WHO: Tony Stark, Starlord, featuring Groot and Cosmo WHERE: Command Center WHEN: Backdated to just after the zombies were taken care of. WHAT: Tony Stark build awesome things, Starlord enlists help RATING: PG STATUS: log; complete
While SHIELD had been pretty much dead-on with their decision that Peter Quill and his Guardians of the Galaxy were the people best-suited to take on the insanity that was going on with people being thrown into different realities, it was still a hard thing for the man called Star-Lord to wrap his head around: people that, in this world were characters in movies, TV shows, books, etc, being real, and tossed into our world.
Making it even more odd was the fact that at times, it was different version of people he already knew being deposited here. One such example was the man who'd requested a meeting with Peter and Cosmo: Tony Stark. Pete had teamed up with Stark several times, and considered the man a teammate and a friend. But THIS version of Stark had never even heard of him. Hrrrrrm.
Still, awkwardness aside, this was a meeting that needed to happen. So when Stark had asked for a meeting to discuss all this, Cosmo had happily sent Groot down to the 'city' to lead him up to the command center of the space station, where Peter sat, leaning back in his chair, watching as Cosmo paced back and forth, looking far too cute in his little cosmonaut uniform.
While, on one hand, it was nice that Tony had gotten pulled into a world similar to his own, in some ways, it was almost worse. Yes, he knew a lot of the people in it, but they weren't the people that he actually knew. He'd spent a lot of time learning how to deal with the people in his own reality, after all. However, he was here and, more importantly, Pepper was here with him, so he was going to figure out just what in the hell was going on and figure out what he should be doing next. Tony was good at winging things, but this was on the extreme side.
Tony did his best to keep himself together as the living tree led him down to command center. Really, he was dying to make jokes, but he was pretty sure the thing known as Groot could tear him in half. Let's not piss off the giant Ent.
"So, you're the guy in charge then?" Tony asked, walking in the command center and looking around.
Pete laughed, shaking his head and motioning to Cosmo, who sat on floor beside him. "Noooo, not me. You want the guy in charge, you wanna talk to Cosmo here." He said, even as he reached down to pet the dog's head for a moment. So Cosmo enjoyed it, ok? Screw off. HE WAS A GOOD BOY, DAMMIT.
Groot crossed his massive arms and blinked at Tony, before looking to Pete. "...I am Groot?" He said, sounding rather perplexed.
"No, buddy. He's not being rude... this is a different version of him." He looked back to Stark then, trying not to laugh. "This... has gotta be strange as hell for you, huh?"
"Well, I meant you in a general sense, but whatever works," Tony said with a shrug. Really, he was pretty sure that he'd seen everything at this point.
Tony then turned and looked up at Groot. "Sorry, not trying to be rude," he offered. "I mean, I usually am rude anyway, but I'm not like, ignoring you or anything." So, a version of him knew these guys? That was actually kind of awesome, now that he thought on it. "I gotta think that this is pretty much strange as hell for everyone involved, especially since you guys know a version of me and kind of expect me to act like him."
"Oh, there's no doubt, man. This is pretty much the weirdest crap in history. And coming from a guy who's been in the Cancerverse, that's saying a lot. I think they just figured...." He thought about his words, before blinking at Cosmo, as obviously the dog had sent him a telepathic message. "Yeah... I just figured that any version of you's got to be pretty handy to have around. Which is why we're gonna be up front with you. We're not telling everyone down there EVERYTHING we know, because who needs any more panic than necessary, right? But you're one of the people who can probably help us if shit blows up in our faces."
He kicked out a second chair, gesturing for Tony to take a seat as Cosmo gently laid down on the floor, curling in a comfortable ball.
"Do the words 'Thanos' or "infinity gems' mean anything to you, before I start my shpiel?"
"Cancerverse? Do I even want to know?" Tony asked, making a slight face. He was pretty sure that he didn't. "I can get the idea behind not sharing everything with everyone. Honestly, it would likely create more confusion more than anything." Especially with all the confusion going on now, they probably didn't need to add to it.
He sat down in the offered chair. "Not a guy that I've heard of, but he sounds like he sucks." He knew that the name 'Thanos' was associated with death in some way, so he sounded like a really great guy to deal with. "So I suggest starting at the very beginning."
"Alright. First of all... you need to know that this isn't the only place where people from other worlds are appearing. Apparently, every world that is represented here? Has random people going through THEIR world as well. This is one big mess, Tony. Now, apparently this world and yours are very, VERY similar. And the existence of a couple of extremely powerful jewels called Infinity Gems are causing the chaos you're seeing. Now, this guy Thanos, he's after the gems, because if he gets all of them, he'd have more power than you could even imagine."
Groot blinked, then looked down at them. "...I am Groot."
"Exactly. Like Groot said, it would be a total goddamn disaster." Peter continued, "Which is why we're taking you all across the galaxy. The more we travel, the more the gem will be hard for Thanos to find. But we don't know what would happen if we take the gem too far from all of you, and rather than risk any of your lives.... we just figured we'd drag you along with us."
Tony was going to have to learn how to translate Groot's phrasing. It seemed like, although he could only actually say one thing, his inflections told more of what he was really trying to convey. OK, and a talking alien Ent was just really cool.
"Honestly, I'm not exactly shocked by the idea of different universes. It makes me wonder why the two of ours are so similar but, then again, apparently different enough to split off from one another." Enough to make the mind boggle, at least for those that weren't Tony freaking Stark. "You know...I was actually working on a suit back home that would work from space travel. Guess I'll actually get to try out some of those ideas now." He really was taking all of this in stride. Then again, what could he do? Scream to the uncaring heavens? Nah, he'd rather work and help out, then figure out a way home.
"Guess the real question is, what can I do to help out even more?"
"Well... that's what we were hoping to figure out. We could use someone with your knack for tech and strategy." Peter said, before he was interrupted by a rather gruff:
"...I am GROOT."
"Dude. Nobody's saying he's as good as Rocket. But in case you didn't notice, Rock JUST GOT BACK. And he's a little preoccupied with making sure his hot pal's ok. We could use Tony's help." Peter retorted, thinking for a moment before deciding to entice Stark further. "You know... the "other" you left a few of his suits here last time, in case he ever needed them when he came back. Just in case you're interested in seeing what comes from the mind of a Tony Stark with knowledge of the cosmic..."
"I don't know if I should be offended to be thought of as 'not as good as Rock'," Tony joked, grinning up at Groot for a second. Yeah, Mr. Tree could probably rip him in half, but really, he couldn't resist. "Now I just have to try and outdo him." Hell, that alone was enough to entice Tony to work with them. Actually, pure boredom was enough to entice Tony to do anything, but he was keeping that to himself.
Then they offered him basically what he'd spent two years already working on. "Hmm...probably should see if my alternate self lives up to my wonderful genius," he joked. Yeah, he had already planned on helping them, but they had pretty well already sweetened he deal.
Groot just gave an adorably indignant huff and grumbled, "....I am Groot."
"Trust me, Stark..." Peter told him, clapping a hand on the man's shoulder. "Rocket's got the most brilliant technical and tactical mind I've ever met. Even being COMPARED to him is a helluva compliment." He thought for a moment, having been ready to just take Tony to meet Rocket face to face, before pausing. "Rock just got back... he had been trapped in that whole reality-swapping thing. He's taking care of a friend that came through with him. Once he's more... up to par, I'll introduce you. Just don't be thrown if he's kind of a dick to you. The version of you he knows? That's kind of your thing."
Yeah, if Tony didn't find someone to annoy, then he wasn't doing his job right. Because annoying people was apparently one of his many jobs. "Sounds like he's been having a blast, though. No need to rush, though. I'm sure I can keep myself busy until then." Or accidentally blow something up, but whatever. "And from what I've been told, it's kind of my thing pretty much no matter what, so I'll survive."