tushanshu | video; shortly after waking up this morning

It's not. It's actually really hard to do. The materials here are... substandard at best. At worst, nothing like what I'm used to at home. But where there's a will, there's a way, right?

[ And he's got will in spades. At least when he's determined to do something. ]

I'll find an appropriate substitute. Or I'll change the way I approach construction of the things to make whatever I find work. Long as you're not married to only one way of reaching a goal, you can get there no matter how many obstacles are put in your way.

[Pep talk from Tony? Pep talk from Tony. Pep talk that was...actually, weirdly, exactly what he needed. Hell yeah.]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Tony, you may have just done a bad thing by accident. Gene smiles slowly, as if something's just occurred to him. Then he's talking again, all curiosity.]

So you showed up here and decided to build a branch of Stark International? [Shit. That's not right. Different Stark, different company.] No, sorry. Stark Industries.

[ He notices the smile, but he doesn't pry into its origins. If something he said struck a chord with the kid, so much the better. He doesn't need to know what it is. ]

Not quite.

[ This isn't his favorite topic, but now that Gene's brought it up, he figures he may as well answer him. ]

It was already here when I arrived. Seems like there was a Tony Stark here before me who was a little more nostalgic for the old days than I am. I think he built it.

[Gene reacts with appropriate surprise. And it's genuine.]

No kidding. So that's three different versions of you that have been here?

[Sheesh, did the Emperor just buy Starks in bulk or something? Knock freakin' wood there aren't any other self-styled Mandarins that have been here. But judging by the lack of reaction his name has gotten from...well, anyone on the network, either any prior-visiting counterparts have kept their Mandarin status on the down-low, or there haven't been any.

Which is good, because then they would have to fight, and Gene did not intend to lose to some older, lamer version of himself.

Oh, great, Tony is being cryptic. He does not like when any Tony is cryptic, anywhere. That usually does not bode well.]

What do you mean, 'nostalgic for the old days'?

Three that I know of. Maybe there have been more, who knows.

[ And since they’re clones, that means that it’s likely there might continue to be more. It isn’t a pleasant thought, not to him, and he doesn’t want to dwell on it. Lucky for him, Gene gives him an opening to talk about something else. It’s tangentially related, but not so much that it makes him feel awkward talking about it. ]

A couple years ago, I put Pepper in charge of Stark Industries. It’s still mine, but I can’t run that and be the Iron Man without my work suffering somewhere. Since I’m not really suited for board meetings, I picked the suit.

[ Though to be fair, even if he had been suited for protracted meetings about nothing important, he would have still picked being the Iron Man over being an ordinary man. ]

[If the thought of Tony actually running a multinational corporation had weirded him out earlier, the idea of Pepper Potts of all people running it totally freaked him out.]

You put...Pepper...in charge. Pepper Potts. Pepper got-a-guy-deported-in-the-eighth-grade Potts. That Pepper?

[Nope. Nope. Still not processing. Still too insane to contemplate.]

I really hope that the Pepper you know is, uh, not as... [He waves a hand vaguely.] Yeah, I can't see the Pepper I know running your company.

[Actually, he can. Everything just happens to be on fire.]

What, was Rhodes too busy?

Edited (HTML AND I ARE NOT FRIENDS) 2013-11-13 05:35 (UTC)

[ That gives him a moment's pause, and his eyebrows rise high on his forehead as he looks at him. What kind of world is it that he comes from where Pepper isn't responsible and Rhodey would want to run a company? ]

Rhodey's in the military. They call him War Machine now. He pilots one of my suits. And Pepper's one of the most organized, detail-oriented, responsible people I know. It'd be weird for her not to run the company. She actually shows up to board meetings. The shareholders love her.

[ Unlike him, who could never be bothered to attend. ]

Military? I wouldn't have seen that coming. [Not like he particularly cares about Rhodes anyway. Easily his least-favorite member of Team Iron Man.] He's War Machine where I come from, too. [And maaan, do those missiles sting!

But seriously, this information about nega-Pepper is freaking him out. In this bizarro universe, what would have happened to him? Is the Mandarin a coked-out British actor? Nah, that would be silly.]

Yeah...last I checked, my Pepper wanted to work for SHIELD and have a jetpack. She even has her own armor. [Which, just before he ended up here, she was using to ~~kick his ass~~ unfairly impugn his character.] I would think that showing up to board meetings would be way too low-octane for her.

[ His name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery. He's an actor. ]

Sorry, what?

[ It's weird enough that apparently he and Rhodey - who he didn't know as a teenager - both have suits before they're able to drink legally. But Pepper wanting to be part of SHIELD? Having a suit? Wearing a jetpack? Is he nuts? ]

Pepper. Pepper Potts has a suit. A metal, flying suit. Not a business suit?

[ And now the hilarity strikes. The Pepper he knows hates his lifestyles, hates him being Iron Man. They argue about it all the time. There's no way she would ever join it. ]

The one I know hates all that superhero stuff. She's been trying to convince me to stop wearing the suit for years.

Yeah. A metal, flying, repulsor-equipped suit.

It's purple.

[Pepper. Pepper hating the superhero life? Trying to make Tony quit? Impossible. The very thought makes him scoff.]

It looks like we know two very different Peppers.

[And that's a relief. At least there's not a copy of his Pepper running around where this Stark came from. One is more than enough for every universe.]

Sounds like your Pepper's a lot more fun.

[ Not that he necessarily wants her to put herself in the line of danger. Tony thinks he's better suited to that. If he dies, it's not that great of a personal loss to anyone. To science, yes, but no one will mourn his passing when he goes. That's the way he wants it. ]

Not that great in the taste department though. Purple suit? Really? Why did I make it purple?

That is...definitely one way of putting it.

[Another way would be 'crazytown bananapants'. And not necessarily in a bad way.]

And I'm not really sure why. The armor's a recent development. I didn't get a chance to ask her about it before I ended up here. [He was too busy being Care Bear Stare'd through walls to ask about Tony's questionable design choices for Pepper's armor. ~~Not like he has room to talk about fashion sense, anyway.~~]

Edited 2013-11-27 01:59 (UTC)

Well, clearly I wasn't in my right mind.

[ Or looking at a car when it came time to decide what color to paint the thing. ]

So is that the extent of the crazy alternate universe revelations or do cats run the country and fish wear pants too?

[ Likely, the answer's no. Though in his world, there is a town in Alaska that has made a cat mayor. So, it's not that much of a leap that one made it into the Oval Office. ]

Yeah, somehow I don't think that aesthetic choice was yours.

[Because holy cow did Pepper wear a lot of pink. And...oh no, Stark's joke made him smile. Dammit!]

No, fish don't wear pants, unless TV somehow got even more inane than usual. And last time I checked, the President was a human.

They wore suites and dresses on Fish Police. It could happen.

[ It says something about Tony's brain that he remembers enough ridiculous details from a cartoon that only aired six episodes in 1992 to reference it now. Likely, what it says isn't anything good. ]

You sure the president's human? Not some kind of shapeshifting alien? Or a magic wielding raccoon? I mean really, how would you know?

Fish what.

[No really. Fish what? What. He's suddenly very glad he doesn't live in a world with Fish Police, whatever that is.

Gene shrugs.] Never bothered to check. Didn't really care.

It was a TV show. Based on a comic. Ran about six episodes in the nineties.

[ It's irrelevant. He just gets hung up on stupid trivia sometimes. ]

You should always check. Never trust the government. Especially when you don't know who's running the show.

...okay then.

[He shrugs.]

It's never interested me, but I'll be sure to check when I get back. [Because. He is going back, once all this is over. Then it won't really matter anyway because he'll be overthrowing the government, but, details.] Good to keep in mind, though.

Didn't really interest me either. Then the government tried to fuck me. And not in the sexy way either.

Be careful who you trust. Especially if they're telling you to trust them.

I don't think there is a sexy way for the government to do that.

[Trust? What a quaint idea.] Yeah, don't worry. That word's not exactly part of my vocabulary.

And that's how you'll get ahead in life. Good man. Uh, who's stuck in a kid's body.

video; shortly after waking up this morning

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