Chapter 4
Reunions and Confusion
Universe B
(Richard's POV)
I've fought aliens from another universe, a stone in my brain that pushes the laws of physics, dealt with more legal shit then I care about, got trapped in another universe and just took on a militia of assholes armed with my own technology. But this has got to be, by far and without a doubt in my mind, the craziest thing that has happened to me yet. I'm drinking tea on a folded out chair, armor tucked away in the corner to conserve power, across the table from an elderly woman who claims to be my mother. We were in the ruins of a Egyptian dig site. Walls littered with ancient writing, small cot set up in the corner, the soldier was outside doing a perimeter sweep while I talked with my 'mother'. So far no warning bells are ringing in my gut just yet. I'll be honest, this isn't the first time someone claimed to be my mother. Gold diggers find out I'm Tony Stark's son and they jump the gun to say I'm their son. Half of which Dad has never met before in his life surprisingly. JARVIS and ATHENA confirmed I wasn't their kid their infront of them half the time with a simple DNA test. I know I put a miniature DNA tester in my suit, in case a moment exactly like this were to pop up. Happens a lot more often than people would think. The elder sniper dipped the tea bag a few times before talking a sip.
"You think I'm your son? Who has been missing and assumed dead for sixteen years, then suddenly out of the blue popped into your life once more after being a complete badass? Am I getting all this right or am I missing something?" I asked drinking slowly from my fancy cup of Earl Grey tea. Few things this woman has told me makes absolutely no sense. First off, how in the hell could I be here son if I am from another universe entirely? Second; even if I was born in this universe that I am now calling universe B, how the hell did I get to universe A in the first place . . . . . why the hell am I even here in the first place now that I think about it. My head hurts. Too many questions, now enough answers.
"You didn't miss a thing and heard right. I'm fairly certain your AI friend would confirm that." She replied politely setting her cup down. Found out her name is Ana. Good to know, I'll be sure to remember it. ATHENA was analyzing each of our DNA from the armor. Blood, hair, spit, everything we could test to leave absolutely no room for error. So far none of the results have popped up yet. Could be good or bad, I'm not entirely sure. Never taken her this long to prove someone wrong. Normally takes all of twenty seconds. This time it is taking more like half an hour, she must he inspecting it in absolute detail. All the while, I'm sitting here having tea and eating some type of cookies.
"Okay, I'll humor you for a minute. Let's say the tests came up positive and you were my long lost mother. What's the plan after that?" I asked scratching the back of my head. ATHENA's chip has been a little itchy lately. I have no idea why. Whole thing is integrated with my skull and won't come out from me scratching it out. Not easily anyway.
"Just talking for now, figure out what my boy has been up to all these years." Ana answered. I still can't get past the voice she has, sounds so familiar I can't shake the feeling. Every time she talks it feels like I'm talking to someone from my past, an old friend in a sense. I nod and take a sip of my own tea. "So, what do you do for a living? From your suit, I assume engineering or machinist like job." She asked.
"I invent new technology for the military and other fields. Missiles, defense platforms, few drones for hazardous environments. I was going to school for a degree for thermal-nuclear physics. Before I was torn from my world and brought here, I was working with South Korea on a Mechanized defense system to counter North Korea's constant nuclear threats. Haven't heard a single peep from them since those machines began paroling the boarder. Still needed to calibrate the micro-missiles to work right, sometimes they fire out of sync or detonate prematurely. Draws too much computing resources from the defense matrix to operate at optimal levels." I answered propping my feet up on a crate beside me.
"You got a good plan for your future. Also sounds very expensive." She noted.
"Oh you have no idea. Tony Stark, the man who adopted me, is a multi-billionaire that makes way more money than he can spend at once." I answered laughing a little bit as a random memory popped up. "I remember when we began the Iron man project. We bounced ideas around like pin balls in an arcade. I suggest one thing, he improves upon it and draws up schematics. I improved upon a few of his systems, he helped me calibrate my shields." I explained. She hummed like she accepted my answer as the truth, taking another sip of her tea. She brings her cup down to speak only for ATHENA to interrupt with a loud DING! DING! DING! . . . . I really need to program better social manners into her.
"Pardon me to interrupt Sir, but the DNA analyzer just finished analyzing everything." ATHENA noted from the suit's speakers. Had to sacrifice a few percent from my personal reactor so ATHENA could power the DNA analyzer. Going to need a new reactor for both my suit and myself soon. Mercy's hands might not be small enough to fit down the tube. Hana's might on the other hand, seeing how she is both younger and smaller in size than Mercy. Yet Mercy has more experience in the medical field. I'm not sure who I trust more to, quite literally, have their hands around my heart. Plus I doubt Haha would want to stick her hands in a goo filled mess down the tube. Mercy might but I'm not sure her hands are small enough. She would have to knock me out than surgically replace the ARC reactor. While Hana would be more straight forward and be done a whole lot quicker. Tough call to make.
"So A, What's the news? Is she even remotely related or no?" I asked sipping my tea. Doubtful that she is my mother, I can not think of a single logical way to back up her claims. . . .
"Analysis shows that her genome matches approximately 56.472% to your own. Master Stark, meet your long lost mother or aunt." ATHENA informed.
. . . Also the two of us have little in common. There is absolutely no possible way this woman is. . . . Wait, what did ATHENA just say! Did she say this woman was my mother? 56.472% match. The tests never came back that high before. . . . EVER! This is by far the closest any woman has ever came to being related to me genetically. Previous record was 12.3456%. This woman shattered all previous records and gave all those other women the middle finger genetically.
"So her claims are true. She really is my mother?" I asked sounding completely unsure of myself now.
"I am 110% sure. Cross examined everything as far as the micro DNA analyzers can go. All came back with the same results. She is either your mother or your relative in some fashion." ATHENA replied as I looked back at Ana in a new light. I can't count the amount of times I've been wrong, but I can use one hand to count how many times ATHENA has been wrong. She looks at things in a lot more detail I can never think of, more angles than I can see, she is rarely ever wrong about anything . . . except pineapples on pizza. That shit shouldn't be allowed anywhere near my holy stuffed crust or deep dish. ATHENA confirmed it, this woman is my mother. So then who is my real father? Never was curious till now. Always brushed it off as they didn't want me and left me to die on the streets. But if I was taken from this woman at such a young age, who took me and why?
"Mom?" I asked Ana as she pulled me into a bear hug with the biggest grin I've seen on a old woman. I tensed up at first and dropped my tea from the sudden physical contact. I hesitantly hugged her back as I took in this new information. Tony hugs me when I do something good or when he's proud of me.
"A mother never forgets her children, Ramses. No matter how long it's been since I've last held you." She said softly pulling away from the hug. "You've grown so much. Practically already a man." I blinked a few times as I shook my head to clear my thought. Okay, I'm letting her know a few things right now before we get all emotional and other bullshit.
"First off; The name's Richard, not Ramses. I may be your lost son but I'm firmly sticking to being called Richard. Name I grew up with and I am well beyond use to. Rich for short or 'Blue Steel' as a code name in battle." I explained. "Second; It's going to take me some time to absorb all this in. Closest thing I've had to a mother is Tony's girlfriend Pepper." I explained rubbing away the headache forming in my forehead. "And third; Is there a way I can contact you? I need to get back to the Spanish coast soon to recharge my suit. ATHENA can't hold the charge within it for much longer and that suit is a pain in the ass to drag around when it is out of power."
"I understand." Ana replied shouldering her rifle as we got up. "I'll take you to your transport ship. We'll talk again another time. Be sure to tell Winston I said 'hi and I'll contact them soon'." Glad she understand how big of a pain in my ass it is to hull that armor around when the battery is dead. Deep down, it feels good knowing I finally found my real mother. Granted I never was looking too hard to begin with. Curious as to how Dad would react to Ana . . . If I know him by now, he'd probably flirt with her and most likely get a grenade shoved up his ass.
Hours later
I sat in the drop ship tossing a basketball into a wall. Armor powered down in the corner by the hoop, inside looked big enough to fit a Mark 44 no problem. Might even be able to carry it if the thusters on this thing are as powerful as they sound. Everything is happening all at once and I just need some time to absorb it all. First I'm taken from my own world and spat out into the middle of a fight, then I wake up to a English speaking gorilla and a cute Asian MECH pilot. Shortly after I get examined by a woman in an angle power suit. After that I went out and kicked the ass of a bunch of idiots who were using my tech to make innocent lives a living hell. THEN I find my long lost biological mother and we have a chat with one another over tea, and also find out that I have an older sister in this universe as well. Now I'm on my way back 'home' after a long and stressful day. Yeah that is a LOT to take in on such a short notice. I'm going to need some time to sort it all out.
"What am I going to do?" I asked myself out loud throwing the basket ball once again. It bounced off the wall and back my way for me to repeat the process. Soft rumble of the engines were all I could hear in the empty shell of a drop ship. Winston's AI friend Athena, not to be confused with my ATHENA, is piloting the ship back. I glanced out the window to watch the sun set over what I think is the Mediterranean sea. Look pretty much the same as when I flew over it earlier today.
"Something the matter sir?" ATHENA asked in her curious voice tone.
"What are we going to do with ourselves A?" I asked holding onto the basketball this time instead of throwing it back to the wall. "Sure we got a place to stay but we're seriously screwed everywhere else. We know nothing about this world, we got little to no resources at our disposal, nothing in the means of money. I can't afford the material to fix and maintain the suit, can't get what we need to keep the weapon systems stocked, hell I wouldn't even put us in range to even afford a new reactor for me to live. Particle accelerators and extremely rare metals are not cheap. Where would I even begin to look for Vibranium here, let alone acquire some for a new reactor?" I replied. I could 'feel' the rubber molecules inside, all begging me to change them, all tormenting me to use that curse. "Face the facts A, we're screwed. My reactor will give out some day soon and then what will we do? I die, our armor gets set to self destruct and you get wiped. World here might never remember us, or even realize we existed. We're way out of our element." I replied resting my forehead on the rubber ball, eyes closed as my mind thought heavily on our situation. I can't come up with a single logical way for us to survive longer then a few weeks. Without a new reactor and soon, I might as well throw myself out of this drop ship. Save Winston some time cleaning up my dead body. Could hook my heart up to a car battery but who would want to lug something like that around everywhere. Not going the pace maker route if I can help it.
"Sir, remember when I was 'born'?" ATHENA asked.
"How can I forget. Dad said you would have been lucky to survive your first week with how unstable your matrix was. Had to completely isolate that portion of your 'personality' and separate it from you manually. Still have the scar from your first outburst when I programmed emotions into you. Guess I shouldn't have added Anger and Joy at the same time." I remembered raising my head from the ball. Our first attempt creating an AI using a infinity stone. Unlike Ultron, ATHENA was wildly unstable in her first few days of 'birth'. JARVIS couldn't contain her and neither could Banner or Dad. Had to resort to keeping her on a extremely closed connection just so she wouldn't fragment into the depths of the internet and crash the entire world basically. Dad and Banner said she wouldn't last long with her state, little they could do. But I refused to quit. I buckled down and worked for days on end to stabilize her. It worked but she lacked a personality for a while. Which is why she didn't end up like Ultron, that part of her doesn't exist anymore . . . . or at least it shouldn't. In her early days, she went by two names. ATHENA and Technovore. Technovore was a virus that was a byproduct of her when she was 'born'. She would often spit between these two personalities and fragment out occasionally. Had to isolate Technovore on a powerful flash drive and throw it in a volcano to be sure it wouldn't come back. Was a massive pain to contain and cure, but she ha been stable for the past few years. Can't ask for much more.
"Yet here I am. 'Alive' and fully functional. When my odds of survival were low, you pulled though and kept me whole." She replied. "You never rested, you refused to eat or sleep until I was stable enough to operate on my own. You kept me 'alive' master Stark. If you were able figure out how to fix my fragile and unstable matrix, you can certainly get though this." ATHENA, how I wish I had your sense of hopefulness. I don't have that luxury. She is still learning how things work, I already understand how tough the road ahead is. Not going to be easy in the slightest. First hurtle is getting a particle accelerator, or creating one. With the Infinity stone it shouldn't be too hard, just going to be extremely taxing on my end. The more I use the little bastard, the more exhausted I become. With my personal Arc reactor on the low teens, I don't think I can afford to spend time napping between uses. As a last resort I will, but I don't want to. Afraid of what would happen if I lost control at my new 'home'.
What would they think of me? Power like that of a god yet I have little control over it. They'll probably be scared at first, then most likely try to use my power for their own needs, and probably a few will try to kill me out of fear. I wouldn't imagine it any other way. Sadly it is something I've honestly grown use to.
Universe A
Busan, South Korea
4:56pm
(Tony's POV)
"Mister Stark, we've been looking forward to your arrival. My name is Wu Si'u. Head of the MEKA division in South Korea." A skinny korean man greeted as I got off my private Jet. Natasha right behind me posing as my secretary for the moment. FRIDAY did a little digging into the MEKA project we heard on the video feed of Richard's only known possible location. Apparently he made frequent visits here, wasn't even a secret either. Just on his suit flight log ATHENA uploads to the Avenger Tower's data banks for us to keep track of where we were at and for how long. I never look at them all that often, never needed to till today. Government loves to keep track of where the Infinity stone was at all times, was either that or have him confined to the New York area. I know first hand that Richard does not like to be cooped up for too long, not that I blame him.
We walked down the ramp of the private jet into a private runway by the ocean. Looked like a military base if the random camo tanker trucks were any indication. I decided to don one of my less intimidating suits. Simple black jacket, red tie, expensive pants and shoes. Natasha looked close to how she did when we first meet. Hair up, white shirt, skirt, pen and clipboard in hand. She already warned me that if I tried flirting with her, I'd be much less of a man by the end of the day. I am not willing to test her attitude on the subject right now.
"Pleasure to meet you Wu. My son has told me great things about your MEKA project. Figured I'd come by to see if his claims were true." I replied. Not completely lying. Richard has told me about a MECH project he worked on a few months back to help keep North Korea's nuclear threats at bay, at the time I didn't think much of it. Congratulated him on his success and gave him a thumbs up. Now that I look back on it, I should have asked more questions instead of brushing it off.
"Richard was a big help in the project." The little man answered walking us down the runway. "We came to him asking for help on the MEKA units, offered a great deal of money for his help." He answered opening the door. I walked in with Natasha following shortly behind me, with her pretending to jot down notes as he talked. "We ran into several problems power wise. They required to be hooked up to a cable or powered by batteries but their range would be extremely limited either way. He created a mini-cold fission reactor to power it. He improved the energy usage and installed the micro-missiles as a anti-armor option. Ahead we have our latest prototype of the Mark IV MEKA drone." He informed as we passed a large window. A rather large machine was being tested before us. Tiny legs yet it had massive body, twin cannons on it's arms and camera's on the face. Two antennas stuck out of it's back giving it a rabbit like appearance, and the whole thing was black, like carbon fiber or onyx. It walked forward and fired it's cannons at a steel target. Green bolts of energy raced out of the end of the barrels and hit the steel target with a shotgun like effect. After it fired the guns, two pods on it's shoulders popped up, it launched a volley of mini missiles and demolished the target. I must say, I am a little bit impressed, and it takes a lot to impress me. Richard did a good job on these machines. Wouldn't have made them drones but he did a good job.
"Damn, Richard helped make that?" I asked pointing to the rabbit machine. The operator on the inside gave the machine a different set of instructions. It tucked it;s limbs in and jumped a few times, wiggling it's rear like a rabbit would. Kind of funny actually. I let out a amused chuckle as the machine returned to a fighting stance.
"He had a sense of humor programming the MEKA's. We joked about how they look like rabbits a little. He added that into it's matrix for shits and giggles." Wu answered motioning for us to keep moving. "They're still in the prototype stage, all the features haven't been added yet. A Defense matrix to shoot down incoming projectiles, boosters to fly for a short time, and maybe something more." I am more impressed now with Richard's progress on this. I would do the same thing. Just for the laughs. What is more insulting than knowing you got your ass kicked by a patrol drone that hops like a bunny?
"I think Mister Stark could help with some of the bugs." Natasha replied. I looked back at her with a eyebrow raised. "With Richard sick, don't you think it's only the fatherly thing to do to help with his project?" That's our cover story? Richard is sick. Well if it gets us to my son, than I guess the story could be that he is down with Swine flu or some other bullshit. Well I am curious at the kind of job Richard did on the MEKA's program wise. Could give us an idea as to where he is.
"Guess I could take a crack a it." I answered Wu smiled brightly. "Cancel all my appointments for the evening Miss Scarlet. I might be here a while. Did Richard leave any notes on the project?"
Universe B
Watchpoint:Gilbraltar
I stepped out of the hovering airship over the landing pad to my new 'home'.Winston and Mercy were there waiting for me. Sun set long before I got here, the cold of night fell upon the old base. I can make out the illuminated Spanish coast from here, cargo ships heading into port or heading out. The looks on both Winston and Mercy's faces were mixed. On one hand, they looked proud that I selflessly risked my ass to save innocents. While pissed that I could have killed myself and probably got a target painted on Overwatch's backs.
"I know what I did was risky but I couldn't sit back and let those assholes use my tech to. . . . " I barely got out before the Angel embraced me in a hug, scaring the daylights out of me. What is with everyone here and the hugging? I'm not that pudgy am I?
"We're glad you did the right thing Richard." Mercy replied. "What we're both mad about is that you left without telling us where you were going. Fareeha called us asking if we sent someone to take care of the situation. Overwatch legally can't send agents into the field, we had to say that you were a lone wolf. She'll be here tomorrow to interrogate you personally." Great, just how I always wanted my week to go. First I meet my long lost mother, then my long lost older sister is coming to 'talk' with me. There must be a God or something here throwing these curve balls my way. Not sure whether they are good omens or bad ones as of yet. Good because I found my long lost genetic family, bad because I don't think one would be very happy to see me after my little 'adventure'.
"I'll be okay Doc. Armor took most of the beating, just a few scrapes and bruises for me but I'll live. I knew what I was doing before I shot out of here." I informed as ATHENA walked on my with the armor toward my room. "Out of curiosity, do either of you two know of a woman named Ana Amari? Old woman, late sixties I think. About this high, Horus tattoo below her eye, eye patch over one," The two looked at one another confused. Not the type of confused like 'what the hell is he talking about', more like 'how the hell does he know that name?'. There is a visual difference between the two. All in the eye movement and eyebrow reactions. I learned a few things over the years.
"She was a member of Overwatch a couple of years back. Got killed by Amélie Lacroix years ago in a sniper duel." Winston replied.
"How did you know that name?" Mercy asked. Wait, Ana is suppose to be dead? Well that explains quite a bit now that I think about it. Explains why she didn't want to come back with me, and why she wanted me to relay the message. Who ever 'killed' her might still think she is dead. First place they'd keep an eye on is places of the target's interest if they suspected they were alive. Old friends, children, work, frequent stops like fast food shops. My rule of thumb; unless I see the corpse with my own two eyes, I won't believe they are dead for a minute. Lesson learned the hard way.
"Kind of a funny story. While I was out, a woman came up to me by that name claimed to be my mother." I answered rubbing the back of my head. "ATHENA did a DNA test and confirmed it. We talked, she made me tea, and we tried to get to know one another sort of. She gave ATHENA her contact information for us to schedule a meeting later."
"Ana's alive?" Mercy asked in disbelief.
"Well unless it was her clone or twin sister, I'd say she is alive and still kicking as. . . AHHH!" I replied as pain spiked out though my body, directly from my heart. I collapsed on the ground with my hand crunched up over my reactor. Mercy dropped her air of confusion as she rushed to my side. Winston hopped on over in a short leap and held my back up. Feels like someone set my nerves on fire and stabbed my heart with a rusty railroad spike. I could feel my heart pumping like a jack hammer right now, only adding to the searing pain.
"You alright Ramses?" Mercy asked helping he back up, my hand still over my heart as I tried to force the pain down. God damn how much I hate myself some days. Heart's warning to the rest of my body. Reactor is reaching critically low levels, less than 2% and dropping. Few days before it reaches 0 if I don't over exert myself.
"Hard to . . explain right now . . AHH!" I responded biting down on my tongue hard to try and nullify the pain.
"Hold on. I got just the thing for this." She ordered steeping back and pointed her staff at me. What the hell does she plan on doing with that. Hitting me upside the head and knocking me out with it. She pushed some sort of button and a golden stream jetted out from the end, the sides of the end propped out and circled around as the stream flowed out. I grunted in agony as the pain slowly subsided away, cooling chill flowed though my body as it fought back against the searing hot pain. Winston helped me up as Mercy kept the beam flowing. Heart rate went back to normal, reactor flickered as I stood up. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as Mercy shut off her staff. "What was that about?" She asked. How the hell did she do that? What did she shoot me up with?
"My reactor is low. That was how my heart warns me to change it out. Going to need something soon or I'm a dead man." I answered calming myself down. "No I can't get my heart replaced again. My body would reject it just like the last twenty some odd times. I just need to get my hands on a particle accelerator and re-recreate a new element from my universe. Simple really." I joked dryly as Mercy's expression was amused.
"I'll stay a few extra days in case you need a doctor. Winston, don't let him out of your sights." Mercy ordered.
"I think we got the parts laying around to build a particle accelerator. I'll recall Hana back here to borrow her MECH's power core in the mean time." Winston informed. Wasn't it something like her Mech's power core that got me into this situation in the first place? Zapped my reactors hard enough to where they can't hold a charge for long. Not going to be easy, but I'll manage something. Well as the old saying goes. Like father like son. But if I'm originally from this universe, why did I end up in Universe A to begin with? And who is my real father? So many questions, not enough answers. All in due time Richard. For now, focus on sustaining yourself.
That's a wrap. New chapter is out and the plot thickens. I now have an idea on how I want this to go. I got two options in mind. One: I have Ultron back to cause another Omnic crisis or worse. Or two: Thanos, enough said. Bouncing these ideas around in the back of my head. I can confirm Sombra will show up soon. Got a few funny scenes involving her Translocator, some tinkering by Richard after a fight, and a shower. Nothing bad enough to earn a M rating, but mostly might be for shits and giggles. I can have some fun with Sombra's character. She seems like a fun person to write. How she'll show up and interact with Richard, no one knows. We have yet to see his Infinity stone in action for good reason. As stated earlier, he has next to no real control over it. Like having the worlds most powerful weapon in your hands yet you don't know how to use the damn thing. Or a book with the answers to all of life's question, yet no one knows how to read it. Same basic concept. Will dive more into his Infinity stone later in the story. Whether he becomes a power hungry monster like Thanos or someone who wants to be left the hell alone like Doctor Banner, I won't say. Only time will tell. Till then, later people.
~Dgreen20
