[ The device is situated perfectly as it almost always seems to be in this place, zooming in and capturing a red and gold suit of armor flying high above a sea of trees and headed straight toward a larger, bulkier, but still sleek silver suit. Red and gold twists and turns and does a few tricks, palms glowing white and blue as it shoots out a few warning blasts.

The silver suit flies evasive manoeuvres to avoid the blasts, before stopping mid-air, the rather large gun on the back of the suit aiming at red and gold before letting loose shot after shot in quick succession, too fast for the human eye to follow.

Red and gold dodges with an air of smugness- and it's that very confidence that predictably allows the final few shots to catch him, powerful enough to knock him back and down into the dirt. The camera adjusts as Iron Man regains footing and begins shooting upward in retaliation, armored feet sinking deep into the earth.

The silver suit continues shooting, at the same time flying closer and moving in until to continue the steady fire becomes impractical, at which point silver - the War Machine - begins close combat. Those with an eye for such things may recognise the military training between the War Machine's every attack and defence.

And those with an eye for such things may recognize the lack of finesse in Iron Man's movements - there's no defined style, a mix of learned skill and impulse. He dodges and throws a few punches of his own (takes a lot of punches, too) before the impatience in his metal form begins to show and the glowing blue in the center of his chestplate begins to shine even brighter, and a giant-ass laser shoots forth.

Said giant-ass laser has the nasty effect of pushing the War Machine backwards with such force that when the metal suit meets a tree, the tree cracks and falls and the War Machine crumples with it. Though he is not on the ground for long, pushing himself up immediately and lifting both hands, the faceplate going up to reveal one Col. James Rhodes, a huge grin on his face. ]

Since when does it do that?

[ Iron Man's faceplate moves up as well, and Tony has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, clearly smug and not in the least bit ashamed of it. ]

Since I decided that you're not the only one allowed to have big, shiny guns. Only mine doesn't go pew pew and is less likely to miss.

[ That gets a laugh which quickly turns into a somewhat exaggerated expression of contempt. ] You know damn well I don't miss. [ well, he doesn't, okay. ]

That thing's not a gun, 's more like a death ray.

[ Tony drapes a metal arm over Rhodey's shoulders. ] Yeah, whatever. I still win.

[ That earns him a metal shoulder bump. ] Like hell you win. That was at least a draw.

[ A snort and roll of Tony's eyes. ] I don't do draws, in case you haven't noticed.

Have I told you lately that you're insufferable? [ Rhodey's voice betrays his amusement, though. ]

You might have mentioned it a few times, but you know I don't like to listen to you lecture me between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

[ And he pulls away to pat Rhodey idly on the back ]

All right, JARVIS? Cut the video and let's get these babies back home for some TLC.

[ooc | TLDR WAR MACHINE AND IRON MAN FIGHT.]

( YOU HAVE ONE (1) NEW MESSAGECollapse )

[The video starts with Tony in a pressed suit (for once not in his grimy workshop gear), grinning his Tony Stark grin and looking toward the camera with practiced confidence.]

Ladies and gentlemen. Robots and aliens alike- people of the City, it's hard to deny that we are out of our element, trapped in a double-edge bubble that both protects and traps us. We live in a world of curses, a world where we wait eagerly for midnight.

Well, I say enough with the Cinderella metaphors. I say- why should we bow down to oppression and fear? What I think we need - though I'd hate to make such broad generalizations, but then again I'm no politician - is an evening without something as cumbersome as worries and restraints.

So I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the party of the season. Regular admission will cost one green, and the superfly tricked-out cool people package, otherwise known as the V.I.P. package, will cost an indigo. All V.I.P. attendants will have access to a private bar and refreshments area along with a personal gift of gratitude of my own creation. Believe me. You want it.

Considering this is a charity ball, all proceeds will be donated to a single citizen-run establishment within the City. Proposals and nominations are currently being accepted.

As of now, City Solutions is seeking all magic-users, fire-manipulators, musicians, and all those interested for decoration, the evening's entertainment, service, and security. You'll receive more than enough pay and stylish uniforms because I can.

A final word, City. Two words, actually: You're welcome.

[And with that, long robotic arms appear from the ground as Tony spreads his arms wide, bits and pieces of his armor hooking together and sliding into place. After a quick moment, Iron Man gives a short salute before flying off, and the feed ends.]

[ooc | OOC organization post and info here!]

NAUGHTY

• Manufactured weapons of mass destruction
  
• Profited from the deaths of innocents and soldiers
  
• Was blind to under-the-table weapons sales that led to escalated warfare and more deaths
  
• Never fully appreciated Pepper
  
• Never fully appreciated Rhodey
  
• Never told Pepper how much she matt▓▒▒ed
  
• Continued to abuse her loyalty and patience anyway
  
• Alc░░▒lic
  
• ▓▒▒░hol▒c
  
• Al▒▒▒░▓▓c
  
• Respo░░▒ble for Obadiah Stane's eventual betr▓▓░al
  
• Never saw it coming
  
• Kicked my best friend's ass even though I was probablyclearly wrong
  
• Never admitted I was wr▒▓░g
  
• Didn't know Pepper was allergic to strawberries
  
• Didn't know when Pepper's birthday was
  
• Lied to everyone when I was d░▒ing from palladium ░oisoni░▓▒
  
• Endangered Pepper's life
  
• Three times
  
• Abandoned her at the party
  
• Could not save Yinsen even after Yinsen saved me
  
• Sleeps around
  
• A lot
  
• Has self-destr▓▒░tive tendencies
  
• Never attended board meetings
  
• Never actually cared about boring CEO stuff
  
• Was generally a pretty bad CEO and dumped all responsibility to Pepper
  
• Made a terrible omelet for her
  
• Forever holding a probably unfounded grudge against my absentee father
  
• Narcissistic, egotistical, selfish, stubborn, etc.
  
• Never liked broccoli much
  
• Insulted a Senator on live television
  
• Insults a lot of people
  
• Regularly

NICE

• Processing...|

[commencing post-encryption process

...20%
...50%
...error.

cancelling post-encryption
booting interference program 0459-c.exe...|

startup complete.
booting manual interference...|]

( [private | Steve Rogers]Collapse )
[ooc | Tony has been working on some code/programming that causes some of the text to distort a little - though it's pretty negligible because the distortion is flickering on and off, meaning comprehension of the full text is possible. At best some lines are omitted. His manual controls allowed him to create some static in lines that are particularly cumbersome for him but... also still fairly comprehensible. Completely up to you guys whether you want to have it be a factor or not.]

Adjust thruster energy levels by 80%.

[See Tony in his suit, helmet off. He extends an arm to an off-screen target, looking very focused before a blast fires, smooth and effortless.]

Stabilizers are online, and recoil has been significantly reduced. Good going, past me. I'll have to write you a thank-you letter.

[If Tony looks like he hasn't been sleeping or eating lately, it's because he hasn't. There's a half-eaten box of pizza and donuts sitting on a nearby workbench, getting stale. Mugs of coffee litter the surface as well among the screwdrivers and various other tools.]

SIR, A QUICK ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT REACTION TIME HAS SLOWED DOWN AS A RESULT. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO--

Yes, yes, Jarvis. Do what you need to.

[And quickly Tony blows up a few other targets in quick succession.]

Booya! We're back in business, baby!

SIGH. SHALL I READY DUMMY WITH THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER SIR?

[Tony is dicking around in what looks to be a junkyard, wearing a beat-up tank top with a funny blue glow right in the center. There are piles of trash here and there, but most importantly is the pile of metal sitting right next to the device, gleaming in all its...dirty junkiness.

Digging and kicking around another pile, Tony picks up a rather large and mangled chunk of dusty red metal.]

#2 copper? Useless.

[He tosses it in some random direction before resuming his Hunt.]

What I would give for some vibranium right now. Christ.

[He picks up another piece of metal and immediately discards it. He then returns to his Shit That Ain't So Shitty pile of metal and inspects it.]

This should work for now. All right, boys, let's get cracking. Daddy's got a lot of work to do.

[He probably should have brought a cart. And he curses his lack of an actual suit right now. Even a basic one. Crying in his techless heart right now.]

I'll take a scotch on the rocks. Seriously, woo me. I want to completely forget that I ended up in a B-rated modernized remake of Wonderland with kinky sadists as my new rulers.

[A sigh as Tony looks away from the barista toward the camera. He looks so. Unimpressed. With life at this moment. Or mostly with the device.]

Surprised this piece of crap even works.

[He turns it in his hands slightly to investigate the grooves, where the parts come together. You can almost see the ideas brightening in his eyes, the updates and the plans and the innovations... before the scotch slides his way, and he remembers his original intent. First mode of action: Find out everything and anything about any possible visits from before. He's searched the network archives and found...well, himself. Not a huge surprise considering what he'd read in the guide. He can only glean so much, though. He can only see what's there, what's been entered, the raw data. Anything past that is a mystery.]

The name's Tony Stark. If you know me- good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back cause we're having a reunion, baby. Whether we like it or not.

[He grabs the glass of scotch and raises it toward the lens, eyebrows wriggling.]

See that? Choices. Another excellent freedom given to us from our Founding Fathers and good ol' Uncle Sam. If this were America, anyway, and it's not, so actually there are no choices except whether I want this or a bottle of whiskey.

Yeah.

[Quickly losing interest, he fiddles with the interface a bit before ending the video to get his answers.]