5497/Astral Flux: Strange Events

Astral Flux: Strange Events
Date of Scene:	05 October 2018
Location:	Stark Tower, New York City
Synopsis:	Dr. Strange meets with lots of Avengers about the missing mansion and the telepathic monster.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Captain Marvel (Danvers), Slipstream, Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange, Spider-Woman (Drew), Hulk
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Iron Man has posed:
    The meeting was arranged well in advance, to occur in Stark Tower. The topic? The missing mansion.

    This meeting also got rescheduled Twice. It would not be a proper meeting with Tony Stark if it weren't. But now, all of the arrivals will be brought to one of the conference rooms on the 50th floor, welcomed into the plush seating of the expensive conference room, with a long table of refreshments and food along the far wall. Tony isn't there yet, but the assistants will assure he'll be there very soon. Yes, very soon. Really.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Captain Marvel, true to her missive to the team, is indeed back from her little space tour with the Kree. Looks like she let her hair grow out to shoulder length again, and she's the first in the meeting, dressed in her Captain Marvel outfit. She's pacing back and forth, hands clasped behind her back, occasionally looking at the door to note the order of arrival. Doesn't take a big brain like Stark or Banner to figure she's agitated. No doubt the assurance from Stark's assistants that he'll be there promptly has helped her patience.

Slipstream has posed:
Having arrived early with Snowball, Drake is wearing an Overwatch hoodie and a pair of dark black jeans. He has been overseas in South Korea for the last month in his final round of tournament play representing the US World Cup. The little robot floats after her companion as he lifts his hand over to Carol. "Hi there, ma'am."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda actually arrives using the elevator and security. Something of an anomally for the young woman given she often forgot such proprieties. She even found the little ID tag she got to be rather amusing.

"I do not think I have been in a Tower so tall. Fifty stories is so very many."

As though that were the strangest thing she'd encountered in life.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "By the Vishanti, he will be here, and he will be here now. I grow tired of waiting. Lives are in danger and he can't be bothered to keep an itinerary." Strange says, standing up from his chair and with a groan he closes his eyes and lowers his chin. The wizard reaches up with both of his hands, pinkys and index fingers lifted to the skies and ring and middle fingers pressed against his thumb tips.

    "Rhymes are not my thing, I grow weary of this lark, I swear if he's at PF Chang, I will rebuke thee, Stark." Strange chants before a mandala forms upon the table and like Bill and Ted's phone booth a light opens from above and drops down Tony Stark onto the table before the light shuts and Strange is standing with callous eyes towards his beard bro.

    "May we begin?"

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony didn't expect to be summoned. Let alone onto the surface of his own conference room table. He wasn't in the shower, but it was a close call. He's mostly dressed, he has pants, shoes. He was putting on a button up shirt over an undershirt, hadn't gotten to the tie yet. He orients quickly, turning his collar up from where it was flipped down, and climbs off the table, taking the situation in stride. His arc reactor glows like a headlight through the undershirt.

    "Oh, okay. Saving me the elevator trip, Strange? Maybe a little warning next time, huh? Hi everyone," Tony says, shamelessly. He's next to the refreshment table, and picks up one of the sandwiches from it. As if everything were fine. Maybe it is.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica is present. She's in her gold and red uniform, minus the mask, and sitting in a chair alongside the table, spinning it halfway to the left, then halfway to the right, then halfway to the left again. Then Tony arrives, and she smirks to herself, but remains quiet, and waits for the show er...meeting to begin.

Hulk has posed:
It might not take a big brain like Stark or Banner, but the agitation still helps to set Bruce on edge just a bit more visible as he enters the room. He looks like he's been through seven kinds of hell, and while he's shaved the beard he had when he came back, there's still a few patches of stubble here and there. Looks like the good Doctor didn't bother to be thorough... and shooed away the robots if they tried to 'help' him. Still, he's definitely lost weight, and maybe muscle tone.

Yeah, he looks more like hell than his usual drifting brings on him.

"Uh... that was a neat trick." Bruce dumbly states as he watches the summoning spell, before he takes a seat, bringing his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Exhaustion has been the name of the game since he came back, and it continues to show with his lack of social graces.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol nods at Drake as he enters, eyeing his robot friend for a moment with an arched brow, before going back to pacing.

But Wanda proves to take the cake, as she makes Drake's robotic companion a non-factor when she speaks of Stark Tower as the biggest oddity she has witnessed. Something Carol knows for a fact isn't true. They've been too through many oddities for that to be true. "Yeah, Tony's ego is over 9,000, we know."

Then Doctor Strange is there, and even better, he brings with him Stark. Carol is almost willing to forgive him for that feat alone, "if I was wearing a hat I'd tip it to you, Strange, that is truly up there with the magic of creation itself."

Carol looks around the room, before finally stopping her pacing, moving towards the table and resting her arms against it while leaning on, "so...short and to the point, I get called on by the Kree, for a...'space situation', I get back, freakin' Avengers Mansion is gone. How does that happen, anyone?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda pipes up, "Well, if you do not destroy the thing, you can make an alternate dimension and tuck it away in there. Of course, a mansion is a little large to just pfft" - she makes a small gesture of hands - "do it without really thinking about it. There are all the pipes and wires. Very messy."

Surprisingly pragmatic in offering an answer.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well it was certainly there and then...pfft. It wasn't. And Strange went with it. He put it somewhere. I don't know where, but he's got it stashed away in one of those weird holes of his." Jessica crosses her arms over her chest, her gaze lifting and settling on Banner with a furrowed brow and a level of concern.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Sorry to interrupt, but this is urgent, the Avenger's mansion is being destroyed as we speak, but that's not important." Strange says as he moves on past the idea that none of these people in this room have a house, or a mansion ... or a frat house, whatever it was, because of actions he committed. "What's important is what caused the incident with millions of people pouring into the streets in their slumber." The wizard says.

    "Jessica is correct, but we're focusing on the wrong thing right now."

Slipstream has posed:
Drake watches the summoning of Tony with a blink of his eyes, looking startled. "Woah." He breathes out, rubbing the back of his neck. ".. I am so underpowered for this kinda hangout." He says as he takes a seat, motioning Snowball to take her place on his backpack that she docks in. He lifts a hand and waves to his fellow bigger teammates, offering up a smile.

Iron Man has posed:
    "There may have been an experimental device in the lab area that can bend dimensions spacially that I was working on," Tony says, as he sits down in one of the conference table chairs. He doesn't take over the head of the table: he doesn't need to. He'll still have a presence of leading from wherever he chose to sit, and regardless of how relaxed he is. He pauses, glancing at Banner, and leans to the food table to pick up a little container of mixed nuts, setting it 'sort of' near both himself and Banner. An offering.

    "However, in defense of said invention, it can't just fire off on its own." A look is given across to Dr. Strange. "...well, okay, it /won't/," Tony clarifies. Technically it can.

    "It's being destroyed actively?" Tony asks. "That could be bad." To anyone fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing, it does sound like there is some weight to 'bad' by the tone. "But replaceable. So, more important thing, the people, yes. The device was originally meant to assist with /that/, not just dimensional vacation destinations."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda tsks softly at Tony's words, though she doens't look quite directly his way, as not to blame him for the mishap.

"Maybe we should worry about how to get it back and stop the destroying. Though if it was a mistake of the machine, it could happen again."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"That's a way to put it," Carol says dryly at Wanda's pragmatic explanation, which nevertheless isn't the full answer Carol was looking for. She knows better than to push Wanda for more, so she looks around the table instead, more so at Strange than others, oddly enough. Maybe she's not entirely unaware as she makes it seem? But then Strange goes about his way of saying a whole lot of things, and somehow discarding what seems important, while focusing on what he deems important. "Why, Strange, is it being destroyed? And why are we not stopping it from being destroyed?" Carol is apparently not quite ready to move on with the discussion, though one can be certain she did file that next point of discussion for later on. Millions of sleepwalkers is a problem. No doubt the 'wrong' Strange refers to is behind it. So, she'd like very much to hear more about that, after, "...you're telling me to forget about the Avengers Mansion, because it isn't important, is that it, Strange?"

Looking from Strange to Stark, Carol hisses, "I swear, everytime I think one of you is behind something, it winds up being the both of you. And this time you got the whole of the Avengers Mansion relocated, and destroyed apparently. I'm impressed." Her arms cross, her back straightens, she looks upset. But at least she allows Strange and Stark to take over the discussion now, realizing there will be no heeding the under deconstruction Mansion until the 'wrong' is discussed.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I'm confused. This thing with the people...this is the astral plane we're talking about, not another dimension. So what's with the dimension box to help with the sleepwalkers? Were we planning to ship them off to another dimension?" Jessica looks more concerned now than ever. And apparently her filter is still gone out the window.

Hulk has posed:
There's a moment as Bruce looks at the nuts, before he looks over to Doctor Strange, then back to the others, "I spent a few months building killzone defenses around the basement area. It'll be another week at least before the prowlers can manage to get inside. The Other Guy scared them out of their minds after the first time he came out." His legs fall to the floor, "Besides, the mansion is already half destroyed. The Other Guy did not appreciate being kept in the cage. There are a few dozen holes all around the place." Bruce gives with a tired tone. "So either way, it's going to need a lot of repair."

He looks to Tony, then. "so you were building a gateway to the thing making sleepwalkers? It doesn't take a genius to realize that's going to get a reaction." Then, his eyes turn to Jessica, "What's this about an astral plane?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "It's not destroyed. Yet. It's in the process of being blown up." Strange clarified with a pinched finger against the bridge of his nose and a breath after his words. "The mansion is in a pocket dimension I discovered many moons ago and the thing with this place, there is no such thing as time there. At least not one we could measure. The explosion is frozen in time." Stephen explains.

    Standing next to the chair he was seated at, Stephen looks to everyone in the room with a kind of annoyed glance, "With the mansion in no immediate danger, and with people legitimately in danger, let us focus on the actual threat." Stephen attempts to refocus the team on not the collateral damage and onto the actual lives at stake. Strange points at Bruce as he asks his last question, "The Astral Plane itself has been under attack by a powerful being, one that is taking credit for the 'sleep walkers'. I spoke with him earlier today."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It's about here that Wanda's attention is drawn back in rather directly. "What ever did happen to the fungus that was there? It was very sad." She considers. "And hungry. It didn't like that I would not obey it."

Then moreso, "Oh. The Astral plane. That is not a place to go to lightly. Always when it is only your mind to create reality, there is the danger. There is someone there who is reaching out further, then?"

Slipstream has posed:
Tilting his head as he listens, Drake props his chin up in the palm of his hand. "... What's the astral plane? Is that like another dimension or something? Or like a Alice and Wonderland kinda thing?" He looks over to the others, then back to Strange again.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"So, as anyone knows, I'm not a telepath. But I traveled the galaxy, I've met crazy people with crazy powers, I get the gist that the Astral Plane is telepath-speak for 'place that connects all minds', something like that?" Carol tries to explain as Bruce Banner asks about it, "why is it a problem though? Aren't only telepaths able to access that Limbo of a place?" She then looks at Banner and realizes he may not necessarily know that place. Nobody should actually, and she corrects with, "think of it as psychedelic hell."

Then Strange adds details to what happened to the Mansion precisely, and Carol blinks once, before pointing at Strange, "one hundred percent your responsibility. I don't know what happens, or how, but you get the Mansion back when all is said and done."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Well, some of the concepts were going to apply over. I didn't say I had a functional Astral-walking device, but that I moved the dimensional one from the Tower over there," Stark clarifies for poor Jessica's confusion, and also to Dr. Banner's statement. He has some of his sandwich. Even if nobody else wants to have any of the expensive food catered, he's going to eat. And even if that teleporting thing caused some queasy, he's not going to show it.

    Carol's accusation gets a little cheeky smile from Tony, as well. "I strive to always impress." He uses a napkin to wipe some sauce from the sandwitch off of the side of his hand. "Honestly, that we got such a BIG reaction makes me more sure I was on the right path. I mean. Something or somebody sent me to Italy to get me out of the way during all that."

    So many questions. To Wanda: "The fungus was destroyed. Well, maybe not all of it. It was on the Astral plane too? I forgot about that," Tony says, drawing out a device and putting down his sandwich on the napkin square, to poke at the device.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda looks very serious, and her features take on a distant cast. "Oh, it was much bigger than what was in the basement. There was another mind connecting them. It thought it was a.. well, it was not so much a god, but like that. A higher plane of existence. Very much we were children to it. Maybe not even so lucky."

She shakes her head.

"Maybe it is only using the Astral Place because it is so much the mind. Anything there is more powerful with the thoughts. And spread out over.. Mmm, not so much spread out all over, as it is all over at the same time. Another way of thinking, yes?"

She looks about expecting blank stares from most of them.

Slipstream has posed:
Drake most definitely has a blank stare. That's been his default state since he walked into the room.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "What's worse is I fear this being is having his abilities enhanced. He has an artifact or ... worse." Strange says, looking to Wanda and then to Stark and Bruce and then Drake and finally Carol. "If it was the mind stone it would make perfect sense, almost." The wizard says, falling backwards into his chair and placing a hand against his chin and frowning as he ponders this. "Wanda's correct, this thing is likely focused in the astral plane because it's stronger there. Maybe drawing it to another plane would be the best way to even the playing field."

Hulk has posed:
As Bruce listens, he goes quiet once more. Absently, he takes out a candy bar from his jean pocket and casually munches, "if I had access to someone under the control of this entity, I might be able to find a way to help resist the effect. Anything that can reach out that powerful is going to be able to overpower any such devices eventually, though." He shrugs.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda blinks wide-eyed and innocently at Strange. "I am not helping him!"

She nods at his confirmation of her words, adding strength there. "It would not be very easy to make it move. There would have to be a reward big enough for it to risk leaving a place of power like that. Especially if we are so much the easy targets."

Which humanity does seem to be proving to be given all the recent happenings.

"It might move, though, if we took away its toys." If by toys you mean telepaths and others with psionic abilities. A thing she's actually contemplating whether or not she can do, and concluding it's maybe more proper to consider if she /should/ given potential consequences. Removing one overlord for another does not exactly appeal.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"So we're dealing with a being that amounts to a deity, messing around with telepaths, something like that? Or is it worse?" Carol asks Wanda, before adding, "if something is on the Astral Plane, my understanding is that it must have a correlating physical body, right? Maybe we need to find that 'thing'?"

Gotta love how Carol can discuss solutions to problems she's not fully understanding, using guesstimation, and still managing to sound perfectly sure of herself and reasonable.

Her blue eyes then lock on Doctor Strange, "say, does that 'being' in the Astral Plane has anything to do with the footage we have of you making things disappear in the lab area?" Does the video show Strange making the things disappear? Maybe, either way, Carol figures an outright accusation gets the most immediate response usually.

One thing Carol does know from her galactic adventures, it's Infinity Stones, did she ever bring it up before? No, she usually doesn't discuss what is not relevant. But it was Strange who mentioned the Mind Stone, leading Carol to quip, "if it's the Mind Stone, why bother with the Astral Plane at all...? Unless it's a diversion...an infinity stone is not limited to a singular plane of existance...and in other news, if that's the case, whoever wields it needs to end." Did she just pronounce a death sentence in a manner of casual conversation?

Iron Man has posed:
    "The what stone? What's this now?" Tony asks of Strange and Carol, distractedly, and making a slight face. Sometimes Strange really doesn't make much sense. "Wizard thing?" Just a guess. Most of it is wizard things.

    To Bruce, Tony answers, "I know SHIELD has a few of those people. Or had? Jess, do you know that status, or can get one of those for Banner?" he asks, swiveling his chair to look at Jessica Drew.

Slipstream has posed:
Drake brushes a hand across his eyes as he listens, looking confused. He looks from one to the other as he tries to keep up with the conversation and what everything means. Stones. Planes. Worm Holes. Pineapple on Pizza. Nothing makes sense to him.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I can get access to at least one," Jess replies to Tony with conviction. "One that may even be of some help to us."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda considers Carol's words.

"Most simply, yes, it is so. It is impossible for a pure mind to act upon a pure mind. Much as intent can only be intent. There is always the necessary for the action to have a form and a face. Only maybe it is best and simplest to say we can touch the Astral with our minds, but not act in body there; and the Astral can touch us with a mind, but only act in body. It is why it is only those with the ability to experience such things have been affected."

She says it like it's obvious, and not like she's only just stumbled upon the thoughts right now.

"It does mean that it is limited by what a mind can do. For example, if you can not make fire with your mind, then it can not either. So there are many minds that will not be valuable except to be the distractions. It is the minds that have specific skills. Maybe the nightmares have been to find those ones."

Hulk has posed:
There's a long pause as Bruce Banner listens, and says nothing. Then... "I've never heard of infinity stones before, but they sound like they have fundamental control of reality, if they extend beyond planar boundaries. If this entity had one of those, I highly doubt he'd only be using it for a select few. The only way that makes sense is intentional obfuscation."

Another beat... "Do we have any tea in the tower?" Bruce asks.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "No, I was asleep and under his control until the device exploded, I barely had time to wake up and teleport the whole mansion." The wizard says and sighs to himself. "The mind stone. An aspect of the universe that condensed and hardened into a singular rock. The aspect of the mind. It's capable of infinite feats. It could grant you telepathy on par or above that of Charles, Tony. It's infinite. And if a being on the Astral plane has access to it in our dimension, it must have some corporeal form to access that power." Stephen says to himself, then a look to Wanda, "But, if it can only affect those with mental abilities, then why could this thing take over the bodies of millions of sleeping people?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Dreams," says Wanda, simply. "And perhaps.. perhaps there is a way that others are working together to create a.. mm, how do you say, pretend? No, psuedo ability in others. When they are asleep, their minds are open vessels, or could be if he is powerful enough."

She continues to frown thoughtfully. "Sleep is only an altered reality of sorts. Maybe he has now learned to enter that realm as well. This stone, you did lose it to him?"

Iron Man has posed:
    "Infinite power. Itty bitty corporeal living space. Well, we'll go after the corporeal part of it, then?" Tony suggests. He's still on his device and looks like he's not paying a lot of attention. But almost everyone in the room will no doubt know otherwise. He's helping in his own way, setting up his own technology to start on all the tasks. "Tea, yeah." Priorities.

    "I grant this IS, overall, more important than the mansion. For those that can't help with the telepathy and magical rock hunting, though, the mansion can still be worked on. We can back burner it. I don't desperately need anything in it; everything's replaceable. Our people aren't, but Banner's back here, nobody's trapped there." Tony continues to work with his holograms.

    "So, great. We have a big nasty that invades minds, even Dr. Strange's or mine. Suggestions on stopping /that/, first of all? Dampener tech, I'm thinking? Or is this infinite power gem just going to make that pointless?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Dampeners will be pointless if my theory is correct." The wizard says with a frown. Standing slowly Strange nods to no one in particular as he starts to make for the door. "That's all I know, half theories and unsubstantiated ideas, but I need to get to work. The mind stone is in this universe somewhere." Strange says with a deep intense frown. "Anyone want to risk their sanity and souls to save Earth, follow me."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda stands. "Oh, I do not think we need to give up our sanity. And according to a village I once knew, I do not have a soul." And not just because she's a redhead. "If you do not mind, I will come with you."

She makes her way to Strange.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica shrugs. "I got neither of those anyway, I could come. But I think a little insight from one of the telepaths who's been under Big Bad's control might be just as helpful as anything I could do for you," Jessica suggests in response to Strange as he leaves.

Hulk has posed:
"I could build something myself, but having a working device to reference would be a help." Bruce notes to Jessica. "I'll have to be sure they're not trying to trap me. Again." Then, As Strange talks about finding infinity stones... "If dampeners are pointless, I might as well come along."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Right now? I'm going to finish getting dressed," Tony declares, with a half-smile, in his easy-yet-arrogant manner. Get up and follow Strange? He's not really a 'joiner' much. "And I know this magic stuff isn't really my area, but whatever I can do, sanity lacking or otherwise, keep me in the loop. Otherwise, I'll keep networking with the other teams, keep the knowledge flow open. We're not the only ones working on all this. We're just the ones with the house on fire."