Reality Crisis

Tony had finally worked himself into an apartment in the Chosen housing, though he didn't like it much. He was resolved to find himself a more suitable workspace than the small hovel as soon as possible. First, though, there were more pressing matters to attend to; the most pressing being getting his Ironman suit back to a functionality that he could work with. Without Jarvis it was difficult, and he found himself reverting many of the controls to basic, motion driven switches, but he was making headway in getting it combat ready once more. He'd repaired what he could without new materials and had figured out some improvisations that would function in this environment, and had finally got it repaired to the point that he could get in and out of it without help. That was very important, as he didn't think Banner's idea of a good night included prying open another man's rear panels and helping Tony haul the heavy suit around the apartment complex a half at a time.

Still, it was time the inventor got better tools than what he'd filched from Bruce's stash and the locals after a brief trip out of the building. He needed basic supplies and whatever he could get his hands on to keep working on the Ironman suit, and to start stockpiling so that he'd be able to scavenge for whatever projects came up when the suit was done.

Putting together a backpack he'd been given with a water bottle and a heavy set of gloves Tony left the apartment, taking a couple significant pieces of the Ironman's reactor core to prevent unauthorized opening or use. He wore a heavy sweatshirt over the Black Sabbath shirt he retained from his world and his jeans and sneakers, glad he'd at least had comfortable work clothes on him when he'd been brought to this world. The sweatshirt was something of a must, however, and he tolerated the rather badly fit option because he wanted to keep his core well hidden. Shiny, powerful looking things were just too tempting to the wrong sort of people in an environment like this, Tony knew all too well.

He headed out and down into the city, sniffing out any junk or metal vendor, looking through the selection available to him as one the of exalted "chosen" types and questioning the locals on communal suppliers, scrap heaps, and possible locations that could be converted into a better workshop.

It wasn't long before he was pulling himself along under the weight of a much heavier and full backpack, water bottle held loosely in one hand and a heavy coil of water hanging from the other, trying to decide if it was worth going back to the apartment with his current finds to start building a better tool set or if he should try to find one more shop before they closed. He assumed they would soon, as the sun was almost gone beyond the horizon. He wasn't sure he had enough parts and raw materials yet to get everything he wanted to done tonight. Then again, he had enough to make a go of it, and he still hadn't slept enough to completely recharge after the battle in New York. In his head Pepper's voice berated him for not taking better care of himself.

The more Eric heard about Belia and die Festung, the more curious he became. He knew that eventually he would have to meet with the woman to gauge her himself, but for now, he would content himself with just having a look or two at the city that she was holding together.

From what he could see, it wasn't nearly as put together as New Troy. In many ways, actually. He couldn't know the full extent of it from where he was, of course. He'd flown over the vast emptiness between the two cities and was now in the air, high above die Festung where he was sure nobody would be looking. If they had, there might only be a few who could see him. He wasn't foolish enough to think there wasn't anybody down there with powers. The books Pam kept leaving out for him told him much about the potential Chosen.

Eric scanned the darkness for any signs of life down below. He felt he could slip in and back out without being noticed by guards or Belia herself. But he didn't want to even risk it unless he discovered somebody worth talking to.

Oliver had always been a light sleeper. He'd had to be, considering the life of his alter-ego. He had to be ready to wake up and fight if someone discovered his identity, or was just stupid enough to break into his apartment. But this morning, he'd awakened suddenly at the sound of a dull thud. And then another. And another after that.

Feeling confused, he sat up on the sofa, wondering why he'd fallen asleep there instead of in his bed, but quickly forgetting his train of thought when he heard another dull thud from above. He frowned, looking upward and then pausing when he caught a glimpse outside his window. He was pretty sure he'd just seen a couple of snakes and a toad fall past. And then another couple.

Blinking, he made his way to the window, looking down at the ground. Sure enough, hundreds of reptiles and amphibians were crawling all over the ground; others had simply splattered. He rubbed a hand over his face, wondering if he was still asleep and having some kind of bizarre dream.

But no. He was pretty sure he was awake.

He strode quickly toward the door to his apartment and made his way down the steps and into the lobby of the complex, staring out. They were everywhere.

"Well, this can't be good," he muttered.

Lately, it seemed like Sam had a book everywhere he went. He was in hardcore research mode, even if Dean scoffed at that. At least Fred seemed to get the reason for the research, and was even willing to help. Though trying to read around Fred was sometimes more of a distraction than anything.

All the same, Sam had gone through several of the books that he'd managed to talk Belia into allowing him to read. He didn't trust the fact that the woman was controlling the stream of information, but he had very little choice at the moment. There was no internet in this postapocalyptic world, and there was no Bobby to call for help. There were also no other libraries that he knew of.

Which left the many books of theories from people who would have been labelled 'conspiracy theorists' or simply 'on the fringe' at best before the events that had created this apocalypse. Sam was still trying to sort through those who simply had been crazy and those who had genuinely been on to something.

It was just about dinner time, which meant that Sam was waiting in line for one of the stands that sold food in the marketplace. His nose was in one of the books, so he wasn't paying that close of attention to the people or things around him.

She had to get out. Go on a walk, something. The apartment she'd settled into was stuffy and empty and not like home at all, and honestly how was she supposed to sit still when there was an entire world out there full of... magic and monsters and mystery to discover? No way she was about to coop herself up indoors.

So she'd gone. Despite Oliver and Chloe's instructions to sit still and let them figure things out together, she'd slipped out of the apartments in the middle of the night and started walking. Where? Who the hell knew. She'd had some pretty bad experiences in the forest, so she struck out on a path away from them, towards... Well, more forest. But at least they were further away from the weird vine-octopus thing she'd been welcomed by a few days ago.

Bad idea? Maybe. But it'd satisfy her curiosity, at the least. And who knew, maybe there were other people around these parts she'd recognize...

After the meeting with Belia, Oliver and the rest found themselves politely escorted outside once more. He watched as the other man from the meeting--Owen, he thought his name was, headed away, leaving Ollie with Chloe and Lois. He glanced between the two women, feeling selfishly glad they were both there with him. "Well, that was...interesting," he muttered as he walked between them, farther away from the building and out of earshot from any guards who might be listening in.

He supposed they didn't have much choice but to start exploring this new world in hopes of finding something that could take them home. But in the mean time, they were going to have to do something about having a place to sleep and food to eat, both of which Belia had promised them during the meeting. She'd also given them directions toward the apartment complex where the so-called "Chosen" were staying. Not that they needed them, since he and Chloe had already been there to see Clark.

Startled, he glanced at Lois. "Have you seen Clark since you got here?"

The situation was getting more dire now. Belia could tell that the walls between realities were getting more strained. More 'chosen' were showing up than ever. The apartment building that had been cleared out to accommodate potential new arrivals to this world now held a lot more than simply the two that had been the first arrivals.

She wanted very badly to believe that they would be the saviors of her world, as many of her people believed. She was too cynical for that however. Instead, she believed that they had the potential to help and could just as likely bring an end to even this meager existence that her people had had to fight tooth and nail for.

Extending hospitality, attempting to keep the chosen in her city and under her thumb was the best way she could think of to maintain control of the situation. She would do what she could to make sure that they had motivation to help and to ensure that she had enough warning to do something to prevent any of them causing this world lasting harm.


It wasn't perfect nor was it guaranteed, but it was all she had.

Her guards had notified her of the small handful of new arrivals that had shown up recently and so she sent them back out to collect the new chosen that had come to die Festung for a greeting. They were instructed to extend the invitation politely and only to use force if lives were in danger.

She waited in the room that was now much more frequently used for greeting newcomers. A wide array of food was spread out on the table, simply waiting for the chosen to indulge themselves if they so chose.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Lois was on a run for her life. Tripping over tree roots and flailing over branches, she made a beeline for what she could faintly make out as the edge of the forest.

And how in the hell did she even get into this forest, anyway? The last thing she'd remembered was hanging off the edge of the Daily Planet after a Metropolis confrontation gone wrong. It was a regular occurrence for her these days, her life being threatened by an angry mobster or a vengeful criminal. But being unceremoniously dropped into the middle of a forest with no warning?

She had not seen this coming.

Not to mention the fact that she was currently being pursued by some kind of... beast. She hadn't seen it yet. Only heard it. But it was gaining on her, had definitely sniffed her out, was absolutely on her trail. So she ran. She was a panting, sweating, panicked mess when she finally emerged into the clearing, hesitating when she eyed the city in front of her. It was no skyline she'd ever seen before, but she had no choice but to head that way.

Except for the fact that something was suddenly wrapped around her leg, dragging her back into the forest.

She hit the ground, clawing at the grass below her and kicking with all her might

And then came the instinctive, blood-curdling scream of help she had gotten so used to these days.