Before you read, the cookie tax (stones) has returned! You need to pay the tax before you can read :3
'Inner dialogue/thoughts'
"Normal dialogue"
[System]
[Diary entries]
(Word Count: 2,758)
~ Later that night with Tony Stark, within his workshop in his mansion in Malibu, Los Angeles ~
Tony Stark sat by his workbench, the glow of the holographic schematics casting shadows on his face. After the kidnapping ordeal he was put through, his private workshop felt like his new sanctuary. But tonight, the usual calm and peace it provided was absent. There was an unsettling weight in the air, a sense of danger that gnawed at the edges of his mind.
Suddenly, the door to his workshop slid open with a soft hiss, and Tony's head snapped up. The number of people who had access to his mansion, and more specifically to his workshop were limited to the fingers of one hand. Rhodes was not in Los Angeles, Happy was running an errand for him, and Pepper had informed him that she would be attending a birthday party of a friend of hers at the café. This meant that there could have only been one person left.
Obadiah Stane. There he stood, a briefcase in hand with an expression of calm masking his face. As Stane walked towards him, Tony's eyes narrowed. He straightened, his body tensing reactively, which did not go unnoticed by Stane.
"Obie." Tony greeted, his voice carrying a wary edge. "What are you doing here? I seem to recall telling you to stay away from the company until we've done our investigation."
As Stane drew closer, his footsteps echoed throughout the workshop ominously. "Tony, we need to talk." He said, his voice deceptively gentle.
Tony's fingers twitched towards the edge of his workbench, where a discreet button linked to JARVIS's emergency protocol lay hidden. 'I don't like suspecting Obie, but until I know he's clean, I have to be cautious.'
"About what?" He asked, forcing his tone to remain casual.
Stane's face hardened when he noticed Tony's movements. Without wasting another beat, he immediately pulled out a small device from his pocket. Before Tony could react, Stane activated the device, and a high-pitched whine filled the workshop. Tony's muscles seized up, his body paralyzed almost immediately.
Under the device's effects, Tony struggled to move, to speak. "Obie. . . What. . .?" He managed to choke out, his voice strained.
On the other hand, Stane was impressed. "You remember this device, don't you? It's a shame that the government didn't approve of it, there's so many applications for causing short term paralysis. And yet you were able to speak, although just barely. Such willpower. Is this why you were able to escape?
.
.
.
It doesn't matter."
Stane's smile was cold and calculating. "You really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?" He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Your father, he gave us the atomic bomb, the epitome of a weapon of mass destruction. And he was no saint. He didn't care about us, the only thing he was interested in, was you."
Tony's eyes widened with a mix of fear and confusion as Stane continued. "You're a piece of work, Tony. I was going to file an injunction against you, but then things happened, and I was sent away. You're trying to rid the world of weapons? Yet you gave them the best one ever. And now, I'm going to kill you with it."
Stane then produced another device from his pocket, a specialized tool designed to extract the Arc Reactor. He placed it over Tony's chest, the mechanism clicking into place. Tony could only stare in horror as the device whirred to life.
"Your greatest creation," Stane sneered, "And it's going to be mine."
Stane activated the device, causing Tony's body to convulse as the Arc Reactor was slowly and painfully being extracted from his chest. The reactor's glow dimmed as it was removed, leaving Tony gasping for breath. The sudden absence of the Arc Reactor had left him feeling weak and breathless, as the pain surged through his chest.
Stane held the Arc Reactor up, examining it with a look of triumph and awe as Tony collapsed onto the workbench, barely able to remain conscious.
"I've found you. . . It's beautiful. . . This is your legacy, Tony." He said, opening up the briefcase. "This is your golden egg, the last one you would ever produce."
He lingered for a moment, watching Tony struggle. "It's ironic, isn't it?" He mused as he hovered the reactor in front of Tony's eyes. "You built this in a cave. With nothing but a box of scraps. And now, it's going to ensure my success while you fade into obscurity."
Tony's vision began blurring, the edges of his sight darkening. Stane placed the reactor into the briefcase before closing it shut. "You know, Tony, it's a shame. I really wanted to make this work. But you just had to go and complicate things. You had to be the hero."
Tony's eyes widened, as he began to realize Stane's implications. "That's right, I was the one who put the hit out on you. You were supposed to die in that desert. But you just had to go and build that suit, didn't you."
Seeing the realization and subsequent horror in Tony's eyes, Stane was emboldened to reveal a little of his plans. "I found the armour, but it's useless because it's only one half of a whole. But with this." He said, pointing towards the briefcase, "I now have what I need."
Satisfied with the outcome, Stane stood up and began to leave, but not before dealing one final blow to Tony, "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she left."
After Stane had walked out and moved far away enough, JARVIS's voice echoed within the workshop. "I have already notified Ms Potts of the emergency sir, and of the situation. Please hold on a little longer for her to reach you in time."
Tony's eyes felt heavy, his mind drifting, with the pain and fear slowly fading into a hazy fog. He could only cling on to the hope that Pepper would arrive in time.
~ At the same time with Luke, in the Peach Blossom Café ~
The upper floor of the café was filled with laughter and conversations of the current residents of the café. The birthday celebration had been going on in full swing for over 3 hours, in which time they had participated in various activities.
From an activity in which Pietro and Wanda were pit up against one another to see who knew each other better than the other, to a heavily suspicious activity in which the birthday siblings would be assigned a partner and they had to act out in a game of charades. Obviously, Crystal was the one who had set up this particular activity and had innocently and randomly appointed Luke to be Wanda's partner, and herself to be Pietro's partner.
They were now currently engaged in presents opening. There were mainly general birthday presents for young adults, such as gift cards from Linda to the pair of siblings, and even specific presents such as a pair of dumbbells from Adam to Pietro, to clothing's and accessories from Natasha to Wanda. Various other presents were opened before it was finally Luke's turn to present his presents.
Luke walked into his office, where he had placed a well hidden gift-wrapped present, and brought it out. "Alright, for the first gift, this bad boy here goes to. . ."
"Pietro! Congratulations on turning seventeen buddy!" Luke revealed, resulting into another round of cheers and applause.
Pietro received the gift-wrapped present and began to eagerly tear away at the wrappings, causing Crystal to chuckle. His reaction was understandable, as it was the first present that did not seem like it would be fitness items or general mundane items.
As the wrapper gave way and a hint of the printing on the box began showing, Pietro immediately began tearing away at the wrapper more fervently. "NO WAY! YOU DID NOT GET ME WHAT I THINK YOU GOT ME, LUKE!"
Luke stood stall, puffing out his chest at the praises of Pietro. Wanda walked up to stand beside him, curious to see what sort of gift had gotten her brother this excited. She would even argue that he seemed more excited about the gift than the surprise overall.
"What did you get him?" She asked aloud.
"Well," Luke started, while Pietro had finally managed to remove the wrapping completely, revealing the present, "It's the newest, technologically highly advanced, state of the art gaming console – the PS3 Super Slim!"
"YEEESSS!" Pietro exclaimed before he gently put the box down and immediately went to hug Luke. "This is the best gift ever! Thanks Luke!" After Pietro had enough of his fill and his adrenaline clearing from his system, Luke coughed to grab the attention of the rest once again.
"Ahem. Now then, for the birthday girl." He started, turning to face Wanda who had a teasing smile and a look of anticipation on her face. "I. . . Had wrote you a song-"
"I KNEW IT!" Crystal's voice echoed through the upper floor, which was then followed by Natasha wrapping an arm around Crystal and covering her mouth with her palms, "And that's enough out of you, Pup, it's Luke's turn to shine."
Refocusing his attention, Luke continued, "Well I had written you a song and I was going to download it onto your phone. It's kind of a personal song, and I know for certain that if the rest of you heard it, I would be embarrassed to no ends.
But then I saw Pup over there bringing over a mic stand and a speaker, almost like she was expecting me to give a performance." Luke said, as he shifted his gaze towards Crystal, who in return sent him a thumbs up.
"And so, in the spirit of Crystal's efforts, and the clearly visible anticipation on Wanda's face, I will instead be performing this song live as Wanda's birthday gift." He concluded.
Wanda had a victorious smirk on her lips, which Luke had immediately remarked, "Oh don't be too happy about this, Wanda. Just so you know, the embarrassment will go both ways."
It was Luke's turn to have the victorious smirk when he saw Wanda's expression fall. "What do you mean?" She asked but received no response. "Luke, what do you mean?!"
Luke ignored her and began preparing for his performance. He had brought out his semi-acoustic guitar and plugged it into the first audio jack of the speaker, before setting up a mic on the second one.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group made themselves comfortable around the upper floor, with some using the office bean bags for additional comfort. On the other hand, Wanda was pushed to the forefront of the makeshift stage, fidgeting about in nervousness.
After testing and ensuring that the instruments and speaker was in working condition, Luke addressed the crowd one final time.
"So, I wrote this song after spending a copious amount of time with Wanda, getting to know her. From the way she twiddles her fingers together whenever she's nervous," At which point Wanda stopped twiddling her fingers and brought them down, causing a round of chuckles to be heard. "To how her eyes twitches whenever she learns that Pietro does something stupid."
"She's been doing that from a young age by the way!" Pietro added.
"Well, there you go." Luke nodded. "But in all seriousness, I wrote this song for her, because I find myself unable to express to her my feelings in words personally. And so, I thought, why not do it in a song? I may not be brave enough to confess face to face, but I have no qualms to do so in a song.
With that said, this is the stripped-down version of my new song for Wanda Maximoff – Until I Found You. Please enjoy."
(Until I Found You (Acoustic) – by Stephen Sanchez, Youtube version)
Luke began playing a simple yet melodious guitar riff, which successfully grabbed the undivided attention of those present. As he transitioned into a steady, downward strum, Luke began singing.
♬♪ "Wanda, wrap me up in all your. I want ya, in my arms. Oh let me, hold ya." ♬♪
"Holy shit. . ." Wanda muttered softly, taken by surprise at Luke's vocals. It was the first time that she was in attendance of a live performance. And while she expected many things from Luke, a warm voice paired with a melodious guitar backing was not one of them.
♬♪ "I'll never let you go again. Like I did. Oh, I used to say." ♬♪
As Luke began ramping up the pace and intensity of his strumming, only Wanda and Natasha understood the hidden meaning of the lyrics. 'Luke. . . you'll protect her this time. I'm sure of it.' Natasha thought.
'Luke. . .' However, as soon as Wanda heard that line, she began to tear up, as the memories of a life a different version of her had lived began flooding to the forefront of her mind.
♬♪ "I would never fall in love again until I found her. I said I would never fall, unless it's you, I fall into. I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her." ♬♪
Luke stared intently into Wanda's teary eyes as he sang the next part.
♬♪ "I found youuu. . ." ♬♪
The dams were broken as Wanda covered her mouth so as to not ruin the song for the rest. Noticing this, Natasha moved to stand beside Wanda and gave her a shoulder to cry on, which surprised the rest when they finally noticed that Wanda was in tears. 'She's crying. . .' And of all those present, Pietro was the most shocked.
♬♪ "Wanda, pulled me in. I asked to, love her, once again. You fell, I caught ya. I'll never let you go again, no. Like I did. Oh, I used to say." ♬♪
Natasha continued rubbing Wanda's shoulders, as the rest began swaying their bodies along to the melody of the song. Adam gave his wife a chaste kiss before wrapping his arms around her from the back, swaying more intimately to the music than the rest.
♬♪ "I would never fall in love again until I found her. I said I would never fall, unless it's you, I fall into. I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her." ♬♪
Pietro, guessing what the next line would be, held Crystal's hand tighter, getting her attention. He then proceeded to softly whisper the lyrics along with Luke.
♬♪ "I found youuu. . ." ♬♪
♬♪ Guitar instrumental ♬♪
As Luke transitioned into another guitar riff accompanied by the continuous down strumming melody, Crystal was the second person whose eyes began tearing up. All her life she had been sheltered and had never truly been through a rough patch in life. Until the battle that happened and her subsequent irresponsible decisions. If not for Pietro acting as her rock, she did not know how she would end up after the battle. 'No, Pietro. I found you.'
Instead of responding with her thoughts, she went in to embrace Pietro tightly. Pleasantly surprised by the embrace, a soft smile appeared on his lips as he returned the hug two-fold. Natasha, April, Pepper, Adam, Eve, Linda, Carmine, Marcus and Sydney all smiled softly as well, knowing that on that night, two beautiful romances were formed.
Their attention was grabbed once again by Luke, who slowly began making his way towards Wanda, while giving Natasha a nod. Natasha understood what he meant, and with a final squeeze on the shoulders of Wanda, she moved away to let her stand alone. Transitioning into picking the guitar strings, Luke sang the ending chorus.
♬♪ "I would never fall in love again until I found her. I said I would never fall, unless it's you, I fall into. I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her." ♬♪
Now standing before her and staring directly into her eyes.
♬♪ "I found youuu. . ." ♬♪
Luke then slowly strummed the guitar, signalling the ending of the song. And in a low whisper, he conveyed all the bottled emotions and feelings that he has had since arriving in the Marvel world and living through the diary simulations.
"I found you."
- End of Chapter 88 -
Next time in *C89 - Can I have this Dance?
Wanda laughed softly at his misfortune, "Oh I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. Besides, because of the rain, aren't you now alone in a phone booth with said girl?" She teased, the corners of her lips edging upwards.