be lucky to walk again." She murmured, more to herself than to the Golden Avenger standing before her. Tony felt for her, but he couldn't afford to let her have her moment though, not when those A.I.M goons were still running the show.

"Firepower? What kinda toys are we talking here?" The lieutenant snapped back to attention, and looked momentarily embarrassed at her lapse. She coughed nervously before answering.

"They, uh, had laser guns. . . "

". . . Laser guns." The lieutenant colored at Iron Man's flat reaction, obviously feeling like she was being mocked. Which, if Tony was honest, she was.

"Well I don't know, they looked like props from Star Wars, shot light beams, and didn't go bang! You tell me what they were if they weren't laser guns, Mr scientist!" They way she spat out that last line made Tony think that she didn't think very highly of the more academically gifted. Back in grade school she probably beat them up for their lunch money. He decided not to press her any further.

"Ok Lieutenant, I've got a good news/bad news type situation for you. Good news is your about to see a real, live hero in action. Bad news is that things are gonna get real messy, real quick, so you're gonna have to push this cordon waaay back." He bent his knees slightly, getting ready for take off before the Lieutenant spoke up.

“Wait, what are you going to do?” She'd taken another involuntary step back, as if whatever he was planning might go off in her face at any moment.

"Shock and awe, miss Knight. Shock and awe. "

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Per the discussion from earlier.

While writing my next Iron Man post I have a Youtube Mix on. The song that just came on?



I think it's safe to say that if my post is half as epic as that song then it'll probably break RPG's servers in half.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Started watching Young Justice last night. Now I am on Season 2.

@Sep

Apparently Netflix are thinking about picking Young Justice up for a Season 3, so if anyone is planning to watch it, or re-watch it, now's the time.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

I nearly always listen to music when I'm posting. I need it to tune out any other outside distractions, as I get distracted from writing very easily. I don't have a specific soundtrack though, just whatever happens to take my fancy at the moment. Was listening to Muddy Waters Greatest Hits during that last Stark post.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

The Man of T.O.Morrow

Tony Stark's personal workshop 'The Garage'
Stark Industries, Coney Island, New York

The doors to the 'Garage', Tony Stark's personal workshop and the birthing chamber of Iron Man, slid open with a Star Trek style whooosh. Completely by design, of course. After all, who doesn't want their doors to sound like Star Trek? Tony had always felt it was a nice touch. What wasn't so nice was in-pouring of harsh, bright, white light in his hitherto dimly lit man-cave. He shied from it like a cheap, B-movie vampire, trying – and only partially succeeding – not to hiss at the intruder who had caused him such an inconvenience.

The trespasser in question posed in the doorway, halfway between the light and the shadow, dressed in a dark tailored pencil dress that perfectly accentuated her tall, lithe, figure. The gloom darkened her usually-strawberry blonde hair, though had little effect on her expression. That was dark enough without the help.

“Pepper, what an unexpected, yet lovely surprise! Unless you have an appointment. Then I suppose you're expected. Do you have an appointment?”

Virginia 'Pepper' Pots, Tony's very own girl Friday, did not look like she was in the mood for any friendly banter. Not that she was ever in that mood. Technically speaking she wasn't paid for banter, and she took that fact very seriously. Instead she ignored his comments while stepping further into his 'pit', hitting the lights - nearly burning Tony's retinas out of his skull in the process – and illuminating the impressively disorganized mess that was his 'safe-place'.

The Garage looked exactly what it sounded like; a garage, except instead of second hand cars and your dad's neglected tool box this garage held multiple suits of the most sophisticated war-fighting armour on the planet, expensive machining tools used to manufacture those suits, 3d holographic imagining computers, and parts and materials for all those things so expensive that they'd make even Lex Luther arch an eyebrow in monetary concern. Pushed into one corner was a neglected cot where, theoretically, Tony could catch a few zzz's during mammoth engineering sessions. In practice it was used as extra shelf-space, evident by the fact that it was currently holding up several weighty physics and engineering related text books.

Books, of all things! Who else still had books in this day and age!

When Tony's vision finally returned he realized that Pepper had stepped up to his work bench, delicate nose wrinkled in disgust at the cartons of half eaten Chinese food dumped there. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten Chinese food. He noticed that she was studiously ignoring the empty scotch bottles littering the room.

“It stinks in here.” She sighed. She had the look of a disappointed parent who's just come home to find that their teenager had thrown a house party in their absence, despite promising not to before they'd left.

“Then again, you're the person I pay to deal with all my appointments, so I'm not sure you actually need one.”

“Tony, when was the last time you bathed? Or slept, for that matter.”

“Who would even schedule your appointments? Would you have to do it yourself, because that seems mildly obscene, and I -- ”

“Tony,” She cut him off, “I'm serious. You need to sleep. I bet even Superman sleeps.” Her brow was furrowed in concern, and her eyes were pleading with him, pleading to stop messing around. She cared about him, regardless of how little he deserved her concern. He met her gaze for a heartbeat, but couldn't hold up under her scrutiny. He glanced away, uncomfortable now, and returned to what he felt safest doing.

“I'd take that action.” He quipped, her brow furrowing even further, this time in annoyance, but he didn't give her the time to reprimand him. “C'mon Pep, I get plenty of sleep. Look at the cot, why would I even have that if I didn't sleep. I can't just be buying cots and not sleeping in them. I'm not made of money!” Judging by the frown that one didn't tickle her funny bone either.

“Really sleep Tony, not just pretending to nap here when really you're busy trying to find a way to integrate 5G into the next Iron Man armour --”

“Pfft, 5G. You wound me, like I would still be --”

“Tony. Go. Home!” Pepper stood with her feet firmly planted and her arms folded across her chest, the universally accepted body posture of a person who's done playing around. It would be easier by half to just let Pepper have her way now than to continue to butt heads with her for the next hour and a half, just for her to get her way then. If the Blizzard had Pepper's tenacity then he might be a halfway decent rogue.

As soon as he'd slipped her he'd just get back out of bed and straight to work anyway. Whether she liked it or not he couldn't sleep, not any more.

Not without the dreams.

Tony threw up his hands in mock surrender.

“Fine, fine, I give. Ceasefire. White flag.” He turned from her to start cleaning up the messes he'd made in the Garage. Well, less cleaning and more pushing one pile of assorted detritus into another pile of assorted detritus, making two piles into one larger pile. “Tell Happy to start up the car, I'll be out in a moment once I've finished one last thing.” She stood watching him for a moment, suspicious of how easy that was. When it became apparent that he really was just tidying up she mellowed, though not by much.

“I'll be waiting by the car. You've got five minutes, then I'm sending Happy down here. . . With orders to drag you out kicking and screaming if he has to.” By her tone there was no questioning if she meant it or not.

He clicked on the news monitor while putting away some physics journals, more for background noise than a genuine interest in what was happening in the outside world. It was just bad luck he decided to turn on CNN when he did, because he really did intend to do what he was told for once, he really did. Pepper had his best interests at heart, he knew that, and he knew it would be so easy for him to give her what she wanted. In the end it all came down to bad luck and poor timing.

“. . . And we return to the scene at S.T.A.R Labs, New York, where the police are currently locked in a stalemate with suspected terrorists. The terrorists are heavily armed, and have taken several S.T.A.R labs personal hostage. . .” The report went on, but Tony had already seen enough, especially after the camera had glimpsed one of the suspected assailants, a figure garbed in muted yellow body armour and a bucket-style helm, looking like he took style tips from a futuristic bee-keeper.

He was an A.I.M operative. There was no mistaking it. And that meant the police, as well-meaning as they were, just weren't equipped to deal with the situation. Tony glanced over at the MK XII Modular Iron Man armour, gleaming in the corner and ready for action. It was more than enough to handle whatever A.I.M had brought to the party. That alone made it practically his responsibility to clean up this mess.

“J.A.R.V.I.S, time for us to go to work buddy. Begin the start-up process on the MK XII, then open the back door.” Lights were blinking into life upon the MK XII before the last word had even left his mouth. Tony stripped off his sweats and pulled on the skin-tight body underlay that allowed him to better interface with the armour.

“Sorry Pepp,” He whispered to himself before clambering into the suit. “Looks like I'm going to have to let you down after all.”

Outside Stark Industries, Coney Island, New York

Pepper had spent the entirety of the five minutes she had allowed Tony watching the second hand sluggishly wind it's way around her watch face and tapping her foot impatiently against the concrete. He wasn't coming, she realized. She sighed. She really thought he'd meant it this time.

"Five minutes are up Pepp. Want me to go get him?" Happy had ambled over from the, big hands thrust firmly in his pockets. Happy took his job, protecting Tony, very seriously, and was aware enough to realize that the biggest threat to Tony's safety was usually Tony himself. To that end Pepper had no doubts that the ex-boxer could easily make good on her earlier threats to drag the billionaire out if she asked him too, but the thing was that she really didn't want to have to ask him too. She had wanted Tony to take this step on his own. The first step in solving any problem was admitting there was one, after all, and if anyone had to admit they had problems then it was her boss. She watched the doors, willing Tony to walk through them, her better judgement knowing it was a pipe dream.

"Well?" Asked Happy, an insistent urge to his voice. He wasn't going to do anything without her say so.

"We'll give him two more minutes Happy. That's all." Happy didn't say anything else, or at least if he did she didn't hear it over the sudden and distinct roar of repulsor fire. She just managed to catch a glimpse of the rapidly receding red-and-gold figure before it disappeared over the horizon. For several seconds the two merely stood in stunned silence, watching the vapor trail disperse, before Hogan spoke up.

"Something tells me that he ain't gonna be coming out of those doors in two minutes."

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

<Snipped quote by Lord Wraith>

No such thing.

@Sep

You've obviously never been to Perth.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

@Sep That's what you think. I'm going to have Magneto drop a plane on Thunderbolt Ross in a GM-mandated game-wide event in six months.

@Morden Man

Easily the most responsible use of GM-power that I've ever witnessed.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

I think Batman in a reasonable suit could beat Iron Man in the best suit.

As Iron Man (for the most part) just relies on his suit and doesn't have any training or anything.

@Sep

Hmm If we're talking frontier Tony then that's a fair assumption to make, seeing as he hasn't actually had any IC stuff to prove himself (Although it's still just that, an assumption.)

Though if we're talking 616 Tony then that's a big fallacy. If we're talking combat training then he's had plenty of that from the likes of Steve Rodgers, Rhodey, SHIELD, ETC. On top of that he has far more suit-based combat experience than Bat's, which has to count for something. And, as D quite rightly points out, Tony's top-tier suits are ridiculously powerful. To beat Tony at his best, Bats would have to come in his best too, and I don't think it would all that cut and dry.

I don't know that much about Ted, but isn't he like the king of wasted potential? In that he's happy to just goof off when if he applied himself he could be a Batman-tier hero.