15107/AVENGERS FOREVER: R. M. Jones, Esq.

AVENGERS FOREVER: R. M. Jones, Esq.
Date of Scene:	20 June 2023
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Assembly Room
Synopsis:	The Avengers and their allies try to learn just who Rick Jones is.
Cast of Characters:	Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Bobbi Morse, Darcy Lewis, Greer Grant, Clea, Janet van Dyne
Tinyplot:	Avengers Forever

---

Clint Barton has posed:
After extracting Rick Jones from the attack on the Avengers Day festivities, SHIELD had taken him into protective custody. But despite the bristling of some higher-ranked agents, it was reasoned that there really probably was no place safer for Mister Jones than the Avengers Mansion given what was coming after him. So here he sits, paperwork strewn across the central table and the young man looking almost comically out of place.

"Richard Mil- ... Milhouse, really?" Agent Barton, reading from a dossier, glances at Rick who just sighs and nods, " ... right. Anyway, Richard Milhouse Jones. From Scarsdale, Arizona. Long way from home, huh?"

Clint tosses the folio back onto the table, turning to the rest of the gathered group.

"No obvious genetic abnormalities, though our science friends are still making sure. Apparently the whole teleportation thing is ... random?"

From his seat, hands folded in his lap, Rick Jones lets out a sigh before he speaks up: "I know about as much about it as you do. I was in my car, and then these things came after me. I wanted to get away from them and then flash, I was somewhere else. Except with different Avengers ... Avengers that weren't like you. They sent me back here."

His face is long, as though recalling some great and depressing tale.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers turns away from the station where the on duty member of the Avengers normally watches for signs of a threat requiring the team. Though at present, those systems monitoring the mansion itself and the surrounding area are on even higher alert than normal.

"Well if anything is coming this way, with luck we'll have a little advanced warning. But maybe not much, and we shouldn't expect any," he says. Steve is in uniform, with his shield close at hand. Being on alert also means caffeine apparently, as he goes over to fill his coffee mug, while checking if Rick wants any, and pouring him a mug as well before coming over to join everyone at the Assembly table.

"I went to school with a Milhouse. Nice guy," Steve says as he takes his seat. "So, for the benefit of those who haven't had a chance to talk to you yet, Rick, why don't you walk us through the events as they happened?" Steve asks.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner walks towards the holding area, whistling a small tune, while pushing a cart covered with a sheet. On the cart, there are various testing tools, some more invasive than others, that Bruce intends to use to gather crucial information.

He also brings his new Dark Matter handheld detector, which surprisingly seems to detect vibranium as well, despite the scientific reasons eluding him. Upon entering, Bruce gives a slight smile to the others and says, "Hello, just ignore me," as he wheels the cart to an open area.

"Our friend may have provided us with a lot of information, but it's always best to confirm," he explains. "I have every test at my disposal, from multidimensional to radioactive." Bruce first checks for radiation, considering it the most important aspect. "Nothing abnormal there. Good," he comments, relieved that he hasn't encountered any radiation issues so far. Nevertheless, he proceeds to conduct further checks before setting up his equipment, lost in Thought.

With a frown  he refrains from voicing his concerns. He turns his attention to arranging his tools, most of which are sample sample takers, while others resemble curved knives, intended as extreme measures in case the situation requires it. Bruce acknowledges that he is uncertain about what he might find inside, as the subject could only appear human.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Alternate universe have become all too frequent in her mission profiles these last few years. Natasha Romanova puts down a mental note to ask for a general purpose briefing to be given to all members of SHIELD for purposes of awareness and alertness. That and time travel. These sorts of things would have to be faced heads on.

She turns her attention over to Rick thoughtfully. Pursing her lips. "And do you also have any theories as to why they might have been after you, Mister Jones?" She would watch at him to try and observe to look for any of the tell-tale signs of someone lying, holding back information, or trying to creatively respond to things.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Besides getting in to a life and death match with her and Lance's doppelganger, Bobbi has scant experience with other versions of Earth. "Hank Pym's breach detector worked. A little slow considering how fast those robots were at keying in on Rick's location. It should be enough time for us to assemble."

The last time they defended the world from other-earthly invaders there was a giant insanity monster on the other side. They also had Supergirl. This felt a lot less random and a lot more precise.

"We're up against someone who has mastered the art of moving between realities." That's not a good sign. She taps on her tablet and flicks up a report on to the big screen. "I haven't been able to get a hold of Hank but the signature of the breach? tight, confined, deliberate. Whoever is controlling those robots knows a lot more about moving between realities than we do."

She lifts up her mug of coffee and takes another sip. Post battle fatigues include ripped jeans and a t-shirt of Kitness Everdeen giving the salute. Lance got her the shirt as a joke since Mockingbird and Mockingjay are far too similar not to crack wise about it.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
So... this is actually Darcy's thing. Far more than alien politics, genetic plagues, and mutant dinosaurs, all this dimensional stuff is really her jam. Well, largely, it is - was - /Jane's/ thing, and in turn became Darcy's too. Grad school was wild. Go for politics, meet a space god, end up a spy with a PHD.

Like severeal of her Avengers counterparts, she's been helping put the man through every sort of test they have. Some of it was done back at SHIELD, independently, but she's been happy to help after he was transfered over here. "He was negative for Hawking radiation in specific," she echoes after Bruce, dialing in on a specific set of tests.

"Which rules out some possibilities, although not others. While his Quantum signature is apparently local, suggesting that this is the proper version of this person for our 'reality,' insofar as we understand the existence of alternate worlds without fully comprehending the underlying mechanics, there is some sign of boson-fermion supersymetry and conformal field correspondence..." She looks up from the notes on her pad, probably realizing that in the instance she's getting into terminology that probably only Bruce is likely to follow along with.

"...ah right. Basically, while there's no suggestion that he's not from here, the are readings to suggest movement /through/ other equivalent dimensional spaces, which you might interpret as other parallel realties, in a common parlance."

Greer Grant has posed:
Arriving just a bit late, Tigra enters the assembly room, but with her ears, she's been heard quite a bit alright. Her first thought is to sternly tell herself not to make a Simpsons joke around Cap. She actually follows some of what Darcy is saying, until she gets to fermions and supersymmetry. That's beyond her college years, alas. "Did any of those Avengers have beards that they weren't supposed to?" she asks as she slips in. "That's the multiuniversal sign of an evil alternate version, or so Star Trek tells us."

Clea has posed:
Clea's arrived at some point and the white haired Sorceress is doing her best impression of a normal human by trying to keep her feet on the ground. But it doesn't work so she just floats in place. Her attention is on the others in the room that are speaking and she's taking mental notes for the moment.

Clint Barton has posed:
"Okay," Rick answers Cap, taking a deep breath and placing his hands flat on the table.

                                     * * *

The Duthie-Martin Highway, Arizona.

Two days ago.

Rick Jones sits behind the wheel of an old fashioned hotrod, clearly a passion project that probably doesn't even stand up to modern safety standards. He speeds down a stretch of highway flanked by the bald hills of Lion Canyon on either side, the sun setting and his shoulder-length hair blowing in the wind.

The car skids to a halt, a tall and menacing figure in white armor - a Chrononaut identical to that seen at Avengers Day - stands in the middle of the road and approaches him. He calls out to it, but it ignores him. Soon, several more approach from all sides.

Rick closes his eyes, concentrating, and in a flash of light he finds himself somewhere else. The Avengers Compound - not a mansion, but something akin to an advanced collection of buildings somewhere outside Los Angeles.

He's in a room not unlike this one, explaining himself much like he explains himself now. He's scrutinized by Lady Thor, Captain Britain, and a version of the Hulk who is somehow ... blue? Grey? Clea, adorned in the raiment of the Sorcerer Supreme, speaks about a strange and unknown power referred to as the 'Destiny Force' and how it may exist in Rick.

A day later, the Compound is aflame. Gone from peaceful retreat to a battlefield. Hordes of Chrononauts swarm the grounds, while a great spacecraft over three hundred meters long hovers in the sky above. The Avengers of this era lie beaten and bloodied, some do not move at all. Lady Thor places a hand on Rick's shoulder and through the muted sounds of battle, she speaks:

"Tis thy chance, Rick! Wend anon and remember what the Avengers hath done for thee!"

Another blinding flash.

                                     * * *

" - and then I was at the park. Back here. They tried to help me and whoever he is - the guy chasing me? He killed them for it. I don't want to get you guys hurt but whatever this power is they say I've got? This Destiny Force? I don't know how to use it. All I know is that they can't get it. That it's game over for everyone, everywhere ... everywhen if they do."

Listening to Darcy's hyper-scientific explanation, he just sort of smiles and nods.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would listen and analyse. He seems to be telling the complete truth - by his facial expressions at least. Tone of voice, pulse, pupils, breathing, posture, positioning.. Everything seems well within the range of what's reasonble given the circumstances (there isn't exactly a normal deviation for 'attacked by robots from another timeline and helped to escape by other universe versions of superheroes').

"What can you tell us of your impressions of thsoe Avengers?" she keeps her tone simple - no need to bombard him wiht questions. One thing at a time and let the otehrs handle much of the questioning. She's just there to gauge his reactions.

Steve Rogers has posed:
After Greer's pop culture comment about beards and goatees, thankfully one with an explanation for him, Steve rubs at his chin. "I'm guessing that means I shouldn't grow this out?" he responds quietly, before turning to listen to Rick Jones.

As Steve listens to Rick relate what happened to him, he sips his coffee, and occasionally glances to other members of the team as if gauging their reactions. How Bruce Banner responds to the talk of dimensional travel. Clea's expression at hearing about her different status on that version of Earth.

At the end, Steve sits quietly for a few moments, looking thoughtful as he digests everything. "So from what you gather, were you the target of the attack on these other Avengers?" Steve asks Rick Jones. "Was there anything else that happened prior to this that might have caused, explained, why this is going on. Why you ended up involved like this?"

Steve swivels in his chair to look over to Darcy and Bruce Banner. "Is there anything that can be done to improve on Hank Pym's sensors? The more advanced warning we have of any incoming attacks, obviously the better." His attention turns to Natasha and Bobbi. "It would be good if SHIELD can keep a team near at hand to respond, whether here at the mansion, or if there is an attack in the city. Diversions are a pretty standard tactic. We're going to have to be on guard that we don't get pulled away and leave Rick without enough protection."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Quick, someone scan him for Protagonistium." Sarchasm. From Mockingbird. Not too surprising. She has -so- many irrelevant questions about the other Avengers but there are pertinent pieces of information suddenly exposed that need exploring.

"Tell us more about that spaceship Rick. How scifi are we talking here." Because at first they were looking at dozens of robots breached through. But a spaceship? well now that's a significantly worse problem right there. Thousands upon thousands of robots that could fit in to a spaceship like the ones they faced could conquer the planet.

Something about a West Coast Avengers sounds like fun to her. Less fun being attacked by endless numbers of robots that murder and kill everybody. The coffee is sipped. Her mind is turning quickly as she is contemplating what kind of defenses and armaments they have available - but more importantly, the words of the robots when they beat their retreat: 'Resistance formidable' which means the next attack will be coordinated.

They saw evidence of the robots having specific counter measures for known heroes... and Earth-MU2152020, which she supposes is meant to be them. She'd have gone with Earth-1 or Earth-A or Earth-Prime but hey, you gotta win the battle to pick the names.

"We didn't have The Peak when the doppelgangers attacked. So I guess we should throw that question over to Darcy. Can you supercharge Hank Pym's breach detector up on that fancy space station or yours?"

Greer Grant has posed:
A West Coast Avengers? Nah, it would never catch on. "Nobody wants to get hurt," Tigra says to Rick, before amending, with a quick grin, "most people don't want to get hurt. We're the Avengers, though, and we step up and maybe get hurt so other people don't. We'd be all over this whether this was this...destiny force or not." A quick glance at Steven, picturing him with the beard. "Can't see it. Maybe if you had a rebellious phase."

Clea has posed:
Clea's not sure of the difference between the West Coast Avengers and their Avengers might be minus the surfing. So she doesn't ask. The Faltine simply crosses her arms as she listens to the information that is being relayed to them. She knew about dimension hopping, but she wasn't sure this was the same thing. Or it might be. Who knew?

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner listens attentively to the story, not interrupting as he performs various tests and collects samples from Rick. He carefully places the samples in his cart, maintaining his focus throughout the process. As the information unfolds, Bruce smiles and jokes with Clea, "And I was asking if you needed our help." attempting to bring a lighthearted moment to their somber atmosphere.

Returning to his task, Bruce picks up a handheld device and scans Rick's body, meticulously collecting the results. The data sparks numerous questions in his mind, particularly regarding the method of transportation and the significance of the deviations observed. He ponders the possibility of instantaneous travel or even cloning, considering the implications of each scenario or how he might test for it.

after his examination, Bruce's attention is drawn back to the conversation. He addresses Rick directly, seeking clarification about his origin. "So if your from earth then there must not be a Rick on this earth right?" though he was not sure how that could be helpfull, there was something about it that nagged at him. Lost in thought, Bruce continues his duties, silently reflecting on the possibilities that lie ahead.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Although Darcy has gone through the basic science (basic??!), there is obviously, well, still a lot to cover. The theory only gets you so far, and that's even more the case in an area of science humanity is still only first beginning to properly grapple with. She looks at her tablet, taps a thing or two, then looks back up and walks closer to where Rick is sprawled with all his papers and other work.

"Have you ever experienced this before? A sense of lost time, strong deja vu, or so on?" It might sound like a conversation from the Matrix, if we're going for pop culture references, but by contrast, in this case the question seems totally serious. "From the perspective of modern physics, time is just another component of the larger structure of the physical cosmos - spacetime. We just experience it in a very limited way that doesn't necessarily reflect the complexity of that underlying construct. But retrocausality - future causes to past events, from our perspective - is legal in quantum physics. Closed timelike curves arise from some possible solutions to the Eistein field equations."

She's doing it again.

Pulled back from the jabber by Bobbi's question, she looks briefly thoughtful. "Fundamentally, the energy required to do what we're describing here, to force connections between these different dimensions, well, it's very high. So detecting that sort of phenomenon shouldn't be difficult, if we're assuming a sort of tunneling or wormhole-like connection. Between the Peak, Watchtower, and our other satellites, we have the equipment for good global coverage." She pauses. "That isn't the only possible solution, though. Under others... well, better not to think about that."

She glances over at Bruce, and then back toward Rick. "Not my department but I imagine SHIELD can confirm if there's another one of him running around pretty easily, whether he's from here or not - credit card activity or any other contacts, assuming Rick's not some weird off-grid prepper type." She scrunches her nose. "You're not, right? What do you normally do when you're not driving around in the desert?" They probably have the info, but she asks him!

Clint Barton has posed:
"They seemed ... I don't know, nice?" Rick offers by way of describing these alternate universe Avengers, "They seemed to have an idea who this guy was that's chasing me. Immortus. But they didn't call him that. They called him ... ugh, I can't remember. I'm sorry."

"No, nothing," he answers, turning to Cap with a shake of his head, "I mean, you're welcome to do as many tests or whatever. First I've ever heard of this Destiny Force. I'm more of a free will kind of guy."

"I don't know anything about other universes. Until I turned up in one, I didn't even think they existed beyond all the conspiracy theories you read online about Superman. If there's annother me wandering around, I haven't met him. God, I hope there isn't."

Then he turns to Darcy, who feels remarkably like the most normal person here.

"I mean ... maybe when I took peyote that one time? I don't even know how I ended up in that other place. I just remember really, really, really not wanting to get pulled apart by those happy robots."

He takes a sigh, brow furrowing at Bobbi's joke.

"Look, I'm not trying to pull one over on any of you. I don't want to be here, either. I was gonna go to paintball this weekend. God ... what did they call that guy? Kong?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi stares at Steve for a moment before commenting casually back to Greer, "I can see it." The bearded Steve that is. She gives Steve a finger pistol and adds, "Not bad."

"We have a gateway to the ZZGU world - this is almost like how Star Gate transitioned from movie to tv series and suddenly they could access millions of other worlds instead of just Abados... but now that we've recorded an energy signature from this other world, Darcy, might it be possible to figure out where those robots came from. And if we can do that, perhaps rework the gateway to access it?"

Best defence is a good offence and the hell is she going to wait around for a robot armada to come and kill them all. Then again, they're absolutely stretching the science here beyond current Earth understanding. Whatever Rick did to travel to another world might be the key to cracking this technology.

"I'm just saying, the old anecdote of don't kick the bee hive. Let's be that bee hive. If this Immortus guy's smiley stormtroopers feel like they can come to our planet whenever they want they've got another thing coming." She pauses for effect. "Us. The other thing coming is us ... really, we're being attacked by King Kong?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Don't be silly, no one would ever want to have Avengers on the west coast. Even though it's the best coast. As Steve goes to talk up and over about a protective detail, Natasha would nod. "Of course, I'll make sure that something is arranged. In turn I'll ask if you can make us some refined. . Dimensional detectors to let us mroe rapidly respond if Mister Jones is pursued again."

A quick glance is given over to Bobbi - her intention is more to lock Rick away in a deep hole to keep him safe and otherwise not let him out at all without half the Justice League on standby. Emphaiss on 'lock him up whether or not he thinks it's a good idea'.

And also if R&D felt like they needed to run some extra analysis over on him to check on a few things as theories came up.. Well.. Best to have the subject immediately accessible and safe.

Clea has posed:
Bruce's comment confuses Clea and then she shakes her head, "I don't need help." she tells him. Then she's looking back to Rick and the others. There is a quizzical look when he mentions the name Kong and then Bobbi comments on King Kong, "Well, if the movies are right we just have to give him a blonde and we'll all be fine." she nods sagely to this.

Greer Grant has posed:
Tigra looks skeptically at Bobbi, and then looks to Steve thoughtfully, so she's probably skeptical about the beard, not her argument about being a beehive. "Something to be said for that," she says. Beehive, not beard. "Obviously this guy's got his attention on our world, so punching him hard in the nose might be a good way to explain to him we're more trouble than he wants. Assuming we can find his nose. And punch it." A look at Clea. "'twas beauty that killed the beast."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve listens to the responses. "Rick, we'll do what we can to keep you safe. Of course we need you to stay where we can keep you protected. For now, we need you to avoid reaching out to anyone you know, or leaving the facilities here without us planning ahead for it. We're not quite sure yet how capable they are of locating you and finding you. So let's be extra safe and assume they might use some of the methods that we hear on Earth might," he says.

Steve Rogers turns to look at the rest of the Avengers. "Speaking of which, if there's any way we can spot anyone else who might not be from our Earth. We don't know if it's just these robots, or if there are others out there. Again, Dr. Banner, Dr. Lewis, folks like you can go a long way towards helping us there. Get ahold of Tony, anyone else you need."

He reaches out to pull up a picture of one of the wrecked Chrononauts. "We also need to understand these things, what they are capable of. If they have weaknesses. Whoever we need to pull into evaluate them, let's get them in here," he says.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy smirks at the peyote bit. Out of everything, getting high in the Arizona desert is pretty relatable. They found Thor in New Mexico, after all. Working out there...

"Noted. So we'll put this down as a novel phenomenon, at least from our perspective." The makes some more notes on her tablet, and then looks back toward Bobbi. "Little early to say, but I'm going to lead with 'possibly but not necessarily,' for now. There's no unified cosmological model in our physics. Even if we're experienced some of this stuff first hand... it doesn't mean we're fully ready to reproduce it, or even necesarily understand what we're looking at when it happens. Especially because the technology - and underlying physical mechanisms being used - could be very different. Temporal travel isn't the same thing as, uh, 'lateral' dimensional movement, but it's not unrelated either. If you're looking at the world-line of a given particle..."

This time she stops herself a little sooner.

"Anyway, the last time the robots showed up, they were incredibly, uh, less than subtle about it." It happened at a HOLIDAY in CENTRAL PARK. That is possibly among the least subtle options on the planet. "Me? I saw it trending on twitter. So if their MO continnues to be 'show up and start causing a ruckus' I'm not sure we'll even need that monitoring. We'll do what we can of course, any early warning might be useful, but it seems like..."

She looks around, like she's saying the obvious. "They're probably just going to show up here and try and burn down the mansion, right? If that's what Rick saw, whatever he was seeing."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Finally finished with his tests, Banner reaches a decision, expressing concern over the cross-contamination of objects from different realities. He clarifies to Rick that he is not to blame and assures him that the tests will prove his innocence. "My name is Doctor Banner, and I appreciate your cooperation," he sincerely addresses Rick, revealing his identity without hesitation.

Acknowledging Clea's comment, Banner just shakes his head, and ponders the changes on a body from such thing as atmospher, and natrual radiation wondering if that could be detectable. Turning his attention to Steve, he nods and assures him that he will do what he can to help, mentioning his ongoing involvement with Fury's matters. With a smile, he remarks, "There are only so many Banners..." before confirming his intention to look into the issue.

The question arises about their next steps, Banner exclaims, "Duh... Of course! We can go old school, looking for twins or people we know shouldn't be there. They might be the ones affected, and since we are not talking Skrull levels of infiltration we might already have the answer." He clarifies his previous idea and then pushes the cart aside, temporarily storing it out of the way until he needs to retrieve it later He adds quietly, "I mean... maybe.. I am just a scientist.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's often the sort to just... barge into a room, but the small assembly of Avengers and allies receiving a brief gives her pause. She's late, anyway, and not just fashionably so. Janet cracks the door to look in, whispers some instructions to her assistant, and dismisses him with a gesture before she steps into the room. It looks like she is dressed for a social affair, in a red turtleneck shirt and dark, pleated skirt over near-black hosiery. Gold glimmers at her ears and wrist, and chunky heels lend her some height.

"Traffic," she explains, a moment between words, and finds a seat to claim while she gets caught up with the discussion.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi brings a finger to her nose tip very quickly at Clea's suggestion and declares, "Not it" Some other blonde can play damsel in distress for this Immortus Kong guy. In fact, she looks to Clint. Clint can do it.

Steve is dishing out missions. They're going in to action mode. A quick nod is given to Darcy. "Whatever you need just ask." She picks up her tablet and starts to type. Commander Bobbi has budget.

A glance is given to Natasha. She knows that look. There are a lot of options on where to stash Rick. But wherever it is needs to be quickly accessible by the Avengers in case the robots return for him. Then again - there are decoys.

"I'll get all of the ZZGU equipment out of storage. Sure, we have Pym's breach detector but that's the only part of it that wasn't stored away." ARMOR was a short lived extension of SHIELD but if dimensional breaching robots become a regular thing they might have to restore those special defence conditions pronto. She also has her own job to do - change the way the operating system on her wings works. Next time she won't get hacked. Time to twist Daisy's arm in to doing some actual work.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would tap over her chin, "We can also run additional training exercises. Those things showed an ability to adapt to our tactics and powers. We have a number of combat programs developed for use against Taskmaster, Deathstroke, and the Super Adaptoid, and others that we can work on. Refine them and merge them together. That should give us a better idea of how to combat such things." Or at least some expercince with how badly they're going to be beaten with.

There's that bit too. she gives a nod over at Rick, "And we'll do all wihtin our power to keep you safe, Mister Jones." She's not promising 'they will'. With what he's been through he doesn't deserve to have her lie to his face.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce looks up looking at Bobbi, "I will send any bacteria that is unknown or mutated to you. If they all come from the same place then though temporarly it might be a way to detectt them." he notes hoping just to make her job a bit easier. "I don't know if you want to, but I need to visit GIRL soon, and if you would want to meet there it would be a good operation point for detection." though Bruce just says his bit, and stands back in the corner quietly waiting for others to finish what they needed to do here, and let him get back to work.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers looks up, seeing Janet arrive and he flashes her a soft smile of greeting. The blue eyes shift back to the rest of the team then as Steve nods at the comments people are making.

"Rick, anything you can tell us also, about how these robots fought the Avengers in this other world, could be useful," he tells the young man. Steve looks thoughtful for a moment. "If they have experience with Earth's heroes, we also might want to consider if we can come up with any new strategies that we haven't used before. Just in case they have familiarity, Natasha, maybe you can help come up with a few wrinkles we could throw at them?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy's expression does light up a bit at Bobbi's promise of some open-ended requisitions. She is a lady who appreciates some budgetary freedom! "Sure. I'll come up with some rough specs and figure out what we'll need." There is some immediate tablet tapping, possibly a shopping-list in progress...

Ultimately, though, the direction the conversation is moving is one that takes it away from her. Much of this more of an Avengers problem, in the sense of the seemingly inevitable punch-fighting and laser-blasting that is likely to result from a time-travelling bozo attempting to steal a destiny widget. She's been doing this just long enough to know to stay in the lab for stuff like that.

"And hopefully, we can figure out a scientific explanation for the whole 'destiny' thing," she offers Rick, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm sure getting dragged into all of this is the last thing you want." On that, she can relate.

Clint Barton has posed:
Rick seems resigned to the fact that he's going to be staying with the Avengers until they've solved this. It's strange, to be sure, but not everyone can say they've had a sleepover with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"Thanks," Rick says, offering a weak smile in Darcy's direction, "I just appreciate anything you guys could do. Believe me, the other guys? They kept trying to get me to tap into whatever this power is they think I have. I couldn't do it. I wish I could, but I just can't."

As the Avengers and their allies continue to speak, Rick turns his attention to the surface of the table and furrows his brow. Working hard to pull something from his brain that is locked away up there.

"Krang? Klang ... no. No, I think it was - "

                                     * * *

"Kang?" cries the figure in the tall, green headdress as he stands before the statue likenesses of three hoary, old men, "Impossible, Masters. We took every precaution. Our technology is beyond even him."

The great, kilometers-tall statues do not speak. They do not move. They simply hang suspended amidst the tapestry of the multiverse.

"I understand, Wise Masters. It will be done."

The room seems to shatter and coalesce into the image of a great spacecraft in the stylized shape of a sword. It hangs over the Earth like the proverbial sword of Damocles.

The man in the headdress clenches his fists and, with a sudden turn, storms out of the room.