It's Strange
Interstellar Space
En Route to Knowhere
Nebula could hear another argument in progress from the bridge. Normally she’d have just tuned it out, but she needed information. So, despite the headache all that idiocy was bound to cause, she activated the security cam in the lounge.
It showed the entire team present. That in itself wasn’t that unusual; they tended to have their club meetings while she had the watch. She hadn’t decided if they couldn’t figure out that she had access to the surveillance system or simply didn’t care. Maybe they just didn’t want her intruding upon their constant arguing. Whatever it was, she was fine with simply listening for those little nuggets of useful information.
“All I’m saying is that I should be the one to talk to The Collector,” Quill was saying. It was clear from the sound of his voice that the others had other ideas on that topic.
“I don’t know why we’re even talking about this,” Rocket argued. “He’s not gonna give us this Aether thing anyways.”
“We just have to make him realize we’re his only hope,” she heard Gamora say. Nebula couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the arrogant optimism in that statement.
“Right,” Quill agreed, “and like I was saying; I’m the best person for the job.”
“Why are you the best person?” Drax asked, sounding slightly offended.
“Because my vocabulary consists of more than laughing as I disembowel people,” Quill replied.
“Oh please,” Rocket replied “I can be as eloquent as the next guy.”
“Eloquent huh?” Quill replied disbelievingly.
“It means very, very-” the upright raccoon started before being interrupted.
“-I know what eloquent means,” Quill shouted.
“You just interrupted me,” Rocket shouted. “That’s the opposite of eloquent. That’s . . . that’s,” he trailed off.
“I am Groot,” the tree monster said.
“Rude,” he agreed. “Thanks Groot.”
“Peter,” Gamora said forcefully, stopping Starlord’s angry retort, “it should be all of us.”
“Great,” Peter replied “we can threaten, reason with, schmooze, confuse, comfort, and antagonize him all at once.” As he spoke his hand moved around the room, pointing out the most likely member of the party to utilize each tactic.
“It does not matter which of you speaks or what you say,” Nebula said to herself, voice dripping condescension. “Taneleer Tivan will never willingly hand over an Infinity Stone.”
“Why don’t you just steal it oh master of thieves,” Rocket asked.
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Quill said.
“No, Peter,” Gamora said, cutting that thought off before it had a chance to sprout. “Tivan has some of the best security in the galaxy. If he catches us, we lose all other options.
“Okay, but I’m just saying it would be good to have a backup plan,” Peter conceded.
Nebula switched the audio off. She’d gotten what she wanted and, as expected, the stupidity of it all was enough to cause a headache. They were actually going to go hat in hand and ask The Collector for an Infinity Stone. Ask him! Like he’d just hand it over. The hardest part to understand was that Gamora seemed to think it was a good idea. The others were idiots, but she should have known better. She just couldn’t understand how her sister had changed so much.
But, in a way, their own idiocy could be made to work for her.
>>
“Fox,” Nebula said as she ascended the stairs to the cockpit.
“For the last time you raging blue psycho,” Rocket snapped with vehemence “I am not a fox. How would you like it if I ran around calling you Eggplant? Or blueberry? Or Unimate? How would you feel if I called you scrap metal?” he yelled. And he kept yelling. More epithets, and imagined insults, and weird analogies. It was actually kind of impressive how he could find so many connections to ‘blue chick with a robot arm’.
And through it all Nebula just waited. She really didn’t care what he thought of her, and she didn’t understand insults. Why anyone would get upset over a collection of words baffled her. It was like they thought words were magical. She knew magic. She’d been on its sharp end far too often. Words were just . . . words. And, the irony that the more intelligent a person was the more words upset them was almost enough to be amusing to her.
Eventually he ran down. “What do you want?” Rocket finally asked.
“You know The Collector will never willingly give up an Infinity Stone,” she said.
“Yeah?” Rocket asked.
“And you’re still just going to go ask for it?” she asked with just a sprinkling of condescension flavoring her voice.
“Hey, I already tried stealing from people who’d kill me if I got caught once. I’m not putting up with that amount of whining again.”
“But you know the stone will not be given. It must be taken,” she said.
“What’s your point?” Rocket asked.
“What if you stole it without stealing it?” she asked.
“What does that even mean?” Rocket asked in frustration.
“The Collector will be distracted while you make your plea,” she explained. “If you could clone the wireless pass-key he keeps on himself, I can retrieve the stone.”
Rocket squinted at her in surprise that she would suggest such an insane plan. “You’re crazier than I thought,” he declared. “Managing to get access to his key without his security system vaporizing me is hard enough. But even if I succeed, I guarantee you he’s using one of the Milsper 10220 series keys which means only he can use it. So first you’d need the same key. Then, even if I could get through his security, you’d somehow have to make it think you were a middle-aged whack-job with delusions of grandeur.”
Nebula pulled a small device out of a pocket. “This is the key he uses,” she told him. “Just get me the data and I’ll handle the rest.”
Rocket stared from the key back to her. “You’ve been planning this for a while,” he said at last.
“It wasn’t my first choice,” she said pocketing the key again.
“What was?” Rocket asked. “Oh, let me guess,” he continued with a slight sneer “kill him, swap your key with his and take the stone?” Now it was her turn to look surprised. “What you don’t think I know you?” Rocket asked as she refused to respond. “You think you’re the only one here who knows the pain of being ripped apart and put back together like your body parts were accessories?” She didn’t answer.
Rocket considered her for another moment. It was crazy of course, but not as crazy as some of his other plans. And she’d be risking far more than him. “Fine,” he said eventually “I’ll do it.”
“Good,” was all she said before turning to go.
“And I won’t mention what plan A was,” he added as he turned back forward.
She took two more steps before turning back to him. “One more thing . . . Rocket,” she said.
“Yeah, what’s that?” he asked managing to sound both bored and cranky at the same time.
“I secured the Spirit Stone at great risk,” she told him. “And you and your band of half-wits led Maw straight to it.”
“Technically, he already knew where it was,” Rocket said swiveling to meet her stony glare. “We just cleared your pathetic excuse for security out for him.”
Nebula ignored it. “The Aether is mine,” she said with a clear undercurrent of threat in her voice. When he didn’t respond immediately, she turned and left.
“Yeah, we’ll see you crazy bitch,” he said almost to himself. A casual observer could have been excused if they were unable to tell if his tone was more condescending or approving.
>>
New Avengers Facility
Upstate New York, NA
Earth
“Yeah sure,” Tony said to Colonel Rhodes as they and Thor approached the main conference room. They were moving a bit slower than usual to accommodate the languid pace of Rhodes’s exoskeleton. “This is a process,” Tony assured him, adding a clap on the shoulder for good measure. “Just give me a couple of minutes, and then come get me.”
“Gotcha,” Rhodes said, peeling off towards the break room.
“And I thought I was tough,” Thor said as they both watched him make his way down the hall.
“Yeah,” Tony replied, tone more in regret than awe. “Anyway, you ready to do this?”
“I must tell you this all seems weird,” Thor said as Tony opened the door.
“Tony,” Secretary of Defense Ross said before he’d completely entered the room. Seeing who would get the first word in had become something of a game with them. “You care to explain how you managed to fail to bring Captain Rogers and his team in yet again?”
“Um, I don’t know,” Tony replied as he headed for a chair “divine intervention?” He gestured at Thor following behind him. They were the only three people in the room.
“Yes, I’m aware of Thor’s . . . timely intervention, on the behalf of Captain Rogers,” Ross replied, clearly skeptical. “Thor,” he continued, addressing the Asgardian “I realize that you aren’t a citizen of Earth, and as such not subject to The Accords, but I have to ask you not to interfere with our laws.”
“Um, yeah,” Thor replied, suddenly less sure than he’d been a minute ago of what was going on. Tony had explained the accords on the long trip over. He had to admit he didn’t fully understand the resulting blow up.
And Tony’s behavior only added to the confusion. Tony spoke in favor of these accords, yet let Rogers go when he had the chance to apprehend his entire force. Clearly, he didn’t want Ross to know he’d let them go. Thor tried to sneak a glance at Tony, but all he could get was a sense that the inventor was nervous. “Sorry about that,” he said finally, looking back to Ross.
Ross held his gaze for another second, as if attempting to gauge the validity of Thor’s apology before turning back to Stark. “So, do you have any good news about this latest debacle?” he asked.
“Well,” Tony started “we did capture several Hydra operatives. Looks like a couple of them are pretty high ranking. They’re being transferred to interrogation as we speak.”
“Your objective is not Hydra,” Ross replied forcefully. “Your task is to bring Captain Rogers and his team to justice. Now, why did you let your team guard those operatives rather than have them assist you with that goal?”
“I’m sorry, are you suggesting that the world would be better off if those goons were allowed to roam free instead of Steve?” Tony asked innocently. At this point Thor did his best to shrink into his seat, not an easy task for someone his size. He felt as if he’d come over to a friend’s house just in time to watch said friend’s parents fight.
“There are other people tasked with apprehending members of the illegal organization known as Hydra,” Ross shot back. “Hell, the police could have watched them for you in the short term.”
“So, our only concern is apprehending the Dark Avengers?” Tony asked.
“Yes,” Ross replied vehemently.
“But if that’s all we’re here for it seems a mistake to catch them,” Tony replied sarcastically. “I mean, I like job security as much as the next man.”
“Dammit Tony this is serious!” Ross bellowed. He took a breath and continued in a more moderated tone. “I am trying to keep you from digging your own grave, but you just won’t put down the shovel.”
Tony’s reply (however witty it might have been) was preempted by Colonel Rhodes’ entrance. “Dammit Tony you’ve got to fix this,” he said as if completely unaware of the rest of the room’s occupants. “It keeps shocking me. See, there it goes again.” He looked up, paused as he saw Ross. “Sorry about this Secretary Ross,” he added.
“Right, I know just how to fix it,” Tony said, jumping out of his chair.
“Tony, we’re not done,” Ross said, standing up.
“No, I got it,” Tony said as he crossed the room. “You read me the riot act. Let the Hydra agents go and all that. Oh,” he added, stopping momentarily “does that policy start now, or should I let the Hydra agents we just obtained go?”
“Dammit Tony that’s not what I said,” Ross growled. “Come back here.”
“Sorry Boss,” Stark replied. “You know, at Stark industries, customer service is our number one priority,” he added, managing to talk his way across the room and out the door. A moment later the door popped open again, admitting Tony’s head. “By the way Thor here’s got an issue that dwarfs Hydra agents and rogue Avengers combined,” he added and was gone.
Ross glared after him for a few seconds before shaking his head. “God, he is so much like his father,” he said to himself, with what some might have argued was a very slight grin on his face.
“You knew Tony’s father?” Thor asked.
“Yes,” Ross replied sadly, still looking at the door. “I knew them both,” he added with obvious pain in his voice. “I only hope he can avoid their fate. Anyway,” he added, sitting down and swiveling towards Thor “what exactly is this pressing issue that dwarfs our problems?”
“The end of the universe,” Thor stated cryptically.
“That kind of statement usually comes with some sort of explanation,” Ross noted.
“Yes,” Thor said hesitantly. He thought about delaying the issue -a lot had changed while he’d been gone trying to avert this catastrophe- but there just wasn’t any time. “But honestly,” he continued “I’d hoped to be able to draw on the resources of all of the Avengers.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible,” Ross replied slowly. “When Captain Rogers is apprehended, he will be held under house arrest pending a military court martial.”
Thor nodded, wondering again what the hell had happened while he was gone. It was like the entire planet had gone insane. “Why do you keep calling Steve, Captain Rogers?” he asked suddenly. “I would think he wasn’t a captain anymore.”
“Because, until he’s gone through the process, he is still a captain in the United States military, and he will be accorded the respect he’s earned,” Ross said surprisingly.
“And yet you don’t trust him?” Thor asked.
“The Accords were never about trust,” Ross replied. “It was about working within the current political climate. The fact that an independent, American funded, mainly American team was operating without oversight all over the world resurrected some bad history. Without international oversight the entire world would have blown up in their faces.”
“What bad history?” Thor asked.
Ross winced. “You had to ask didn’t you,” he said. Thor waited. “Alright,” Ross continued “the long and short of it is that just over a half century ago the United States embarked upon a policy of foreign manipulation via political assassination. The CIA had a number of ‘death squads’ that would operate with impunity in any country in the world. They would routinely assassinate any leader that wasn’t friendly to the US and attempt to install friendly dictators.”
“That’s a terrible policy,” Thor said, taken aback.
“Yes, it is,” Ross replied darkly. “And it did our country far more harm than good. But realizing that now does not change what happened. Nor can it change the fear of any similar behavior.”
“And by placing The Avengers under the command of this UN, whatever that is, you believe you can restore the Earth’s faith in them?” Thor asked.
“Having a chain of command that is answerable to a higher authority ensures cooperation and trust,” Ross replied forcefully.
Thor thought about that for a second. “And Steve was worried about Hydra gaining control of them again,” he said, almost to himself.
“For whatever reason, Captain Rogers refused see the writing on the wall,” Ross said. “And for that he became an outlaw.”
“Because he wouldn’t submit to your authority?” Thor asked.
“Thor, your father is a king, right?” Ross said. “What would he do if someone under his authority decided they would go where they wanted, do what they wanted, and damn the consequences?”
Thor paused momentarily before responding. Partly out of simple grief at the mere mention of his father. He thought about telling Ross his father was dead, but it didn’t feel like the right time. Besides, Thor wasn’t sure if he could trust him.
But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t right. Thor knew intimately just how Odin would react to the person Ross had mentioned. He’d been that person. He wasn’t sure if Ross had been aware of the circumstances leading to Thor’s first trip to Earth in the modern age or not; in the end it didn’t matter if the question was a deliberate reminder or not.
“I see,” Thor said at last.
“Good,” Ross replied. “Now tell me about this urgent mission Tony mentioned.”
>>
“Tony, I’m not doing that again,” Rhodes said as they entered Tony’s lab. That room and the accompanying suit vault were the only rooms in the entire complex not bugged. Tony had been adamant that no one have access to his technology, and Friday ensured it.
“Sure you will,” Tony replied.
“Dammit Tony, I hate when you do that,” Rhodes replied in aggravation.
“What, be right?” Tony asked, leading him over to one end of the lab. Rhodes didn’t reply, probably because he knew his friend was right. He was, after all, the only person in the world Tony trusted completely; the only one he knew without a doubt he could count on. Rhodes would never betray that trust.
“Friday, how’re we doing?” Tony asked when Rhodes didn’t respond.
“Fabrication completed seven hours ago,” Friday’s electronic voice said, filling the large room.
“I guess we can skip the grand unveiling,” Tony replied. “Open her up.” At his command a metal locker set in the wall unlocked and opened. As the center parted into three separate sections it revealed what appeared to be nothing more than a pair of black running shoes and a set of thick black leggings with grey highlights making long swoops around them.
But, as they moved laboriously closer, Rhodes realized two things. One: the fabric was thicker than the average 20-year-old jogger’s. And two: that those grey swoops were actually bulges, as if very thin wires were coursing their way along the suit.
“Gee Tony,” Rhodes said sarcastically “I don’t know what to say. I guess all that comes to mind is that I’m not a twenty-year-old female jogger.” Tony grinned at that but remained quiet. “Can we fix my exo-walker now?” Rhodes asked.
“That is your exo-walker,” Tony replied seriously. “You are looking at the world’s first artificial muscle. Guess I’ll have to redesign all of my suits,” he added. “The pants will conform to your legs and act as motor assist units. There’s an impulse scanner in the back of the waistband that will track your nerve impulses and translate them into movement. They’re completely washable. Plus, it’ll fit under normal pants,” he added. “I mean, who wants to see you in tights anyways?” he added.
“What powers it?” Rhodes asked, taking a lumbering step closer.
“There are batteries in the shoes,” Tony replied. “They should be good for four or five hours. I should be able to increase that. Oh, and Friday is currently modifying your suit to charge them.”
“Tony,” Rhodes said, blinking back tears. It was more than he’d ever dreamed of. More than he’d thought possible.
“Oh, and the best part,” Tony said, stepping up to the unit and pressing a pair of buttons hidden in the waistband. As he pushed the first button the fabric covering the pelvic area retracted. The second retracted the fabric on the opposite side. Rhodes glanced at Tony as if to say ‘really?’. Tony shrugged. “I got tired of helping you go to the bathroom.” Rhodes just grinned.
“When will you learn that technology is not the answer to every problem?” a deeper voice said from behind them.
“You know, I distinctly remember telling you to knock from now on,” Tony said in irritation, turning to the new visitor. Doctor Strange didn’t respond, instead focusing on the colonel’s midsection. He could see the elaborate array of muscles, bone, sinew, nerves, and organs as if viewing a real time video comprised from multiple different scanners. He could see where the crushed vertebrae had been replaced, where the nerves had been cut. He could see how some inept ‘surgeon’ had tied them together as if mending fishing line. He could see how the nerve ends had atrophied, blocking signal.
“Tony who’s this?” Rhodes asked sounding slightly defensive.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry Colonel Rhodes,” Strange said, striding over to them with his hand out. “My name is Doctor Steven Strange. I, uh . . . I actually had the opportunity to work on you . . . just before my own accident,” he said as he reached them, hand still out for a shake.
“Oh,” Rhodes replied. “Well, Steve is it, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t stare at my waist like it was made of chocolate,” Rhodes replied, taking his hand.
“Of course,” Strange replied “that was quite rude of me.” Then he sent a wave of mystic energy through Rhodes’s body, targeted on the fissure in his nervous system.
“Ahhh,” Rhodes yelled in pain as Strange continued sending tendrils of mystic energy through his arm and down his torso to the injury. The tendrils encompassed the broken endings, pulling them apart and rewiring them the correct way, fusing them together. Rhodes tried to pull away but Strange’s grip wouldn’t release him. He couldn’t even fall because his exo-walker was currently locked.
“What?” Tony asked before swinging at the master of the mystic arts; a blow that was easily parried by his cloak. The parry sent Stark stumbling to the opposite side of the struggle. “Friday,” Tony said.
“On it, boss,” the room replied. The doors to the vault opened and pieces of a suite of armor came flying towards Stark.
“No,” Strange said raising his free hand towards the pieces, palm up with the forefinger and thumb in the shape of an L. A portal suddenly flared into existence between Tony and his armor. As they passed through it a second portal appeared, causing the pieces to fly out of one and into the next.
“Stop it!” Tony yelled as Rhodes continued to groan in pain, clutching his midsection with his free hand. The colonel tried a desperate swing at his tormentor, with no better results than Tony had achieved.
“Trust me colonel,” Strange said simply, as if that explained what was going on.
Fortunately, Friday had played Portal; she quickly sent all the pieces in random directions arcing around the original trap. Strange managed to catch a boot piece in another portal momentarily before the AI adjusted again.
“This is your last warning, Strange,” Tony said, now encased in his armor. He had every piece of weaponry in the armor trained on the doctor.
“Now, you have exactly half a second to explain what the hell you’re doing,” Tony growled.
“I’m afraid it would take longer than that,” Strange replied sarcastically. In response a flurry of flechettes launched from Tony’s shoulder blades at the doctor.
The mystic calmly raised his hand, opening another portal that sent the flying shrapnel into space. Tony fired a missile to the right of the portal, while flying to its left. The missile arced around the portals, targeting the good doctor’s rear as Tony prepared a double repulsor blast assault from the front. Classic pincer tactic.
At the last second Strange released Rhodes and flew straight up, giving Stark a fine view of his name on the missile that was now heading straight for him. Rhodes collapsed to the ground as Tony adjusted his aim to destroy the missile, but stopped himself from firing; Rhodes’s proximity made destroying it risky to say the least. The odds were even that such a move would detonate the payload even though Tony had disabled it prior to launch. Instead, he accepted the impending hit and fired two staggered repulsor blasts at Strange. Strange dodged the first, straight into the second. The two combatants got hit simultaneously.
The repulsor blast knocked Strange back ten feet in the air before he stabilized. The missile hit Tony right in the chest. The energy imparted was enough to force the suit into a backflip. Tony landed in a crouch, one hand on the ground, and the other up for balance.
“You don’t really think you can kill a wizard with that stuff, do you?” Strange asked, with just a flavor of condescension in his voice.
“I only need one shot,” Tony growled, preparing to thrust himself directly at the hovering man. He knew he’d open a portal to stop him, but if Tony could maneuver around it, he could use its very existence as cover. The arrogant bastard wouldn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.
“Tony stop!” Rhodes yelled from where he was sitting on the floor, just before the suited man could launch. “Stop,” Rhodes repeated, looking down at his shoeless feet. Tony followed his gaze. The suit magnified the object of his interest, revealing that the colonel’s toes, wiggling ever so slightly.
Tony disarmed the suit’s weapon systems and walked dumbfounded, over to his friend. The helmet retracted so he could see the miracle with his own eyes. Rhodes was close to tears. Tony couldn’t say he was far from it himself.
“How?” he managed to croak.
“I realigned the nerves and . . . coaxed them into regenerating,” Strange replied, alighting next to Stark.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tony said, reviewing current events.
“It would have been difficult with the half second provided,” Steven replied dryly. Tony turned a glare on him that would blister paint.
“And what about before you started?” Rhodes asked pointedly. “Not that I’m ungrateful or anything,” he added hastily.
“Would you really have let me use some form of voodoo magic to heal your nerves?” Strange replied in kind.
Rhodes thought about that. “Probably not,” he admitted finally. Strange made a hand gesture that said ‘and so’. Rhodes started laughing. It started as a chuckle, but continued escalating. In no time it all Rhodes was laughing so hard he could barely sit up. The tears began falling.
Tony wasn’t sure to if he should be concerned or not. It wasn’t hard to see that a great weight had been lifted from his friend’s shoulders, but this was bordering on manic laughter. And he didn’t get the joke.
Finally, Rhodes calmed enough to see the concern on his friend’s face. “It’s an old soldier’s joke Tony,” he explained. “It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said.
The good doctor grimaced at that statement, but covered it by offering a hand to the sitting soldier. Tony was quick to emulate his motion. Between the two of them they were able to right Rhodes and his walker.
“The one thing I don’t understand,” Rhodes added fixing his gaze on Strange “is why.”
Strange looked at him for a moment before glancing away. “Let’s just say I have my reasons,” he said noncommittally. “Anyway,” he added changing the subject “you’re nerve cells are still weak, and you’ll have to relearn how to use them. I recommend you start physical therapy immediately. Otherwise, keep wearing the walker for the time being. You’ll also need large daily doses of several vitamins. I can give you a list.”
“Research shows that lipoic acid, acetyl-l-carnitine, inositol, as well as vitamins B6 and B12 in the proper doses promotes nerve regeneration,” Friday stated.
“Well, that’s . . . correct,” Strange said, clearly shocked that a room would know so much about medicine.
“I can create the vitamins once the base components have arrived,” Friday continued. “They should be here in three to five hours, or our money back. Do you recommend two or four doses daily, doctor?”
“Uh . . . let’s do three with food for now,” Strange replied.
“Excellent,” Friday replied in a tone of voice that suggested that was what she’d planned all along. She was getting clever, the little minx. “I’ve also alerted Doctor Cho that we will need a physical therapist. She is on her way here now.”
“Great Friday,” Tony said gratefully. “Tell her to spare no expense.”
“I already have,” Friday replied just a touch smugly.
“Doctor Helen Cho?” Strange said, perking up.
“You know her?” Tony asked.
“No, but her reputation is as great as mine once was,” Strange replied. “It might be worth sticking around to meet her,” he added. “I’d love to just talk shop for a change.”
“You mean show off,” Tony corrected him. Strange shrugged noncommittally. “Fine, just so long as you make yourself useful,” Tony replied.
“No problem,” Strange replied, uncharacteristically candid. “It’s been some time since I’ve been able to just be a doctor. Although I can’t say therapy has ever been my specialty.”
“Great,” Tony said. He found himself staring at Rhodes’s legs in sheer wonder.
“Tony,” Rhodes said, snapping him out of it “do you have to make everything weird?” The accompanying grin took all the bite out of the statement.
“You know I think we still have the parallel bars you used to train on the exo,” Tony said walking over to a closet and opening them. “Not sure why I kept them really,” he added, as he grabbed the rack and began hauling it across the floor. A moment later a group of flying armored hands flew over, gripped the rail, and slid it over to Rhodes. It had barely stopped before he grabbed the rails and hoisted himself up to it.
“Thanks Friday,” Tony said.
“No problem Boss,” she replied.
“I’m really not sure you should be doing that so soon,” Strange objected. “Oh, alright,” he added to the look of sheer disappointment that had flashed across Rhodes’s face. “But use the walker with it for the first week at least,” he added.
“Sure doc,” Rhodes said, and immediately took his first step. His foot wobbled all over the place as his atrophied muscles fought the walker unit. Rhodes caught himself on the bars with the ease of long practice and tried again. This time was no better, but he refused to despair, instead picking himself up and trying again. And again, and again.
“Boss,” Friday said, somewhere along the tenth time one of his spectators had been required to intercede “the remotes have reached the ship and begun scanning.”
“Thanks Friday,” Tony said turning to Strange. “Can you handle this?” he asked the wizard.
“Sure,” Strange said still watching Rhodes.
“Thanks,” Tony said clapping him on the shoulder. “And thank you Steven,” he added.
“Sure,” Strange said again, refusing to look over at him, as his characteristic embarrassment in such situations took hold.
“Alright Friday,” Tony said as he strode to the other side of the bay “let’s see what we’ve got.”
He’d been at for nearly half an hour when Thor finally found his way to the lab. “I’m telling you Boss,” Friday was saying “the structure of those conduits suggests that the charge generated by the current is supposed to have some effect.”
“Yeah,” Tony countered as he manipulated the hologram they were arguing about “but it should be negligible. I don’t see how it could create the counter force required.”
“Is that my ship?” Thor asked coming up behind Tony.
“Yeah,” Tony said without taking his eyes off of the puzzle “I sent some drones over to do some scans. She needs some serious work.”
“Do you think you could fix it?” Thor said.
“Most likely,” Tony said.
“Possibly,” Friday corrected him.
“Like 95% sure,” Tony argued.
“I make it more like 55% Boss,” Friday said.
“Well, there is a built-in factor for error in my calculations,” Tony replied.
“How much error?” Thor asked.
“Well that depends,” Tony replied turning back to the holo and zooming it in on the object of his earlier argument.
“On what?” Thor asked.
“On what this is,” Friday replied, highlighting the tech that had been causing them trouble.
“Oh that,” Thor replied confidently before a groan from the workbench Strange and Rhodes were currently using as a stretching table interrupted him quite rudely.
“I thought you said Colonel Rhodes would never move his legs again,” Thor said as they both watched.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Tony said, transfixed once again by the miracle. “Oh, and that reminds me,” he added, stepping away from the holo-generator. “You remember that deal we had?” he asked as he stepped over to another locker and placed his palm on its scanner.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Thor replied uncertainly as he followed.
“Our deal,” Tony reiterated, reaching into the locker. “I’m ready to rule Asgard,” he added as he pulled Mjolnir out.
Thor stood transfixed at the sight of his hammer. It looked whole, but there was something wrong. The metal didn’t seem to be reflecting the light correctly. And Tony was busy tossing it around like it was an ordinary 3lb sledge.
“It was not easy to reassemble this bad boy when Strange brought me the pieces,” Tony was saying. “I had to run something like a quadrillion volts through the pieces to get it to fuse back together. But I figure it was worth it for control of an entire advanced kingdom.”
“Well Tony,” Thor said, smiling to hide the pit that Tony had unwittingly opened in his stomach “I’m a man of my word. You are now king of Asgard. Unfortunately, I was forced to destroy Asgard yesterday.”
“What?” Tony asked, catching the hammer and holding it at his side in surprise. “You’ll do anything to keep me from your birthright won’t you?” he added jokingly.
“Something like that,” Thor muttered sadly before explaining what had happened.
Meanwhile Strange’s attention had been focused solely on the hammer. But he wasn’t seeing what everyone else in the room was seeing. Much as he had with Rhodes, he was seeing the internal workings of the hammer. He could see where the spell’s that had made it Mjolnir had been fractured. He could see how they entwined together to create an unbreakable object. Thor’s sister must have known about these enchantments, for she’d clearly broken them before shattering the hammer.
Compared to his work with Rhodes repairing the fractures in the spells was simple. It was almost like a mystical connect-the-dots. He barely heard the conversation between the two, so engrossed was he with his work.
As he put the finishing touches on the hammer’s enchantments (making sure to sign his handiwork of course) it fell from Tony’s hand. Tony wasted no time moving his feet away from the point of impact.
And if Tony’s reflexes were good, Thor’s were phenomenal. The hammer had barely fallen half way to the ground before he reached out. It was more a muscle memory than any conscious thought, but it worked. The hammer came flying to his outstretched hand. As his hand gripped it there was a massive spark. For just a moment the hammer blazed with a pale blue light, revealing the enchantments Strange had so carelessly fixed.
“Oops,” Strange said as the other two glared at him.
“Wizard,” Thor growled “you begin to remind me of my brother.”
“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or not,” Tony said.
“Nor am I,” Thor replied. “But I thank you for the return of my hammer. I thank you both,” he added, including Tony in his gratitude. Then he turned his attention back to the hammer. His left hand stroked the engraving lovingly as his eyes glanced about its shape. “Hello old friend,” he muttered to himself. Or the hammer. Or both. It was hard to tell.
“Would you two like a moment alone?” Rhodes asked, snapping him out of it. “Cause it’s starting to get a little weird again.”
Before he could reply Tony changed the subject. “So, about this ship,” Tony said into the pregnant silence that followed. “Does it have a name?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Thor said, looking up from his magic mallet. “I’m sure it has one, but finding such things have been far from a priority.
“Well then, I hereby dub it the Nostromo,” Tony replied. “Let us hope it has a better voyage than its namesake. Assuming we can get it running again, that is.”
“Right,” Thor replied joining him at the holo. “So, what was it you needed to know?”