No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor) - Part 2
Chapter 89: Dirthouse (Part 9)
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Sofia Strange was holding her father's hand when she quietly entered the workspace that belonged to her favorite person. Tony Stark was directly connected to her first set of memories, let's not forget, and she found him to be fascinating.
Her parents weren't necessarily freaking out about their chemical bath, that weird technology, and all the mayhem they just endured… but their behavior was hardly mellow.
Sofia was listening to everyone as they discussed what happened all around her, and the young man named Ezekiel Stane was mentioned constantly.
She remembered seeing him in person, sometimes, with her uncle Victor. He seemed very melancholy, and withdrawn.
Tony Stark kept referring to him as the prince of darkness, and Sofia pondered the nickname for a long while. Her family was taken to Tony's workspace for a specific reason, and the inventor started explaining once everyone settled down in that massive space.
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"This is just a vacuum. I need to collect as much data as I can, sooo… you guys hold still."
…
Tony Stark was an entertaining man. Sofia smiled when he brought around a giant hose. Stark turned the bulky machine on, and he started sucking stuff off of everyone's clothing like a mad man.
He started with Steve Rogers, naturally, and the blonde had to hold him off when he reached his waist…
They were so funny. Sofia's smile expanded as wide as it could get, then she hugged the side of her father's leg. Stephen glanced down at his beautiful daughter, and he noticed where Ezekiel's technology had dissolved parts of her clothes.
Stephen and Clea formed a barrier over her as soon as the "rain" began to fall over the crowd, so… thankfully, Sofia's skin wasn't affected.
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"And… where did you put your other project, Tony?"
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That was Steve Rogers. He asked Tony where his "other" project was located, and Sofia was doing her best to follow along. So much had happened there in Latverion, and that little girl wasn't sure what Tony's other project actually meant.
The brunette smiled at Victor Strange before he answered Steve's question, then he started running the vacuum over his Cloak of Levitation.
That red fabric hadn't been damaged by Ezekiel's tech in any way, but Tony was adamant about collecting any sort of debris from the pit.
Even collecting damaged material from Victor Von Doom's armor was important to Tony, so the man was being very thorough.
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"He's over there. But, I'm not sure how long it's going to take for his body to regenerate."
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Tony pointed toward his right, and Sofia forced herself to look over in the direction where everyone's attention went.
From her perspective, there was nothing to really look at, except a table and two chairs. Well, there was lab equipment behind some sort of clear wall, but that was it.
They all wanted to understand what happened to the man named Wade Wilson, and Sofia inwardly assumed that's who Tony was talking about.
Wade Wilson's name was always connected to Ezekiel Stane when his father spoke about him, so let's call it an educated guess.
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"Now, hear me out…but…I'm also not sure about releasing that kraken back out into the wild for a long while. I'm currently hesitant."
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More like, EXTREMELY HESITANT, because Ezekiel reverting back to being the prince of darkness wasn't something that Tony was taking lightly.
Wade Wilson practically worshipped Ezekiel as well, and he'd do anything for him. THOSE TWO were a deadly combination, if you actually stopped and smelled the roses…
Strategically speaking, if Ezekiel Stane could miraculously get his mind right and his head on straight, then he'd be unstoppable. Why do you think Victor Von Doom took an interest in him in the first place? He didn't just "mentor" people on a whim…
It would take a miracle for that fragility to balance out, and Tony happened to know that for a fact…
…
Thoughts about what happened were currently haunting Tony. He was just talking out loud as well, but everyone was processing what happened in their own way.
Now, baby Victor was way too quiet, because he had a different connection to the subject entirely. Victor adored both Ezekiel AND WADE, so…
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"He's gotta be losing his mind after seeing what happened… can anyone see where he is right now?"
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Baby Victor had to ask. He was peering in the direction Tony pointed as well, and his attention locked onto something called a cryo-tube. That's where Wade supposedly was? Victor could only see a bunch of… dirt? On a table? Was that Wade?..
There's no way. Victor recalled what he saw in the pit, and he closed his eyes as soon as he remembered seeing the impact of Doom's blast. His energy was enormous, and it felt like Wade was hit with an atom bomb… or something.
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"I can't see him, my tech can't see him either, so I don't know where he is. I was hoping one of you could tell me, actually…"
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Does anybody have eyes on Ezekiel Stane?
Oh where, oh where, could the quiet coyote be? Tony rubbed the left side of his face as he processed what was happening. He ran the vacuum over his yummy tummy too, and he did a scan of his own clothes… just for kicks.
Chapter: END
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