[video]

[highprofilerichkid]

[A dark-haired kid who seems to be in his late teens appears on screen. He smiles, but it looks a bit forced.]

Hey. Tony Stark. [He gives a small wave.] I just... got here, I guess, and got the rundown on the whole scary death chaos monster situation. And all the giant magic turtle stuff. Sounds like a good time. [He laughs awkwardly, and rubs the back of his neck.] Better than centipede monster void dimensions, at least, [he mutters. This is not the first time he’s been suddenly yanked into a different dimension, evidently.]

Anyway, uh, if anyone needs some tech stuff or heavy lifting done, hit me up. I haven’t had a chance to take a close look at the tech here yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. [He seems to brighten a little at the prospect of new alien technology to play with.

He looks like he’s about to cut the feed, but then he hesitates. There’s a couple seconds of anxious silence, and he fidgets, his cheerful demeanor faltering even more.] And, um, just out of curiosity... When they send us back home, there’s... There is something to go back to, isn’t there? [He laughs, but it’s nervous, like he’s not sure he wants to know the answer.] Nobody would really give me a straight answer, but... They’re not going to send us back if we’re just about to... Well, you know, get blown up or something. Right? I mean, that would be pretty messed up.

Comments

video;

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene's not aware he's recording, so he's less guarded than usual. A range of emotions flits across his face - fear, anger, and even something a little like hope - before he breathes one word.]

...Stark...?

[Then he sees the little blinky light and OH SHIT OH FUCK OH DAMN. He cuts the feed, panicking.

He's just gonna go. Lie down and rethink every single one of his life choices, particularly the ones that led to this moment. And he's gonna pray really hard that Stark manages to miss that inadvertent message.]

Re: video;

[highprofilerichkid]

[After a few minutes chatting with his fellow conscripts on the console, Tony's starting to feel a little more settled in. He's been having very nice conversations with all these nice strangers. Not necessarily comforting conversations, but mostly everyone has been very nice about it. And there's a certain camaraderie in being surrounded by a bunch of people who are just as out of place and confused as you are. He's starting to think that maybe this involuntary vacation won't be so bad after all. He's starting to think that he's gotten through the biggest surprises this place has to spring on him.

And then Gene Khan appears on his console screen.

For a second they just stare at each other. Gene whispers his name, and then a look of panic crosses his face as he realizes he's recording, and his feed cuts.]

Gene? Gene?! [PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN PHONE, GENE. Gene does not reappear. Tony snarls in frustration and slams his fist down on the keyboard.] Dammit, Gene!

[What the fuck what the fuck what the FUCK. What the hell is Gene Khan doing here?! How...?!

There’s only one way to find out. Tony flicks off the console. Then he armors up, and goes to have a little chat with his old enemy.

video;

[wintershepherd]

[ Wait. Wait wait wait. There's no way that name can be a coincidence. Jack flips on the video feed without giving consideration as to whether this one will be able to see him. ]

To...ny?

Re: video;

[highprofilerichkid]

Sure is. Tony Stark. That's me. [He peers at the console. The audio is coming through fine, but there's no one on screen.] Hey, is there something wrong with the consoles? I can't see you. Is the picture frozen?

[video]

[agentx13]

[ Sharon stares at him.

And then she stares some more.

Tony, her Tony, isn't here anymore. But damn is she ever going to tell Natasha. ]

Tony. I knew you in another universe. I'm Sharon Carter.

[ She kills the feed long enough to laugh rudely. Because HOLY CRAP TONY STARK IS A CHILD HAHAHA shit there is no way this will end well. ]

Re: [video]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony stares back. Okay, yeah, the introductory spiel definitely glossed over some things.] Um. Sorry, you what?

[Soooo... apparently all this... different dimension... stuff, includes, like, alternate dimensions. Multiverse style. Okay. Cool. Alright. Tony can deal with this. He had hoped he'd never have to deal with alien dimensions or alternate dimensions or time travel or any of that crap ever again (because literally none of that was fun the first time around) but here we are. This is not totally new territory. He can deal with this. He's dealing with this. Be chill. Dealing. He clears his throat.] I mean, er, nice to meet you? Sharon. Nice to meet you. Sorry, I don't think we've met in... my universe.

video;

[loquaciouslyfeline]

[The console flips on to show a very interested Amelia. Now this is an interesting turn of events.]

Tony Stark. [She speaks with familiarity to the name.] That name is fairly known around these parts, you'll find. [Stark Industries is - or was - run by a man of the same name. Not to mention said man had also had another version of himself present, although neither was around any longer. But where are her manners?] Captain Amelia of the Terran Royal Navy.

And given that we have all been hauled rather unceremoniously on to this turtle, it would be quite rude of Evandau to not send us back safely once we've finished our business. That would be very 'messed up', indeed. [She's fairly certain the Emperor wouldn't be that callous with the lives of those brought here. Fairly.]

[He looks to be of similar age to Gene, and that, combined with his name, has seized her interest. The other boy had mentioned him, though not in any great extent or with much praise.] Tell me, you wouldn't happen to own a personal suit of armor, capable of flight and decked in gold and red, would you? [Better to not mention Gene at the moment. Besides, if her hunch is correct, then like the previous two Starks this one will have a similar set of armor, being yet another alternate version of the same person.]

Re: video;

[highprofilerichkid]

[OKAY THAT'S A CAT LADY. Alien cat lady? He's going to go with alien. He gets the feeling that people probably don't have the time or inclination for hardcore LARPing on this turtle.

After a few seconds of shock while he processes ALIEN CAT LADY, he recovers enough to smile politely. He's only been here a couple hours but this is still not the weirdest thing about today by a long shot.] Yep, that's me. What, uh... what do you mean by "known," exactly?

[Is that good? Is that bad? Of all the places he'd expect Stark to be a familiar name, "giant alien turtle city in another dimension" would not have been high on his list. Is everybody going to know who he is? Like, again, not an completely unfamiliar experience, just... not an experience he'd expected to have here. This alternate dimension stuff is seriously freaky.

But she doesn't seem to think he'll be sent back only to kick it half a second later, courtesy of the giant explosion he'd just been in the middle of. So there's that, at least. He relaxes a bit, and even manages a little laugh.] Yeah, really. Some thanks for fixing their chaos monster problem that would be, right?

[At the mention of the armor, though, he clams up again. Out of habit, he almost denies it, but... what's the point? They pulled him out of that tub in the damn thing -- the cat (pardon, Captain Amelia) is kind of already out of the bag. Besides, all the reasons to keep his identity secret are moot here. Cautiously, he says,] Yeah, I... might have one of those. Why?

[Either there's a hell of a gossip chain out of the welcome center, or she's seen the armor before. On someone else. Oh, god, are there other versions of him here right now?! That would be so freakin' weird.]

video; Starkryption 100%

[alphatar]

[Korra's not even trying to hide the look on her face, because this is officially the weirdest thing she's seen on the turtle. And that's saying a lot. She's testing out to see if the encryptions work again, and she didn't even register how ironic it is.]

...Tony? [Question in a minute, she just needs to make sure she heard him right.]

Re: video; Starkryption 100%

[highprofilerichkid]

[Why is this girl looking at him like that? What did he do? Why are you giving him that funny look, Korra, he hasn't even had a chance to make a fool of himself yet.] Well... yeah. And you are...?

[He can't decide if everybody already seeming to know who he is is comforting or just way too twilight-zone bizarro. He's leaning towards bizarro.]

Video Post:

[solo_patria]

I have been told that some people go home and then return here, so I would imagine that there is something to go back to in those cases. No one seems to remember being here. I was told that the same had happened to me, but I also know that I was dead, or actively dying,then. I know some others, though, who went back to their lives as actual lives,so I should presume you have nothing to worry about.

[You know, unless you were actually dying at the time you were brought here. Which is, you know, a possibility, given that Enjolras knows enough people in that circumstance. Knew. Either way, he's reminded something of Leo, a little, and it's really too bad that they missed each other.]

Re: Video Post:

[highprofilerichkid]

I... think that's reassuring. [It isn't, really. Frankly, there's just been way too much talk of dying since he arrived, and it's not exactly putting him at ease. Nobody seems to know anything for sure about how this process of grabbing... "foreigners" works. That doesn't sit well with Tony. He's already getting the feeling that something's being hidden from them, and probably something bad.

He wishes he hadn't asked about this on a public channel. He thought he'd collected himself in the welcome center, but he's starting to lose his cool again, and it shows. He runs his fingers through his hair and distractedly asks,] Sorry, what did you say your name was?

video;

[trainwrecked]

I think you're getting a good look at the weird this place can bring, so I'll save the reactions and letcha see what you gather from people and wind up with whatever questions you've got.

I'm Sergeant Bucky Barnes. If you end up too confused between everybody, I could try to help out, later. Just let me know.

Re: video;

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony laughs weakly.] Yeah, it's a lot to take in. Thanks, Sergeant-- [And then the other shoe drops. He did pay some attention in history class.]

Whoah, wait, Bucky Barnes, as in, "Captain America and Bucky" Bucky Barnes?

[looksfine]

[This was...curious.]

[Aya had encountered two separate "versions" of the man known as Tony Stark. One significantly older than the other, but both of them older than the one who was also claiming the name over the Network. Suspicious. Except he had no reason to lie.]

It is a...pleasure to meet you, Tony Stark.

[Hesitation, if only because pleasure, while not wrong, was only the best word she could think of at the moment.]

There is no reason to suspect you will be blown up upon your return, unless the circumstances you were temporarily extracted from were geared towards such an outcome.

[highprofilerichkid]

[First a cat alien, and now a green... robot alien? Tony supposes he's going to have to get used to seeing a lot of non-humans around. Including the resident kedan. Who are also aliens. And shapeshifters. So... yeah, he's kind of in the minority here, isn't he? He'll just have to roll with it. It helps that everybody so far seems a lot nicer than the Makluans. Tony's okay with aliens, as long as they're not of the imperialistic planet-annihilating variety.

She's not helping him feel any better about his situation, though.] Haha. Well. About that. [Does "being right in the middle of an exploding interstellar battleship" count as being "geared towards such an outcome"?] My... extraction circumstances were not really what you would call ideal.

[skeletonenigma]

Centipede monster void dimensions?

[Because that's definitely the important part of the message. The name 'Tony Stark' sounds familiar, but Skulduggery doesn't recognise him. Besides, possible dimensional traveler. It's enough for him to turn on the feed before he can actually pull up a false face.]

[highprofilerichkid]

WHOA. You are... um. You're a skeleton. That's... That's different. [UM YES HELLO SIR ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU ARE IN FACT A SKELETON. BECAUSE THAT IS A THING THAT YOU DEFINITELY ARE. A TALKING SKELETON. IN CASE THAT HAD SLIPPED YOUR NOTICE.

Aliens are one thing. Animate human skeletons in dapper suits with Irish accents are another entirely. Looks like Tony's Weird-O-Meter is due for another recalibration.

He's so thrown off by the Dapper Irish Skeleton that the question it asks him doesn't even register. You might want to give him a second to reboot before trying again, Skul.]

[everylittlegirl]

Aren't you a little young for an alcoholic?

[highprofilerichkid]

Wow, that's a hell of an opener. Do I get some kind of follow-up to that, or do you greet everybody new with a weirdly offensive non-sequitur?

[He's trying to make a joke -- he doesn't sound angry, just baffled and slightly amused.]

[backinakidflash]

[Let's cut to the chase.]

You got short, man.

[highprofilerichkid]

[Okay, this is getting old real fast.]

Man, you all sure know how to give a guy a warm welcome. First I'm an alcoholic, and now I'm too short. What next: my hair looks funny and I have bad breath?

[What is this, the Dimension of No Tact? SHEESH.]

video; HEY FELLOW GENIUS

[problematical]

Sometimes people go away when they shouldn't.

Re: video; HELLO THERE FELLOW TRAUMATIZED TEENAGE PRODIGY

[highprofilerichkid]

[It takes him a second to parse that, but when he figures out what she's getting at (he thinks), he sighs and says,] Yeah, that's the sense I'm getting. This whole operation sounds like a mess, if you ask me.

video;

[6collegecredits]

[She's squinting so hard at the screen right now. She kind of stopped listening after he gave his name, though.]

You're not Tony Stark.

Re: video;

[highprofilerichkid]

[Aaand here we go again.]

Well, Anthony Edward Stark is what it says on my birth certificate, so you'll have to take that one up with my dad.

[superoverachiever]

Honestly? Don't count on it.

You probably should take some proactive steps.

[highprofilerichkid]

Yeah... it's actually less "about to get blown up" and more, "currently being blown up," so, uh, not sure there's any way to be proactive about that.