Earth-616, 2010.
Earlier today, you announced to the public the truth.
<span class="mu-s">You are Tony Stark, and you are Iron Man.</span>
The high from the media attention was almost worth revealing the fact. It wasn’t until you had left the press conference that the thought came to you that it was a mistake. Everyone from the military to gossip magazines would hound you now, you were sure of it.
You would worry about it later. Soon, sleep overtook you. You weren’t asleep long enough to have any real dreams, but for a few moments, you remembered. Afghanistan. Captivity. Dr. Yinsen. Him, bleeding in your arms. Then, nothing. You woke with a jolt. Happy was tapping your leg from the front seat.
“Home already?”
“Yup. Have a good night, Mr. Stark.”
He left you in the driveway, but wasn’t present long enough to hear what you heard. Alarms, coming from inside the house. Strangely, none blared externally. You walked to the door, noting it had been left open.
“Jarvis!”
<span class="mu-b">“Welcome home, siiiiiiirrr.”</span> The AI’s robotic voice slurred, then stopped. Across the front room, A man looked over the balcony, out at Malibu on the horizon. He was barely silhouetted by the light. You walked towards the steps, keeping your cool. Then, he spoke.
“I am Iron Man. You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe. You <span class="mu-i">just</span> don’t know it yet.” His voice boomed and carried even while facing opposite out towards the water. He turned to face you, appearance still hidden in the shadow.
“Who the hell are you?” You looked back incredulously. How had he gotten in, and disabled J.A.R.V.I.S., at that? Happy couldn’t have been more than a mile down the road.
“Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
“Oh.” Right, like you were supposed to know whatever the hell that was.
He smiled for a moment, then spoke again.
“I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.”
It was a blur. Earth’s ‘mightiest’ heroes, defending the weak. It sounded like shadowy, pseudo-world police. You liked the idea of being <span class="mu-i">called</span> a hero, but you did it your way. Whoever this guy was didn’t understand that.
He left you his card, and you threw it into the trash.
Terrifying. You couldn’t be left alone with your thoughts and nothing to do or no one to talk to you. A bottle of whiskey stood half-finished on an end table. You knew you shouldn’t indulge.
“Jarvis.”
<span class="mu-b">“Yes, Sir?”</span> A response, thank God.
“I want a full security system reboot, and an analysis on how that guy managed to shut you down. That’s not happening again. Oh, and-”
>”Call Pepper.”>”Prep the Mark Three. I’m going out.”>”Run a background on Nick Fury, and this ‘shield’ thing. I’m gonna’ go tweak the suit.” Roll one 1d100 to avoid drinking as a part of either choice. Success DC is >=80.
(Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oKUsna2yvA)
