tushanshu | [video]

[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.

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[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.

[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.

You're not named after him, are you? Your dad, I mean.

Nope, my dad is Howard. Howard Stark, founder of Stark International. My mom was Maria, my best friends are Rhodey and Pepper, I've got a suit of flying power armor, I fight crime in New York City and occasionally avert alien apocalypses. I'm Iron Man. Any of this ringing any bells?

[Still squinting. So hard.]

So what? Did you get hit by some de-aging ray or something? Do things like that exist? Or I guess maybe you could have just been brought from some other time...

But that doesn't make sense if you're Iron Man already. [Erg. Brain cramp.]

Edited 2014-07-27 01:28 (UTC)

No, I did not get hit with a de-aging ray. I'm pretty sure that's not a thing. [De-aging ray. That's a new one.]

I've been Iron Man since I was sixteen. If the other Tonys didn't become Iron Man till they were older, that makes me from different alternate universe. Instead of being one of the other Tonys from earlier in their timeline. [He considers that possibility for a moment.] Wow. You know, that would almost be even freakier.

It's a shame the other Tony off and disappeared. Imagine what a brain-splosion that would have been.

[But yeah, sure. Alternate universes. Not the first time she's dealt with that here.]

[He laughs. Brain-splosion sounds like something Pepper would say. He suddenly misses his friends fiercely, and remembers that there's a chance he'll never see them again. It hurts, but now's really not a good time for him to lose it, so he pushes the pain away and focuses back on the ongoing conversation.]

Yeah, really. I guess three of us at once was just too much concentrated genius for one universe to handle.

Just as humble then, I see. [She laughed. Some things didn't change, even in alternate universes.]

[Tony puts his hands behind his head and leans back in his chair, grinning.]

And if I invented the armor younger than any of the other Tonys, I guess that makes me the smartest of all of us, doesn't it?

I don't know if I'd go that far. I'd chalk it up to different experiences and needs.

Nah, I'm totally the smartest, [Tony disagrees cheerfully, grinning wider at his own joke.]

So were you friends with one of the other Tonys too? Almost everybody who's messaged me seems to have known one of them in one way or another.

Yeah, I guess. We were from the same universe, world, whatever, but I'd never met him there. I worked for him while he was here.

Is that the same universe that Sharon's from? Or the other one? The one with the other Tony, I mean. How the heck does everybody keep all of this straight?

I don't know a Sharon, so that's hard to say. The easy answer to that is that we don't.

[Tony snorts.] Great. Maybe we should all start wearing nametags. How common is this multiples thing, anyway? Am I going to see two or three versions of every person I meet? 'Cause at that point, I'm just giving up. Everybody gets to be "hey, you".

Nah. It doesn't really seem to happen all that much. And at least in your case the difference is obvious.

Yeah, I can tell from all the reactions of shock and horror I've been getting.

Horror? Really?

I think a couple people are still staring at the screen with their mouths hanging open. [He's just kidding. No one's actually been horrified -- yet. He's not ruling it out.] Not really the welcome I was expecting.

I should probably tell you now that a lot of the stuff that happens around here probably won't be what you were expecting.

I'll keep it in mind. My birthday celebrations so far have included stopping an alien apocalypse and being dimension-napped onto a giant turtle that houses an army of interdimensional space hobos - including two alternate universe versions of myself - so I'm pretty open to the unexpected right now.

That sounds like one heck of a birthday. Wait-

You mean you got dragged here on your birthday?

Worst. Birthday present. Ever.

I'll bet. Sorry. That really sucks.

6collegecredits - 2014-08-12 18:29 (UTC) - Expand

highprofilerichkid - 2014-08-12 20:57 (UTC) - Expand

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