It was edging into late afternoon by the time a suitable course of action was agreed upon, and Stark Tower was the clear choice. The defense and monitoring systems in the spacious seventy story skyscraper were superior to even those in Tony's own home, and it had everything needed to design, build, and repair the various Iron Man armors. It also offered the benefit of being within spitting distance of the Avengers Mansion, the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building, and Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, in case things took a turn for the worse.
"Of course," Tony regarded the others seated at the dining room table thoughtfully, "I'm not going to force any of you to come. If you want to opt out, that's fine. We should be able to handle things from here anyway."
Peter shook his head firmly. "Oh no. You don't need any more ammo Mr. Guilt Trip. Besides, I'm not about to let you suffer without me there to point and laugh." Even if the kid keeps giving me the Jonas Brothers look.
The billionaire nodded in thanks and turned to Chun-Li. "What about you? I won't be offended if you decide you left the oven on. Or the...wok. Was it a wok?"
"I don't cook much, so that's not a problem," Chun-Li replied coolly, gaze neutral. "Whatever is going on, Interpol will want to know about it; dinosaur attacks are sort of high profile." Her expression tightened a little around her brown eyes. And it's not like what happened between Bison and my father is a secret. There's no way I'm not going to walk away from anything like that.
"You sure Interpol is going to be cool with you two hanging out here for however long this is?" Dante asked, his tone vaguely curious.
Chun-Li shrugged. "Stark is already a high profile asset for several organizations, including Interpol. I'll have to call in the request, but since we already know him and are on-site, we're convenient enough that it won't be a problem."
"Convenience," Peter declared, one fist giving a sarcastic jab at the ceiling, "woo!"
"Thanks, legs," Tony replied, sounding sincerely thankful.
Morrigan hummed approvingly, her emerald gaze sweeping over Chun-Li. "They are fantastic, aren't they? Long and supple is such a lovely combination."
Focus Chunnie. The Interpol agent thought. Focus on the girl who needs help. After all, it would be a shame if both of them were to die. Horribly. Right now. No, just focus on the girl, who needs someone responsible to watch out for her. Because it's the right thing to do...even if she said I-NO! Focus on the right thing! Focus!
"No problem," She managed to say, politely ignoring the way her fingernails were digging into her palms.
That only left Dante. Tony simply raised a vaguely miffed eyebrow at the demon hunter. Peter had been kind enough to describe, or rat out in Dantese, the earlier pre-inferno goings on with the Ferrari, and Tony's "nobody wrecks my things but me" clause was still in force.
"The kid's kind of a pain," Dante said, nonchalantly catching the empty soda can the half succubus threw at him. "But so was I when I was that age. Besides, 'demon hunter' is my job title and you guys seems to have a lot of demons after you. And since I missed my shot at Hauzer..." The demon hunter cast a petulant look at Peter.
"Godzookie," The webslinger corrected with a grin most smug. "The T-Rex that I beat up, single-handedly I might add, is named Godzookie, and nobody is telling me otherwise."
The son of Sparda snorted. "Since web head over there beat up the T-Rex with the kid's show character name, I think I'll stick around for a while too. Trish and Lady won't miss me, and with any luck, something bigger and better will come along. And I still need to try that pizza joint."
"Oh, you're such a sweet heart, Dante." Morrigan cooed. "It'll be so nice to have some options around the house." She cast a knowing look at Tony. "Variety is the spice of life, after all."
Peter and Chun-Li exchanged concerned glances, while Dante merely rolled his eyes. "No, no options. And this ain't a charity deal." He turned his attention to Tony. "So, I'm thinkin' five grand will do for a babysitting gig."
"'Babysitting,'" Lilith, whose appearance had settled at roughly fourteen, echoed darkly and started looking for something else to hurl at him.
"You kicked the door off of one of my cars," Tony grumbled at the demon hunter.
Dante shrugged, unfazed. "Eh, alright. Twenty-five hundred?"
Stark, still in the Mk. VI armor, drummed his fingers on the kitchen counter he leaned on, considering. "One use of the private jet. And I get a free shot at you."
Morrigan giggled. "Branching out are you?" Tony's dour look only made her giggle more. "I'm teasing. Though, if you are in the mood to experiment..."
"Hush dear, I'm negotiating," Stark chidingly cut her off. He turned his eyes back to the demon hunter. "So, what do you say?"
"So, what, you wanna hit me?" Dante chuckled at the idea, stood up from the dining room chair and spread his arms open. "Alright, sure. One free shot. Come on."
"Oh, not right now. You don't get to know when it's coming." Tony replied with a small grin.
The demon hunter snorted at this, though his grin didn't appear overly concerned. "Uh-huh."
Stark clapped his hands together. "Alright, so plan approved? Yeah? Alright then, I need to grab a few things from the workshop to bring along, then I'll bring the car around and we can hit the ol' dusty trail. I'll be right back." He shot Lilith a look. "Give me a hand Lil'?"
The half succubus hopped to, beaming at the new nickname, and followed her father downstairs to the workshop. This left Peter, Chun-Li and Dante all alone with Morrigan. The succubus smiled pleasantly at them and leaned back in her chair, making very sure she looked as alluring as possible for her "options" as she did so.
"So...how is everybody? I'd be happy to help with any concerns you might have."
"Actually yeah," Dante said and leaned forward, now glowering at the succubus queen. "What the hell is this 'costume party' crap I've been hearing about?"
The Interpol agent put a hand over her face and sank into her seat. "Oh god."
Glass crunched underfoot as Tony stepped through the window Lilith had wrecked and back into his workshop, Lilith ambling in behind him. He gave the small pool of melted ice, scotch and glass a forlorn look, and decided that he'd probably pick up where he'd left off once they got to Stark Tower.
"What will you be requiring for your relocation, sir?" JARVIS inquired through the speakers.
"Gonna need you to transfer over to Stark Tower when we get there, for one. Having an extra set of eyes is always good. Other than that, I'll also need the schematics I drew up for that side project I was messing with. I think now might be the time to finish it." Tony paused, considering the workshop for a moment. "Actually, make another copy of those schematics but scale everything down by about a sixth."
"I'll have the relevant runtimes transferred over upon your arrival, sir. Is there anything else?"
"Yeah, I'm going to grab what I have of the new prototype. Like I said, might be time to finish it, all things considered."
"Very well Mr. Stark."
Stark strolled over to the back corner of the workshop, where a large, vaguely human shape lay on a metal table. Lilith wondered at the green bed sheet that'd been haphazardly tossed over the shape as she followed Tony.
"You said you needed help?" The half succubus asked, giving her father a curious look.
"Yep. Need a second pair of arms to help me lug this into the car," Tony replied. "And a second opinion would be nice too."
He grabbed a handful of the green bed sheet and with a quick swipe, pulled it off revealing an Iron Man armor. This one was incomplete, most obviously evidenced by its lack of legs and arc reactor. It was also unpainted, still sporting the chrome finish that all of the armors had before they could get a coat of what Tony liked to call "personality".
"What do you think?"
Lilith frowned at the armor, feeling a little confused. "I don't think it'll fit you, dad."
That was a reasonable observation. What there was of the armor looked built for someone of noticeably smaller dimensions than Stark. It also looked more feminine, with a more rounded breast plate and thinner arms.
Tony snorted amusedly at the idea of him wearing this new armor. "Yeah, drag isn't really my style. This," he waved at the suit for emphasis, "isn't for me. It's kind of a present, actually."
Lilith's mouth dropped open, and she turned hopeful red eyes at her father. "A present? You mean..."
"It's a surprise."
"Buuuuuutttttt," Lilith drawled, her smile turning sly, "is the surprise maybe for..."
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you kiddo," Tony chided.
The half succubus pouted at him. Her father crossed his arms at her in response, giving his first shot at the traditional parental 'Look'.
"Oh no. That's not working. Not on me, Lil'. They had to put a plaque next to my heart to prove I have one. They even made a t-shirt out of it."
Lilith was about to try the puppy dog eyes gambit, but she stopped as a different plan started to spin in her mind. This was a mystery, and as Lilith had learned from something called Scooby Doo earlier that morning, a mystery could only be solved with clues. And I don't think daddy will fess up if I catch him in a net or something. So...I need to investigate. Now how can I…Jinkies! That's it! Here goes!
Lilith looked up at Tony and launched her gambit. "Then, can I help?"
The billionaire felt himself blink as that request attempted to process.
"You...what?" He asked, because Tony Stark was nothing if not eloquent.
"Can I help?"
Tony was honestly unprepared for the hurricane of emotions that single request kicked up. Though the inventor often looked to the powers and abilities of various meta humans for inspiration, the actual designing and construction of armors was exclusively the field of himself with the assistance of JARVIS. The workshop, any workshop really, was Tony Stark's haven, his place to shine above all others, and it had been since he had first watched his father take a box of scraps and create something extraordinary out of it. As a child, he desperately wanted to be included in his father's work, to attempt to bond with the old man over their mutual passion, but Howard Stark's attention had been firmly placed in the company rather than at home. Oh, there had been occasional father son projects, perhaps fixing up an old car or the like. But he'd always viewed such things as second fiddle to helping his father in an honest to god lab where he could really show the old man what he could do.
In a way, he'd hated Howard Stark for not letting him into that world. He'd hated the man for dying in that freak car accident just shy of his twenty-second birthday, robbing Tony of the chance to show them what he was really capable of. He vividly remembered asking his father exactly the same question just shy of turning seven years old, and that memory overlapped in his mind with the current situation. He also remembered how things had eventually ended up between himself and his father, one dead and the other trying to prove to the world what he hadn't had time to prove to his dad.
In that moment, everything that was Anthony Edward Stark vowed that it wouldn't be the same with his own kid. He couldn't have helped himself if he tried. Tony reached out, not daring to speak because hiccupping just wasn't his style, and gave Lilith's pink-purple hair an affectionate rub. The girl squeaked in surprise and shot him a confused look. This wasn't the reaction she had been expecting.
"Ye-," Tony cleared his throat, determinedly steering himself away from the frothing, jagged rock filled rapids of the 'Parental Moment'. "Yeah. Sure, you can help. Just follow my lead, alright kiddo? I don't think any of us would be happy if you zapped yourself through a wall."
The bemused grin she'd been wearing flew off, replaced with a genuine smile on her pixie features. "You mean it?"
"Sure do. I've been through my share of walls, and unless you're the Hulk, they don't have a lot of give in them."
"That's not what I..."
Tony grinned. "I know. Just handing out fair warning. But yeah, you can help once we get to Stark Tower." He slid around to the back of the incomplete armor, tossed the green bed sheet over one shoulder, and grabbed hold. "Hell, if you really want, I can teach you how to drive too. Since you're not quite sixteen yet, we'll probably have to start small. I think I have some motorcycles somewhere at the tower. Probably in storage. Give me a hand?"
Lilith's eyes lit up at the prospect. Her ride with Peter had been among the highlights of her time on Earth thus far, and to imagine doing it herself was almost enough to make her weak in the knees. Doing her best to focus, she hurried over to the armor, still marked as 'surprise' in her mind, and lifted. And promptly let out a surprised gasp at how heavy it was. With that, Tony began guiding them toward a large vehicle near the back of the workshop.
"Come on," Tony shot a grin at his struggling daughter/potential lab apprentice. "Believe in me who believes in you."
"That…hup…doesn't…hah… make sense!" Lilith protested, desperately trying to keep the thing off her feet.
"Yeah, guess not. I heard that somewhere. Oprah, I think."
Ten minutes, and one very long and mortifying conversation on the reasonable pros and cons of costume parties, later saw the majority of the group on the front lawn of the house. However, one very obvious party was missing.
"Uh...where'd the dinosaur go?" Chun-Li asked, giving the grounds a good scan. Aside from the obvious marks in the lawn, showing where the monster had eventually fallen, she came up empty-handed. "Dinosaurs don't just disappear."
"Eh," Dante shrugged, driving his sword into the ground and leaning on it. "Probably went off the scare some Japanese people. Or it exploded. A lot of demons do that, y'know. Or they turn into something I can kick more ass with."
"It's fled back into Makai." Morrigan said coolly, ignoring Dante's quip. "Hauzer isn't dead, merely defeated. Likely it has run back to whoever summoned it in the first place." She frowned. "Normally, I'd be able to sense who it was. Every demon has a unique...flavor to them. But I cannot find anything I recognize, other than a typical retrieval spell. Lu did say it was sorcery he sensed, and that can be used by anybody who knows how."
"So, we have no idea who sent it," Peter summed up. His Spider-Man mask was still securely on his head, for 'security reasons'. "Peachy."
A moment later, Tony showed up with their transportation.
"Well," Chun-Li said as a giant red and gold sport utility vehicle pulled up to the front of Casa Del Tony Stark, "that's subtle."
"You should see the plane," Peter replied with a chuckle. "The nose is painted to look like Iron Man's face. The eyes light up and everything. And it has dancers."
The Interpol agent gave her web slinging partner a look. "...Dancers?"
Peter held up his hands. "Don't give me that look. I know about it because Ms. Marvel called him a pig the first time she heard about it. Then Tony lent her the plane so she could make a flight out to L.A. and staffed it with a bunch of Chip and Dales guys. Carol hasn't said boo to him since."
Chun-Li rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her. Then her eye caught the vanity plates on the SUV. "'Funvee'?"
"Rhodey's idea of a joke," Tony explained as he stepped out of the vehicle. "His sense of humor is terrible."
"I'll say. It's an Escalade, not a Humvee," Dante pointed out.
"Yeah," Stark replied, giving the vanity plate a small frown. "No more Humvees for me, thank you. People shoot at them, way to stuffy, people shoot a lot at them, and the sound systems are awful. Pack it in everybody. Dusty trail and all. Oh and ah..." Tony cast a slightly abashed glance back into the SUV at Lilith. The girl looked vaguely triumphant. "We're going to hit a drive-thru, if anybody wants anything."
Morrigan glanced at her child and raised an eyebrow at the father. "Tony?"
"It wasn't my fault."
"Tony." Morrigan said again, this time a little slower, more insistent.
"It was...kind of my fault?" He cast a suspicious look the succubus queen's way. "Have you been taking lessons from Pepper? Because you're sounding weirdly like her right now." He gestured to his face. "All you need are the freckles."
Morrigan folded her arms and simply stared at him.
"Oh, that's a classic Pepper move. You really have been taking lessons," Tony said. After another moment of silent staring he rolled his eyes. "Alright, so I had her help me put some lab stuff, which you are not allowed to look at, in the back of the car. Seriously. We're talking pain of death type stuff here."
"You're in your armor," The succubus helpfully pointed out.
"Yeah."
"You could have lifted it up and put it in yourself. Without any help."
"You know, that's just what she said, right after I did just that?" He shrugged, looking largely unrepentant. "But she said she wanted to help. So I let her start of small."
"Hey, Tonyigan," Dante hollered from his spot in the car. Evidently, the rest of the group had filed into the funvee while the genius and the succubus engaged in something that normal couples referred to as 'a Talk'. "We heading out or not?"
"'Tonyigan'? Did you seriously just say that?" Peter asked the demon hunter. "I may have to revoke your man card right here and now."
"Trish loves those entertainment news rags. I have to hear about them. Every. Day."
The webslinger grimaced. "Ouch."
Both Tony and Morrigan stepped into the SUV, the elder Stark behind the wheel, and the succubus in the front passenger seat.
"I just teased her. Just a little," Tony was saying as he closed the door. The Iron Avenger cast a look into the back of the vehicle. "Isn't that right kiddo?"
"Something to eat, and we're even," Lilith replied pleasantly.
"See? Everything is fine. Cool. So cool that school is a non-issue."
Morrigan hummed in acknowledgement. Tony turned the key and the funvee roared to life. The radio also roared to life.
"Going down, party time! My friends are gonna be there too, yeah! I'm on the highway to hell! On the highway to hell! Highway to hell! I'm on the highway to hell!"
All eyes in the SUV went right to Tony Stark, who allowed a vaguely embarrassed sounding chuckle.
"That wasn't intentional."
It was with a large explosive burst of azure light that Arkham appeared once more in the human world. Glowing red and blue eyes rapidly took in his surroundings. If the once human, now demon, didn't miss his guess, his portal had landed him in a bank. It was dark save the pale white light of the moon streaming through the glass doors at the front of the room, and the floor was some faux marble, meant to look impressive to the unobservant. Several ferns and other nameless potted plants adorned the floor and walls. But it was a painting on the wall that truly confirmed Arkham's location, and made him smile with anticipation.
The painting depicted a tall, well-built man in something resembling a suit of armor. It covered him from head-to-toe, with familiar-yet-cold brown eyes regarding Arkham behind a blank metal mask. A large, green cloak billowed around the man, painted to seem as triumphant and impressive as possible.
With his return to the human world, the impending civil war in Makai was but a distant irrelevancy.
"Latveria," he said, savoring the word as he turned to regard his current minion.
Bhaal, the Red Arremer, allowed himself a moment to drink in the sight of the human world. This was the first time one of his kind had tread in this realm since mighty Firebrand. To be the first Red Arremer since that hero to set foot in this world was...intoxicating almost. It brought him that much closer to his idol, and that fact in and of itself was something to relish. Remembering himself, and his purpose here, Bhaal fell to one knee and addressed his master.
"I am honored to have been brought with you, master. What do you command of me?"
Arkham smirked, slowly turning his gaze to rear of the bank. "I have need of other, more powerful forces. The prides were useful, but have consistently proven ill matched for other tasks. For now, some...outside help is in order."
With a loud bang, Bhaal's master was enveloped in a swirling torrent of darkness. And just as quickly it dissipated, revealing the master's alter ego. In place of Arkham's cloak, was a loose, long sleeved black tunic, its purple sleeves and edges deliberately tattered. His pants were tighter, ending in a pair of floppy purple shoes. Arkham's skin was chalk white, with long, bloody finger nails, and his nose was now a long comical beak. A fool's double tailed hat sat on his head, black and purple to match the rest of the outfit. Completing the picture was a short black scepter bearing an emerald head in his hand.
Arkham, now disguised, leaned down to the red gargoyle demon as an unnaturally wide smile graced his pallid face. "So, I'm thinking we pull the ol' train job on this place, and see who we can convince to give us a helping hand."
Bhaal couldn't help but marvel at the transformation. Even the master's voice was different, the calm, scholarly tones now replaced by the jovial, irreverent voice of a clown. Or perhaps a jester. The master used his newly summoned scepter to gently push Bhaal's long face up so they could look eye-to-eye. The red and blue eyes that always made the Red Arremer vaguely uncomfortable were all that remained unchanged.
"So, what say we nick into the back and knock this place over, eh gargoyle boy?"
Even by Manhattan standards, Stark Tower was an impressive sight; the seventy stories of glass and steel stood proudly alongside other landmarks like the Empire State and the Baxter Building, though with significantly more style. It mirrored Tony's personal futurist sensibilities in its design and construction, resembling a large, thin shark fin. In the past, it had been used as a backup base for the Avengers, but that had changed after the super human Civil War. Nowadays, it was solely the baby of one Anthony Edward Stark.
"That is one hell of a compensator ya got there," Dante whistled as they pulled into the main underground garage.
"Yeah, all the glass is mirrored. I don't want anybody who isn't worthy to bask in my glory. Especially not without my permission." Tony smirked, buzzing the group into the main elevator.
"Wow, nothing?" Dante asked Morrigan when she failed to comment on the last quip. "Figured you'd be all over that one."
"Low hanging fruit. Sometimes its just too easy."
"I bet," Chun-Li mumbled, which got a knowing grin out of the succubus.
"Flatterer."
A few moments and a brief stroll brought the group to the main lobby. The decor was all future-centric, finely polished silvers, and bronzes, with the middle of the room dominated by a massive circular leather couch. A few smartly dressed young receptionists, all quite pretty, greeted them pleasantly from behind an outrageously expensive looking wood desk. Aside from them, the lobby was empty save an older man in a dark gray jumpsuit who was mopping a patch of the black marble floor.
"Hey Stan," Tony said as they passed, clapping the old janitor on the shoulder with one armored hand. He'd driven the whole way there still suited up. "Any news running around I should know about?"
The man turned, and smiled lightly behind a thin white mustache that matched his hair. "Only something about super heroes being in New York. Can you imagine?"
The billionaire grinned at their old joke. "In New York? Never in a million years. Keep up the good work Stan."
"You too Mr. Stark." Stan waved as Tony and company stepped into the express elevator.
Said elevator was nearly as spacious as a college dorm room. As they stepped on, Chun-Li caught Peter staring at the janitor, his body language suggesting he felt something was amiss.
The Interpol agent bumped her partner's shoulder with her own. "Hey, you alright?"
"Yeah," Peter replied from behind his Spider-Man mask, though he sounded distracted. "Just get the feeling like that guy is following me. I swear, the janitor at my high school looked just like him." With a shake of his head, the webslinger turned his attention elsewhere.
As the doors closed, Chun-Li saw the janitor turn, a grin on his face that easily reached up to his bespectacled eyes. The old man raised a hand, folded his middle and index finger into the palm, and mouthed something.
If Chun-Li didn't know any better, the old guy had just mouthed 'thwip, thwip' at her. Wonder what that was about.
"Hey JARVIS, you make the jump alright?" Tony asked the ceiling of the elevator.
"Yes sir. I have successful migrated my principle runtimes to the tower. Just as I have done no less than two hundred and thirty four times in the past," the AI responded wearily.
"Gotta make sure JARVIS. Never know when your old age will catch up to you. And if you try and go Hal9000 on me, I'll have to blast you. That'd be a shame."
"Rest assured sir, if I did plan to suffocate all of you, I wouldn't tell you about it," JARVIS replied. A moment of uncomfortable silence filled the wake of that statement. "My apologies, that was a joke. I must endeavor to work on my delivery."
The billionaire snorted. "You need to stop hanging around those ENCOM computers. They're a bad influence."
"Uh, sorry," Dante interrupted. "But did the computer just say it might kill us? Cause if so, I'm just going to shoot it and call it a day."
"That will be most unnecessary Mr. Dante. And in any event, my CPU is quite safe from any attempt you would make on it. My creator is bull headed, not stupid."
The demon hunter leaned against a wall, giving the speakers a petulant look. "Like that'd stop me."
"However," JARVIS continued, "we have a more pressing matter. It seems that you have a visitor, sir. A fairly...familiar one. I'm afraid I cannot say exactly who due to an override in my programming that has been activated. At the risk of sounding unintentionally coy, sir, I can say that their agency has suffered from a rather overly long name in the past."
"Oh boy," Tony replied and the face shield of his armor slide down, once again turning him into Iron Man.
Chun-Li groaned in frustration. "Doesn't anyone ever call you?"
"Nope. Nobody respects office hours these days. Alright, let's roll on the red carpet then. Guess an hour off was too much to hope for." Iron Man grumbled.
Dante pulled out his pistols with a flourish and pointed them at the door. "Hope it's something good. I gotta work off that burger."
Morrigan nonchalantly slid in front of Lilith, which got a small pout out of the girl. Peter and Chun-Li both sunk into fighting stances, ready to burst out of the elevator and ruin the day of any ambushers.
With a cheery tone, the doors opened, revealing not a team of assassins, or a mob of demons, but a single man in a smartly tailored black business suit. The man turned, expression deadpan in the face of the assorted heroes and demons. Iron Man cursed and lowered his already charging repulsor arm. Peter instantly relaxed at seeing the guest, and Chun-Li hesitantly followed his lead. Dante simply holstered his guns with a laugh.
"Coulson," Tony grumbled.
I'd like to thank both Dealer and Shyft of for being awesome beta readers and great minds to bounce ideas around with. You guys make this that much better each time you throw your hats into the ring.
As with all fan fiction, I own nothing but the premise. Everything else is entirely owned by Marvel Comics or Capcom respectively.