The Universe's Mixer

This day had been going so well, and now it had taken a horrible twist and had turned completely upside down, how it had gotten so out of control Bruce wasn't entirely sure, he did, however know that a certain red headed teenager had brought out the beast that lived deep down inside of him. He wasn't happy at all.

He had to almost run from the opera house, not wanting to tear something apart that meant so much to him, as well as people like his friend Christine, something that remained pure to him though some strange man had tainted the impression of it with this scandal about Enigma. His girlfriend. Could it be true? It had to be because he didn't get the impression that the man knew anything about Bruce and Enigma being together when that thing happened...that horrible thing. How could she be so cold? So naive? He felt like he meant nothing to her, and maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was much older, and was definitely no where near as attractive as the man he'd met at the Opera, however he still did have a heart and she had just about ripped it out. That was making him more and more upset with each step that he took. He couldn't believe it, she'd had sex with someone else while they were together? So what if he hadn't said exclusively that they weren't allowed to sleep around. That was supposed to be obvious, what was the point of being with someone if you weren't exclusive to them from the beginning. Isn't that how those things worked? Or was the opinion of the youth of America these days so warped and skewed that relationships didn't mean anything? He knew he was old, but he wasn't that old.

He had made it back to Stark Tower, which was really the only place he had to go, and by the time he'd gotten up to Enigma's new lab, his eyes were completely green. "Jarvis, you might want to let Tony know that his green visitor has just decided to stop by." Bruce said, before he let the beast take over. He didn't have anything left in him, he was too tired to let his brain process over the pros and cons of being with her any longer, and if she wanted to sleep with other men then so be it. He was done. This was why he didn't get into relationships, they ended like this. It took only a moment, and the beast was there, shreds of fabric that had been Bruce's shirt littered the floor, as well as pieces of his shoes. With a mighty, feral roar, Hulk rushed forwards, picking up the machines in the room, throwing them at the large glass windows, the glass shattering from so much force behind the throws. Bruce lingered in the back of the Hulk's mind, allowing the beast to do as it pleased, only a sparkle in the green eye of the monster. Bruce didn't care anymore. Hulk rampaged through the room, smashing devices, throwing machines out of the broken windows and onto the lawn below where they shattered instantly into a million mechanical pieces, and finally Hulk found the vials of the tranquilizer that Engima used to subdue it, crushing it in one mighty fist as well as the gun the vials went into. She wouldn't be needing that. With everything on that floor destroyed, Hulk threw himself at the open window, flying through it a green blur, landing on the concrete below a moment later with a large thud, making a crater form in the ground.

With another roar, Hulk's head thrown back as it bellowed, it took a moment to look around afterward, picking up the first car it saw, throwing it at a building. He leapt up onto a rooftop, and jumped from one to the next, ripping things apart, crushing in smaller buildings with his massive weight. He finally found a few trees and began to uproot them, throwing them at the street to block the traffic. Cars were his favorite things to throw, and they were even better when they were smashed.

With a violent, rage-filled roar, Hulk lunged at a bus, leaping up into the air, "Hulk smash!" and that was exactly what he did. The Hulk didn't care about anyone, especially not a certian skinny red-head. What might happen whent they crossed paths, who was to stay? She had better stay out of its way, however, or she might regret getting to close. She had triggered it with her selfish act, and the city was paying the price.

Enigma's heels made clicking sounds as she stalked though the floor to Tony's office, ignoring the fact she probably shouldn't have been there considering how many security boxes she had to pick or just basically short circuit. She was tired of getting things second hand, and decided to go straight to the source to decide her future...and Bruce's future.

She opened the door of Tony's office, shutting and locking the door before crossing over to his desk, sliding up on it, resting her heeled feet on the arm of his chair, smirking down at him. “Been a while, Mr. Stark. I see you've gotten cozy with my boyfriend...to the point of inviting him to move in. Something I should know?”

She crossed one leg over the other, ignoring how high the skirt of her...dress slid up. "Care to offer a girl a drink? I'll have scotch."

Annie had been busy, and Tony had been busier. It seemed like everything in life was keeping them away from one another. Even though they worked in the same building, and often the same rooms, every time she thought that they'd get a few minutes together, something happened and one or the other had to run off again.

She tried to busy herself and not think about it as much as possible. But she'd not yet gotten over the massive crush she'd thought was just passing fancy. Annie knew the way that Tony was, and she knew about Pepper, and she tried really hard to not get jealous at the thought of any of it, but she discovered herself broody and irritable when it popped into her head. She knew that she had no right, and kept all of it to herself. The last thing she needed was Jarvis mentioning it.

"Thank you." She said to the arm bot, which still didn't have a real name, but seemed to enjoy helping her out quite a bit. It had currently handed her a part that she had been looking for, and it had hidden. Annie suspected that a few of her personal items were in the robot's safe keeping places, as they'd vanished and she couldn't get any sort of information from it when she asked about them. If the mechanical arm could whistle it's innocence, Annie thought that the halls would be filled with music. She supposed it was trying to make sure that it wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't make her any less annoyed at the loss of the hairbrush, toothpaste and two pajama sets she'd brought here just in case.

Annie fit the part into the gadget she was attempting to create. It had started life as something more complex, but was currently becoming a miniature incarnation of the arm bot. She didn't need schematics to know how the simple thing worked, and she was starting to feel that it would do well with a little friend.

"I need more wire." She told the overeager machine next to her. "And a two inch long 3/4th screw."

Tony had to admit, as irksome as it was to be transplanted to a world where practically nobody knew or appreciate him or his work, there were occasional benefits to having some anonymity. Maybe not enough to offset his need for attention and adoration, but the perks did exist.

For example; he was currently hanging off the second story of Stark Tower installing some new security and recording equipment. Back home this would have to be carried out by some minion or another, not because Tony didn't like the crowds that gathered wherever he was seen in public, but because for security tech some amount of discretion was actually necessary. Plus, Tony wasn't much for audiences when he was working. Ogglers and worshipers broke his concentration on the task at hand.

"Alright, J, here's the last of the batch. Switch on the power and see what's being read upstairs," he said, tightening the last bolt and then pulling back for a moment. To most anybody else looking, the panels would have been read as solar fixtures when they were closed, four to a side of the building, just high enough to stay out of anybody's casual sights. They may not be placed usual place for solar panels, but the resemblance was intentional. Tony made his gear to last, but discretion in its appearance would save him from having to do too much vandalism-oriented repair work later, so these were built to be discreet. Just like Tony himself was, for once, bothering to blend in slightly, sitting on a window washer's rig in a jumpsuit that could easily belong to any maintenance worker in the City. He had a hat on as well, and heavy work goggles as he soldered and welded certain bits into place.

"Power is turned on. Systems are optimizing, sir. Basic readings are starting to come through."

"How's it look?" Tony leaned over and grabbed a tablet from the bag of tools he'd brought with him, turning it on and shaking off a glove.

"All devices appear to be operating as expected," Jarvis said, patching the readings through the wireless network. The tablet's screen went dark, then lit up with an array of information, including a live panoramic view of the streets outside of Stark tower. The inventor's brow perked as he checked over the readings, then paused. "Hey J, check the gamma traces. Is that what we've been reading from this world up till now?"

"A fraction of a percent higher, sir. Nothing that would warrant immediate intrigue."

"No, but radiation doesn't normally bunch up and fixate on a moving point unless something...." Tony stopped and stood abruptly, looking over the side of the building, scanning the crowd below quickly. Then his eyes landed on a familiar bunch of curls, a set jaw, and a tall, able bodied form that moved far too self consciously through the foot traffic.

"Son of a bitch," Tony blinked, mind racing before it stopped. He had to get the guy's attention, but how? He didn't shout for somebody's attention, ever. Tony looked at what he'd brought up with him, then smirked and put the tablet down, grabbing his bottle of water and leaning over the edge, unscrewing the top. He waited, then at the perfect moment turned the bottle upside down.

The rage monster didn't come out just for getting wet, did it?

Tony was restless. He didn't really know much about the City still, he'd been pouring over everything Jarvis had given him but it seemed like a lot of the aspects of this world were created and changed without any reason or predictability. It was definitely frustrating to a man who speant his life pushing boundries but ultimately operating with a set of established, inexcapeable rules.

At least there were decent places to eat, though. Tony was walking to one of those now, having got sick of the lab after another frustrating attempt to map out the City using it's government establishments as landmarks, but they were moving even as he was doing so. Tony had decided to let Jarvis work on that, and taken off, putting on one of his more casual suits before walking out of the door of Stark Tower, heading down to see what was local and tasty looking.

He wasn't a picky man, but he bypassed several cafes and diners. He wanted to be served and he wanted alcohol. Granted it would take a bit of looking at two in the afternoon, but Tony was nothing if not determined. And, more than anything, he just wanted out of the tower for a bit.

Annie pulled herself out of slumber, expecting there to be a snarky older gentleman next to her. She'd been staying with him in the rather small apartment, going out into the strange world only a little bit. Mostly she was content to sit and work, or talk to the suit. She was also worried about running into the people that Tony had warned her of. It seemed smarter to stay inside, really.

When she woke in her own bed, in her own apartment above Fixit, she actually felt a little bit of disappointment. She hadn't been happy to be in a world with very little tech, or one that wasn't the City, but she'd found in Tony somebody who she felt a new kind of connection with. She had felt something similar in Fred, but in a much different way.

Of course, she did immediately climb into the shower and stay in it until the water was getting cold, and used up a lot of her favorite shower gel, just because it was actually there. Following that, she might have overindulged some on the snacks in her cupboard that the City provided for her, as well as some soda and ice cream.

Post these events, Annie made her way out into the streets, where she was greeted with the noise of city living. Technology all around her. Cars on the streets. Buildings that didn't look like they'd been next to an explosion. A wall that was there to keep them from falling off of a space-island instead of keeping bad things out.

She did miss the suit already, though.

Really, she was torn. Tech and food and cleanliness VS Tony and the suit. She wondered if she should try to find Dean, or Charlie. Or Fred. Or Megan. She wondered if anybody else had made the trip she had, or if she was the only one. Had they missed her, if so?

Not sure what to do, Annie stood in front of the shop, staring at the sky.

Halloween.  Tony Stark's favorite time of the year.  The weather was perfect, not too hot or cold, trees around the city were changing colors.  And he had no reason in the world to complain here.  He and Pepper were together, and it'd been a blissful few weeks since their initial union.  For the first time in years, Tony could say he was happy and satisfied.

He'd sent out invitations city wide in hopes of drawing in the citizens to his home for him to have a chance to meet them.  He hadn't ventured out much since he'd been here, mostly because even if he was ever the social butterfly, Tony was too focused on fixing the once damaged relationship between him and Pepper.  Now that was all taken care of and here he stood in his bedroom putting on his costume.  He'd laid his choice of cstume out on Pepper's bed for her to put on, chosen since she'd lost to him in a little game they'd played to determine what they'd spend this night as.  It was custom tailored to fit her form perfectly, having taken the dress she'd worn for their first night together and used its measurements.

He stared at himself in the mirror, thinking that his goatee would make wearing the mask a little awkward at best, but he didn't care.  He thought since he should play the mysterious host of the night, that he should don the look of someone just as mysterious.  Taking a step back from the mirror, he attempted to twirl the cape, almost tangling himself up in it the first few times until he got the hang of it and smiled.  Affixing his mask to his face, he smirked as he gave his appearance one last once over.

The Phantom of the Opera was ready for his grand entrance.

[ooc: If you're character is showing up, feel free to start your own thread under this.  Tony will attempt to greet everyone but might not for getting sidetracked by others.  If you plan to crash the party, I will start a separate thread after a day or two to give people a chance to do regular party stuff.  Have fun, and don't be shy with your characters!  This is a very social log!]

It had only recently become aware of the concept of monster movies. In this new body, this new form, it had taken to doing some more human things. One of them had to been to visit something called a video store, rent some videos and find some place to watch them. Since it was The City itself, it just made a house with everything it needed.

One of those videos happened to be Godzilla, featuring a giant angry lizard. It sat intrigued through the whole thing and bolted to it's feet at the end, fresh with a new idea.

There would be a zoo in The City. It would collect animals to put them on display. The City didn't currently have a zoo of it's own, which was sort of sad for the children. But they'd grown up here so they didn't really have a concept of what a zoo was. They would love this.

It would get Godzilla. The monster couldn't be that big, could it? After all, it had ransacked and Japan was a small place to begin with. Just an island. Sort of like The City, only ... different. Plus it had stayed mostly in Tokyo. One city.

After Godzilla, it would get some dinosaurs maybe. A unicorn. A phoenix. Dodo birds. Things that people would know but had never seen in their lives. It would be fantastic. Everybody would be filled with wonder. They would be pleased by what The City had given them.

Retrieving Godzilla as it had everybody else, The City suddenly realized that it had not only misjudged the creature's size, but also it's intelligence and determination. The cage that had been constructed turned out to be rather flimsy.

Just as one of the lesser writers for The City Voice was receiving information about the zoo for an article, Godzilla broke loose.

( OOC )

Bruce's eyes marveled at the lush, trendy apartment atop the skyscraper. High-tech art graced the walls, throwing sci-fi shadows and lights on the walls. Water trickled down one wall into a delicate, green garden. Still, as he was currently the only occupant, it all felt somehow cold. "Sure is nice, though," Bruce said aloud.

"I am sure Mr. Stark would appreciate the complement." The British, male voice had come from everywhere at once. Bruce dropped his portfolio in surprise.

"I - I have an appointment," Bruce said in defense. "Security said I could come up."

"That is correct," the voice confirmed. "You are scheduled to meet with Mr. Stark at 2:15 pm. Mr. Stark is running late, and sends his apologies in advance."

Still looking for the source of the voice, Bruce inquired, "who are you?"

"I am Jarvis, an artificially intelligent program in charge of the internal systems in Mr. Stark's home. Would you care to learn more?"

"Maybe later. Has Dr. Jones has arrived, yet?" He had invited his colleague from the Institute, Archaeologist Henry Jones, Jr. to this meeting, and hadn't gotten a definite answer from him.

"Dr. Jones has not arrived."

Bruce gathered his papers from the floor and found a seat. If Tony knew about Bruce's condition as he had implied, he would want to appear as calm as possible. "You got any Sigur Ros on file?"

This would be the last time Tony Stark would ever make himself responsible for his own food.  How dare she leave at 6:30 and leave him to fend for himself all alone?  Oh yeah, because he screwed up and broke her heart a few days before.

Tony had taken it upon himself, instead of doing the more intelligent thing and ordering out, to cook his own late night meal.  By cook, that meant reheating some leftover Chinese that he didn't really recognize what it was as it had set in the fridge since the day they arrived.  This topped with the few espresso shots he'd downed from the machine down in his workshop didn't sit well on his stomach at 1:27 am.  By four o'clock, Tony had to stop in the middle of typing and haul ass to the bathroom to vomit.  Vomit should never have that color he thought to himself before he trudged upstairs, thinking that it was best he go to bed before he wore himself down.

At 5:16, Tony had already vomited 7 times and had already emptied his stomach to the point of bile and had to crawl back to his bed.  Around six, his forehead and torso were sweaty that he'd pulled off his t-shirt and had stripped down to his boxers.  Despite having three blankets pulled tight around him, he had weakly asked Jarvis to heat his room to a good eighty degrees.  He couldn't stop shaking and by the time he'd gotten reasonably warm from the chills, he had to run to the bathroom and vomit again.

Food poisoning sucked, Tony had decided, and this wasn't even a serious case.

"Jarvis...call--"

"Already in progress, sir."  Jarvis, despite being an AI, knew this was a situation he couldn't handle with Tony and a last resort would have been to call a doctor.

His arm had slapped against side of the bed when he'd rolled over, an urge to get out of bed suddenly washing over him. This had been the first time ever in the history of Tony Stark's long list of women that he'd been the one to wake up alone. No, not alone. He knew Pepper was around the house, probably sleeping soundly with their new baby curled up in bed with her. He'd been wrong to just leave that night and expect her to watch Salt all by herself. He should have stayed home and took up his new mantle of father to watch her with Pep. But he hadn't. He'd grown weary of sitting inside idly. Tony Stark intended to take the City head on as he'd left to discover what he could about it.

Then he'd found Cameron, and the witty banter encased in alcohol had ensued, and it was like old times. He was acting like old times. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Yinsen's voice urging him to not waste it. In the blink of en eye, he'd reverted to his playboy shell and lost himself in another woman when he had one at home waiting for him that would have done anything for him. Why had he run to another?

Because honestly, Tony was terrified of what would have happened. It was easier for him to sleep with someone he had no emotional attachment. He could brush her off. Pepper was a different case entirely. There would have been no brushing her off if he'd have initiated a kiss. There would have been a mingling of minds, tongues, possibly their bodies. But most definitely, their hearts. Pepper deserved better than him, but he knew that he was what she wanted. The level of loyalty and affection transcended employer and employee, even mere friends. Then why couldn't he bring himself to just say it?

He climbed out of the bed and stretched, though he had slept well, Tony instantly looked weary. He'd glanced over to the bedside table to see Cameron's card sitting propped up by the lamp, but he'd just left it there for now. He didn't care to even read what it said. After showering and shaving, Tony dressed and walked down to Pepper's current bedroom in the house and didn't find her. Huh. That was strange. Maybe she was already downstairs at work. It was after nine after all. But he didn't hear the television on as she sometimes did just for background noise. He peeked into her office and didn't find her hard at work with her nose pressed against the computer screen.

"Jarvis, do you know where Pepper is?"

"Sir, she left in the middle of the night and has not returned."

"What? Left? Where did she go?" a nervous look spreading over his features.

"I am uncertain of her location. She left when she saw something she didn't like on the workshop security camera," the AI said in a very sarcastic tone.

Damn. He hadn't expected that to happen. She was out there somewhere, there was supposedly a murderer loose, and it would be all his fault if she was dead.

As he stood there, Tony felt claws attacking his bare feet, and he jumped to evade the swiping paws. He scooped up what looked like a very offended Salt, the kitten giving him a strong glare that said "you hurt Mommy's feelings". He sighed as he pet the kitten, trying to get her to calm down. "Yeah, I really screwed up, didn't I?" He lifted the kitten up to stare at her. "I don't suppose you know where she went, do you?" Salt just stared back at him and mewed mournfully. "Didn't think so."

He carried the little bundle of fur around with him, trying to figure out what he should do. This place gives you whatever you want. "Jarvis, search any kind of phone book registry for this place to see if Pepper Potts has a phone or address listing."

"One moment, sir." Twenty seconds passed and Tony felt like his heart would fail in those long seconds waiting for what he hoped was a positive answer. "There is an entry for a Pepper Potts, sir. 246 Providence Drive. Building 327. There is a phone number listed. Would you like me to dial it?"

"No, I'm going over there and straightening this out."

"Perhaps you should wear the Mark III. It is probably the only thing that's going to ensure you do not get injured."

"That mad, huh?"

"Quite."

He sighed and set Salt down on the couch. "Be a good girl. Hopefully, Daddy will be back with Mommy. If he hasn't already fucked up too badly."

After searching for a bit and finally finding his trainers, he pocketed his keys and thought it best to take a different car than the one she'd seen him bending a woman over.

Regardless of having a full liquor cabinet at home, Tony felt the need to get out to a place where nobody knows his name. That kind of jazz. Highly doubted he could find someone who hadn't heard the name Tony Stark before, even if he was in a parallel universe or wherever the hell this is. Before heading out, he gave Salt a little of rub to the head, and sent her on her way. He trusted Pepper to not let the little thing get too lost in the house, but whenever he was in the shop or off, she stayed close by the living room. Good thing for that.

He still didn't have information on this place, and being uninformed was driving him up the wall. His GPS in his car seemed to be working, and it navigated these strange streets well enough. What he needed was a bar. One where he could keep them coming for a while. He picked a random one and headed there, hoping he'd find something worthwhile there, after all, he couldn't let his brain idle for too long or boredom kicked in and bad things happened.

He pulled up and turned on the alarm, then headed inside, his leather jacket pulled on over a t-shirt since it was a little chilly out tonight. Once inside, Tony waved to the bartender, "The best scotch you got on the rocks," and laid Mr. Benjamin down on the counter to get his point across that he'd better not bring him the cheap stuff.

Allowing Tony Stark to go on a shopping trip alone was always not the brightest idea. Letting the man go anywhere near a pet store was even worse. But when he saw the little beast, Tony couldn't help but fall madly in love with her. Those large blue eyes, that somewhat vacant stare that said "I'm hopelessly devoted to you. Please love me and take me home." He couldn't resist. Tony had always been a sucker for big blue eyes.

When he came home, he set the little carrier on the floor near the door before he went back out and grabbed the multitude of toys and food (one of every kind because he thought she should get to choose what she liked) and brought them in, setting everything up for his new project, so to speak. A small stainless steel water and food dish sat on the floor near the archway of the kitchen, a litter box not far from there, and several little toys with cat nip were strewn so she could pick out what she wanted to amuse herself with.

He didn't think she was going to stay so underfoot once he let her out, but the house was large and probably very scary to such a small kitten, solid white, and Tony couldn't help but think it was cute. "Aw, come here, Salt," and he picked her up and gathered her in his arms where the kitten playfully batted at his chin, purring all along the way. Let's go find my other favorite condiment and introduce you."

He pet her head and she started to gnaw on the end of his finger with her little baby fangs. "Pepper! Hey, Pep! Where are you?" he called out as he walked around.

Early morning light spilling down across her bed and over her closed eyes was what first began to rouse Pepper from her drowsy state that morning.

She shifted around in her bed, face buried deep into her pillow against the intruding brightness. All too soon her alarm clock would be going off and she'd be forced to drag herself out of bed. Force herself to get up and greet a brand new day of mind-numbing work and having to deal with whatever new and ingenious way Tony managed to get himself into trouble today. Force herself to go into her office, only to find a stack of papers at least three feet high, all with headliners on "Iron Man" emblazoned across their black and white pages.

Soon enough she'd be forced to deal with all of that...but for right now, she just wanted a few more minutes of sleep. Just a few more minutes to snuggle deep down into her silk sheets and smell the sweet lavender perfume of her pillow.

Wait a minute. Silk sheets...lavender...?

Outside she could hear the sweet, melodic chirping of birds and something that faintly sounded like the pleasant tinkling of wind chimes blowing in the breeze on a nice, summer day.

Wind chimes..? I don't own any windchimes!

Bright blue eyes snapped open wide and Pepper gave a startled cry as she sat bolt upright in her bed.

No...not her bed...a bed.

"Good morning, Miss Potts," the droll voice that could only belong to Tony's A.I., Jarvis, spoke suddenly, earning him a startled cry from her as she jerked the sheets up around her body in reflex. "I trust you slept well."

Pepper gaped, looking around the unfamiliar room with rising anxiety. Sure, she'd had just a little bit to drink last night...but nothing more than her usual nightcap before going to bed! How could she have possibly come to be in a foreign bed...and with Jarvis?

"J...Jarvis? What...what on earth is going on? Where the hell am I?"

"It seems, Miss Potts, that during the course of the night, something rather odd has taken place. I advise you to look out your window."

The blinds that covered each individual window slowly parted as Pepper eased herself out of the bed, wrapping the silk sheet around her body as she moved and padded over to the glass. Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her and her jaw dropped at the same rate as her stomach.

All around, she had a full, panoramic view of a vast, magnificent City.