Iron Man 3 - 41
Travel - Magic - 6
Travel - Random - 5
I said I'd give an extra 24 hours if the votes looked close, but I think pretty obvious where the trend is.
So the Next Major arc is Iron Man 3, with the Major end of Arc Reward being the Extremis Serum.
Now i've seen a couple of questions on exactly what Extremis will do for Traveller and I've got some fun ideas. At the end of the arc (assuming you don't fuck up things massively) you'll be able to modify the base serum into a version that synergises with one of your power trees, which are Technopathy, Schools of Magic and Territory Creation.
So you can use the Serum immediately, or save it until you unlock one of the other Trees and modify it to work with that one.
The Technopathy version will basically be the initial comics version of Extremis with some extra goodies added in. Though it will have some downsides.
Now, I've also seen sentiment that Iron Man 3 will basically be easy mode and therefore boring. And I agree! So early on (I think around chapter 2) I'll be giving you a diverging choice. One that will let you stick with Tony for the majority of the Arc, and another which will put you on separate paths as you chase down your own leads.
One safe, the other following a new path.
I'm going to take a few days to write out the outline then i'll start writing. So next chapter will probably take a weekish.
I have a question about Territory Creation? What exactly does it do? We know what all of the other powers do, or at least have an idea but we have nothing on territory creation. Is it something like Traveller being able to change the territory within a set area?
I have a question about Territory Creation? What exactly does it do? We know what all of the other powers do, or at least have an idea but we have nothing on territory creation. Is it something like Traveller being able to change the territory within a set area?
I'm not going to go into much detail as unless you go down a really specific path (and anyone who's watched the MCU should know exactly what point in the timeline i'm talking about), you're not going to unlock it as a tree until around Age of Ultron. But think of it as a lesser combination of Trafalgar D. Law's Devil Fruit and the Reality Stone. To start, you'll have a small radius that you can alter in minor ways (ie, adjust ground, change wind, upper/lower gravity). As you get more skill points you unlock more and more dramatic effects in a wider radius (permanent alterations, removing oxygen, creating geis style rules of combat)
You pulled a white-post it note off the glass door leading into Tony's lab. Giving the writing scrawled across a glance, you let out a short laugh.
Stark Industries R&D Department. Really Tony?
Sticking the note back on the door, you pull it open and step over the threshold to the sound of Jingle Bells.
'Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh.'
Giving the lab a glance, you saw Tony standing on the raised circle he uses to remove his suit. And it just occurred to you that Tony favourite lab at Stark Tower had the exact same layout, right down the motorcycles and cars stashed on the other side. There was probably some psychological sounding name for it, but fuck if you knew what it was. Your gaze narrowed on the pile of armour pieces across the bench. He was testing the Mark 42, already? You thought he had like four-five days of testing left. Damn, you take a weekend to go backpacking and Tony races off ahead.
Anyway, seeing that Tony was currently occupied, you decided to stay silent and watch the testing play out.
Absorbed in playing with his new toys – you assume, since he didn't turn to acknowledge you – Tony thrust his arm towards a pile of Iron Man armour pieces on a bench.
Nothing happened.
Muffling your snickers, though you were pretty sure he wouldn't have heard you anyway – the music was super loud – you watched as Tony cursed and smacked his arm a couple of times. A quick scan illuminated in your mind 48 little nodes imbedded under his skin. Well, that was one way to make your armour self-homing. A bit extreme, but not everyone could be as talented as you.
'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.'
Tony thrust his hand forward again and this time a couple of parts flew towards him. Covering both his arms and his left shoulder.
'Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.'
Tony laughed. He put his hands up. "Alright I think we got this, send them all."
The right leg attached fine, but then things started getting dangerous.
Tony ducked as a part flew past his face and embedded into the wall. He tapped his hands together. "Probably a little fast Jarvis, slow it down-" He ducked as part of a leg flew past him. "- a little bit." The next two flybys blew out pipes in the wall.
Okay, this was getting out of hand. You moved but the the next few parts attached successfully before you could do anything. You relaxed. Looked like JARVIS had decided to stop trying to if the Iron Man armour worked internally.
"Cool it would you Jarvis?" Tony asked after a part slammed into his back and he floated back onto the platform.
'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.'
The rest of the parts attached as normal after that. All that was missing was the…
And then the face plate crashed against the bench and obliterated the record player.
Oh, there it was.
You crossed your arms. Well, that sucked. You liked that song.
Tony stepped off the plate, set off in a stand-off against his own mask. "Come on, I'm not scared of you."
You step further into the room, checking that there are no more loose armour pieces in your line of sight. "That's it Tony, talk to the mask. It's more scared of you then you are of it."
Tony turned his head and nodded. "Hey Jack," he held up his index figure. "Give me one second."
The mask sped towards Tony, knocking itself against the bench and flipping over. Judging the angle, Tony flew up and did a 180-degree twist in line with the mask.
Sparks and dust wafted from the platform as Tony completed the flip and smashed his fist into the ground, performing the classic superhero landing pose. You were pretty sure that you'd seen action figures of that exact pose – though it was one of Thor.
"I'm the best." He bragged.
And then one last piece crashed into his back and sent him flying, his entire suit apart from his helmet breaking apart.
No, it wasn't you. Though you wish you'd thought of it.
"As always sir, a great pleasure watching you work." JARVIS elegant tones came through, with the sound of your slow clapping as a backdrop as you came closer.
Tony groaned as he pushed himself off the ground. "Okay, I think we're done for the night."
"Probably a good idea," you said and held your hand out.
Tony took it and pulled himself to his feet. He gestured down at his armour. "Was that you?"
You laughed. "No, that was all you my friend. Still though," you gave parts scattered around the lab a low whistle. "You got it all up and running in three days? Nice. I thought it would take you at least five." You rubbed the back of your head, only Tony. And then you noticed the bags under his eyes. Your own narrowed. "How much sleep have you gotten?"
Tony waved you off. "Plenty. I've caught a power nap here and there."
Somehow you doubted that. You looked at the ceiling. "JARVIS?"
"Mr. Stark has been awake for 72 hours, Mr Dreyer."
There it is. "Go to bed Tony."
He moved away. "I'm fine." He went over to the training dummy and unleashed a short combination at it. He snapped his fingers at the broken parts lying around and gestured to the robot arm with a dunce cap on its head. "DUMMY, broken recorder, handle it. You do a good job and you'll lose the cap."
He turned back to you. "I'm going to watch some TV, you coming?"
You resisted the urge to sigh. Getting him to sleep last time he was like this took you, Pepper and a bed shaped like his Iron Man helmet (Who was the one in his twenties here?). But Pepper wasn't here. "Alright, but I got to hit the hay soon. I walked at least forty kilometres today." Then there was boxing with Happy when you got back. You were faster but he could pack a punch when he wanted to.
Tony clapped his hands together. "Excellent. I've got some ideas I want to run by you…"
You listened with a distant ear as you both left the lab. Hopefully he'd turn on the news and find it boring enough to go to sleep right there.
Oh, how you wish that was what ended up happening.
**
That Mandarin video hit Tony hard. He tried to hide it, acting remarkably upbeat about the whole thing. But at this point you thought you knew him well enough to tell the difference.
Right after he called Rhodey. They were meeting tomorrow. Tony would ask about the Mandarin, there's no way he wouldn't.
You hadn't been invited but that'd never stopped you before.
Then again, you knew someone else you could ask about classified military intelligence. And she was a lot nicer to look at then Rhodey's ugly mug.
You had been meaning to pay Skye a visit anyway.
So, how are you spending tomorrow? (This will give you pretty much the exact same information, this is just for chapter flavour)
[] Go with Tony to see Rhodey at the café, in disguise of course.
[] Pop on over to see Skye, you're sure she'll appreciate the surprise visit.
[Optional] Also, you hadn't spent much time at Tony's place, but his lab was just as good at the ones back at the tower. Choose 1 upgrade (Earth Materials are no longer free)
[] Write-in Equipment Upgrade
Short chapter. Trying to get into the meat of things as quick as possible. Diverging choice will be next chapter. I've got a pretty good outline for both paths, and I've rewatched Iron Man 3 like 5 times so I don't think I've missed any of the smaller details.
Anyway, 2-hour Moratorium. Vote in a plan please if you're taking an upgrade.
In my opinion, we have two good options for upgrades,
[] Plan Rhodey and Marauder
-[] Go with Tony to see Rhodey at the café, in disguise of course.
-[] Merge Tech [Marauder]: Imbue Vanguard Armour with Chitauri Materials to try and gain the benefits of both (Gain +1 Stealth, +1 Durability, Chitauri Upgrades) - Cost: 15 Chitauri Materials. 80% Chance of Success.
This makes us slightly more durable, slightly more stealthy, and opens up new upgrades in the future for our suit. Uses 15 of our 28 Chitauri Materials.
[] Plan Rhodey and Shield
-[] Go with Tony to see Rhodey at the café, in disguise of course.
-[] Upgrade Tech [Full Body Shield]: Modifier your shields emitters to be deployable at any part of your body, providing a total field of protection (Shield now covers entire body, Equipment slot changes to Full-Body) – Cost: 3 Earth Materials, 2 Chitauri Crystal. 80% Chance of Success.
This will free up our 2nd arms slot to have another weapon, and ensure we can stop shots even if we don't have an arm free. The downside of upgrading our shield to this is that we then won't be able to integrate the Chituari Cybernetics suit unless we upgrade our suit to have another Full-Body Slot (Light and Medium suits start with 1 full-body slot). Also, it uses 3 of our 50 earth materials and 2 of our 9 Chitauri crystals
Note that we cannot integrate the Chitauri Cybernetics Suit until we take the Merge Tech [Marauder] upgrade, as the cybernetics require Chitauri armor.
As such, I am inclined to go with Merge Tech [Marauder]
[] Plan Skye and Marauder
-[] Pop on over to see Skye, you're sure she'll appreciate the surprise visit.
-[] Merge Tech [Marauder]: Imbue Vanguard Armour with Chitauri Materials to try and gain the benefits of both (Gain +1 Stealth, +1 Durability, Chitauri Upgrades) - Cost: 15 Chitauri Materials. 80% Chance of Success.
I'd like to spend some time with Skye. I'm sure Tony would be fine without us for a while, disregarding how IM3 panned out in canon.
[X] Plan: Skye and Marauder
-[X] Pop on over to see Skye, you're sure she'll appreciate the surprise visit.
-[X] Merge Tech [Marauder]: Imbue Vanguard Armour with Chitauri Materials to try and gain the benefits of both (Gain +1 Stealth, +1 Durability, Chitauri Upgrades) - Cost: 15 Chitauri Materials. 80% Chance of Success.
[X] Plan: Skye and Marauder
-[X] Pop on over to see Skye, you're sure she'll appreciate the surprise visit.
-[X] Merge Tech [Marauder]: Imbue Vanguard Armour with Chitauri Materials to try and gain the benefits of both (Gain +1 Stealth, +1 Durability, Chitauri Upgrades) - Cost: 15 Chitauri Materials. 80% Chance of Success.
"You know who I am. You don't know where I am…" The video of a celebrating crowd faded away to reveal his face. "And you'll never see me coming." The Mandarin said.
The video paused with a key tap. Skye turned away from the monitor to face you, the dim light of three differently sized computer screens illuminating her and most of her van. "So, ah, that was…"
"Over the top?" you offered. Unlike Skye, your newly upgraded armour seemed to drink in the light. Still visible, but much harder to notice then what you'd expected. At least that's what you gathered after you surprised Happy that one time. Who knew such a big guy could scream so loud?
She snorted. "I was going to say intense. But sure, let's go with that." She looked back the computer screen, the latest Mandarin broadcast already queued up to replay. She muted the screen. "So, what, you want me to find him?"
"I mean if you can fit it in." You said. "Though if I knew you were going to go all 'super-hacker' I would've brought some dinner since I figured that would take you at least a couple of hours."
She gave you a brilliant smile. "Aww, you're such a sweet talker, trying to get me to find the world's most wanted terrorist."
"If it isn't too much trouble."
The smile dimmed. "I'd like to, but…"
"You've already tried." You should've known. Skye wasn't the kind of person to sit out something this big. An anonymous tip to the right acronym could go a long way. If she could've done something, she would've.
She nodded. "The people he's got working for him are good. Really good. Not as good as me, but there's enough of them to cover the blind spots."
"So, you've got nothing?" Shit, you'd have to give Rhodey a call.
The smile came back. "I didn't say that." She grabbed a folder off the table and tossed it at you. "Take a look at this."
Catching the folder with a gauntlet covered hand, you brought it closer and carefully opened it. Inside was an estimated physical workup of the Mandarin. "What's this?"
"Everything the U.S Government knows about the Mandarin." Skye looked smug and rightly so.
"Isn't this supposed to be classified?"
Skye raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"
You laughed and flipped to the next page. "Fair enough." What you saw almost made your eyes bug out. "Holy shit, nine bombings?" You thought it was three. You looked over the details. No bomb casings. No physical evidence of any kind that could be tied to a detonation device.
It could be alien tech. An untraceable bomb was something you could make, maybe. You honestly hadn't considered it before. But if the Tinkerer could work with Chitauri tech then it would be foolish to assume that others couldn't. "How recent is this?"
"It was updated last night." She shot you a worried look. "You not thinking about going after this guy, are you?"
"What, you think I can't handle some two-bit terrorist?" You asked. Chucking at Skye's splutters, you shook your head. "No. I'm not, but Tony is and if I'm going to help him then I need to know everything about the Mandarin that I can." Skimming the next few pages, you found nothing else interesting, though you kept seeing the acronym A.I.M. You made a mental note to look it up later. "So, there's nothing on his location?"
"Nope," Skye replied. "Though if I was the one in charge of catching this guy I sure as hell wouldn't put something that important in such an insecure spot."
A snort escaped you. "You make it sound they'd be posting it as an update to their Facebook status, instead of uploading it to a military grade database."
She pouted. "It's not my fault they need better security."
You poked her cheek. "Don't pout." It was a compliment, you swear.
She slapped your hand away. "I'm not pouting."
"Yeah, sure you're not."
"I'm not!" She pouted again. At your laugh, she realised what she was doing and hurriedly changed the subject. "Anyway, has this changed your plans at all? Or are you still leaving soon?"
"Yeah. Still planning on it." The change in scenery was a nice touch, but that need to leave that plagued you back at the tower was coming back, stronger than ever. There was a reason you never stayed in the same place for more than a few weeks before now. "But I'm not sure when."
Depending on how much this Mandarin thing consumed Tony you may end up going somewhere a lot closer than what you'd originally planned – though by that you meant within the same continent. With your armour you were faster than a plane, though nowhere near as comfortable.
A message flashed across your HUD. A blink opened it. A text from Rhodey appeared across your vision.
Tony had a panic attack.
Just left.
Call me tonight.
Shit. You stood up. "I gotta go."
"What?"
"Something's come up."
"Everything okay?" Skye asked as you opened the van door.
"Hopefully yes. But I need to go find out."
"Ah, okay." She said. "Keep the file I guess."
"Thanks." You stepped out of the van. You turned back. "I'll call you later." And then you were in the air.
**
It was mid-afternoon by the time you got back to Tony's house. The giant rabbit you found on the front porch was… interesting. There was probably some reference to his and Pepper's history you could find if you dug hard enough, but fuck if you were going down that rabbit hole.
Whatever it was, you weren't touching it with a ten-foot pole. You doubted Pepper would be amused and there were easier ways to kill yourself.
A helpful hint from Jarvis and you found Tony camped back inside his lab (along with his current physical condition – that part you passed along to Rhodey). You let out a laugh. As if he would be anywhere else.
"Hey, Tony," you called out. "How's Rhodey?"
Tony turned away from the Mark 42 standing in standby mode, a plate of apple slices in his hand. "Jack! Rhodey's fine. I thought you were out all day?"
You shook your head. "Something came up." Your armour came off with a flex of your shoulders and reassembled at the door. Now no longer weighing a couple of hundred kilograms, you lifted yourself back onto your favourite bench. "Hey, you got any more apples?" Sue you, you were hungry. You were planning on having something to eat after talking to Skye, but that obviously fell through. You also wanted to ask about the Mandarin but bringing it up yourself didn't sound like a good idea. You'd try and ease into it instead. You weren't sure how, but you were sure something would come to you.
Tony cradled his plate of apple slices protectively. "No these are my apple slices, get your own."
You held up your hands. "Okay."
Moving to the minifridge under Tony's suspicious gaze, you opened the door and grabbed a fresh apple, along with a bottle of water while you were at it.
"So how was your date?" Tony asked right as you took a sip.
Fun fact. Water was nowhere near as refreshing when coming back up.
Wiping your mouth with your sleeve, you gave the smug bastard and his shit eating grin standing across the room a middle finger. "It wasn't a date."
The mocking look on his face grew wider. "Awww, you didn't get any?"
"It's not like that." Reflectively, you glanced at your suit, checking to see if there was any sign that Tony could use to somehow determine the purpose of your visit to Skye. But that was impossible. The folder was still tucked away in a storage pocket hidden behind an armour panel.
"Why not?"
You turned back to Stark. "Because I don't want to."
"I don't buy that." He said. "You spent so much time hanging out with that girl that I actually made a couple of suits without you last month."
You shrugged. "I can be friends with someone without the opposite sex without wanting to screw them." Skye had been a damn good friend to you. The folder was proof enough of that.
It wasn't like you hadn't thought about it before, she was hot. But you never considered it for the same reason you never took your mask off around her. You didn't trust her, not really.
She never said it to your face but you were almost certain she was a part of the Rising Tide. You weren't giving someone who worked for some hacktivist group a hint of who you really were. No matter how well intentioned. Just because Skye had a heart of gold didn't mean her friends did. `
"Alright, fair enough." Tony knew you well enough to know when to change the subject. Turning away, he grabbed his phone. "I need to talk to Happy, don't wait up for me."
You were tempted to say something clever to Tony's back but didn't. Instead for the next few minutes you sat back and listened. It wasn't your business but if Tony really wanted privacy, he could've told you to fuck off.
"I need you to get out for the night." He said as he came back up the stairs. A bottle of wine in his hand, but no phone.
Just like that. You blinked. "What?"
"It's date night."
Oh right. You know the procedure. "Sure, no problem. I'll head out in a few hours. JARVIS, what's the weather like tonight?"
"Very mild Mr. Dreyer. Plenty of cloud coverage if you wish to go for an evening flight."
That was a pretty good idea, actually. "Fantastic. Thanks JARVIS."
You could probably find a nice park concert or movie showing as well to kill a few hours.
Though apparently Happy was following a suspicious character. While it was probably just Happy being Happy you could give him a call and give him some backup if he needs it.
Either way, you had a few hours to decide. No rush.
So, how shall you be spending this evening?
[] Follow Happy, give him some backup if he needs it. [DIVERGENT CHOICE – WILL DRASTICALLY AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF IRON MAN 3]
[] Go for a fly. Catch a movie or something. Anything that keeps you out of the house for a few hours. [CANON CHOICE – WILL ENSURE IRON MAN 3 MOSTLY FOLLOWS ITS CANON OUTCOME]
Also, you never know, you could run into some actual dangers while out there tonight. So, just to be safe, how do you arm yourself? You have 5 temporary slots.
[] Default
[] Write-in
Not much else to say. I don't really want to spoil the Divergent Path ahead of time, but if people want to ask then I'll try my answer as best I can without spoiling too much. (Though if it doesn't get chosen then I'll spoiler away.)
[] Plan: Happy is the Default Setting
-[] Follow Happy, give him some backup if he needs it. [DIVERGENT CHOICE – WILL DRASTICALLY AFFECT YOUR PRESENCE IN THE OUTCOME OF IRON MAN 3]
-[] Default
Honestly this will let us keep an eye on things and try to help out Tony as much as possible and also hopefully keep Happy from getting in over his head! And with regards to our current (AKA Default) load out for our armor we seem to have a versatile range of options available to us!
[X] Plan: Happy is the Default Setting
-[X] Follow Happy, give him some backup if he needs it. [DIVERGENT CHOICE – WILL DRASTICALLY AFFECT YOUR PRESENCE IN THE OUTCOME OF IRON MAN 3]
-[X] Default
