Chaos Wars

Tony shifted when he noticed the new arrival glowering at him. “Uh… can I help you?”

They had retreated to a SHIELD mobile transport trailer, one that Fury had made sure was completely off the grid and Tony had then had Jarvis ACTUALLY make sure was off the grid. Edwin, Avo, and Slash (because NONE could NOT be trusted in strategizing) were discussing with the Warriors 3 and Lady Sif who else they could bring into their team to help deal with the coming invasion. Which was bothering Tony a lot because the Chaoses were 100% sure the invasion was coming. So strong in their conviction that he couldn’t bring himself to argue that they might be wrong.

Avo was going to try and contact The Ancient One, a powerful mage. Lady Sif and the Pharaoh were going to seek out the King of Wakanda, a country that Tony had never heard of but apparently was so advanced that all his gadgets and devices would be common place there. Edwin had taken the Fat One and the Dashing One of the Warriors 3 (Tony was still learning their names) for his team to go find Dr. Hank Pym; Edwin also mentioned that he wanted to get someone else but was staying quiet about it for now. Slash and NONE, along with the Grim One of the Warriors 3 were with Maria Hill to go get some agents that could help them out.

Tony had been left out of the planning because the people he was going to get… well… were locked in. Pepper had been flown out of New York but would be working with Jarvis to monitor things and Rhodey was in the city, armor ready for him to fly out to assist.

Which meant he was stuck talking with the newest arrivals.

The girl, Corrosion, had gone off in a corner to talk to the… alien goo… that made up her suit. Leaving Tony to chat with the new Chaos.

Who kept shooting him dirty looks.

And when that happened Tony’s first instinct was to begin rambling.

“ Because I am getting the oddest sense that you are pissed at me and considering what your lookalikes have said I expect that’s because in other realities I’ve created a lot of super villains by accident. And hey, get where the anger is coming from if that is what has your panties twisted and wedged up inside of you. But I’d like to remind you that I actually haven’t done any of that yet. I mean, yeah, Obie went off the deep end up but I really think that was because of issues he had with the loss of his hair, you know? That can really affect a guy and… you know. Or maybe you don’t considering that you have a full head of hair, very nice by the way. And as for Vanko okay, so apparently I “stole” his dad’s ideas… there are other ways to handle things than to attack innocent people with flying robots and electrified whips. And Hammer? Hammer doesn’t count and should never count and I’m not talking about him and Vanko. I mean he shouldn’t count for… anything. The man is like a pirated dvd of me; I mean it looks similar but you pop it into the DVD player and half the episodes don’t work and there is a watermark from whatever Canadian tv station you bootlegged the program from on there still. Point is I didn’t set out to create all these maniacs that want to destroy the world sooooo…”

“First off?” the man known as Spider-Chaos stated when Tony finally shut his mouth and let him get a word in edgewise. “No, I don’t want your help. See, I’m not an impressionable 15 year old you can turn into a child soldier because your daddy issues have you lashing out against your friends and allies.”

“I… wait, what?”

“Yeah,” Spider-Chaos said. “You do that. You find a 15 year old and command him to fight against trained killers and warriors. And you never think that’s a bad idea at all. And he does it because you are Tony Fucking Stark and he trusts you… when he really shouldn’t.”

Tony just stared at Spider-Chaos, trying to process what he was saying. “No… no, I would never do that.”

“You did.”

“Another version of me did, maybe!” Tony argued. “And hey, you should know that other versions exist that can live wildly different lives because one made of bones is currently staring at me while petting a large orange rat!” He gestured at NONE who was looking at Tony, head titled and a smile on his face as he stroke what Jarvis told him was some kind of Raichu variant.

“You’re right,” Spider-Chaos finally said. “You haven’t done that.” But then he leaned in. “But you are so fucking close to being that man, Stark. You have this delusional belief that you have all the answers even as time and time and time again the world reaches up, grabs you by the collar, and screams “YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT!”” Now everyone was staring at them and Tony shifted, giving them a wave and a smile, motioning for them to back down even as he wondered if there was a way to slip on his suit nice and quick. “You keep claiming you’ve changed, that you are different than before. That the Tony Stark who gleefully made weapons of mass destruction died in that cave and a better man came out.

“But all you’ve done is cover up all those flaws and failings with wrapping paper with little tiny Iron Mans on them. You still refuse to talk to the people you love, letting them truly into your life. You still make every issue about you and don’t see how that breeds new villains and enemies. You still believe that you have ALL the answers when in reality you are just grasping at straws. And when you realize that you’ve blundered you play the victim. You curl in on yourself and whimper that you were trying to do things and it isn’t your fault.”

“I don’t do that,” Tony protested.

“YOU JUST DID!” Spider-Chaos roared. “Stane. Hammer. Vanko. Making excuse after excuse after excuse. You treat people like they are your workshop helpers and then are startled when they turn against you. You mock everyone and everything because you think because you are smart you are above them all.” Spider-Chaos took a step forward. “Little man… look around the room. The greatest fighter of his world. A master mage. The King of Games. The Chaos Lord. An eldritch god. A Pokemon champion. The Symbiote Whisperer.” He pointed at himself. “Leader of the Avengers. You are surrounded by greatness… yet I can see it in your eyes that you STILL think you are better than all of us and should be in command. You are a 5 year old in a tin suit who throws a tantrum if everyone doesn’t compliment you on your summersaults. Grow the fuck up.”

And with that Spider-Chaos stormed off.

“Well…” Avo Kayos said as he came over, “that was needlessly harsh.”

“I get the sense he might be working on a few things,” Tony said.

“We were in the middle of a battle,” Corrosion stated, reminding them that she was there. “We got yanked away and… yeah, we’re nervous about how its going. There were kids there.”

“Then why isn’t he blaming these guys!” Tony complained, waving at Avo who glowered at him.

“Who says he doesn’t?” Corrosion commented.

Tony glanced at the mage. “Am… am I really like what he said?”

“In the movies? Yeah. You have a shit ton of fans, of course, but just as many people see you as a continued problem.” He shook his head. “Tony… normally you find yourself around people that either are dumb as stumps or willing to put up with your bullshit. You don’t have that with any of us. Chaoses are snarky bastards who tend to think 20 steps ahead… you’re going to need to tone down…” he gestured at him.

“All of me.”

“Pretty much,” Avo admitted.

“…and the 15 year old?”

“You were dealing with a lot of shit and it was making you not think straight,” Avo stated.

Tony could tell at once that the man was hiding something. “What is it?”

“Now isn’t the time to tell you,” Avo said. “We need your head on straight for the fight to come.”

“I can compartmentalize.”

“Not on this. You’ve shown you can’t.”

“A me from a movie. I am real.”

Avo snickered. “Tony, 18 months ago Goku was just ink and paper to me and now I’m basically his brother.”

But Tony continued to glower at the man, hating he was hiding things from him. “And you think I will have my head in the game if you refuse to tell me what’s going on? That I won’t be running through a thousand different What Ifs?” He shook his head. “Now who isn’t thinking clearly?”

That made Avo sigh. “I am only telling you this because we have Rhodey to take your place.” His jaw worked. “It wasn’t a car crash that killed your parents.”

At once Tony went VERY still.

“…what?” he got out.

“Hydra wanted them dead. They had outlived their usefulness.” At once Avo grabbed Tony’s arm and for once the man didn’t mind someone touching him. Honestly, with the way the world was spinning around him he welcomed the support so he didn’t crash to the trailer floor. “Tony… I need you to focus on what I am telling you because this is VERY important.”

“You… already have my full attention,” Tony got out.

But Avo shook his head. “Tony… I need you to be how everyone thinks you are and be full on Mr. Spock. Don’t lash out with your emotions. Think. Because you allowing your emotions to guide you is going to tear everything apart and leave you completely empty and alone. Do you understand that? Its what leads you to making a 15 year old a child soldier.”

Tony managed a nod, wondering how this could get any worse.

“Hydra captured Captain America’s best friend and brainwashed him into being their assassin.”

Tony opened his mouth only to snap it shut. He thought about what Avo had asked of him, to use his brain. So that’s what he did. He shoved aside his fears and worries and focused just on the logic. As much as it hurt, as much as he wanted to bring all of his reality on the fact that there was a single sole reason why his mother had been taken from him, he focused on the logic.

And everything snapped into place.

“Oh,” he said. “So the Boy Scout…”

“Yeah,” Avo said. “Its his best friend… his BROTHER. And he isn’t in his right mind. Doesn’t even have a mind. It would be like if you found out Rhodey had been brainwashed into killing Banner’s uncle. You would defend him, wouldn’t you? Argue that it wasn’t his fault.”

“…I didn’t, did I?” Tony asked. He knew he hadn’t. Could tell at once that wasn’t how it had gone.

“Steve fucked up too. Was utterly selfish. Blinded by wanting his brother back. It led to a civil war in the hero community.”

Tony felt sick.

“I’m not saying you need to be pals with the guy,” Avo said. “And believe me Cap would be getting a talk if he were here and you were Loki’s butt puppet. But you need to remember that he is just as much a victim as your mom was.”

“Avo!” Edwin called out. “If you are going to go talk with the Ancient One now is the time to get going!”

“We good?” Avo asked.

Tony managed a nod.

He knew Avo could tell he was lying.

~MC~MC~MC~

Kamar-Taj was exactly what one would expect from a secret commune of vague asian-focused magic. The temples built into the mountains, the men and women in ornate robes moving about, the sacred texts that looked like they were more art pieces than books to learn from.

Finding the hidden school of the Ancient One had been rather easy for Avo, once he had come up with his plan. Perhaps not the most… artistic of plans… but…

Mordo and Wong glowered as they marched Avo through the halls of Kamar-Taj, the Chaos forcing himself not to smirk through the gag they had put over his mouth even as he lightly tugged on the heavy metal cuffs that had been forced around his hands. They completely covered them up, to keep him from working his spells… but didn’t actually tap down his magic. So that was nice.

Leading him into a rather plain looking room the two bowed to The Ancient One who sat in the lotus position on the floor, her eyes shut. Avo, after a moment, did so as well, able to taste the refined power she had in the air. It was like walking into an apartment hallway after someone had spent all day making bacon; the scent of it wafted out for all despite any and all attempts to prevent it from doing so.

“So…” the Ancient One said, not opening her eyes, “you are the one that wanted a meeting.”

“I admit it was a bit showy-“

“You flew over the mountains trailing a 2 mile tall banner that said ‘Dormammu Sucks Dicks In The Dark Dimension’!” Wong complained.

“Maybe if you have a 1-800 number I wouldn’t have been forced to do such things.”

The Ancient One frowned, tilting her head. “I know of nearly all the magic users on this planet. Even those who wield the arcane arts in ways that have no connection to our ways I know of.” She finally opened her eyes. “You though…” She looked to Mordo. “Release him.”

“Ancient One,” he protested, “That is not wise.”

“It doesn’t matter. He could escape at any time.”

Avo poofed into Guldo, the restraints clattering to the ground. “Hello!” he declared happily before turning back into himself. At once Wong and Mordo were on edge. “I get it, I get it,” he told them. “Strange magic user shows up and you don’t like it. But trust me, I come in peace.”

“Yet you also bring tidings of war,” the Ancient One pointed out.

“…okay but I personally don’t want to harm you.” He held out his hands. “Ancient One, a great threat is coming. The Asgardian Loki is bringing an army to Earth and seeks to dominate it. To slaughter all that will not bow to him. But he has been deceived because his kingdom will not last. It will be shattered all in the name of claiming relics of power… including the Eye that is currently held here in Kamar-Taj.” He leaned forward. “Thanos the Mad Titan seeks the Infinity Stones.”

The Ancient One… just stared at him.

“You have no idea who that is,” Avo muttered, shoulders slumping.

“No idea,” she said with a soft smile. “Though admittedly it is an intimidating name.”

“We get a lot of ‘The Mad’ but rarely ‘Mad Titan’,” Wong stated.

Mordo merely shook his head. “Tossing out a name meant to scare us will not work in truly frightening us into giving you what you want.”

“And yet he knew of the Infinity Stone,” the Ancient One stated.

That made Mordo frown, at once turning towards his teacher. “He wants the Stone then! That will be his next claim! That he must have it to protect it.”

“Not in the slightest,” Kayos stated. “In fact the opposite: I need you to take the stone someplace insanely safe. The Mirror Dimension or something like that. Somewhere that only you three know of at worst. Do not tell me and make it someplace I can’t get to.”

The Ancient slowly rose up, considering Avo carefully. “You worry that you might try and claim the stone.”

“Loki was given the Mind Stone by Thanos to use in his attack on the planet.”

At once all three wizards grew tense. “The ability to take control of even the strongest mind…” Wong murmured.

“There are those in my group who believe they can block it with their own magic,” he said. “Edwin Chaos, an alternate version of myself, holds an item called The Millennium Key that can unlock any door… and lock anything it touches. Including a mind. He’s dealt with mind control before and has been able to counter it.” Avo shook his head. “But that is why I can’t know. We don’t know if my magic will interact poorly with his Key so he can’t do it to me… and if I am taken and know how to get to the Stone…”

“Yes, that would be rather dangerous,” The Ancient One stated.

“Then why did you come and not him?” Mordo demanded. “You have put us all at risk-“

“We are at risk no matter what happens,” Wong argued, cutting the other wizard off. “There are plenty of our numbers out in the world now. Any of them could be taken by Loki and turned against us.”

“Then we recall them,” Mordo stated. “We do not let any of them leave until the crisis is over.” He shot Avo a dark, calculating look. “And that includes you.”

“If I believed that me staying here would both protect the stone and stop Thanos I would do so,” he said in agreement. “But… Thanos is not some sorcerer that can be repelled by a few spells and will then decide this is not worth his time. He earned his title ‘The Mad’ in more ways than one.”

“Explain yourself then,” The Ancient One asked. But not in a demanding or angry way. Rather it was merely someone wanting more information and giving someone a chance to plead their case.

Avo nodded. “Thanos hails from the world of Titan, which was once, at least in his deluded view of it, a paradise. However, something happened, I admit I’m not sure what, that caused its resources to dwindle and threaten the people there. Thanos’ solution was a simple one: slaughter 50% of the population. Never mind that didn’t actually solve the problem and could actually make things worse… he just saw that the planet wasn’t ‘in balance’ and thus wanted to kill 50% of people.” Kayos paused. “I’ll also note that it never occurred to him to kill himself in this. No no no… HE was special. He could live. But the rest should be all random.”

“Isn’t that how it always is,” the Ancient One muttered.

“His people of course didn’t go with that plan and according to him they all died save him; I have my doubts on that. Seems pretty convenient that the guy getting an erection over mass slaughter is the only one to survive a ‘totally out of his control genocide’.”

“Do not speak of such vulgar things in front of The Ancient One!” Mordo demanded.

“What? Erections or genocide? Because I’m willing to bet she’s seen both.”

“You-“

“Mordo, calm yourself,” the Ancient One said, raising her hand. “He is correct.” She flashed a soft smirk at that while Mordo stammered and Wong… well, Wong oddly looked away from her and blushed. “I am assuming that Thanos has now taken that view to a… wider scale.”

“The entire universe,” Kayos said. “Trillions… of lives… maybe even more than that… snuff out in an instant. With the snap of his fingers. All because he believes that is the only way for everyone to survive. Never mind that it would mean the destruction of supply chains. Colonies being wiped out. Endangered species suddenly dead because now they no longer have a proper population for breeding. Suicides and the like. Nor does he even consider he could snap his fingers and just… double all the resources. Or bring about universal world piece. Nope… just slaughter 50% of people and then go retire to farm rocks.

“You think that you can wait him out. That you can hide away and he’ll pass you by. He has made his entire existence about getting the Infinity Stones and snuffing out half the universe. A man like that… he doesn’t give up because a few wizards put up a dome. Especially when he has mages at his beck and call; ones with powers and magics you’ve never encountered. You think he won’t seek out the Dark Dimension? The Darkhold? Or any other horrific magical artifact that would allow him to get to the stone? To get to YOU?” He looked right at Mordo. “All men dream… but not equally. The dreamers of the night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, awaken in the morning to find… it is vanity. But the dreamers of the day… are dangerous men. For they will act their dreams with open eyes. To make them real. This… Thanos did.”

The Ancient One considered him for a long moment. “You wish for us to aid you in the battle to come.”

Kayos nodded. “He can’t be allowed to get the Infinity Stones. But we can’t sit here and wait for him to come and have one final battle. Especially when he will either be slaughtering or mind controlling the billions of people out there. We need to take the fight to Loki, defeat him, claim the Mind Stone, and then do what must be done.”

“And… what must be done?” Wong asked.

“Destroy the Mind Stone.”

THAT caused all three Wizards to still.

“Destroy… an Infinity Gem?” Wong got out.

“Madness,” Mordo whispered. “You speak of madness.”

“Why? Because its impossible?” He gestured at Mordo. “Wouldn’t you have said the same thing about walking on air? Or being able to open portals to anywhere?” He rose and took a step back and ignited his hands with Good and Evil Magic. “What about this? My magic is vastly different from yours. Good and Evil, behaving how they shouldn’t.”

“Impossible,” Wong whispered as he watched the Evil Magic protectively cling to Avo’s right hand, Good Magic flaring out violently on his left.

“Magic is about making the impossible and the mad real and sane,” he argued. “I will not demand you destroy the Time Stone, as I believe that it has its uses. But the Mind Stone? The ability to rob one of their free will makes it’s a power that should not exist, at least in a concentrated form. I want it gone, forever. Help us defeat Loki. Claim the Mind Stone. Shatter it or drain it or do whatever. And then let Thanos be engaged like a normal threat… without the danger of his madness being able to rewrite reality.”

The Wizards stared t him for a long time.

“…we will reach out to you soon,” she said and gestured at Wong, who used a Sling Ring to create a portal back to where they had gotten Avo.

“Don’t wait too long… Loki currently isn’t patient.”

~MC~MC~MC~

Slash frowned as they rolled up to the farm house. “You really think this is the best use of your time.”

“Absolutely,” NONE replied though his comment lacked a bit of confidence. Though, Slash had to admit, part of that was how out of sorts he was riding in the car; he was used to just popping in and out where he wanted. His lack of magic was getting to him and she placed a hand on his arm when she sensed him about ready to perform some trick. “Thanks,” he said softly.

Maria stared at him for a long moment and opened her mouth to say something only to, in Slash’s opinion at least, wisely snap her jaw shut. NONE was struggling badly and even if he, through the grace of god, didn’t brutally turn Maria inside out for a snarky little comment Slash would have her Pokemon do just that. They were all eager to get out and begin fighting, after all.

Hogun though looked over at the two and said, “What will we find here?”

“Not what, who,” NONE said. “An ally. And someone that can help turn the tide against one of the Avengers.” When the others looked at him he sighed but began to explain; it was a testament to all the hard work he’d put into growing and developing after his millions of years being alone that he didn’t just snap at them or mock them for not following along. “It is the reason why we called for your four, Hogun. Why we are going after a few key people that might not seem like the best fighters. Because of one simple fact.”

He got out of the car and began to walk towards the house before the vehicle had even stopped.

“And that is?” Maria asked as she hurried after him.

“A person will fight any sort of brainwashing if it means saving the people they love.” And with that he turned his attention to the woman who had answered the door. “Mrs. Barton? I’m not going to sugar coat this: your husband has been captured by an invading enemy and is being mentally forced to serve him. We need your help.”

Slash watched as the woman, Hawkeye’s wife apparently, looked at NONE critically then glanced at the others. “The kids?”

“Maria just volunteered to babysit.”

“I did WHAT?!?!” Maria said but Slash elbowed her hard.

“She’ll do,” Mrs. Barton said before moving back into the house. “I’ll write up a list of dos and donts. Other than Clint….”

“Natasha has also been taken,” NONE stated.

“I figured, considering normally you would have gone to her before me.” She went over to a wall and pressed against the drywall, causing it to suddenly open and reveal a safe. She quickly typed in a command and it opened to reveal a rather impressive armory of weapons. “Lethal force otherwise?”

“Save for the ones we tag as needing to be brought out of the brainwashing,” NONE stated.

“Give me ten minutes.”

~MC~MC~MC~

“So, there is no Iron Man on your Earth?” Tony asked Corrosion as they made their way across the military base. He felt a bit of comfort having the Silver Centurion Armor Mark III packed up in his briefcase, ready for him to put on, just in case things got messy. And Corrosion had turned her symbiote into a MIB-style suit, complete with glasses, to help her not stand out as much.

“Yes and no,” she said. “And that’s your alternate’s fault.”

“How so?” Tony asked, sounding a touch worried this would lead to another rant.

“On our world Time Travel is the norm. Its as common as the engine is. Entire cities that were plucked from the time stream and settled in the present. As you can imagine that causes a lot of paradoxes and such. Everyone has some kind of device that protects them from the alternations to history… basically almost everyone on our planet is a paradox.”

“That… sounds really reckless.”

Corrosion shrugged. “We make it work. Point is that everyone is a paradox… except Tony Stark. For whatever reason the version of you on our planet keeps thinking that he can make a better Paradox Protecting Device… and as such every few days ends up altered or erased or disappearing and reappearing. One day he’ll call us and declare that he has done it and now he can work on all the other projects that he’s been ignoring. That his Stark Box is the greatest thing ever.”

The Corrosion Symbiote took over at that, forming a secondary head; when it did so he noticed the young woman ducked her face away from him, suddenly shy. “And then the next day he’ll call but he looks completely different, full beard, sometimes missing an eye or covered in scars, and asking if we can provide him some material so he can try out this new invention of his: the Stark Box.”

The two fully remerged and Corrosion’s confidence returned. “Don’t worry… we don’t joke about it. We treat it like… well… well, to be honest we treat him like an Alzheimer Patient. We’ve had some days where he calls us every few hours claiming he’s finally finished the device. Each time everything about him changing. It worries his parents a lot and they do what they can… but yeah. Its not wise to have him on the team. Not reliable.”

Tony though was stuck on another comment she had made. “His… parents? They’re alive.”

Corrosion grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of that with you!” She shifted, clearly uneasy. “Really, I am sorry-“

“Its okay. They… they aren’t my parents.” His mind kept going back to what Chris Chase had told him, that a brainwashed Hydra Assassin had killed his mom and dad. That it had all been staged to look like a car accident. That his mother had been killed because of Hydra…

He narrowed his eyes.

‘And Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD,’ he thought darkly. ‘Sen. Stern is a member too… that’s why he wanted my suit. Why he was so desperate to get it.’ His mind raced with all the ways he would make that man pay. How he would use him to find out all he could about Hydra and take them down. And he also thought about the assassin. How he was… just as much a victim. He didn’t know if he wanted to be in the same room as them… or even the same country… but as he processed through the news and actually tried to consider everything Chase had said he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t blame the man for something that truly was out of his hands. It wasn’t even like Tony getting upset if someone stole the Iron Man armor and then robbed a bank. ‘There it is my fault for not protecting the suit properly. With him… he was literally forced against his will to become something else. If we can free him from it…’

“Stark,” Chris said in the earpiece that Tony was wearing, “ready for us to fuck with the General?”

That had Tony snap out of his thoughts and focus on the task at hand… though admittedly he didn’t fully forget about Hydra. No… it would be a little bird in the back of his brain, chirping and demanding seed. And he would, when he had free moments, toss it some food and let it grow into a vicious bird of prey that would rip his enemies to shreds.

He didn’t know exactly what Chris was up to but the man known as Spider-Chaos had broken off from them when they’d arrived at the military base, telling them to head to the meeting Fury had arranged for them and he’d be right back. Tony had been to enough bases that he was able to lead Corrosion to where he knew the General would keep his offices but it still bugged him he didn’t know WHAT Chase was up to.

But… he had a feeling they were all about to find out.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Good because we give this bastard no quarter.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. “So what exactly did this guy do to piss you off? Because frankly you sound as angry with him as you are with me.”

“Worse,” Chris growled.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem going after him. Going to be a hoot and a half. Just… surprised.”

“He press the Button?” Corrosion asked.

“Oh yeah,” Chase said, suddenly appearing next to them. He too was wearing a suit like Corrosion and Tony but he knew that the man could convert it to his Spider Costume with a thought; Tony desperately hoped to get on the hero’s good side just long enough to find out more about the process that allowed him to do that. He could have SO MUCH FUN with such tech!

“And what Button is that?” Tony asked slowly, not sure if he wanted to know.

“The Papa Wolf Button,” Corrosion stated just as the door to the small square building before them, utterly boring and pain just like the man that called it home, opened up and released their target.

“Stark,” the man said, thick mustache wobbling.

“General Ross,” Tony said with a smile to Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. A smile the man naturally didn’t return. “Good to see you again, as always. I was a bit disappointed you didn’t join me for another drink-“

“Cut the shit, Stark, we have enough of that in the latrines. What do you and your…” he looked at Corrosion and Chase and Tony ALMOST wanted the man to mock the young woman. Almost. He knew that Chase was highly protective of her; before they’d headed out to the base he’d caught him hugging her and assuring her that everything would be okay. Tony was willing to bet that if Ross tried anything it would end VERY badly for the General. But as entertaining as that was he also knew that they needed what the General had and while willing to fight him for it a massive battle at a military base would be a problem.

“…associates doing here?” Ross finally finished.

“Oh, you know, I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by and see how things were going with you. You never call me anymore… I’m beginning to think this relationship wasn’t real and you just saw me as a cheat fling.”

“Stark…”

“Not even a Saturday thing. That would require us to dress up, maybe go and see a show or a movie or the like, buy me dinner before you leaned in and whispered, “What weapons can you get me now?”.”

“Stark-“

“But now I’m feeling like a Tuesday Night thing. You call me up and ask for a quickie and it has to be quick because it’s a Tuesday Night and you have work in the morning and you can’t ask for it off because its Wednesday and that’s the middle of the week?”

“Stark.”

“Or not even a Tuesday night thing! No, I feel more like I’m that striper at 4pm who is just sitting on the stage with one of her boobs out eating a piece of pizza and you are tossing dollars at me.”

“Stark,” Ross said, taking a step forward. “What do you want?”

“A lot of things, actually. First for you to understand personal space. I mean it, General, I’m a rich guy, not some middle eastern country you are trying to take over for the oil. Oh, I’m sorry, to ‘bring democracy to’. How is that working out for you, anyway?”

Ross let out a huff and turned away. “I’m going to have you removed now. And before you claim I can’t do that for as powerful as you might be in that suit of yours, which I notice you aren’t wearing, even you can’t get away with attacking the United States Military.”

Chase stepped forward. “We’re here for the prisoner.”

That had the General frowning. “Blonsky isn’t going anywhere with you. And before you even think about trying to find him do you think I would risk keeping that monster on this base?”

“I don’t know, you risked New York through Blonsky the first time,” Chase pointed out.

“That is a good point,” Tony said with a smirk, pointing at Spider-Chaos.

Ross narrowed his eyes as he turned back to look at Chase. “And just who are you?”

“Someone who doesn’t take kindly to an innocent person being held against their will,” Chase said mildly. “So how about we stop dancing around it and you hand over the prisoner.”

“God!” Ross exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. “You’re one of those freaks. The ones that think Blonsky is some tortured soul who didn’t mean to harm who he hurt and we should just let him go on his merry way.” He scoffed. “You want to screw him too? Because we’ve gotten a lot of those people the last few months.”

“Unlike you I don’t kink shame,” Chase said. “But that isn’t the prisoner I’m talking about.” He took another step forward and flashed a dark smile. “We’re here for the other prisoner, Ross.”

“…no,” Ross said, stepping back and going for his the radio on his belt. “You will not-“

Chase fired off a webline, hitting the phone and yanking it out of Ross’ hand. The man moved for his gun but once more Chase fired, this time sticking Ross’ hand to his holster, pinning them both. “We will. You are going to give us the prisoner or we’ll be taking them.”

“You are with him, aren’t you?!?” Ross roared. “That monster!”

“We are,” Chase said before looking at Corrosion. “Can you sniff’em out?”

The symbiote fully formed over her. “We can… one moment.” She leapt away from them and Chase and Tony waited for several moments… only for Corrosion to land once more, this time holding a beleaguered and startled woman.

“Dr. Ross?” Chase said with a smile to Betty Ross. “How would you like to help save the world?”