Author's Note: BLACK PANTER IS ON NETFLIX THIS IS NOT A DRILL GO WATCH IT NOW! I'm just gonna go watch it on a loop. Which of course means more writing in the marvel universe cause that's how I roll. I own nothing.
3. Dreams To Come
"The chemicals the Rhino stole are very valuable. He'd net a small fortune for them on the black market, but I don't think that's what he's using them for." Sam raised an eyebrow at Piper as she swiped the hologram across the room to him.
"Why not?" Piper shook her head.
"Best I can make of the formula it's an experimental performance enhancer, a super steroid. Not what it was intended for but it's what they ended up with." Ava frowned at the formula.
"I mean you're right but why wouldn't he be trying to sell it. Why take so much of it if he wasn't going to? Dude in a suit like that, you'd think he'd need the money to keep up with tech since he doesn't seem to be buying from any market your tech can find."
"Because he's not using tech. I got a basic scan from the fight. That was all organic. None of that was a suit." Luke shook his head at the scan she'd pulled up.
"It was some strong skin then." Piper nodded at his pronouncement.
"Yeah, very." Danny frowned.
"You think he's taking the enhancer. That he took all of that for himself." Piper nodded, Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Then how will we tell who's the Rhino, if it turns them into that we can assume it wears off." Ava nodded, still running through the formula.
"It wouldn't last too long either, if we can keep him fighting for long enough he should turn back on his own. But it would also be highly addictive." Piper nodded at Ava.
"Nice catch, took me a while to figure that out. But that would be why he took so much. To make sure he won't run out any time soon."
Tony Stark was asleep, in and of itself an achievement, especially in the middle of the day. But he was dreaming which was something he'd been trying to avoid since New York. Ever since New York his dreams had been less than pleasant. In point of fact his dreams were far too close to a screaming reality than he was comfortable with. Much like the one he was having at that very moment.
It started much like they usually did, with lights, colored lights. He'd figured out that the different colors meant he would be in for different kinds of dreams. Orange was always the best. Orange meant he would be reliving his best moments. Purple terrified him so much now that he'd gone through his wardrobe and what he could of everyone else's and thrown out every piece of purple he could find. Purple meant watching a ship captained by a shadow shrouded giant creep closer and closer to home. Yellow wasn't too bad, yellow meant dreams spent in a lab, watching as formulas ran and people worked around him, unable to move. Green wasn't too bad. Green meant a night of hiding from Howard or playing piano with his mother. Blue was probably his second favorite. Blue meant he would dream of worlds away from his own, giant heads of unknown creatures now teaming with life, golden cities, a planet made of trash, anything seemed possible through the blue dreams. Red was the worst. Red scared him more than even the purple dreams. He was having a red dream now.
It started as the red ones always did, with dust swirling around him. The sky was yellow, like he'd never seen, rubble surrounding him. He didn't recognize where he was but the dust felt like it was everything he loved in the world turned to ash in his mouth. But this time the world around him rippled red. That hadn't happened before. Like a stone thrown into a pond it rippled for a moment then the scene around him shifted and changed.
The world around him was now much more familiar. It was New York, near Stark Tower, a few blocks away at most. A battle raged around him, so chaotic he could barely make out the details. Flashes of explosions nearly blinded him as a cackling laugh echoed around him. A feminine cry of rage followed it, a flash of tattered red and blue racing past him on a line of white. The battle raged as he was unable to turn and watch. Then a flash of bright near white blue lit up the sky and he was free to turn as he blinked. In that last moment he saw something that couldn't be right, that couldn't be real. A voice he didn't know echoed around him.
'You can't prevent this, arm her, prepare her for any world she may see.' The woman's voice echoed around the statue made of light he was staring at. Then it shattered, and he sat bolt upright with a muffled scream.
Pepper turned to look at the couch where Tony had passed out after several days of nonstop work. Tony was gasping for air. She set down her Stark Pad and quickstepped over to him, rubbing his back.
"Tony?" He was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"I… I need to get back to work." He stood, shaking off Pepper's hand and practically running for his lab.