Toy Soldier 2
"I see," Dr. Strange said as he floated in midair in front of Tony Stark, who was designing video games with one hand and writing movie scripts with the other.
"What do you see?" Captain America asked.
"The young man's soul was pushed out of his body and the link cut by a being of great power," Stephen explained.
"Can we fix it?" Beast asked.
"The young man's soul is linked to Tony's body now, almost as if it were his own," Stephen explained.
"Fast clone me a body," Xander suggested, reminding them he was listening.
"That's not a bad idea," Stephen said. "A clone of Tony would be easy to transfer Xander into. Can it be done?"
"We have the technology," Beast said thoughtfully.
"We can rebuild him, bigger, stronger, faster!" Xander chimed in, both his hands working on designing a clone of Tony stark with some... alterations.
"What is that?" Beast asked examining the design taking shape.
"Fast clone device," Xander replied.
"And these?" Beast asked pointing out some small devices on the blueprint.
"TV remote, Cell phone, Wi-fi," Xander replied cheerfully as he worked.
"It's not a toy, son, it's your new body," Captain America said seriously.
"Exactly, it's my new body, which means I can design it to be an improvement over what nature handed me," Xander said glibly, "something you should know something about."
"Vibranium?" Beast asked as he read through the list of material requirements.
"A small amount to pad the joints so they absorb shocks better," Xander explained.
"Adamantium?" Beast asked.
"A pound at the most," Xander told him. "It's just a micro coating on parts of the skeletal framework-"
"And a thread like mesh reinforcing muscle tissue and vital organs," Beast finished. "Ingenious!"
"Why do you have... artistic embellishments on the metal coating your bones?" Ant-Man asked resuming his full size as Xander finished designing his new body.
"Forget that, why does he have two hearts?" Wasp asked as she resumed human size as well.
"Back up systems," Xander told her. "Tony's actually spent some time working on designing a better human while bored."
"These designs are runes and religious symbols from a dozen faiths," Dr. Strange noted.
"Just covering the bases," Xander told him.
"Why does this design have two pods?" Beast asked.
Xander grinned. "Stephen, Tony would like to ask a favor of you."
36 hours later
"Why does he need an extra liver—" Wasp stopped, "Nevermind."
Dr. Donald Blake chuckled. "That's nothing, did you see the collapsible adamantium framework in his testicals?"
"You can see Tony's fingerprints all over the design," Beast agreed.
"Low level Gamma-ray exposure, infinity formula." Captain America shook his head. "I feel like an old Chevy watching a newer model roll off the assembly line."
"It's time," Ant-Man announced hitting a series of buttons and causing the two pods to slowly open, releasing a wave of misty fog to cascade across the floor.
"What's with the fog? They weren't cryogenically frozen," Wasp pointed out.
"Xander thought it would look cool," Tony admitted as he stretched and examined his new form.
"You signed off on it too," Xander pointed out, while doing the same.
"I didn't say you were wrong," Tony told him. "How do I look?"
"Like a taller more muscular version of yourself," Xander assured him. "Me?"
"Ditto," Tony said. "What did you guys do with my old body?"
"Despite some suggestions to try and make a sequel to 'Weekend at Bernie's' or play some pranks, we donated your vital organs, filled the cavities with C-4 and dropped it on the Mandarin's? base, detonating it when he came out to examine it," Ant-Man assured him.
"Excellent," Tony said cheerfully. "I feel like a million bucks."
"Closer to a hundred and twenty five," Beast pointed out. "It would have been a lot more expensive but we recycled the adamantium from Ultron and Black Panther said he owed you some vibranium anyway."
"Ready for testing?" Captain America asked.
"I need a new baseline for my armor," Tony agreed.
"And since I'm not getting any armor, I'll skip it," Xander said. "Some basic tests to make sure I'm stable, then some pants and hopefully a way home from Dr. Strange."
"Come on, it'll be fun," Tony told him. "Tell you what, you run through it with me and I'll let you play in my lab."
"Really?" Xander perked up.
"Scout's honor," Tony promised.
"I am so going to build myself a lightsaber," Xander swore.
"That's the spirit!"
"Got a danger room?" Xander asked.
"Almost as good as the professor's," Beast assured him.
"Xavier bogarted all the Shi'ar tech," Tony told him.
"He's boning the Shi'ar empress, he's entitled," Beast replied.
"I'd give it a shot, but I'm allergic to feathers," Tony joked.
"I would make a 'tastes like chicken' joke, but I don't want my brain fried or for Xavier to make me think I'm an eight year old girl," Xander said.
"Good call," Beast agreed.
"Now seriously, can I get some pants?" Xander asked.
Typing by: Stephenopolos & and his Omake
The female power stepped up to the board and looked down, her long red hair obscuring the corner nearest her. The other powers ignored her for the most part preferring to keep an eye on their pieces on the board. The few closest paused to look up and greet her. "I've just received a report that one of the more neutral pawns has something planned for an upcoming earth tradition on All Hallows Eve," the redheaded power reported.
"And? What's it to us?" a male power on the other side of the board with salt and pepper hair cropped tightly to the sides of his head muttered.
"It concerns us because he plans to add a little chaos to the western rift, the hellmouth at Sunnydale," she replied. "I know several of you have plans and pawns in the area."
"Plans that somehow keep being derailed," muttered a power that currently resembled a dwarf.
"So, what do you want from us before you tell us this plan to inject a little chaos into the scene?" the salt and pepper haired power asked.
"Just a minor favor in a future game," the redhead replied.
This time a female power seated on the far side of the board spoke up, "And if providing us with this information should further disrupt our plans?"
"It's information, any actions you take are your own," the redhead replied, "but, I'm willing to let go of the favor should things not prove advantageous."
"Fine," the dwarf agreed. "I'm willing to trade a favor for this information with that condition."
The other powers present agreed, and with their agreement a light flared signifying the acceptance of the terms.
"Here's what my informant reported," the redhead began, as she explained the halloween costume plot to her fellow powers.
"It doesn't really seem to be anything worth taking action for," the dwarf muttered.
"Not necessarily," a blonde power on the other side of the table noted. "It may prove advantageous, we could use the interruption to rid ourselves of the champion of chaos. Even if he is aligned with the light, I know I've heard several of you complain about the element of uncertainty he adds to your plans."
"How would you we do that?" the dwarf asked.
"You have no imagination," the female power on the far side huffed in annoyance. "For the duration of the spell those wearing costumes would be channeling a representation of that person from their reality. There are several things that could be done, from having him dress as a weak character and getting him killed, to sending him back with the personality he comes into contact with."
The dwarf looked around the table with disgust, "I'll not be part of killing him with a weaker costume, I may not like his interference but I'm not playing for the other team. And using trickery to force him into a costume that will get him killed is evil." A few of the powers nodded their heads in agreement with the dwarf showing the majority agreed with him.
"They were only potential suggestions," muttered the female power.