I watched in something close to wonder as I figured out where he was swinging us too. Spidey calmly, swing after swing, brought us closer to a very iconic building, that only existed here. And just to clue you in on which one I'm exactly talking about here...it had a big A on it.
"No...fucking...way..." I mumbled as we got closer.
"What? It's not like it's an unusual sight."
"For you maybe..." I told him as my eyes were glued to the building. "This...doesn't exist where I come from."
"Really? Sounds boring there."
"Bud...if you only knew..." I smiled.
Still, even that wonder I was feeling was tainted by the fact I knew Leo was probably freaking the fuck out right about now.
Spider-Man didn't even go for the street entrance, he just landed casually on the helipad found on the roof. And right after that the security systems came to life as I suddenly found myself in the middle of a whole bunch of nasty looking things that might cause a few ouchies. I swallowed hard as I looked around wide eyed.
"Stark!" My escort called out. "Call of your dang watchdogs!"
A few moments later they popped back down again.
"Well, this is an unexpected surprise Spider-Man." A new voice said then from the door nearby. I slowly turned. Yup. There he was in all his goatee glory. Mr. Tony Stark... "You really shouldn't have though. I think I can round up my own dates."
"Keep dreaming..." I mumbled and Spidey chuckled.
"She's in a bit of a pickle." The masked hero then told the unmasked hero.
Tony's eyebrow shot up at that as he looked at me. "She seems to pretty to be in one."
I rolled my eyes. He caught the look and shot me a wink and I rolled them again. Friggin playboy...
"Come on in. Really no point in us having the conversation here when we can get comfortable inside."
"You sure I won't get zapped again?" Spidey asked as we moved in closer. "Last time I was here your security system malfunctioned."
"Not my fault Thor decided to turn loose a thunderstorm in here and shorted everything out."
"Uh huh... I still say you had him do that on purpose. No way a genius like you would overlook the potential for an electric overload on the systems."
The amused grin that found it's way onto Tony's face really didn't dispute that argument.
We entered a very, very, make my head spin there was so much of it here, technical upgraded I was hoping living room. My jaw dropped as I looked around. Donnie would have a damn field day in here... Even the damn furniture seemed to drip tech. I was too scared to sit on anything and ended up just standing awkward in the middle of the living room.
Tony walked over to a nearby bar and poured himself a drink. "Want some?" He asked.
"You know me better than that." Spidey answered.
"Wasn't really asking you, web-head. Was asking the lady. And why is she barefoot and in her pajamas?"
Spidey just shrugged. "That's how the sky spit her out."
"The sky..." The look Tony gave the wall crawler wasn't saying anything complimenting. "You sure Rhino didn't knock something loose up there the other day?"
"Ha Ha. I'm serious. She literally fell out of the sky."
Tony stared at him for a moment, then looked at me with a raised brow. "This should be an interesting explanation." He said as he took a sip of his drink.
"Nothing I want to explain." I firmly told him. "I just want to go back."
"Sir?" Another voice spoke up then, an strange combination of electronic but with a human undertone to it. Again my eyes widened.
"Yes Jarvis?" Another sip as he watched me.
"The woman is emitting the same readings that spiked about an hour ago."
"Are you sure?" The glass came down with a slight thud as he put it back on the bar.
"I am ninety nine point nine nine-"
"I get it, thank you Jarvis." His eyes bored into mine. "Well...I guess you did fall from the sky."
I swallowed hard. How in the world was I going to talk my way out of this? I just wanted to go home by this point. I answered him the only way I could. I shrugged.
"Care to let me in on what that spike was?"
I closed my eyes in frustration. I wanted nothing more than to blab it out, I mean come on...this was Tony Stark, Iron Man. And Spider-man was standing right next to me. I'd love to be able to talk to them about this. But I couldn't, not even to them. I stood there and struggled with how much to tell them.
"Not even a hint?"
"I...can't." I told him honestly. "Not that I don't want too...I just can't... All I can tell you is that is was an accident, and I really need to get back."
"I see. So Miss..., I'm sorry...what was your name?"
"Vicky."
"Vicky? That's it?"
"That's all you need to know."
"Ok..." He turned to Spidey. "Why did you bring her here? She's about as closed mouthed as Natasha."
"I'm sure she has her reasons."
"I do. Now can I please go back?"
"Not advisable" Jarvis spoke up again. "You have already run into Dr. Octavius. And there are already reports coming in of The Green Goblin in the area. It would not be safe for you."
"You heard about that already?" Spidey asked incredulously. "Sheesh... Next thing you know I won't be able to go to the bathroom without you hearing about it."
"I like to stay informed." Tony shrugged.
I sighed, gave up, and sat on the couch and hoped it wouldn't wrap me into a present or something. I dropped my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands as I tried not to scream in the frustration that was rapidly building to anger.
"You still didn't answer me." Tony told Spidey. "Why did you bring her here?"
"Really had no other place safe. I'm not sure if Ock was after her, or the doorway she popped out of. Maybe he had already connected the two and is after her because of the mid air trap door. It was either here, or the helicarrier, and you know how Fury likes to treat guests."
This time Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh god yes. He's the worst kind of boring host."
"How nice of you to notice." Said a new voice.
"Speak of the devil." Spidey mumbled as the tall, dark skinned man with the eyepatch came striding in. I groaned. Why did I have a feeling shit just got way more complicated than it needed to be?
.
.
Leo was fuming as he stood nearby, all geared up and ready to go...if Donnie ever figured out where to go.
Donnie was mumbling as he tried to figure it out. The words coming out in an angry undertone as he kept glancing at Leo even as his hands flew over the controls.
"Would it help if I did this?" Mikey asked as he walked over...and began pushing buttons.
"Will you stop!" Donnie snapped at him, slapping his hand away. Of course that hand slid across the board, pushing more buttons and even turning a dial or two. The portal responded by firing up with it's soft blue glow.
Donnie groaned as he looked. Now what did the numb nuts do?
"I love you, you love me..." Came a sing song voice from the other side.
Cris walked over and curiously looked, then spun incredulously back as she looked at Mikey. "Barny?" She asked in a stupefied voice. "You managed to find fucking Barny? The most annoying dinosaur in the whole fucking world?"
"Oops..." Mikey muttered and before Donnie could stop him he began playing with buttons again.
This time Donnie gave him a hard shove that sent him across the room, but not before the portal changed again. Now they were looking at four creatures that looked like a mix between stuffed elves and a television antenna as they looked curiously back at them.
"Teletubbies?!" Cris exploded
"I guess that wasn't the right one either."
"You think?"
"Here let me try again." He happily bounced back towards the control panel and easily dodged Raph's grab attempt and Donnie's smacks and began messing with it again. Donnie finally grabbed his mask tails and gave him a good yank away from it again.
"La la lalalalaaaa, la lala la laaaaa."
"Fucking Smurfs..." Cris facepalmed. "He finds the fucking Smurfs..."
By now there was a scramble going on as Mikey was walking over the control panel as Raph and Donnie tried to get him off of it.
"Cowabunga dudes! It's seriously time we nailed ol' Shredhead in the tin can...If you know what I mean."
That stopped everyone in the room as they all moved in closer to look. Except Leo who was still glaring from the side of the room. "What was that?" Raph asked as they peered in.
"I don't know." Donnie answered.
"Looks cartoonish over there..." Mikey added.
Suddenly four green, and much smaller, figures came into view. They stared into the portal as the three turtles stared out of it. Cris knew the 80's cartoon version of the turtles, the guys really never did get a good look at them before. She just facepalmed again.
Then they all screamed. "What in the world are those!" before Donnie brought his hand down on the controls again.
"Enough!" Leo finally snapped from his corner, stalked over to Mikey and grabbed him before pulling him close. They were literally beak to beak by this point. "If you don't fucking knock it off, I'm going to take your skateboard and tear it apart so fucking bad that Donnie will never be able to put it back together... Got it?"
"Got it..."
"Good." Leo dropped him. Then he spun to Donnie. "Find her!"
"What in the heck you think I've been trying to do this whole time." Donnie mumbled as he turned back to the controls. "Grow daisies?"
He worked in silence then, mainly because no one wanted to piss Leo off anymore than he already was. Once he had his meddling little brother out of the way, it didn't take him much longer to figure out where she went. Again the portal opened, and his receiver on his wrist lit up like a damn Christmas tree just as Leo's head snapped towards the now open portal. "Found it."
Mikey and Cris again were the first ones to go and look. Cris quickly backpedaled away after her look, and her face had gone deathly pale.
Mikey's reaction was just a sigh before he turned to Leo. "You should have talked Will and Epps into letting us keep some parachutes. It's a pretty decent drop."
"That might explain that..." Marina, who had been quietly waiting out of the danger zone caused by one turtle acting out and the other slowly starting to boil over it, nodded her head to Cris.
"Fuck...that..." Cris stumbled to her feet. "Ain't no way in hell you are getting me to go through that."
"We couldn't anyway Cris." Mikey clarified as he kept looking around. "I don't even think we have enough rope to climb down on."
"Vicky went through that?" Marina asked Donnie.
He nodded as he answered. "That's the location that comes up. There are no others for this world."
Mikey spun, his eyes wide. "Dude...she had nothing with her..."
"She's alive..." Leo quietly told them. "And as far as I can tell unhurt."
"How in the hell did she manage that..." Mikey asked as he turned back to the portal.
Suddenly there was something on the other side...and it tried to come in. All Cris could tell was that it was green, had creepy ass yellow eyes, and that motherfucker was riding some kind of funky board. "Well, what do we have here?" It asked in a raspy voice as it looked around the room.
Mikey let out a high pitched scream even as he tried to jump into Cris' arms, since she was the closest, and they promptly both hit the floor since she couldn't really hold his big ass up. "Shut it down!" Cris screamed at Donnie even as Raph moved in. Raph's fist connected with the thing and sent it spinning head over heels in midair. By the time it righted itself back up again Donnie had already slammed his fist on the button to shut the portal off.
"That's it! I'm done!" Cris said as she turned from the portal after she got back to her feet. Then she stormed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Raph asked her.
"I'm going to put caution tape all over that fucker, maybe even board it up. Then I'm going to take a few shots of vodka. I am so not ready to deal with this shit right now..."
"But Vicky's on the other side!" Mikey told her.
"Well...she's just fucked until I get my head straight..." Cris mumbled and left the lab.
Leo closed his eyes over it all and let out a long sigh. "Donnie, can you figure out another way to get us there?"
Donnie nodded as he turned back towards his controls. "Now that I know where that one opens, give me some time to adjust some things to get the door closer to the ground."
And so they waited some more. It was all they could do.