No-One But You (The Star Child's Eclipse)
Chapter 67: Lone Wolf (Part 7)
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"The scarring on my body hasn't gone away since I encountered something called an Eternal. One of them tried to destroy me before I had a chance to explain myself."
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The synthezoid named "Vision" definitely was a talker, but that's fine… because Ezekiel Stane friggen wasn't.
Tony Stark had a million questions for his co-creation all lined up, because he needed the conversation while the two inventors started repairing the damage to his body.
Vision was obviously scorched in some areas, and Tony and Ezekiel's technology clearly failed to self-repair.
That wasn't supposed to be a thing, so they both took notes as they collectively gathered information off of their precious Vision.
Info-gathering might have been the reason WHY Vision was created in Earth Dimension 3000-21 in the first place, so they also had to unpack why the synthezoid randomly settled down somewhere in the cosmos with the infamous Scarlet Witch.
What's the story on that, and how the fuck did shit go south?
Too many questions, and it didn't necessarily feel like they had all the time in the world.
Ezekiel actually had food there, for once, so he offered some to Tony after a while.
His fellow inventor accepted the invitation to eat something, and in return, he asked if he could turn on music while they "worked" on repairing Vision's exo-skeleton.
Music was welcomed, but Ezekiel didn't say much while he managed his side of the repairs.
His thoughts were on a couple things, but the idea of Tony Stark being there in that moment was somewhat dominating the thoughts in his head.
It kinda felt like they were… hanging out? How bizarre…
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"Did you make friends with any of them? We could use a friggen Eternal against your old girlfriend and Doctor Doom. Those connections are essential things to build, ya know…"
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Tony was just talking to Vision as if he were a real person, and Ezekiel was amused with that.
He didn't talk to Vision as if he were a person at all, because realistically speaking… the synthezoid in front of them had no trace of flesh, bone, or soul.
Vision was merely a tool that they originally used to manipulate the Mind Stone. They later sent him off to protect Tony against Thanos…
Do tools make friends? Lol…Ezekiel inwardly laughed at the thought.
Perhaps they did, because Vision was supposedly building a home out there somewhere with a woman named Wanda Maximoff..
The notion of that was technically impossible, so….
Ezekiel took a moment to look at Vision's face. Maybe his connection to the Scarlet Witch was maintained with the Mind Stone…
Hmm.. either way, was it real?
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"Your phone keeps going off. In case you haven't noticed…."
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Tony wasn't necessarily distracted by the CONSTANT BUZZ from Ezekiel's phone.
It wasn't a phone, and the baby Jackal wasn't sure why he wanted to make that point clear.
His attention suddenly snapped back into the space around him when Tony spoke, and he snagged the device and skimmed over another lengthy message from Wade Wilson.
It felt like hot lava started flowing over his skin when he read that SHIT.
The mercenary was still super pissed, and Ezekiel realized that his "I'm sorry" comment wasn't very well received.
Apologizing was making things, worse? How was that possible?….
Ezekiel felt very confused, because he DIDN'T FUCKING CARE about all that annoying Victor Von Doom stuff.
He wanted to be honest with Wade about something that happened YEARS AGO, so UGH…
The baby Jackal absolutely refused to respond to a single word that Wade mad-dashed out and wrote up like a psycho…
He almost tossed the stupid device OUT OF HIS FACE, but….
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Aww. Tony Stark looked over at Vision for a sec, then his eyebrow arched up as high as it could once again.
Trouble in paradise? L. O. FUCKING. L.
The impulse to laugh was growing, but Tony refrained after he noticed the look on that hurt little lamb's innocent face…
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"How do you… when Steve Rogers is mad at you, how do you… fix it?"
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Whoa there, somebody pump the brakes on this crazy train.
Tony Stark was extremely shocked to hear Ezekiel stumble through his adorable little question, because it definitely revealed a lot.
SO, WADE WILSON WAS "MAD" AT HIM? How funny. How hilarioussss. Tony was all ears.
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"Wow. Whoa, well…I fix it, by hitting a home run."
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"I don't know what that means…"
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Ezekiel didn't understand sports references of any sort, and he never planned to join that fucking club.
No thanks.
Tony finally laughed after Ezekiel gave him a super-serious response. The serious look on his face was too much, so Tony cracked.
Clearly he didn't get the reference, so Tony started dyiiiinnnggg.
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"I don't have time for Steve to be a sulky baby, so when I say I hit a home run, I mean.. I'm very direct and I handle it."
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There used to be a loyalty thing going on between Steve and Tony, but some might say that worked itself out in the long run.
Tony started thinking Ezekiel and Wade were going through something similar, and his thoughts on that strengthened as he watched him struggle to type out some sort of message.
Ezekiel wanted to respond, but he wasn't sure what to say. Wade would just TAKE IT WRONG ANYWAY, so…
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"This might seem super weird, but it took years for Steve to realize how loyal I was, the whole friggen time we've been together."
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It also never felt like it was just the two of them either, for a long time, and historically speaking there was always someone sneaking into the mix.
Tony knew in his soul that Ezekiel Stane was going through the same thing, and that shit sucks like you wouldn't believe….
Did that mean they were paralleling? Whoa… Tony pondered that for a moment as he returned his focus on Vision.
Ezekiel just took in the words that Tony chose to express, then he gave Wade's message another look.
The mercenary told him he couldn't "just apologize" after confessing he had "feels" for "Victor Von Cock-Sock"…
The stress of the message was too much, so the baby Jackal set Wade's words aside… for now.
Chapter: END
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