Heyyyy—lo! Like I said from my previous update (Alone?), here is another story that came up so randomly! I'm trying to think of how I got this idea… how I have NO idea! Whatever it is, I had to get it down as soon as humanly possible, which is literally right now!
Anywayyyy! Do let me know what you think, even though I won't be getting into the actual purpose of this story until the next chapter. I think! :)
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my story!
"The concentration camps were not only a form of imprisonment , but it was an easy access for the Nazi scientists to experiment various forms of drugs and theories." Mr. Vick barked loudly, glancing back at the powerpoint. He had his textbook open on the podium as he backed his statement from the chapter.
The three musketeers were in the back of the class, two of them intently listening to the lesson while the third was too busy sketching the latest design on his notebook. One ear was focused on his teacher's words, just in case his name was called out.
"Man that war was just so sick." Pepper whispered under her breath, skipping along the pages in her book. "Screw those Nazis!" She rested her chin on her hand, sadly gazing at the pictures her teacher switched to on the powerpoint. Her mind was boggled at the inhuman treatment of those poor humans. What did they accomplish imprisoning the "inferior" race?
Rhodey wrote down a few side notes on his paper while he shook his head. "Yeah you're telling me! I mean, do you even realize the cost of human lives in this war? The technological advancements? Horrible!" He whispered back to her, leaning in her direction. In the corner of his eye he saw Tony perk up and look over and the two teens who were chatting about the class material.
"Technological advancements? Wait… what's going on? What are we talking about?" Tony asked. He hadn't realized that the class had gotten quite and that his question had vibrated down to Mr. Vick. He stood in place, clenching his clicker in his palm in annoyance before looking straight up at the genius and forcing on a smile.
Mr. Vick pushed his glasses up on his nose and said, "Yes, Tony, what are we talking about? Please do explain!" The genius gulped, turning his head towards his friends for some help, but his teacher quickly called him out on the act. "Ah! Ah! No Mr. Stark, without your usual help from your friends I'd like to know what you know about what we are discussing in today's lesson." Tony blushed crimson as he heard the rest of the class snicker.
"I— I, uh…" He stared at the powerpoint and felt his brain click. "World War two, Mr. Vick."
The teacher smiled, letting out a loose laugh. "Yes, well, I announced that just at the beginning of class. What specifically are we discussing today?"
Almost immediately Tony answered, "You were just discussing about the concentration camps and their impact on the Nazis and Allies. Because it wan't just a prison for them, but also a… kind of… testing center for the scientists there."
Mr. Vick stared at Tony, narrowing his eyes but shrugging. "Very good, Mr. Stark. But next time don't announce your absentmindedness to the rest of the class, who are all actually paying attention." The bell rang announcing the end of the period, but the teacher raised his hand to stop the students. "You will have a five page essay due at the end of the week on World War two. I have emailed different prompts, but if you have an idea of your own please talk to me after class. Have a good day."
Once class ended, the teens slipped to the roof for their free period to enjoy their hour break for lunch. Tony threw his backpack against one of the boxes and plopped down on the floor. He fished around for his sandwich that was in one of the pack's zippers, and his notebook from earlier.
"How the heck did you answer Mr. Vick correctly?" Rhodey asked shaking his head. He had his own lunch out on his lap, but was deciding on what to munch on first. "You totally were not paying attention in class today. I saw you drawing the entire time."
"Yeah seriously, Tony." Pepper pipped in, resting up against the concrete barrier towards the edge of the roof. She crossed her arms on her chest and smiled down at him. "Whatever it is, I want it. Because I'm not doing so good in calculus and something that let's me remember anything that my teacher said would be great!"
Tony laughed, taking a bite out of his sandwich. He flipped through his notebook to the page he was sketching out his design and whipped out his pencil, ready to get back to work. "I was paying attention." When his friends shot him an unconvinced look he raised his eyebrows. "I'm serious. I was, but I don't actually recall the information until I switch my brain to what needs to be remembered. I didn't know what Mr. Vick was talking about until I snapped out of designing this." He motioned to his drawing.
"What were you designing anyway? You were so out of it." The curious redhead plopped down next to him and peered over at the drawing. She cocked her head to the side and shrugged, hoping her friend would provide an answer.
Tony beamed, excited that he was questioned about something he actually cared about. "It's a new spec for the Iron Man armor. I wanted to include something that was nonlethal but also slightly inhibiting."
"Well…?" Rhodey prodded. His interest was piqued, enough for him to put his lunch down to the side.
Tony was enjoying the attention, even though normally he liked to stay away from the spotlight. "It blinds the victim. Basically, when I focus the energy on my wrist and blast it; it emits a light that is concentrated to a high level rendering the victim temporarily blind."
"Whoa." Pepper clapped her hands together. "That's SO cool! So it's like those flash grenades right?" She asked referring to the military grade weapon that when triggered, it both blinds and deafens its victim.
"Yeah sorta, but it's more about blinding than deafening. Plus it's something on the armor, not something I have to throw down to trigger. It's based on solar tech, so it recharges using solar energy and stores it until I need to use it."
Rhodey crossed his arms. "But you're just designing it, right? You didn't actually make it yet?"
The inventor shook his head. "I did, a prototype. I tested it yesterday, but it kinda backed up and exploded on my wrist. So this is just a…. improved version of the prototype." The teens quieted down and went back to their food. Tony finished his sandwich and began drawing once again.
"So have you guys decided on what prompt to write your essay on?" Rhodey asked, popping a grape in his mouth. "I think I'm doing mine on the Allies and the Axis power struggle." Tony and Pepper looked up at him, and then exchanged looks.
"You know I'm not completely surprised you looked at the essay prompts already." Pepper said with a smirk.
Tony scoffed. "Hey! Pepper don't make fun of the nerd."
"Oh right, right sorry. Because obviously I am just so jealous." Pepper said laughing. The two started laughing, enjoying the annoyed look on their best friends face.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We'll see who's laughing when I get an A plus on my paper." But even he couldn't stop the smile on his face.
…
Back at the armory, the teens idled around. Tony was starting with his improved prototype, while Pepper and Rhodey monitored the scanners. The red head hung upside down on the couch that sat in the center of the armory as she checked her phone. "Oh wow." She stated, grabbing Rhodey's attention. "Whitney and Miguel are a thing now."
Rhodey rolled his eyes and smiled before going back to the swivel chair (he should've been monitoring the scanners but the race car game was a little more enticing to his bored brain). "So what?" Tony said behind his welding mask.
He was still working on his device, but his shoulders had visibly stiffened at his ex-friend's new boy toy. Pepper took note and sat up to shoot Rhodey a grin before shrugging. "Oh just letting you guys know. You know, the social world." She paused. "Oh wow, she's kissing him in this picture." She heard Rhodey snicker, but when she got no response from Tony she decided to drop it.
"Hey, Tony?" She asked, sweetly. Tony pulled off his welding mask, taking in a deep breath of fresh air, his face covered in a light sheen of sweat. Pepper stared a moment at the sweat that trickled from his forehead to his jaw before looking down at her phone as though something interesting popped up on the screen.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"You got a computer I can borrow?" She knew it was a stupid question to ask, especially in a genius's armory.
Tony smirked. "Way too many to count. What for?"
The red head sighed, throwing a side glance at Rhodey. "I think I'm going to get started on that History paper." The inventor walked to one of the cabinets on the side and pulled out a sleek black gadget before walking back to Pepper.
"Here ya go. And keep it, because honestly I think I have three of those." He muttered. The "Stark Industries" logo was branded onto the device in a sleek white print, but it was small enough to not catch anyone's attention.
Pepper gazed at the laptop with wide eyes. "Are you serious? You really don't have to Tony! I just want to borrow it."
He waved his hand. "Nah, keep it. There's no charger because it has micro solar panels on the top right there." He said pointing to the "Stark Industries" logo.
"You have a lot of stuff powered by solar energy, don't you?" Rhodey called from his perch. Tony shot him a smile.
"Well, my dad went through an 'eco-friendly' phase. It rubbed off on me just a tad." He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Sorry." Pepper popped open the laptop and got to work right away, pulling up the ten given prompts. She groaned, and rested her head back against the couch.
"These prompts are so hard!" She said covering her face with her hands. "Hey, Tony, can you invent something that takes me back in time so I can, like, not do this assignment?" She heard the inventor laugh.
"No, Pepper. That's not how this works. You can't be my friend and ask me to make something that is impossible to help you with the history paper." He crossed his arms and leaned back onto the counter behind him to get a good look at the red head.
She pouted, but stopped smirking suddenly. "So you're telling me that tech is impossible to make?"
Tony's face went blank. "I— I didn't say that."
"You so did."
"I did not!"
"Um, actually you did." Rhodey shouted, cupping his mouth with his hands.
Tony frowned, flinging his hands up in defeat. "Well, I mean, the tech bends space-time! It's not impossible, but it's something that has a very low success rate."
Pepper turned her head, winking to Rhodey in hopes he would play along with her. "So he's just saying that the famous, smartest inventor ever can't create a time machine."
The teen grinned widely and laughed, nodding. This was total payback from earlier when the two had made fun of him. "I think he is saying that, Pepper. What a shame." Tony had gone red, and his fists were flush to his side. His knuckles had gone white in both rage and embarrassment.
"I can so make a time machine!" He said, unable to keep his silence. "I bet you I can make it in the next four hours!"
Pepper mentally high-fived herself and shrugged. "Oh sure, I bet you can. But see, words don't give results, Tony. I want to see it right in front of me." Without another word, the genius gave her his back and immediately got to work.
"Computer, put up a four hour timer." He said, his voice dark.
…
Pepper and Rhodey watched their friend with concern as three hours and thirty minutes had passed on the large digital clock. "You know, I hadn't known this would've been the result of what I said."
"For real, you really pinched his ego a little." Rhodey said, his arms crossed in slight worry. Tony had done this when his father passed away for a week, when he saw that his father had so many inventions in his office backed up. Trisha had said that he wouldn't be able to handle it, so to spite her he went out and finished twenty-three projects in one week.
And all were in tip-top shape without a single flaw.
The clock had just hit the ten minute mark, when Tony slammed down his tool, making the other two teens jump in surprise. He turned, a huge grin on his face and side stepped to show off a small square box. "There you go, Pep. You're time machine." There was a proud gleam in his eyes as he marched up to her and placed the device in her palm.
A mistake he would soon later realize.
Pepper turned it over in her hands, analyzing the sleek design. "This is it? This small thing? This is gonna take me back in time?"
Tony nodded, his hands on his hips. "It transports anyone that touches the device to whatever time period they input into the device. He took the device from her hands and pushed an almost invisible indention on the side. It slid open to reveal a small LED screen with numbers beneath it. "See? You push whatever date you want, and then you push this red button right next to it."
Pepper took the device back and tested the buttons by pushing the year, "1943." She saw the display light up, processing the data, and she then heard a small click. "That's it?"
"Yeah, so it basically pulled the year into its database. Once you push the red button it will take you back to the time that year in particular."
"What about the month and day?"
Tony shrugged. "I don't know really. I think it would take you back to this exact day and month but in another year. That or it will just randomly generate a date and put you there." This time Rhodey got out of his seat and joined the teens. He looked at the device with curiosity, and gingerly took the small box from Pepper.
"And how would you get back?" He asked.
"The device should follow you to the time period. But hey, no funny ideas, because it only has enough juice to get back to the time period, not get you back too. I just wanted to show you that I could make it." He said, leaning into Pepper to emphasis her challenge didn't stop him.
Pepper blushed and smiled. "Ha, ha… well, uh, I guess I was wrong." Tony grinned, stepping in closer towards her. She saw his hands come up from his side, his fingers spread. Her eyes widened. "Whoa! Hey! NO!" She screamed as his fingers attacked her sides.
The red head tried moving away from him, but Tony snagged her around the waist and pulled her to the floor. She squealed as he locked her arms to her side with his knees. "TONY! S-S-STOP!" She gasped for air. In sheer desperation, she kicked her leg.
Instead of hitting the genius, it hit her other best friend behind the knees. Rhodey yelped, the device still clutched in his hand, his knees buckling from the harsh hit. He tumbled to the ground, but not before reaching out, instincts taking over, and grabbing the back of Tony's shirt to slow his fall. Tony clutched onto Pepper's arm as his body fell back, but suddenly there was a bright light and a feeling of intense nausea.
He felt as though a knife was stuck between his eyes, and wanted to scream. He felt Pepper's arm in his grasps, as well as Rhodey's hand on his shirt. Suddenly the feeling disappeared and the pain subsided.
Tony first felt a very sharp chill, as though he was stuck in a meat locker. His ears caught silence, but also distant rumbling. Oh god. He thought. And when he opened his eyes, he was in absolute disbelief at the sight before him.
He was in a dense forest, snow surrounding him. The sky was a light gray, and snow was lightly falling, coating his best friends' bodies beside him. Rhodey came to, and then Pepper, who both looked at awe at where they were.
Tony turned to Rhodey, his face glum. His eyes were no longer on his friend, but rather his best friend's finger, which was pushed on the red button on his device.
His device worked, which would make any inventor cheer in joy. But with what Pepper inputted into the device, the joy turned into fear.
"Where are we?" Pepper whispered, wrapping her arms around her bare arms.
Tony and Rhodey exchanged looks, knowing exactly where they were. But Rhodey opened his mouth instead, "1943. Right smack dab in the middle of World War two."
….
TA DA! What do you think? I put a lotttt of effort into this chapter, surprisingly! What can we do with these silly teens, am I right? Well… Do review! Let me know if you like it! If you want to know what's going on!
Thanks a bunch for reading, and as always please review!
Love- PercyJacksonLover14
