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 Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:14 pm
Toni raised a hand to cover her mouth when he made a jibe at entertainment in the room to hide the giggle, it was the same jibe her father made.
"Oh yes, its not a cell, but a room... a window, a bed and a bathroom... I forgot inmates had so much fun in prison..." he had said. Unfortunately the pinball machine or any other kind of gaming consoles were out of the question given his power. If the inhibitors failed, he could use them as weapons. She flipped her dark brunette hair off her shoulder and turned to another screen which had a readout of the inhibitors functions.
"My father is discussing that very matter with Director Fury as we speak.... I told him about what happened...." she said, as if it had been some deep secret the two of them shared. Her two toned eyes looked back at his screen, gauging his reactions, the glow of the reactor came into view of the monitor when she leaned back.
"I highly doubt we will be returning you to your comrades..." she said with a serious tone, she didn't want to use the word "friends" because the Xmen no longer displayed loyalties to each other that would speak of friendship. So there was no other way to phase the faction.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:26 pm
The young mutant smiled wryly as the girl spoke. She must not have thought much of him if she still hadn't introduced herself yet, but he should have expected as much for the situation. He was not dismayed at hearing her say they wouldn't be returning him to his home.
"That's no skin off my back. Now, I do have one question. What's the level of psychic insulation for this building?" He was ready to tell them basically everything he knew, but it wouldn't do them much good if that information led to Headmaster Summers blowing this building up.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:40 pm
"Anyone isn't foolish enough to attempt a psychic hack. The Xmen aren't stupid. Even if they didn't want you to give us info, if you do, they aren't stupid enough to attempt anything. Plus JARVIS is on psychic alert, the Tower was encased with a diamond compound. After the first assault by the Xmen, my father had to do a renovation on the building..." she said, she tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself, even though I am sure you know who I am, given Emma's insistence on knowing all about us... I am Antoniette Elizabeth Stark..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:17 pm
"Well, as I said before," Venser said, giving a shrug and reclining back against his seat. "just because Emma and Scott are running things doesn't mean they gave their units dossiers on who we'd run into. Ever since the Headmasters received the Phoenix Force, they've been reshaping society at large. They may as well just change the X-men into the Henchmen."
As Antoinette spoke, it seemed to alleviate the tension in the room. He could understand her being reserved, but she looked like she was trying pretty hard to not laugh earlier. He wondered why she could be so tightly wound if she lived in such a carefree setting. These billionaires and their guilded cage.
"Tony Stark knows how the X-Men came about the Phoenix Force. His attempts to destroy it only shattered it, but it was still a force of its own. It now lives on in Emma Frost, Cyclops, Collosus, Magik, and Namor. I am sorry about what these five have done, but the X-men no longer control these people. I'm just glad I've escaped their control, it was starting to feel like a damn cult."
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:21 pm
"My father, has a larger understanding of the force than anyone gives him credit for... ever since it fragmented, my father has almost allowed research to consume him. If it's not his assistant or best friend trying to get him to actually sleep and eat... it's me. But... my father feels responsible for all this..." she said sadly, her hair moving over her left eye.
"It has almost destroyed him..." she whispered
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:50 pm
"Look, it....it's not his fault." he said, rising up from his seat. His hand reached out for her shoulder, forgetting for a moment that before him was just a holographic projection. His hand rested around his arm, and he found himself searching for the words to try to comfort this girl.
"Your dad did what any person in his position would do, if they had the power to do so. Sometimes answers can't be found with a single shot, but the key is to not stop trying.
"If there's anything you need to know, I'll try to answer it to the best of my abilities. The members of the X-men all wanted unity with mankind, but not like this."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:30 pm
Just then Tony Stark came into the room Antoniette was in. She spun around upon hearing the door open
"Thats just what we like to hear, right Nettie?" He reached up and ruffled her hair playfully. Nettie growled as her perfectly groomed hair was now a mess,
"Dad!!" she barked and shoved his hand off,
"Be serious for a little bit..." she mumbled. In truth she didn't mind her dad "babying" her regardless of how old she was, but she hated it when he did it in front of others... especially men and new clientele. Tony grinned at her once and waved his hand in a dismissal gesture,
"You're magnetic field manipulation only registers on a scale of 4 compared to other mutants with similar powers. Nearly turned the Iron Maiden into a tomb for my daughter... that hit a scale of 12, way above normal. Magneto would have to have boost of extra strength for that, or a Phoenix Force..." Tony's arms cross, muting completely the light of his reactor through his Black Sabbath T-shirt he wore as he stared at the young man with a look that said "I know the answer, but say it anyway and make me look 10x smarter". Nettie glanced up at the screen. She hadn't told him about that, but JARVIS obviously recorded it AND her suit probably showed signs of structural stress.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:11 pm
In strolled Tony Stark, having given Antoinette a ruffling before he turned to the screen, bantering with Venser as if he were his guest. Venser smirked, leaning back against his seat and crossing his legs. This fellow was certainly interesting.
Tony went on about his theories behind Venser's powers. He even went on to imply that the Phoenix Force might have influenced him in some way, perhaps amplifying his powers. Admittedly, he wasn't sure if he could deny it, but at the same time, he thought the swing might have been a little too wide.
"Close, sir. Close, but no cigar. You've seen these guys, if they have even an atom of the Phoenix Force in them, then they don't really go out of their way to hold back. If the Phoenix Force had been influencing my actions, I doubt my power amplifying beyond its normal capacities would be the only result."
Stepping to his feet, Venser started to pace the room. The more he spoke, the more he speculated, as if thinking aloud.
"The Phoenix Force used to be one whole being, right? And you were the one that split it into five separate chunks, most of which are inhabiting senior members of the X-Men. I've been thinking about this for a while, and it's made me wonder. If splitting the Phoenix Force didn't destroy it, then its invariably going to try to reconstruct itself again, right?
What really worries me is the fact that Emma Frost was one of the mutants to inherit that force. If it -does- try to reassemble itself, then that means it'll only be able to inhabit one body. If there's one mutant who's twisted, greedy, manipulative, and powerful enough to make that happen, I reckon it would be Headmistress Frost." he said, noticing the great deal of disdain in Tony's face as he listened. Was Emma one of his old flings?
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:22 pm
Nettie chirped up,
"Years ago, when Emma was a bit younger, she would have been the perfect candidate to contain the Force with her Diamond form. Jean was the only one able to embody the Force without harm to her own body. But when Wolverine killed her((Taking the Movie course)) the Force was a loose entity in search for a host. Emma was the only one anyone could think of. But then..." she looked at her dad would seemed to be in pain,
"Something happened and now she is not only still the perfect candidate... she's the worst. Dad and I believe the Force is in fact trying to reconstruct itself inside Emma. But Emma changed when she gained a fragment... whether its the Force itself influencing her now is irrelevant. If the Force is reconstructed, it will be a bigger problem than it was BEFORE dad broke it." she grabbed her dad's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"No amount of intelligence could have predicted any of this... even Charles said as much... Don't keep blaming yourself dad..." she said softly, almost in pain herself. Emma had indeed done something that had both Starks traumatized and bitter... Only a small handful knew.
"Back to topic, are you defecting yourself from her faction, Venny, or are you gonna keep being her puppet?" Tony's voice boomed with contempt as he said this.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:16 pm
Venny?! Venser's lip curled slightly. He could understand the Starks being upset, at least to a certain extent, but the petname nearly made Venser want to kick some furniture over.
"Now you listen, 'sir'." he was struggling to not overstep his bounds in someone's own home, but it was annoying that Stark still seemed to have some misconception about him. Perhaps he simply did not have a full image of how weird and wrong everything was at the Xavier Institute.
"The X-Men may be under the command of the Phoenix Force, but I wish you wouldn't assume that they're in any way happy about it." his tone calmed as it spoke, becoming more conversational again, but still a hint of edge in his voice.
"It was from your generation sir, Maybe you'd seen that episode of the Twilight Zone called 'It's a Good Life.' If you remember that one, then you know how perverse and unnatural things are at the school. Emma has had a temple built for her. Yeah, a freaking temple, where she sits and meditates with the students surrounding her. And they're only allowed to think good, cheery, happy thoughts. They're out there rebuilding humanity, and killing any form of individuality and free thought. Even Magneto and Professor Xavier have gone into hiding, trying to think of a way to stop them!
"Please, Mr. Stark. If you need proof that I want to stop this, just name your terms. I know they've been suppressing mutants and villains and even heroes all over the world. If you need another guy to help out with the rescue effort, just tell me what to do!"
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:25 pm
"No one is saying they are happy about it, but look at how some follow through with her ideas and such without hesitation. We, on the other side, can't look at a completely full bottle. We have to unfortunately assume all Xmen are on her side... its our only option.... we've lost too many to blindly assume anything else... We can't release you know you will return to her arms... all magnetic manipulators are unfortunately a huge threat to us... we can allow you to join our ranks, given some testing and trust bonds are met.... but we want to abolish the Force from all reaches. It's too intense a force for anyone to have their hands on it, let alone Earthlings..." Toni used the term Earthlings since many mutants did not see themselves as humans anymore, and took the term as a insult. Earthling seemed to be a bit more welcomed.
"Let us study your magnetic manipulation so we can not only fit our suits more inappropriately, but so others like Wolverine, who have metal in their bodies, no longer need to fear or stand on the sidelines..." the elder Stark said, ignoring Venser's obvious disdain for his nickname. Tony was the last person to take someone's disdain for a nickname into consideration to end the name... the younger Stark was similar, but obviously was a bit more mature about it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:46 pm
Venser let a sigh escape as Tony spoke. It seemed that he was just as thick-headed as the rumors claimed. If people were going along with the whims of the Phoenix Force users, they only did that out of fear. Not everyone had their own Ivory Tower like a certain billionaire tycoon to hide out in. Of course before long, even havens such as this building wouldn't matter much in the big scheme of things. Deciding to let his pride go for the moment, Venser shrugged dismissively.
"That's fine by me, Mr. Stark. If you need to run tests, I'll play along."
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:51 pm
Tony turned to his daughter,
"I got a fundraiser to get to in a little bit... are you going to be okay here with him?" his voice was low and strained, he truly didn't like leaving her alone. Toni smiled at him,
"JARVIS is with me, pops. Besides, this fundraiser is important, Pepper will castrate you if you don't show up... I'll call Steve or Clint if I have trouble..." she said and hugged him around his chest, nuzzling her face into his collarbone like she always did. He hugged her back and smiled softly down at her. Sometimes he wondered where she got his streak of responsibility from... with that he left the room to get ready. Toni turned to the screen,
"I'll be down in a few to let you out, I also gotta take care of something real quick..." she held a hand to her chest, blocking the faint glow of her arc reactor... which was flickering...
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:02 pm
"Kay, Antoinette."
With that, the screen cut out, and Venser leaned back against the wall, alone with his thoughts. It was possible that the Starks had no intention of enlisting him to help, they probably suspected him to be a typical double agent trying to win their trust. The irony of it all is that the Phoenix Force users would have no use (or patience) for such cloak and dagger methods. This was a being that was used to snacking on star systems the way humans munched on potato chips. If they were to beat this primordial astral force, the only thing that would register would be an equal or greater form of brute force.
Venser really hoped that Tony wasn't so thick-headed that he thought the Avengers were enough to handle this on their own. There were a world full of persecuted mutants. Regardless of whether Tony had an ounce of comparable understanding to living his life with his face in the dirt and boot on his head the way most of mutant kind has, but this was something that.....mutants were all to used to.
That doesn't mean mutants were ever okay with persecution, though. Genosha was Disneyworld compared to what the Phoenix Force was doing worldwide. And if there was anything Venser could do to stop it, he'd fight this with every ounce of strength he had. He just hoped the Starks would give him that one chance he needed.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:23 pm
Toni had promised her dad whenever her reactor started to malfunction she would notify him and allow only him and Bruce to work on it, never allowing her to do it herself and alone. But Tony had enough of his mind, she had thought. If it was a usual glitch in the wiring it was an easy fix... but the way her heart lurched and lungs strained to bring air into them, it wasn't an easy fix. JARVIS was not installed into her reactor like it was in her father's so she would be on her own unless she hooked JARVIS up... but that could alert Tony.
She stumbled into the workshop, Dummy whirred curiously as its mistress nearly collapsed onto her knees. Her skin was losing its healthy coloring with each passing second the reactor's light was out. After she crawled her way over to the station where her dad had tools specifically for reactor work, she dislodged the large pod from its casing in her chest and it clattered on the table. With shaking fingers, she went to grab a tool but her vision began to tunnel... she was in trouble now...
"JARVIS... call my.... da..." her eyes rolled back into her head, her head smacked hard onto the counter hard enough where it bounced sickly off it and made her body fall onto the floor, her hand hitting various buttons... one to the security looks, causing them to disengage. Shallow pants could be heard in the workshop as her body fought to survive.
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