Super....

[La_Reina]

{closed for JadeKnight}

"Vee you killed a man!"

Red Velvet or Vee as some have called her looked at her leader, Mr. Impossible, with disbelief. "Are you kidding me? Poison killed hundreds of people. Let's not forget that includes my father."

"That's not our call to make Vee. We were given these powers to protect-"

"That's what I was doing!"

"... not kill!"

Vee stared at the rest of the team unbelieving that they agreed with Mr. Impossible. "What. Was. I. To do?"

Mr. Impossible stared at her real hard. "Arrest him."

"Like before!" Vee exploded aghast. "So he could break out or his henchmen could break him out and in the process kill even more people. Cut the head off of the snake..."

"And we will continue to hunt him down and capture him. Stop his evil plans."

"This is nute! It was a vicious cycle that needed to be stopped."

"By YOU!"

"YES!" Vee yelled and could feel her eyes and her medallion that was stuck in her chest burning. She knew her hazel eyes were slowly turning red a sign of her anger getting the best of her. She took in a deep breath and used her mediation to calm down. Vee felt calm she looked up and sighed.

"You're eyes!" Fern cried. "They're ringed red! You turned!"

"No," Vee cried and ran to the mirror to confirmed. Her eyes were indeed ringed red and her medallion had a red glaze to it. "No, no, no, no, no," Vee closed her eyes said her mantra that always worked and opened her eyes to see they were still ringed in red and her medallion was still humming red.

This signaled to her people that she her heart was black; evil. The others were sworn to imprison her for eternity. You never died and you were aware of your surrounding as time passed by. If she was Poison she would get someone to help release her, but she was a traitor. She would be imprisoned like the others.

"No, you guys. I haven't turned, I..." She turned and saw a bright light coming towards her. The imprisonment crystal. They weren't going to give her a chance. She had been a Superhero next to them for years; over 15 years and they could turn on her so easily. She knew her eyes were starting to glow red.

Vee reached for the closest person next to her, which happened to be T.C. (Time Crisis; a teleporter), just as the light touched her. There was a searing pain and Vee let go of T.C. afraid she hurt him or worse brought him with her.

Vee screamed as she woke up. A breeze blew and a newspaper flew into her face. Who used newspaper anymore?! Vee pulled the paper from her face just as the words sank into her brain. Mrs. President brought peace to the middle east by using the first true Superhero.

"First true... as in one Superhero!? What happened to the team? Mrs. President?! Where am I?"

... Vee didn't know that she had teleported to a new dimension. That in her own homeworld; her old friends were trying to find her ... not to help her, but to find her and capture her. And were closer than she could imagine. Will she find the superhero and get him to help her go good again and prove herself? What will she do ...

 

[JadeKnight]

Garret Robinswas a unique human born in the current world that Vee found herself in. No one had been able to fully explain the reason why his genetic makeup was the way it was, as genetic science had only began mapping the human genome. Garret had been born with a rapid regenerative factor, three times that of the average human, and the ability to control magnetism. His powers didn't manifest until he hit puberty at the age of 11.

He first discovered his powers during a school bus accident on a field trip. Even though it was late afternoon, the school bus filled with middle school kids was hit by a drunk driver in a pickup truck on a highway overpass. The school bus was sent spinning towards the edge of the overpass. The bus hit on a large street lamppost, bending it over. The impact of the truck against the bus caused Garret to get thrown through the front window, as he had been moving to the front of the bus to throw some trash away. He hit his head on the asphalt, going unconscious as he tumbled along the hard surface. The driver of the truck was eject as well, dying on impact from not wearing a seat belt.

Garret found himself waking up a few moments later, not a scratch on him. His right arm had gotten broken, but there was only a little bit of pain. Sitting up carefully, his attention was drawn to the cries of his injured classmates. He was able to hear sirens in the distance, but his attention was on the teetering bus. The smell of gasoline filled the air, the fuel line broken somewhere beneath the bus. The sound of snapping metal filled the air as the lamppost gave way, taking down the bus with it. Something snapped in the young boy's mind, his only thought in his mind to save his classmates. He felt the rush of a strange new sensation filling his mind and body as he reached out with his left hand towards the empty area where the bus had been. One moment he was looking at an empty sky, the next moment the bus and lamppost was floating above the overpass. The bus floated down to rest in the road, the boy fainted a moment later. He woke up a few hours later in a hospital bed, his parents watching over him. Garret never told anyone what happened, leaving authorities baffled to exactly what happened, so it was deemed as a miracle.

Garret spent the next ten years practicing his power in secret. As much as he wanted to tell, he thought he would be seen as a freak or shunned, so he stayed quiet. He convinced his parents into letting him train in martial arts. He earned his second degree black belt by the age of 23. He wasn't sure of the best way of using his power, but that changed with the emergence of “superheroes.”

The “superheroes” were actually just costumed humans who took it on themselves to dispense justice when and where the authorities weren't able to. The first heroes were seen as nuisances by law enforcement. However, as more came on the scene, they were able to help with things when the law wasn't able to be everywhere at once. Garret fell into the ranks of superhero as the “Iron Man”, due to the full body metal suit he had fashioned for him.

The picture below the headline Vee read showed the president, Hillary Clinton, standing behind the presidential podium with the Iron Man beside her as he waved at the camera.

 

[La_Reina]

6 months! It took 6 fucking months for Vee to learn how vastly different this world was. Learn that every fucking person was a goody-goody. Which would have been great if Vee wasn't so fucking angry all the time... plus it was fucking weird. It wasn't like there wasn't crime, but it was like 90% of this world was based on a 50's sitcom. Sure the clothing, the sex appeal, was pretty much the same, but the damn goodness was driving her crazy. Vee realized this was what would happen to her world if her and her team (ex-team) had managed to solve every crime.

Vee had a job and using some of her powers had managed to score big and buy a home. Being CFO of a large up and coming programming company had it perks. That and the minute differences here were easy to avoid. For example in her home world people were just starting to use electric cars. Here electric cars and cars being ran on water were the norm. So when she saw that a young company was trying to get off it's feet she quickly became good friends with the founders of Google and help them launch. Hell, she was a silent asset, used rarely and only to confirm things. Of course knowing some of the outcomes ahead of time had it's advantage.

Still Vee would stalk the Iron Man - a movie in her home, but the real life thing here, except less money and less sarcasm (pity). He wasn't like the others she investigated. He was literally the real deal. And with most nations, countries, afraid of Iron Man the goody shit was becoming a lasting nuisance and worse boring as hell.

Vee wasn't an idiot. She couldn't just start shoving some evil back into this world. No, that would make her enemy number 1 and Vee had to admit she found Iron Man sexy and wondered what it would be like to finally date someone she didn't have to hide or consciously think of what she was doing so they wouldn't give her identity away or worse make her a hero. No, Vee went down that road and heroes backstabbed eachother when shit got real. Villains ... they were loyal to the end, because they knew where shit stood.

So it was Vee plan to run into Iron Man, but how. It was risky, but she hoped as hell it would work. She rented a small plane and went carousing talking to the towers and being girly and fun. She conveniently forgot about the gas and at the last minute started radioing for help that the plane was out of engine and the power was failing. She begged them to help her.

Vee cried and begged the tower to help her. How could she land the plane if it working? She didn't want to die. She knew she was being broadcasted and she prayed that Iron Man had been attuned to her plight. He couldn't be everywhere, but dammit she had given herself 10 minutes of extra airspace in the last place he had frequented.

Vee got on the radio and told them she could going to use the parachute and that she was just over the Big Park. It should be easy for her to skydive down, even though she was at the lowest recommended altitude to skydive. "Please, don't let me die. Goodbye." Vee used her superspeed to go to the door and with that she jumped.

Vee immediately pulled on the cord which she knew she shouldn't have done yet and immediately went into a spin. She looked down to see tiny specs below her. Good a crowd Vee had super speed. Also Vee was called Red Velvet not for her love of cake, but because she was Ignikinesis. She controlled fire. She also had rapid health properties, she had to to be engulfed in flames. Usually she used her speed for good and very rarely ever used her ability with fire unless it was with a house burning or something.

Vee hoped she didn't hit the crowd. Even with her abilities she was sure it would be a month in a coma as her body healed. Now, that she thought about it, this wasn't a good plan and Vee started to panic for real. Oh shit! What was she thinking?

 

[JadeKnight]

Only one person in the world had knew that Garret was the Iron Man, his father. His mother had figured out he was special, but breast cancer took her life when he had turned sixteen. His father was a genius, working with the military to develop various kinds of weaponry for the United States military to use. His father worked on projects that were ultra-secret, weaponry and other things that were kept out of circulation until deemed necessary.

His father had earned such a great amount of respect that he pretty much had any and everything he could ask for while working on his projects. He had pioneered one such ultra-secret project, the mobile armor suit, an early version of what Garret used. Once the first version of the suit was done, a test pilot was needed, but it was to be a double blind test. Garret's father could know who the pilot was, but all reports made would merely refer to the tester as test pilot. Garret was never told the reason he was picked as the one to test the suit, at the age of 18. The reason was that his father was giving him a push towards being able to use his powers without actually being rejected by society as a whole.

The suit started out as merely a protective piece of armor, nothing special about it. Joseph, Garret's father, further developed the suit by added flight capabilities, a Hud for the helmet, a miniaturized battery pack that Garret could energize himself, and hand pulse cannons. Maintenance needs were handled by Joesph when needed, who had trained a small team of engineers and techs to deal with the armor.

Joesph was paid for all the help he had given his father, the money placed in accounts under a pseudonym. At the age of twenty one he got a job as a traveling reporter for a New York newspaper. He used his cover as excuse to travel the world, while operating as Iron Man at the same time. He carried two satellite phones with him, one for himself while the other had rerouted and encrypted calls for Iron Man, so he could act when needed. He didn't start being a Hero until he turned 21.

Handling the calls for Iron Man was tricky, especially when he couldn't reach the area in question quickly. There were times when he turned down the request, telling them to get a closer hero. He hated to do it, but even he knew he could only do so much.


He had been in the town that Vee had decided to lure him out in order to cover the upcoming Fall Festival. Even though his main storyline was himself, he still had other types of stories to earn a paycheck. It almost didn't surprise him that he would get a call to help take care of someone in trouble. It was rare for him to go more than two days without someone needing help. He was just walking up the steps of the city hall to talk with the mayor when the Iron Man phone rang. As he pushed the button to answer the phone, a voice scrambler was activated within the mouthpiece making him sound more robotic.

“Iron Man speaking.”

“This is Roger at the Rhode Island Airport. There a small plane going down over Quilolog Park. The pilot is trying to bail.”

“I'm on it.”

Garret turned the phone off, glancing around quickly. The street was a little busy in getting prepared for the festival, so he had to duck down the alley behind city hall. Dropping the large backpack he always carried around with him, he unzipped it to reveal several metal plates. The plates were actually his suit, which he had learned to manipulate it so that he could carry it when he wasn't wearing it. Hauling around a man-sized suit in a box would look more suspicious than a bunch of metal sheets. Using his power to levitate himself, he got the suit on in just seconds. The suit powered up once everything was correctly connected, and Garret launched himself into the air after wards.

He easily covered the distance between the park and city hall. He wasn't sure what he would see there, but he knew he had to hurry. He arrived above the park in time to barely take things in. The plane was only a few seconds from hitting into a large stone statue and the female who he assumed had been the pilot was hurling towards a group of onlookers.

He took a deep breathe for a moment before pointing towards the plane and the pilot, Vee. It only took a moment for him to slowly the descent of the plane, stopping it inches above the statue. Feeling for the metal buckles in the parachute Vee wore, her descent was slowed as he pulled back against the metallic parts. He slowly put her down on the ground among the crowd. He lifted the plane up towards him and held it among his head as he glided down towards the crowd. There were a few gasps as some of the people scrambled away, thinking the plane would fall. He stopped ten feet from the ground as he lifted a hand in the air to wave at them. His voice came out through the mask scrambler a little robotic.

“Don't worry, the plane won't fall ladies and gentlemen. Are you alright miss? Any injuries?”

The square eye holes of helmet had a green tint glowing in them, bright enough to not see in, but not be blinding. He needed to get the plane back to the airport, but first he had to make sure Vee was unharmed.

 

[La_Reina]

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit easily became Vee's mantra as she realized what a stupid plan this was. She was sucking in her breath and screaming for all that she was worth ... and not acting a dime. She wsa scared shitless and realized this was beyond stupid. She did all this just to meet a guy. Why not stalk him? Or facebook him or something? Anything was better than jumping out of a plane.

Vee was in the middle of screaming when she noticed something. The world was coming up at her slower and slower. Vee sighed with relief when her feet hit the ground. Her knees buckled weakly and she threw off the parachute as if it was trying to kill her. Vee ran into his arms; hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Vee wished she could see the man inside the costume, she assumed it was a man, a woman would have used lighter colors and maybe a more shapely body. Vee looked straight into his eyes and whispered hoping he could her through the crowd of cheering people. "I want to thank you. Have dinner with me? Please."

Vee reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper she had stuffed there and put it in his palm. She smiled and walked backwards letting the crowd swallow her whole. She used her speed to get out of there and over to a nearby tree when she saw his head look down to read the paper. You're not the only person with powers in this world. If or when you get tired of feeling alone; find me at the Orange Circus

Vee watched his head moved side to side as if he was searching the crowd possibly looking for her or maybe he was telling the crowd no. It didn't matter. Everyone had forgotten her; she was already walking away on the phone making arrangements for the plane to be hauled back to the hangar. Vee put on a burst of speed and was faster than the eye or any computer could track as she made it home.

The Orange Circus is a known bar where weirdo's, freaks, and drugs take place. It's one of the few places Vee could be herself ... play with fire, drink, and no one bats an eye. Either they think their hallucinating or it's a trick, but she could throw a fireball into the wall and no one does anything more than cheer. She could go full fire mode and it's quite alright ... as long as she doesn't burn the place down. It was almost like being free.

 

[JadeKnight]

He wasn't surprised by the reactions from the woman he had just saved. After all, he had groupies that often tried to find out who he was, but he always managed to elude them. After all, if his identity had gotten out, he wouldn't have any privacy. Not that he wouldn't enjoy the fame, that wasn't why he was doing this. However the note passing was a little different. He didn't bother to look at the note yet, just closing it up in his hand.

“Everything is ok now. Please, just go about your business once more folks.”

There were a few awws from the crowd, but they slowly began to disperse. He glanced around for a moment to see if he could spot the woman, but she had already left. Seeing everyone was gone, he rose into the air, disappearing into an alleyway to take off the suit. Once the suit was repacked in his backpack, he placed a call to one of his many sources for obtaining the pictures of himself. After all, he couldn't exactly take the pictures himself. After all the drop-off arrangements were made, he turned his attention to the note Vee had given him.

A lot of the human heroes around the world had claimed to be truly super, with powers like him. However he had followed up on the stories like a good journalists and had been able to debunk them. None of them had ever suggested they knew he had true powers, though he had teamed up with the other heroes from time to time. If she did claim to be a true super, he would have to follow up on things. From both angles, it seemed the Orange Circus would be the place to start.

After picking up his package from the pickup point, he made his way over to the Orange circus. He was no stranger to the place, easily blending in with the rowdy crowd. After all, he had couple of contacts here as well, eager to help him with the latest scoop for a little bit of cash on the side.

Grabbing a stool at the bar, he dropped his backpack to the floor with a soft 'thunk'. The brown suit he wore gave nothing away to him being Iron Man, and he would have just been thought of a strange for having the heavy backpack of metal plates. He signaled the bartender for his usual drink of jack and coke as he pulled out the picture package. Spreading out the various photos, he took his time to try and select the best one for the next story of the events.

 

[La_Reina]

Vee wasn't drunk. She had a few drinks though and was thinking that Iron Man wasn't going to show up. She had been stood up. So now she was depressed and alone. Why did she think her plan would work? Of course he wouldn't show up. Hell, after saving her from a plane and then getting a note about the Orange Circus he probably thought she was a junkie. Hell, this might be the last place he would ever come. No, Iron Man was some rich dude ... okay she was thinking of Tony Starks from her homeworld.

Vee walked back to the bar and placed her empty glass on the counter. She saw some random guy in a brown suit looking over pictures of Iron Man. She raised and eyebrow and turned back tot he bartender. "Same thing please." The bartender took her glass and started to refill it putting the check on her tab. Vee stared at the guy who was obviously so nerdy to be in a brown (why brown?!??!?) suit in a bar like the Orange circus. Maybe he was so desperate and lonely that he came here just to feel like he was a part of something. Vee turned away from the boring guy to grab her glass when she saw one of the pictures.

"Hey, that's today. I was there?" Vee looked over the photos and only saw one of her. It had her back to the camera as she was embracing Iron Man for saving her. It could have been any woman in that picture, so she didn't bother to tell him she was the 'damsel in distress'.

"These are really good, nice quality, and you got these printed fast. What are you a reporter? Oooh like for X News?" The X news was a tabloid that outed almost anyone and anything. They were the paparazzi and reporters who made a quick buck anyway they could and spread rumors like wildfire.

Vee knew she wasn't going to do any "magic tricks" while he was here. Nope, she didn't want to be outed and hell, even know she was taking a risk with her job by talking to him. Hell, with the thought of him being a X News reporter just made him that much more interesting, and dangerous, in her eyes.

 

[JadeKnight]

He had been trying to sort through the pictures for the best shot to use in his next story, as well as a possible one for the woman who had slipped him the note. However he was having no luck when Vee came over to his table. He gave a little chuckle and shake of his head when she had mentioned him working for X News.

“No, I don't work for X News, but I am a journalist. I am more of a freelance reporter for a newspaper in New York. My specialty is on Iron Man, as you can see. I don't take the pictures myself, since I was never that great of a cameraman. I've got a few contacts that take the pictures for me, though I do follow his exploits around the world. I'm not the only one who writes about him though.”

He picked up another picture where he was holding the plane in mid-air above the crowd after catching Vee. Setting that one aside, he shuffled the rest into a small pile next to a notepad. Pulling out his pen he gave a little smile to Vee.

“I'm sure I look a little out of place here, but I am a regular when I'm in town on business. It can get rowdy, but most usually leave me alone to do my work. What brings you here tonight, other than the lovely scenery?”

 

[La_Reina]

Vee pouted. So he wasn't X news. That was sad. So no Iron Man and no paparazzi to pass the time with. She listened to his story and raised an eyebrow. "So someone takes the pictures and you buy them from them and then you print them in your New York newspaper." Vee turned and said silently to herself, "Only in this dimension ..."

"What's with the pen?" She asked him as she took a sip of her drink. She ignored his comment about being a regular here. She didn't think she seen him before. Then again she wasn't quite a regular yet.

She thought about ignoring his question, but decided what the hell. She leaned close and whispered so that only he could hear her and no one else. "I had a tip that Iron Man would be here." She leaned back and shook her head as if joking. She shrugged to say 'Whatever' and glanced around the room wondering if she should go ahead and call it a night. She had obviously been stood up.

"Well, I guess I'm the idiot for listening to ..." she trailed off and placed her glass on the counter top. She signaled the bartender she was ready to go and to bring her her credit card. "Maybe I'll catch you around reporter man."

 

[JadeKnight]

He raised an eyebrow for a moment when Vee asked him what the pen was for. He kinda figured that it was obvious, so that he could get to work on the article. He gave a little chuckle for a moment, twirling the pen a couple of times between the index and middle finger of his right hand.

“I need something for a rough draft and I don't exactly have my computer on me.”

He was quiet for a moment when she leaned closer to him, whispering in his ear. When she said she had a tip about him being here, he thought back to the note that was in his back pocket. It had been a bit of rush earlier at the park, so he had not been able to catch her face. However if she had knowledge of the time and place the note stated, then chances are this was the woman from earlier. If his hunch was correct, then he knew how to follow up on making sure it was right.

He watched her move to the counter, putting her glass down. He packed his stuff up as well, picking up his briefcase. Since he had struck up an open tab with the bartender from a few months ago, he didn't even bother to settle his tab yet. Stopping a few feet from Vee, behind her, he made a signal towards the back door to the bartender. The bartender gave a nod at the same time he handed over Vee's credit card.

Once out the back, Joesph made sure the alleyway was clear of any witnesses. Opening the briefcase, the stack of metal for his bodysuit floated into the air. Once the metal was clear, he stripped down to his boxers before stuffing his clothes into the briefcase and stashing it behind the dumpster. It took a few moments for the metal plates to form into his suit, all the circuitry melding together before the system booted up.

He launched into the air, flying over the alleyway to the street in front of the club. He looked around for a moment before settling down on top of a metal mailbox that was a few feet from the Orange Circus's door. Though this neighborhood was friendly to him as Iron Man, most people steered clear of him as he waited for Vee to emerge.

 

[La_Reina]

Vee glanced at the reporter, but he was getting up and leaving too. She smiled and headed to the back towards the restroom. She was kinda curious as she could see the brown suit in front of her, but a loud bang made her turn her head and when she looked back he was gone. Vee shrugged her shoulders and headed toward the restroom. She really needed to pee. ... She turned the corner and groaned. The ladies bathroom was long as fuck. Vee groaned and looked at the symbol that indicated Men, but pushing open the door she could see 2 stalls, one with no door; the other broken, and several urinals with men. Damn. She couldn't pee there.

Vee turned and wished she hadn't drank so much liquor. It always went through her. She walked out the front door and looked first left then right. She really, really needed to pee. It was late and the streets were near deserted if she didn't take the main roads. She sighed. Again it was like living in a 50's sitcom. The Orange circus was the only place she felt like home. People cursed and screamed, but once you stepped out of there it was back to being the good human you were supposed to be. A load of shit.

... and right now she really had to go. Vee took one step, then two, and then kicked in her powers. She used the backroads and knew she was a blur to anyone who might have spotted her, but she stayed away from people. Even changing her route twice when she saw someone sitting in a window and someone coming home late. She was sure she hadn't been spotted when she finally realized what that weird feeling was. She instantly stopped and turned in a full circle. Someone/ something was watching her. Her instincts were pretty good, but she hadn't used them in over 6 months. She was getting rusty. Plus it wasn't like she was psychic. She just knew that something wasn't right.

Vee walked calmly (as calmly as one could who really needed to pee) and walked to her apartment building. It was on the upperside had a bellman who greeted her warmly. She smiled at the guard at the front desk and retrieved her mail. She pushed for the penthouse and scanned her palm as she traveled upwards to her apartment. She could have just ran up the side of the building, but that required finesse and she couldn't be sure someone wouldn't see her. This was the easiest. The doors opened and Vee superspeeded to the bathroom where she could finally pee.

 

[JadeKnight]

Though he stayed waiting on Vee to emerge, he didn't realize she had left while he had been getting into his armor. He had been lost in thought for twenty minutes when his thoughts were interrupted. He had cleared this part of town of gang activity the year before, so the next few moments were a bit of a surprise to him. Two loud dings on his chest plate brought him back to reality.

He blinked for a moment as he saw a large group of men and women emerged from the shadows further up the street from him, armed with small caliber weapons. Two more dings to the back of his armor made him turn around to see another large group of men and women coming out from that part of the street as well. They all were dressed up in some sort of military outfit, but there were no insignias.

“Seriously? Who the hell are you guys and where did you come from?”

The comments were mostly to himself since nobody was close enough to hear him. He dropped down from the mailbox, standing straight up as both groups yelled some sort of battle cry before the night filled with gunfire for several seconds. He used his powers to repair the dents the small caliber bullets made, none of which were able to penetrate the armor. Not wanting to hurt any of them, he waited till most of them were reloading before making his move. The street had cleared out quickly just before the unknown assailants had emerged, so the ricocheting bullets that did miss him didn't harm anyone on the street.

Concentrating for a moment, he reached out with his power and broke apart the multiple weapons while they were still being held. Many scattered after that, but more weapons were pulled out by those that were left. That round of small caliber bullets didn't bother him until he felt a sharp pain along the outside of his left shoulder. Staggering from both the pain and surprise of it, he placed his right metal hand over his left shoulder. Though he didn't have the true sensation of feeling, he could feel the catch of metal on a small entry hole on the shoulder. Reaching around the back of his shoulder, he found a large exit hole at an angle below the entry.

With the capabilities of the armor, it could withstand up to a .50 bullet, which usually left a fist-sized dent in his armor if he didn't have his powers energizing it while he was in combat. Since most of the baddies didn't use anything above a .50 to fight him, he was unprepared for the more powerful shot. As far as he knew, anything that powerful was being used by the military.

Though the attack had only been a graze, it was still enough to draw blood and intense burning pain. Ignoring the remaining crowd for the more imminent threat, he launched himself into the air for a better angle to find the shooter. He was ten stories into the air when he heard a soft crack in the air, followed by a muzzle flash on top of one of the buildings. He was buffeted for a moment by the near miss of another shot.

“Is it too much to ask for a night off?”

He blasted off towards the source of the shot, two rooftops from Vee's penthouse apartment. No more shots were fired during his flight to the building, which he hovered above for a moment to find the culprit. A light sudden flashed up at him, blinding him. The next few moments were a blur for Garret.

Right after the blinding flash, the shooter detonated the rather large bomb he was next to. The explosion released an EMP pulse that took out every electronic within a block radius, including Garret's suit systems and power. The force and power of the explosion was enough to take out the top five floors of the building. It was also enough to throw Garret through the air in an arc, heading towards Vee's penthouse. With his concentration broke, he was unable to bring himself down gently, crashing onto the outside deck of the penthouse. He skidded along the deck before hitting a wall. With his power out, all Garret could see was black, so he had no clue where he had landed. He reached one armored hand up towards the sky before falling unconscious.

His armor was pocked and dented from debris from the blast. Though the metal plates kept their shape, the connection between them had broken. A small amount of blood seeped from the cracks from a few minor cuts.

 

[La_Reina]

Vee was washing her hands in the bathroom when the lights flickered. "What the fuc-" She managed before the building swayed and her lights flickered again. She opened the door just in time to hear a thunk and then a crash and skidding sound. In two steps she was in her living room and staring at ... Iron Man. "How'd you know where-" the question was left unsaid as she saw the pool of blood emerging from his suit. Dammit!

In one step she was on her balcony and looking around. It seemed a few blocks down the buildings didn't have any power and even further down a huge fire and buildings on fire. The fire called to Vee. It called for her to join in and bathe in it. The fire was actually coming towards her, but she stopped it's dance and told it to stay still. Yes, it would die, but it had fun and now it was to go to sleep to another time. The fire didn't want to and said it would burn as much as possible in the one area until it was forced to go away. Vee agreed and turned her attention back to Iron Man. She understood the fire. Hell, it was one of her powers. Fire was a living, breathing thing. It ate, destroyed, and took what it wanted leaving behind ash. Vee would have loved to have gone to the fire, but she had more pressing matters like how did Iron Man find her home and what was with the burning buildings. The fire told her it was created, but couldn't tell her by whom.

Vee dragged Iron Man into her living room and closed the curtains. She wasn't sure what was going on, but seemed like keeping this a secret was a good idea. She used her super speed to clean up the glass and right the tables and chair. Her penthouse deck looked as good as new except for the soft breeze of the curtains that was being blown into her home which she hoped if anyone was looking for this man and would see it would assume her doors were open giving her a soft breeze and move on. Even the dark stain of the blood was covered with a small little carpet as if to say her rich feet couldn't touch bare asphalt.

Inside her apartment, however, the heavy fuck was bleeding on her carpet. She wasn't the strong superhero. She could use superspeed to give her the illusion of strength but tearing the suit off the man or dragging his ass was using up her own strength. She sat down against the wall and knocked on the face plate. "Hey, buddy. I need you to come out or I can't help you. You're going to bleed to death and you're losing blood and .. is that oil? On my carpet. Dude, this is gonna be really weird to explain when I try to get this cleaned."

No answer. Vee tried wrapping his armored arm, but there was little she could do to help him until he woke up so instead she sat guard around his body. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she was dozing quietly next to him waiting for him to wake up.

 

[JadeKnight]

The bleeding stopped after a couple of minutes as his healing factor kicked in, sealing up all the cuts. A foot long piece of re-bar had punctured through his right thigh, sticking out on either side of his suit. The wound had closed up around the metal shaft, sealing up the worst of the bleeding. The metal had missed a major artery by half an inch, but he wouldn't have died even if his artery had been severed by the metal.

He was susceptible to EMPs, unlike most people, in that his electromagnetic power could be interrupted for short periods of time. However it didn't happen as a common thing, so no one had actually witnessed the after effects. Though the blast had been small, the amount of power used would have been enough to stop his magnetic powers for a few hours.

It was half an hour before he slowly came to, groaning softly. He opened his eyes slowly, finding himself in complete darkness. The helmet was useless without the Hud and the suit was feeling like it weighed a ton. He tried to lift his arm for a moment, only able to get it a few inches off the ground.

“Damn it, not again....”

He dropped his hand on the ground, the impact making a small clung on concrete. He knew his powers were gone for the time being, so he was trapped in the suit without outside help. He was quiet as he tried to listen to his surroundings. In the silence he could discern the sound of curtains flapping in a little bit of breeze against the broken frame of the doorway he had come through. He heard the steady ticking of a clock from somewhere, as well as the soft breathing of another person. He wasn't sure if they were friend or foe, but maybe they could help. He spoke loudly, although his voice was muffled a little because of the metal without the electronics to amplify his voice.

“Hello? Is someone here that can help me? Can you tell me where I am?”

 

[La_Reina]

Vee was softly dozing in the most uncomfortable position. Her head jerked up and she blinked trying to focus her eyes. She was cold and as she stretched her legs she heard her back pop from being in the same position for too long. She was going to have to get that door fixed. It was windy this high up and the broken door was making her place quite drafty. Vee stared around her apartment and one thought crossed her mind. "What had woken her up?"

Seriously, she should have still been asleep. Yes, she was uncomfortable, but she was asleep. Her internal warning bells weren't going off to alert her to immediate danger so what had just woken her up? Then she heard it. A soft hello. She glanced down at the immobile suit of armor. She crouched down and pressed her ear to the faceplate and yup... someone was in there. Luckily, for this guy Vee had seen the Iron Man movies back in her own dimension so she figured out what happened pretty quickly. It was still unreal that in her dimension Iron was a fictitious movie and here he was the real deal.

"Uh, Iron man," she didn't know his real name. Everyone called him Iron Man. "Can you hear me? This is ... Vee. You kinda crashed into my apartment. I think you're safe for now, but you're kinda bleeding. Can you uh ... open up or something?"

She couldn't think of anything else to say or do.

 

[JadeKnight]

When he heard Vee's voice, he grimaced for a moment. He hadn't expected to land in someone's apartment, and though her voice was a little muffled, she sounded like the woman he had met at the bar. Not exactly the best of impressions that he wanted to portray to anyone. He sighed for a moment before he responded to her questions, thinking that she had sounded a little worried for him.

“Yea, about the blood...I think most of that had pretty much stopped. Sorry if I bled on anything while I was out.”

He was able to lift his right hand up a little from the floor and curl it into a fist before hitting the floor again.

“I think the few electronics I had were knocked out by a emp blast or something. I think all the wires got fused along the inside of the armor, sealing them together. I'm gonna be stuck till my powers return.”

He chuckled softly in his helmet for a moment. This was not how he planned for his night to go. The EMP had basically turned his suit into an iron coffin till he could force it apart. And he ended up in some woman's apartment, of all places. His clothes were halfway across town, hell they could have been miles away for all he knew. Flying around without his helmet was not an option at this point, so he had to think of something fast.

“Sorry again for the intrusion ma'am.”

 

[La_Reina]

Vee sat up on her knees and looked around. She guessed he was right. The blood had stopped. She shrugged her shoulders at his apology then she remembered he couldn't see her. "Uh, nothing that I can't clean," she said. True, she could get the carpet cleaned or she could scrub it herself later.

His hand lifted and then fell onto the floor. Vee backed up a bit and waited for the suit to come off. Except ... nothing was going on. Vee heard that muffled voice and she leaned forward to hear it. She got the tail end, but could figure out what was being said.

"So ... uh okay."

Vee sat back not sure what to do. Hell, she needed a midnight snack so she stood up and went to the kitchen to fix herself a sandwich.