001 - text; anonymous

[explosivepenetrators]

[ It had been about a day since Peter arrived, and he had to take some time to get his bearings on this strange situation. The last thing he remembered from home was going up in what was probably the last fight of his life against Thanos. And then he was here, with no clue on what happened to either the Mad Titan or one of his closest friends.

He had moped for years, and he couldn't let it continue more than a day here. It may have also been some shock leftover from the events of the Cancerverse. He needed to see what the situation was with the other residents here. It would help if anyone had an idea of what went on back home, and after hearing about the anonymity features in the cafe, he figured that the best option. ]

While trading names first would be the polite thing to do, I don't have the time right now. I have a few questions to see where we all match up:

1) Does "Annihilation War" mean anything to any of you?

2) If you answered yes to the first question, what about "The Fault?"

3) Are there any good places to get a hard drink here?

[ Apologies, everyone. Peter can quite frankly be brusque and an ass when his life's taken an odd turn. For the sake of making sure the questions get out, he repeats them in rough phonetic approximations of the more common Kree and Skrull languages. Long shot, but worth it. ]

Comments

[video; so not anonymous]

[littlecousin]

[If Pete can't recognize Nita by appearance, he must have been tuning Richie out.]

...Who is this?

[She doesn't like the Fault, okay. Evil versions of Mar-Vell come out of it and then it kills her boyfriend.]

[ text for Pete right now ]

[explosivepenetrators]

[ Flark. This is just how his luck usually runs. At least he can count on that to be the same. Of course he remembers Pete talking about Nita. ]

A friend of a friend. You know about the Fault. Is it still a threat?

[ Changing subjects; he's such a pro. ]

you suck, quill

[littlecousin]

It's closed, Mar-Vell's vaporized, everybody went home.

[Except all the dead people. Like her boyfriend.]

he's a jerk; he can't help it

[explosivepenetrators]

[ Talk about a load off his shoulders. Sort-of. They only hoped that bringing Death into the Cancerverse would help; for all they knew, all that cosmic quaking beforehand could have just been some big-ugly waking up to take the Many-Angled Ones' place.

But seeing that time was a fuzzy thing that could be played with here... ]

Good. Any word of Peter Quill or Richard Rider after the Fault closed?

[ A man could hope, right? ]

[littlecousin]

[Wrong question, or possibly right question--Nita's expression is something intense, but even she herself doesn't know what she's feeling.]

Who is this?

video

[barebacking]

I know nothing of anything called the "Annihilation War."

Though, I do feel the war of eighteen years ago should have been called it...

permatext for now on Pete's end

[explosivepenetrators]

Then I'm guessing we're from different universes. Though why would you say that? Did you have a galaxy-spanning war too?

Re: permatext for now on Pete's end

[barebacking]

Galaxy-spanning? No, not at all.

But it may very well become such a thing... the Empire tried to reach into the darkness to call to creatures that should never be called to. To speak of them would give them power. They would bring them to the world and destruction would reign over everything until there is nothing but darkness in my world, too.

[explosivepenetrators]

That doesn't sound too far off from my recent situation. People were trying to reach through a tear in space to bring ancient creatures into our universe.

Though your situation sounds a little more... magic based?

[barebacking]

That is correct.

There were Seals in the world which were made by the Gods to keep these creatures out. If all were shattered, they would be allowed to enter. [ ... ] I don't like the idea that there is something similar in other worlds. Could they be the same? Tony ... that is Tony Stark ... he told me that magic may just be science in another form in another world... after all.

voice;

[casaerotica13]

[Yeah, this guy sounds like he could use a beer or four.]

Brazen Turtle. Middle of the city. Can't miss it.

Can't help with the first two, though. Between you and me, kinda glad I can't. I've had enough of End Of Times crap.

voice; 50% encrypted

[explosivepenetrators]

[ Well, for offering him a good place to get a drink, this guy at least earns to hear Pete's voice, though encrypted from other people. ]

Thanks. I try to avoid the stuff, but I think there're moments that call for a drink no matter what.

[ He sighs, though. ]

Be grateful. You don't want anything to do with an army of interdimensional space-bugs sweeping across the universe, or a tear in the fabric of space.

voice; 50% encrypted

[casaerotica13]

I gravitate to it, myself.

[Then again, he has an extreme tolerance to liquor. That fact helps.]

Ugh, you're right. I don't want anything to do with that. [Ew, bugs.]

Did you try a space station armed with Raid?

voice; 50% encrypted

[explosivepenetrators]

[ Heh, well this guy sounded a little more like Pete's idea of fun. ]

No, but a good friend of mine managed to make fine work of their leader. [ He has enough taste not to say, "He ripped the guy's insides out through his mouth." ]

Space infestations are usually solved with guns. Lots and lots of guns.

voice; 50% encrypted

[casaerotica13]

[Gross, but effective.]

With lasers, right? Cause if you say bullets, I'm going to have to go all nerd on you, man.

text;

[trainwrecked]

No on 1 and 2.

Yes on both of 3. Kedan alcohol has more kick than human.

text;

[explosivepenetrators]

If it's anywhere near as strong as Shiar prison wine, I'll be fine.

[ A second later. ]

For the first ten minutes.

text;

[trainwrecked]

Never tried that, but then, I've no idea where Shiar is.

But this stuff got a friend who can't get drunk on human booze, so it should work.

text;

[explosivepenetrators]

Oh, the homeworld is somewhere...

[ And he writes up a little complicated description of where the Shiar homeworld and the boundaries of the empire lie in space. With maybe a small description of the Shiar themselves.

Sorry for the tl;dr, Bucky. ]

...And they're a pretty tough bunch, so Shiar prison wine could probably knock a human on his rear for the good part of a day.

text;

[trainwrecked]

I think I'll take some of the local alcohol just about now. Before I came here, it was 1945. We didn't even have anything sent out to orbit.

[ As far as he knows. Yes, you gave him a headache, Peter. But he did read it all. ]

The kedan are stronger and faster than humans. And shape-changers. They require stronger alcohol, apparently.

video;

[definingfuture]

Don't waste time at all, huh? Although your screening questions are rough. Usually people start with "hi" these days. Nice follow-up with three, though. That'll earn you points.

[Ask a serious question and get bullshit. That's how this goes, right?]

text for Pete for the time being;

[explosivepenetrators]

[ Well that's a face he recognizes in passing. Too much time in space. ]

I might've been born there, but I never excelled in manners.

But seeing your face makes one and two unnecessary.

[ In hindsight, after sending that, he realizes it could come off pretty darn weird. Well. Off to a good start. ]

video; because he's pushy

[definingfuture]

But not three? Interesting.

[Well that answer is kind of creepy if taken without context. Tony just grins, though, apparently enjoying the game.]

Do I get a hint? Twenty questions? It's no fun if you don't give me something to work with. I'll have to take a direct approach.

> video; 50% encrypted

[explosivepenetrators]

We've never met, so I don't know if 100 questions would help you out.

[ What the hell, he might as well switch to video. He hadn't met Tony up to this point and as far as he knew from Nita, everyone in the universe thought he was dead. ]

I'll save you the trouble. Name's Peter Quill. Star-Lord to some.

video; 50% encrypted

[definingfuture]

[Tony takes in Peter's image from the console, but there's no real recognition there.]

Well, that's better at least. It was getting weird talking one way. I guess I don't need an introduction either?