[I do not own Ironman. Or Marvel. Or any references to existing things in here…Just my characters, and their souls. Enjoy~ It's written for my friend. She knows who she is….XD. Reviews are welcome. I don't have a beta so there are mistakes.]
Chapter One 'Like a Greeting Card'
Jamming out to a random song on SL100, I danced wildly on my bed-jumping from bed to floor to bed again. My room looked as if a mini-tornado had gone through it. Papers were strewn across everything, some looked like blueprints and others just crude drawings. Covering one of my walls were millions of pictures of Tony Stark. Him and his company. Along with pictures of this 'Ironman' and 'Warmachine'. My platinum blonde hair was cut into a short pixie, bangs covering my left blue eye. I wore a dark purple shirt and my comfortable blue jeans. I was bare-footed of course.
"Selena," my dad bellowed out, banging a fist on the door. Really my foster-father. He banged again and I scrambled to open the door, revealing a beefy heavy set man in an expensive suit. He had greasy black hair slicked back and dark skin-almost Mexican. I was on the pale, scrawny-side. His beady black eyes bore into mine. "Turn that TRASH off, now!" I hurried to turn off the radio station for him. At 17 years of age, I stood a good 5'6" precisely. Taller than the 4'9" man before me. "I am having very important businessmen over…Daddy needs to work uninterrupted…" he left at that. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Stay out of his way. The usual. I slipped out of my room and cautiously made my way to the 'conference room' of my foster-father. I waited outside the door, listening to the murmurs inside.
"-have to act NOW. Stark's already suspicious as it is," a whispery voice cooed at.
"D-Don't worry," my foster father said in a squeaky voice, shaking with fear. What could possibly have him scared? "I-I'll get the job done!"
"You had better," the dark whispery voice continued on," Now…about your daughter…" I froze, heart thudding against my ribs. "She's grown quite beautiful…and intelligent…"
"y-yes, she makes good grad-" My foster father started.
"FOOL! SILENCE!…What does she think about…Ironman?" the other voice asked. My foster-father was very silent.
"I…I don't know," he admitted and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. As long as I wasn't IN his way, he paid me no attention. I was already working on schematics and blue-prints for an Ironman suit of my own. I just needed some more information.
"Well…Find out…and report back to me," the voice snapped and the Doorknow turned. I took off as quickly and quietly as I could, heart pounding in my chest.
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To say my foster-father started paying more attention to me was an understatement. Every little move I made was watched and probably recorded. It all lead to an awkward conversation in my room. My foster-father stood at my door, looking into my room as if seeing it for the first time. He probably was. I had the whole black, dark purple and silver color scheme going on. His eyes focused on my wall dedicated to Tony Stark, Stark Industries, Ironman and Warmachine.
"so…you uh…like this guy?" My foster-father asked, entering my room. I was on my bed with my mini-laptop, trying to construct Ironman's suit. I need some sort of power source for this thing.
"His name is Tony Stark…and yeah, Most teenaged girls adore him," I replied, being sarcastic. He looked nervous and I took pity on him," he's an attractive man…but I'm more interested in his bodyguard…This…Ironman…" my foster-father picked up one of my schematics from my desk and appeared fascinated by it. "It won't work." He looked disappointed. "If…If I had tools…I could build it…" he got that look in his eye. "But I wouldn't." He looked pissed now and left my room. Something about that look said I'd just gotten myself into a dangerous game.
Imagine my relief when I got to leave to catch the bus. My foster-father was on his cell, arguing angrily with someone. I flicked my hair back as I hurried to get on the bus. Yes. A senior and riding a bus but hey, my other senior friend Emma was riding. She had reddish-brown short hair. She was also pretty short and small. She looked about ready to explode on me when I got on the bus that morning.
"oh! Oh! Oh! Know what today is~?" She squealed out. I gave her my confused look. "Visiting STARK INDUSTRIES!" She pretty much screamed at me. A total fan of Ironman…and Tony Stark. Not for the technological suit. She thought Tony was hot. Too old for us but perfect eye candy. He was suppose to be there for the tours.
"Sweet," I replied, grinning slightly. I was looking forward to seeing the weapon technology up close. Emma lurched into some long description of Ironman's most recent publicity stunt alongside Warmachine. I zoned her out. We got to school and she practically dragged me off to board yet another bus. Took a while before we got to Stark Industries. We were a small group of individuals, selected for various reasons. I was a 'brilliant' student and Emma was…Emma. Nah, she was really smart in drawing stuff.
"I'm pleased to welcome each of you to Stark Industries," a woman greeted us. Miss Pepper Potts. That one who worked with Tony. "Mr. Stark has been held up briefly in a meeting but will get here as soon as possible…If you'll follow me." She lead us off, talking the entire time.
"No Tony, That bites," Emma muttered darkly. I gave her a look as we started to pass a lab which was empty. I glanced around and noticed no one was watching us. I took Emma's hand, separating us from our tour group. I quickly typed on the screen before plugging in a USB drive. Several files about the ark reactor popped up. Whatever that was. I copied everything onto my USB, pulling it out and started to leave. Emma was staring wide-eyed at someone who stopped by the open door. Tony Stark.
"Oh…I wasn't aware that this room was part of the tour," he informed us. He had a bandage over his left eyebrow. Emma looked guilty and in shock of being this close to Tony Stark.
"Bathroom," I blurted out quickly," we uh…were looking for the bathroom and-uh-didn't want to interrupt Miss. Potts." Tony Stark walked over to me as I talked and I swallowed nervously.
"So…you just decided that 'wandering off' was a better option?" he asked me. I nodded, feeling my hands getting sweaty. Have I ever mentioned that Tony Stark was an attractive man. I was a teenager after all. "hmm…" he said with that charming smile," Seems like something I would do at your age. Follow me…" He exited the room and I let out a small breath. Emma gave me a look before leaving. I followed her. We were a few paces behind Tony Stark. THE Tony Stark.
"What were you doing?" Emma whispered to me, giving me a concerned look.
"I'll explain later," I told her.
"Here we are," Tony said stopping by two doors. One had a girl on it, the other had a guy. "Universal symbols Amazing. " I disappeared into the bathroom with Emma. She didn't have to go but I actually did.
"Explain," she commanded me as I washed my hands.
"Ironman's suit is powered by…massive energy… I need data on how to build one-" I stared and she face palmed.
"SELENA! You can't build his suit!" she snapped at me. I gave her a dark look.
"I can too…and I'll prove it to you!" I snapped at her as we left. Tony Stark was waiting for us.
"Well ladies…I have two options for you…" he told us with a charming smile. "Option A, includes you two joining me for lunch and I'll just give you your tour…or I can Option B, return you to a very unhappy Miss. Pepper…who'll probably yell…and it'll be boring…" he looked at us expectantly. I think Emma was about to hyperventilate, she couldn't speak.
"Sounds good," I replied, speaking for her. She gave me a grateful look.
"Great," he said clapping his hands together and leading us around. He explained things in an interesting way. I'm not too sure if Emma was paying attention to the words so much as just the sound of his voice. He told us we could ask any questions we wanted to.
"…." Poor Emma couldn't make herself speak.
"Are Warmachine and Ironman the same entities or two separate beings?" I asked, wanting some reassurance.
"They are indeed separate," he replied, seeming to study me carefully. I decided against any other questions regarding those two. Eventually Tony took us to an office where we had lunch. Emma picked at a salad nervously and I tackled a burger with fries-same as Stark.
"So…what do you two think about Stark Industries?" Tony asked us. Emma almost chocked on her salad as she started to laugh, I patted her back amused. We were good enough friends to be able to read each other the way we did. "Something funny?
"uh-Sorry," Emma said with a small cough," it's just…Selena is a nerd when it come to Stark Industry technology…her real interest is in the Ironman Suit."
"Really?" Tony asked, fixing Emma with his most award-winning smile. Emma blushed a bit, looking away.
"Yeah…she's even drawn a few blue-prints for possible suits," Emma mumbled. Tony's eyes flicked to me and I felt my cheeks heating up.
"You don't say," he murmured, watching me with an interested look. A thing on his desk beeped.
"Tony, This is Pepper. We've lost two members-" She started and he interrupted.
"Their with me," Tony replied and was greeted with silence," Pepper?"
"Their school bus is ready to depart," pepper replied briskly," so unless you're taking them home-"
"Not a bad idea," Tony said with a slight grin, winking at Emma who blinked startled and blushed a deeper color.
"-so send them on their way and….what?" Pepper demanded.
"I find myself enjoying their company," Tony told her. "I'll have a private car escort them home."
"But-" Pepper started.
"I'll take the bus," I said quickly, exiting the room. Emma followed me. I needed to get home with that date.
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My head was throbbing with pain and this high pitched whine filled my ear-like on movies after a person's had an explosion go off near them. I struggled to get up off the ground, disoriented. Bodies, debris, smoke. All around me. My brain tried to piece together everything that had happened. One moment I'm on the bus talking to Emma about the data on my USB…the next…an explosion of some sort ripped through the bus and I was sent flying. I'd slammed into the unforgiving gravel of the road. We were just outside Stark Industries gate. I could see people running towards us…Emma…I needed…to find her. I stumbled towards the still smoking wreckage of a bus and spotted her on the ground. I hurried towards her, limping due to an injury to my leg from hitting the ground so violently.
"Emma….Emma," I called out in a weak voice. She was moving, and started to push herself up off the ground. A car screeched to a halt nearby and two guys jumped out, grabbing her and hauling her off. "EMMA!" I screeched at them. The car tore off down the road just as the guards caught up to us. "They TOOK EMMA!" I shouted at them. People were trying to hold me down, but I was fighting them. Trying to get away. I had to get to Emma. A black guy with an eye patch was trying to tell me something, but my ears were still ringing. I couldn't really understand anyone. I watched his mouth move. Something about 'shock' and 'knocked unconscious'. My knees buckled under me and someone caught me as the world faded to black. I focused on the guy though and caught the words 'Sleep. You will be safe'.
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Blissful sleep. I felt like crap. Tired. Beaten. Bruised. Emma was gone. I didn't know where she was either. I didn't know who'd taken her. I didn't know why. I slowly opened my eyes to gaze around a very unusual white room. Well, it looked like a hospital room. Bleached white. Only unusual because I'm not usually in one of these things. There's a tube attached to my arm which goes up to an I.V. drip. I wonder how long I'd been out.
"Four hours," a deep voice said and I realized I wasn't alone. It was that man again. The black one with the one eye patch. He was sitting beside the windows, watching the traffic outside. He glanced over at me. "If you're wondering…you've been out for four hours." I blinked, taken a back. "You…were involved in an accident…in which we still do not know the reason why…You and another are the only survivors…however, the other one has been abducted for unknown reasons. We are calling it a random terrorist attack for now…" He was watching me as if expecting me to protest. I said nothing. I knew that anything I said would most likely be ignored. "Once you are checked out, you will be escorted back to your household…You will be under observation until further notice however…" I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. The usual crap. He continued on talking but I wasn't even thinking about it or listening. My mind was on Emma.
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He did not tolerate mistakes lightly. He did not like unexpected 'twists'. He did not like 'surprises'. What he did like was when everything went according to plan. So, why was it that it seemed more often then not, things DID NOT go according to plan. Like today's mishap. He wanted his hands on an Ironman suit. Amazingly, he'd located a young girl by the name of Selena who just might be able to pull that off for him. So why was it that he found himself staring at a young girl named Emma? His goons had kidnapped the wrong child. The girl in front of him looked scared, her cheeks were tear stained. She also had on singed clothing and a few cuts/bruises. Probably from the explosion. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in disgust. Nothing went according to plan.
"P-please don't kill me," she whimpered out, cowering on the ground before him. He glanced at his goons and dismissed them with a flick of his hand. He kneeled in front of her.
"Darling…I'm not going to even harm you," he told her, looking her over," Now…why don't you answer me a few questions…Do you know of a girl named Selena?" he asked her kindly. He'd come to learn that some people responded to kindness just like torture. She nodded. "Is she a good friend of yours?" Another scared timid nod. He smiled. "That's good…Now…You have my word that you won't be harmed…if your friend agrees to the terms of your release…Hmm? How's that sound?" He patted the younger girl on the head. "There there…You'll be okay…"
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Logged on to my laptop, I pulled up the files for the arc reactor and got to work. Yeah, finding materials for this thing were going to be hard. Like…beyond my limitation, so I was going to have to do some serious altercations. I sighed, leaning back against my pillow feeling the beginnings of a headache. Geez. I didn't even know where Emma was. Authorities were 'working' on locating her. Why had they kidnapped her? Why had they bombed our bus? Emma's dad was in the Air force. He didn't have any 'enemies'. I was a nobody….except…my foster-father seemed to be involved with someone who was interested in my knowledge of the Ironman suit. I threw my laptop to the side angrily, scattering papers as I did. I started literally thrashing my room, ripping posters and papers off of the wall. I even broke the wooden chair to the desk. I glanced at my laptop and noticed I had a 'video-chat' waiting. Confused I picked up my laptop and placed it back on the table. I accepted and was immediately met by the image of an 'unharmed' Emma all-tied up.
"Do I have the pleasure of speaking with Miss. Selena Travis?" a man inquired. He was very well groomed. Light brown hair slicked back and light brown eyes. He wore an expensive suit.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want with Emma?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes," You've given no ransom to her parents-"
"my dear….One question at a time…" the man said with a light chuckle, obviously amused at my reaction," The reason there's been no ransom to her parents….They can not give me that which I want…" he looked away, starting to pace. I clicked a few things on my computer. Maybe I could trace the connection within the network and find the location of the broadcasting. Hadn't Emma walked me through that once?…I hit a few keys. "If you wish for your young friend to remain unharmed…and returned alive….You'll build me a replica of the Ironman suit…" My eyes widened slightly.
"That's impossible…No one can replicate-" I started and he held up a blue-print. Very familiar. Actually….it was the same one my foster-father had taken not too long ago. My heart sank inside of me. They'd planned this. They hadn't meant to grab Emma. They'd meant to take me. I fell down in shock.
"…I'll give you a week…no longer…" the man said and the computer went blank. Shit. I slapped a hand to my forehead and scrambled to find something. Anything for her whereabouts. I got something. I sat back down, laying on the floor in a bit of a daze. What the hell was I going to do now?
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To say it was bulky was an understatement. I was pretty much depleted of any college funds I had saved up and was in debt with all the loans I'd taken out to purchase materials and tools discreetly. I worked in my school's classrooms. They had a welding class and I found that I could get more done. So, I had a pretty rough and bulky proto-type of Ironman's suit. The chemistry storage room actually had some useful things. Brief flight was a possibility. Flame thrower? Check. Bullet-proof to an extent. GPS tracking system with Emma's location? Check. Purple, black and silver color-scheme? Check. Gotta be in style.
"Time to rock and roll," I muttered to no one in particular as I suited up. It wasn't the best and lacked an efficient power-source. There was no way I could replicate the Ark reactor without more tools and material. So, I was running on an electrical charge right now. I had a time limit before the suit would simply shut-down on me. Crude.
Rescuing Emma wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They were in some warehouse, where I'd apparently been expected to meet them to deliver the suit. My only problem was that Emma was unprotected. I'd rigged my suit to have a magnetic pull, that would get rid of MOST guns and then I could shoot out a mild electrical stun burst. This would deplete my electrical charge though. So I'd have to be quick about this. I made my way into the warehouse.
"Well well…I almost thought you wouldn't show," the man from the videos said, clapping his hands together slowly. I spotted Emma being held by a goon with a gun pressed to her head. Not good. "It looks…well…rushed and crude to be blunt….but I see great potential in you…With further work-" I flicked a button located in my hand, activating the magnetic field and pulling all guns to me. Then came the flamethrower, scaring several goons into dropping to the ground. I dashed towards Emma, releasing the guns and grabbed her-flying off into the air. Adrenaline was rushing into my systems making it seem like time had slowed down and I couldn't move fast enough. My timer was flashing bright red with very small digits that were counting down in fast time. We weren't going to make it. Okay okay. I could do this. Bullets whizzed past me, some pinging off my suit. I hit the hydro-boost and soared off. Emma screamed loudly, something about heights again. I was covering ground. The numbers were getting smaller. I took a chance and dropped Emma onto the rooftop of a building as lightly as I could. The suit shut down and I was dropped like a stone, slamming unceremoniously into the rooftop. No-power. This thing weighed like a ton. Movement was only possible with the electrical power source I had.
"You…don't look like Ironman…so…you've got to be Selena, " Emma said getting up shakily. She didn't look too bad. Malnourished, and dirty but still Emma. My helmet unlashed, coming off of me.
"Yeah…Its me," I replied, breathing heavily. I was sweating and trembling as well as the adrenaline left me. "Help me…outta this thing…Its dead-weight…cell…depleted of power…" she helped unlatch the pieces so I could get out. I felt dinged up but giddy. She helped me up and I hugged her tightly. "Oh…It's so good to see you…"
"You too…I…I didn't think…I was going…to live…especially when they spoke of their demands," Emma admitted, then eyed the suit critically," Well…you built it…but it could use some work." I recognized that 'art-critical' tone of voice.
"HEY! Not bad for an 'Ironmaiden' " I replied defensively. One of her eyebrows rose. I shrugged sheepishly.
"Hmm…maiden…well…You're going to need a more feminine suit with that name," she told me. I rolled my eyes.
"I do NOT need to look feminine," I retorted. She waved me off.
"A name like 'Ironmaiden' needs some feminine touches," she replied," I'll draw up some schematics for it!" She sounded excited. "Gosh…Can't wait to get home…"
"Yeah…" I muttered, looking away. She gave me a sympathetic look, placing a hand on my shoulder. I could feel a bruise forming from hitting the rooftop.
"Now that I'm here…you can stay with us," she told me softly. I smiled weakly. It probably wouldn't work. My foster-father had worked with Emma's kidnappers. I'd pretty much 'ran away' from home. My foster-father was a man with a lot of money though. Illegal dealings as I'd now learned. I had no money left though, having used it all to build the crashed proto-type on the ground to save Emma. I sat down, feeling the events of the past few days catching up with me. I was so tired. Emma sat down beside me with a sigh of relief. A few minutes passed and suddenly helicopters were blazing to life in the air around us. S.H.I.E.L.D. What was that? The guy with the eye patch from the hospital was on one of the helicopters. He got out of it as it landed on the rooftop. We were buffeted by the air currents produced from its wings.
"I'm Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D," he told us. Oh. A name. Damn. Mr. Eye-patch man was so tempting, but one look at him told me he would've killed me for calling him that. "You two are to come with me for debriefing…" I rolled my eyes and Emma offered me a hand to get up. I was tired, sweat-drenched my thick black clothes. We followed Nick towards the choppers but I stopped feeling my heart give a few erratic beats. Like skipping a beat or two.
"You okay?" Emma asked and I nodded. Nick Fury turned to study me.
"What about that?" I asked with a wave of my hand, indicating the crashed suit. Proto-type. Crude design. Whatever.
"We've got everything under wraps," Fury informed us," I have somebody who wants to talk to you about that…" We got on the helicopter and found ourselves in the presence of Tony stark and another black guy. Not being racist. He was. Emma stiffened immediately beside me. Eh, some military guy? Air force was a possibility. I sat down and fumbled with the stupid seat straps. The new guy took pity on me and buckled them for me. We had to put on these headphone microphone things so as to hear each other.
"So, we meet again," Tony said with a grim smile. Emma was in her' shut-up-and-gawk' mode. Probably feeling like she was going to die. Looked like crap in front of a very hot 'eye-candy'.
"Meh…Wish conditions were better," I mumbled. He nodded in agreement.
"What concerns me…is that you built…a…crude but effective replica of the Ironman armor," he informed me. I knew the accusations behind that.
"Dude…I only thing I 'stole' was the ark reactor data…but it was WAY too complex for me to build in a week….'sides…I'm SO indebt right now," I muttered. I was so tired. My eyes started to drift shut as my heart skipped a few beats. It was getting pretty painful too. Tony tapped my foot meaningfully with his. Good lord…Footsie? Emma was going to kill me later. "The suit model…I made is crude…wasn't built too last…long…just enough to rescue Emma…"
"Why didn't you alert authorities?" the other black guy demanded. I rolled my eyes.
"because I can do it myself…Besides…I was going to build a replica of the suit anyways someday to prove…" I mumbled and my eyes closed again. That same persistent tap and my eyes flew open again." My foster-father…was in on this…I felt that…I stood a better chance rescuing…Emma…on my own…and I proved…I can replicate…suit" This time my eyes closed and didn't reopen at that persistent tap. My heart gave a painful beat before stopping and letting me slip into deeper sleep. I think. I couldn't really feel anything anymore. No worries anymore. I'd done it. I'd saved Emma. We were going to be okay.
[Congratulations for making it this far…XD…Reviews are appreciated. Uhm, this was written for a 'friend'…XD…She'll love it…and She's DRAWING PICTURES~ Squee…soon they'll be up on deviant art…I'll let ya know when. The second chapter's already typed up…Gotta add some finishing touches to it. Um, I don't have any betas…So it's chock-full of mistakes sorry…]