06 § video (backdated to Feb 10)

[definingfuture]

Well someone here has completely dropped the ball. I know there are at least a few people around who are rich and Earth-savvy enough to get everyone presents for the month. Maybe celebrate the break from so much cold or the coming of good fortune or something like that. We could use a celebration right about now.

At the very least, I'll try to do my part. [Tony gives the network a winning smile and holds up a small, strange-looking flower playfully. It almost makes the next part sound more like a joke than any real offer.] I've got a few too many of these, so if anyone would like to take them off my hands, I'll be happy to give you a discount.

And if you're available, Miss Frost, I'd love to spend some quality time with you. If your schedule will allow it, of course.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm personally missing my chocolate.

[He even winks at the feed before disconnecting.]


[Private messages to Arthur Curry, Shockwave, and Kyle Rayner]

[...Or just to switch directions.]

Afternoon. I've got a proposal for you. Give me five minutes when you've got them.

[End Messages]

[Private message to Annabeth]

So. I've been saving up my pennies--so to speak. I wonder if I could buy some of your thoughts?

[End Message]

[Private message to Bucky Barnes (616)]

I. [Cap. Forgive him.] I need you to do me a favor.

[end transmission]

Comments

[wintershepherd]

Pitch was the biggest shake up the world's had since I've been around, that's where the Guardians came in because they'd fought him before. But I guess the failsafe, if you want to call it that, is the Man in the Moon.

[definingfuture]

The Man in the Moon? [For real?] So you have spirits who specifically fight off threats, too? How does the Man in the Moon help?

[To Tony this sounds wild, but he's not Dr. Strange with the expertise in mysticism. He's willing to learn.]

[wintershepherd]

[ So very real. ]

He and Pitch, and Sandy for that matter, all came from the same place. North said it was called the Golden Age and it was...

[ a sort of vague wave ]

Out in space somewhere, a long time ago. Sorry, I didn't get the full history lesson before getting yanked here.

[ He feels like he isn't being very helpful though, wondering if he's just wasting Tony's time. ]

He made me a spirit. Presumably... well, he could unmake them, I guess?

[definingfuture]

[Magic always sounds strange to Tony. He understands in a vague sense that it has rules and can be manipulated and countered like any other weapon, but those rules tend to be harder for him to get than technology.

But he's listening to what Jack says, taking it in and digesting it as he would any new piece of information--with a little more dry humor.]

So spirits are actually from space? That kind of figures. But you don't know how they make the magic work? What's it feel like?

[wintershepherd]

No, not all of them. Just a few, actually.

[ His face shows confusion at Tony's question of how it felt. ]

How does what feel? Doing magic?

[definingfuture]

Okay, so there are space spirits and regular spirits.

[That's making things confusing, but he rolls with it. The answer could be a lot weirder. And part of him thinks that this is fun.]

Yeah. How does it work? Just concentrate and things happen, or is it more like flexing a muscle?

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack perked up, because this was something he'd actually spent some time thinking about. ]

A lot of mine is instinctive as far as getting it started. Like when I make frost, I don't think about freezing individual water particles, I just do it... sometimes without even thinking about it. But other things need more practice, like when I learned from Baby Tooth how to pass through things. That part is more like developing a skill. I had to start with just my hand and work up from that and she seemed to think that was normal.

[definingfuture]

Can you fight other magic? [What Jack said was helpful. It may have seemed like innocuous enough questions, but that was the point. Tony was gathering more information in an area he had very little to work with.]

So if our evil spirit works in a similar way, for example, could you use your power to stop his? Just a thought, but we could try.

[wintershepherd]

[ Jack hesitated only for a moment, then gave a serious nod. ]

Yeah. I think so.

[definingfuture]

What if we tried it out? Have you ever gotten close to his handiwork?

If we can test it on something he's touched, maybe we'll make some progress.

[wintershepherd]

Not that I know of. I... went into one of the arches, though. One that led into the Death realm.

[ Despite himself, Jack shivers a little in a way that has nothing to do with cold. ]