Saint Olga's Orphanage is a small and old but well-kept, brown brick, building in down town Kansas City, Missouri. Currently the residents of the orphanage are preparing for bed time with the sounds of protesting children and exasperated adults and young adults. The sun started to fade into darkness when a short, brown haired teenage girl walked through the rickety front door after a hard day at ballet class.
"I'm home!" Piper called out.
Various people who had the time to acknowledge her presence greeted her warmly.
"How was ballet," asked Daisy, the head caretaker of Saint Olga, as she wrestled with a three-year-old boy to put on his night pants, "Learn anything new?"
"Oh, nothing new but it was especially brutal today." Piper answered with a tired smile.
Then Piper squatted down to be level with the struggling tike on the floor.
"So, what's the trouble Trouper?"
"Pipp-y!" Squealed the little doe-eyed boy.
"Come on now Tom. You've got to get your pants on so you can get some sleep," Piper chided.
"I want to stay awake though," pleaded Tom.
"You can do that when you become taller than me." Piper leans in closer to Tom. "And just between you and me, that won't be for much longer," she said with a wink.
Tom giggled as Daisy got his night pants on and stood him back on his feet. Then Daisy proceeded to guide Tom to his shared bedroom.
"Goo' night Pipp-y."
"The showers are free Piper," Daisy told Piper over her shoulder.
"Thanks, and good night to you too Tom."
After saying goodnight to a great deal of people and taking another unfortunately cold shower she found that she was alone in her shared bedroom without her three other roommates and decided to savor the moment. Sharing a room with three other people gets to be rather crowded. Clothes that aren't yours all over the floor with the most important personal affects around the beds like books, photos, old videos, and stuffed toys. Pipers bed held an old red teddy bear her grandmother gave her when she was six and all her saved marvel comic books with an old IPod on top of the pile. Piper could hear the TV blaring from the living room with the shuffling of feet.
Closing the door behind her Piper walked over to her bed, sat her flip phone, wallet, and ballet shoes at the foot of her bed and pulled out a new Avenger's Comic that she bought the other day. She plugged in her headphones to tune out the noise outside her bedroom door and fell backwards onto her bed. The comic was called The Avengers #23 From the Unknown. The cover art was a picture of your typical science portal glowing blueish colors and a dark human figure silhouetted inside it. In the forefront were the backs of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Hank Pym facing the silhouetted figure in the portal.
# # #
The tech lab was full of charred metal, unfinished bits of machinery, and black explosion marks on the ceiling and walls. Bruce Banner and Hand Pym walked into Tony Stark's Tech lab as Tony was tinkering on a giant metal "O" in a cleared-out area of his lab. Tony was covered in grease stains, coffee, and determination.
Tony greeted his fellow scientist. "Ah! Gentlemen, glad you could make it. I'm about to test out my latest version of the Stark Portal."
"So, this is what you wanted to show us Stark," Dr. Pym inquired staring at the portal. "It's impressive."
"How long has it been since you've last slept," questioned Dr. Banner taking notice of the several disposable coffee cups around the area.
"Not important. Right now, I'm in the midst of evolutionary travel," Tony remarked as he threw down his wrench, "Now follow me behind the explosive durable clear wall. I'm going to turn this bad boy on."
The two-scientist followed Tony. Remote in hand Tony pressed a button and the machine started to hum. A light blue glow started to emit from the center of the "O".
# # #
Piper was starting to feel a draft in her room and was confused because she knew the door was closed. Looking around her bedroom door was a light blue glow. Thinking it was one of the kids poking a toy under the door Piper decided to ignore it.
# # #
"It's looking good, Tony!" Dr. Banner yelled over the engine noise.
"Are you using an Arc Reactor to power it!?" Shouted Dr. Pym.
"Yep. I've been having troubles with stabilizing the machine with the reactor so it doesn't explode. So far, it's doing great. It would have exploded by now." Tony replied over the growing noise of the portal's engine.
# # #
The breeze was becoming stronger in Piper's room and she turned away from her comic to see that the blue light was becoming bigger. Keeping an eye on the light Piper got up slowly, folded her headphone and IPod while placing it in the breast pocket of her night shirt, grabbed her flip phone and walked over to the light with her comic still in hand. Cautiously Piper looked to her comic and back to the light. At first, she hesitated then she called Joy, Piper's best friend's, cell phone and proceeded to read the comic.
# # #
"Tony, I advise you not to do that," admonished Dr. Pym.
"Don't worry so much, Hank. We're perfectly safe. I had this thing Hulk tested." Tony reassured his colleagues while casually beating the clear wall with the side of his fist.
Tony continued to push the portal machine to its maximum strength. The turbulence in the lab was becoming extreme as tools, metal parts and disposable cups were flying around. The Stark Portal was humming away and almost fully formed.
"Almost. There." Gritted Tony.
After one last push, the humming had stopped and the portal had formed fully.
# # #
You have reached Joy. I am unavailable right now; please leave a message after the beep. Beep.
"Yah, Joy. This is Piper. Just wanted to say that I found something weird and it would be hard to explain so I'll tell you about it later. See you." Piper told the answering machine.
The wind whipped at her short brown hair as the fully formed blue "O" glowed in front of her bedroom door. Tossing her comic aside Piper placed her phone with her IPod and took a deep breath. Then she walked into the light.
# # #
"Ha, ha! Yes! I've finally figured out the amount of power in put my new baby can take," cheered Tony.
"You should celebrate by going to sleep," Dr. Banner suggested.
"Hey, do you see that," Dr. Pym asked while pointed at the portal.
The three men saw a dark humanoid silhouette within the blue light. Next thing they knew the emergency sirens were going off. The machine was starting to go haywire.
"Tooooneeeeeey!" Dr. Banner shouted with unease.
"I think I see someone in the portal Stark," Yelled Dr. Pym.
"What!? No! It's not ready for people to enter it yet. I haven't made an exit portal," Tony stated horrified.
The machine was shaking violently and coming apart. The light was starting to fade but the silhouette was getting stronger.
"Guys I can't stop it! Get down!" Shouted Tony.
The three-scientist hunkered down behind the clear wall as the machine continued to degrade. Finally, whatever it was, passed through the portal. The three men looked up to see a confused looking teenage girl in floral pajamas. In a panic the three of them tried to get her attention to run over to them but she couldn't hear.
"This is ridiculous. I'm getting her," Dr. Banner yelled.
Just as he was about to leave from behind the clear wall the machine made a god-awful noise followed by an explosion. Huge chunks of shrapnel went everywhere and finally the portal machine had shut down. The three men ran over to the wreckage to look for the teen.
"Oh-my-god! Do you think she's even still alive?" Fretted Dr. Pym as the smoke cleared.
"She was so close to the explosion. It'll be a miracle if she's still alive," replied Tony as he shuffled through the debris.
"Guy's I see her!" Dr. Banner called to them, "Give me a hand!"
# # #
Piper felt sore. She was lying in a bed on her back. Opening her eyes, she felt like she's been out for a while as she looked around the gray lit room. She wasn't in a hospital, everything would be whiter and she would hear hospital noises outside the door. Maybe it's a new type of hospital? It certainly was a fancy place with wood floors and a small chandelier in the middle of the celling and a giant curtain covering what could only be a window that is a wall and fancy carved furniture.
There was a glass of water on the bed side table. Reaching for it she finally noticed the gauze wrappings on her arms and felt the rest of them on her back, torso, and legs.
"Oh, that's right. There was an explosion."
She took a small sip of water and slowly got into a sitting position to look at her bandages under her nightgown. As she looked at her self she took notice of the fact that these were not her pajamas and were in fact nicer and looked like silk. Realizing this made her conclude that complete strangers have seen her naked. Great.
Finishing her self-examination, she got out of the bed and shuffled over to the bedroom window and pulled back the curtains. The sun was shining beautifully in a cloudless blue sky over a city of skyscrapers, business buildings, and bustling people. With what looked like the occasional flying human being.
"Which city am I in?"
Piper would have stood there all day looking out the window if she hadn't been interrupted by sounds outside the bedroom door and people coming in.
"Ah, your finally awake, good." Stated a man's voice.
Piper turned away from the view to see a tan man with a blue turban covering his dark hair wearing a snappy brown suit and holding a black suitcase. He held a sincere smile on his lips.
"Hello miss, I am Dr. Bava. I've been takin' care of you and your burns since you've been here. Mind coming over here so I can reapply this burn ointment." Dr. Bava stated as he got out his equipment and showed Piper the burn ointment bottle.
Piper was silent for a moment then replied, "Can you first show me where the bathroom is?"
# # #
"And there we go. Fully ointment-ed and wrapped up." Dr. Bava stated as he finished wrapping Pipers left arm. "Now just hold still as I give you this tetanus shot."
"Yes, Doctor."
"There you go. You are one lucky girl. You only sustained third degree burns, from that explosion Mr. Stark told me about. You sustained no shrapnel wounds at all."
"Mr. Stark?"
"Yes, he's the man paying me to keep you healthy. Very kind of him to let you stay here and I'm sure he has lots of questions to ask of you now that you're awake.
"…So, how bad are third degree burns?" Piper asked as she watched Dr. Bava put away his equipment.
"I won't go into much detail but all you really need to know is you are healing marvelously. You probably won't need these bandages within the next week and a half."
"That does sound good. But where's my stuff?"
"Oh, you'll have to ask Mr. Stark when he gets here. You've been out cold for three day's so the man is very eager to talk with you."
Piper did not know how to process this information. She didn't have long to think about all this and the implications of where she was before the door to the bedroom flew open. Revealing a dark-haired man with a scruffy, half shaved beard who looked in his late thirties and dressed like he just got back from a very expensive business meeting. Trailing behind him was a tall woman with red-ish, bronze hair also dressed in a business savvy suit, holding a hologram clipboard.
"Good afternoon. This is my personal assistant Pepper Potts and I am Tony Stark. I'm sure you've heard of me."
"No. I haven't." Piper lied. "But don't worry, you don't know who I am either."
"…Oh. Well, have you heard of Iron Man?" Tony asked.
Piper shook her head. "Sorry. My name is Piper Thatcher by the way." Firmly ingraining into herself that she will never tell any of these people that they are watched across dimensions who enjoy their suffering and victories.
"What do you live under a rock?" Tony asked looking hurt.
"Tony!" Ms. Potts exclaimed.
Finished packing, Dr. Bava patted Piper on the head and walked out of the following conversation.
"No. I live in Kansas City." Piper replied while pointing a thumb over her shoulder.
"Oh, you poor thing. You're so far away from home and your parents must be worried sick," Ms. Potts cooed at Piper.
"Ma'am. How old do you think I am?"
"Twelve?"
"I'm actually seventeen Ma'am." Piper replied in a deadpan tone.
"Oh."
"And you've never heard of Iron Man or Tony Stark? Billionaire, philanthropist, defender of Earth, the Avenger?" Tony probed.
"Hey, I don't think walking through a blue light requires avenging and what is that in your hands Ma'am. It's kind of disorienting me."
Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "Okay, we are getting off topic of why we are here. You said you came here from Kansas City? Do you know where you are?"
"The Doc said we're in New York City."
"That's right. You're the first person to enter though the portal that I made. What can you tell me about how you felt when you walked through it?"
"Well it felt like I was walking through a lot of electricity. It didn't hurt or anything it just gave me a ticklish feeling in the pit of my stomach."
"Anything else?" Tony asked.
"Nope, nothing else."
"Alright, then you tell Ms. Potts here where in Kansas City you live and we'll send you straight home," Tony replied as he started to leave.
"Oh, does that mean you've fixed the portal?"
"No, no. The portal's still down. You'll just have to go back the old-fashioned way. Don't worry though, we'll pay for your flight back and escort you home. Once you've healed of course." Tony replied before fully exiting the bedroom.
"I'll get your stuff so you can call your parents," Ms. Potts stated. Then she left the room.
Piper didn't know what to do. She had to make it obvious that she wasn't from this dimension but she didn't want to destroy these people's lives by telling them that they're a form of entertainment from where she lived. Now that she was thinking about it, being in this universe means that she is also a form of entertainment through her pain and success. She felt a sudden sense of depression, but was quickly distracted by the distant sirens and screaming from down below.
She shuffled over to the window as quickly as she could and looked down. Stories below she could see people running away from a giant figure in the crowd. Then she got a stupid idea. She knew it was stupid but she had to reinforce to these people here that she was not from this dimension. All those years of lying and acting when she was a child will finally pay off. Piper took off towards the danger down below.
# # #
The streets were decimated, a water hydrant a block away was gushing water, street lamps were bent or torn away completely and a few parked cars were turned over. Police were quarantining the area as Piper walked out of the grand building onto the streets. Boy was this a stupid idea but she knew if she could pull this off she'll be able to go to her proper home and not an alternate dimension home.
Piper looked around for the person who was doing the property damage. It was strangely quiet when a giant gray rhino man burst through a building wall across from her. She gulped down any sudden regrets she felt and proceeded with the plan.
"Woo! That was fantastic! But, uh, was that legal?" Piper shouted at the Rhino.
Piper started slowly walking over to the Rhino as he focused his sights on her.
"Legal? I don't care about legal! I want my pretty diamonds back." Roared the Rhino before he charged at Piper.
A minute before the Rhino could run Piper over she jumped to the side knowing that he couldn't make turns when he charged like that. She landed on her stomach but still felt pain throughout her body from the burns, felling some of the scabs' tare. She got up and saw that the Rhino had barreled through what she could only assume was a Stark Building that she once stood in front of.
"What are you trying to do! Get yourself killed!" Shouted some young man's voice from above.
Looking up Piper saw a man wearing a red and blue spider themed suit squatting on top of a bent lamp post holding a large web sack. It took every ounce in Piper's body not to fan girl right then and there. Instead she decided to reply with sarcasm at Spider-Man.
"Oh wow! Fantastic sleuthing their detective. That is exactly what I was trying to do."
The Rhino burst another opening in the same building. "Damn you Spider-Man! I want my diamonds back!" Then started charging at Piper again.
"Hey! Watch out," Spider-Man shouted as he slung a web above and dove down to scoop up Piper before Rhino could crash into her.
Spider-Man swung Piper a block away from where Rhino was and hid her among some rubble. "Stay there and don't move."
Piper nodded.
She heard Spider-Man from a distance shout taunts at the Rhino and the Rhino yelling in anger. Piper heard small jets and had to look over the rubble to see Iron Man and Spider-Man taking on the Rhino. Iron man shot repulsor beams from his hands at the Rhino as he charged Spider-Man. Jumping out of the way Spider-Man ran sideways on a building, flinging webbing at the Rhino's feet. Then while the Rhino was distracted Iron Man tackled him from behind to get him to the ground so Spider-Man could cover him more with webbing. Finally, Iron Man super punched the Rhino in the head with double repulsor beams making the Rhino pass out.
Iron Man and Spider-Man were talking to each other like old colleagues as police man started to arrive and as Piper walked up to the two superheroes.
"Oh-my-god, you're bleeding profusely. We need to get you to a hospital," Spider-Man said noticing Piper first.
"Ms. Thatcher, what are you doing down here?" Stark flipping his face mask up in surprise.
"Hold it, hold it, hold it. First of all, what is all this? Is this why you call yourself Iron Man, because you have a metal suit?" Piper knocked on his metal suit. "Are you sure I've been passed out for three days because last time I checked we aren't technically advanced enough for this sort of shit. And you, spider boy—"
"—It's Spider-Man good citizen."
"Whatever. How the hell were you able to run along that building like that? And This!" Gesturing to the Rhino. "Is this some kind of bad guy!? Why is he a walking, talking, Rhino? Now I know Kansas City isn't anything like New York but I'm for god damn sure that shit like this just doesn't happen. I mean, I know I just witnessed it but— You know— Ugh, I'm so confused." Then she covered her face with her hands.
As Piper stood their bleeding she hoped that she was convincing enough to get the idea across that she was not from this plain of existence.
"Oh no." Iron Man gasped. "Ms. Thatcher, I am so sorry. We'll have to discuss this more later, but we really should call Dr. Bava.
Just as Piper was mentally celebrating the Rhino had gained consciousness and suddenly ripped himself from Spider-Man's webbing screaming. Surprising everyone especially Piper. Making her unconsciously punch the Rhino as hard as she could in his gut. Which was extremely hard, as the Rhino was sent flying through the air and into a building, passing out again.
Everyone turned to Piper as she stared at what she just did.
"Did I— Did I just—" Then Piper fainted from blood loss.