5556/Astral Flux: The statues are still there, at least

Astral Flux: The statues are still there, at least
Date of Scene:	14 October 2018
Location:	Avengers Mansion, New York City
Synopsis:	Avengers share info about the mansion and infinity stones.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Thor, Rogue, Black Widow (Romanoff)
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Iron Man has posed:
    Tony's been very difficult to get meetings with, and without him often present at the Avengers mansion to just catch with a random question physically, outright impossible. Being buried at the Tower or elsewhere has meant most of the contact with the team leader is through various messages he spouts out. Today is a new one, though, that gives an opportunity to get at him in person: Tony lets the team know he's going to be on mansion site between some rough hours on Sunday to fix some security issues with the remaining systems still there, and to 'prepare for the mansion's return'.

    It is Sunday afternoon, a crisp and clear day. Tony is now in the back yard with a squad of robotic helpers; most of them from the Tower. He's seated on the ground next to one of the bots that is native to the mansion that got left behind, with the side of it open, and another robot nearby with a tray of parts.

Thor has posed:
    It is the appointed hour for the meeting to be held. How does one such as the Thunderer know as much? For the Phone of Eye hath informed him with its trill of alarm and the soft spoken voice of Siri did offer due warning though rarely does she receive acknowledgement. But this time he had been aware that this appointment was for true and it did serve that he had been awaiting to hear word from Tony.
    So the billionaire was not kept waiting long before the long shadow of the Asgardian falls across him even as the hero descends from the sky with his hammer held aloft as if it were a parachute easing him down as he lands light upon his feet and takes two steps to arrest his momentum. "Stark." He offers that single word in greeting. "I answer your summons in hopes of matters boding well for our future and our erstwhile home."
    A few steps carry him towards the edge of the great gaping depth then he looks sidelong towards the man. "How fare you?"

Rogue has posed:
Being fall now, the weather is getting a little more chilled, but it isn't cold yet by any means. All the same, Rogue is wearing a black tshirt with white longsleeves going down to her wrists, hand sin black gloves. Blue jeans and leather boots on her feet and a black cap on her head holding her hair down around her face as she skateboards on into the backyard from the back entrance... She drops off of her long board and kicks up into her hands in a display that would impress even Marty McFly.

With the board on her hip now the young college aged girl strides through the backyard until she spies some of the others, Tony and Thor specifically. She hadn't been around since this stuff went down, since the house vanished... thankfully she'd been walking her dog down at the park near her college when it all happened, so she lost all of her belongings, but not her dog. He was safely back at her new loft apartment in fact.

Rogue comes to a halt near them, releasing a light exhale as she looks around but otherwise doesn't speak. She was one of the youngest people around this team, so she just let the 'adults' do their thing and let her know where she needed to help them and how.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Often, Natasha has found herself coming back to the site of their former headquarters. She's not even sure why. It isn't as though there is anything to see with the fences to keep people from falling into the hole that once was a mansion. Usually, she takes up a spot on a nearby rooftop so that she isn't in the small crowd of people that still are coming by from time to time. It isn't nearly as many as it had been when the building first disappeared at least.

    Since Tony was going to be on grounds, she chose to come by and see if there was anything new in regards to the building. She came strolling into the backyard area, dressed down in civilian clothes. "Hopefully I'm not late to this party."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Hey, Point Break," Tony says casually, bent mostly over into the side of the robot. He has one of his pairs of high tech glasses on, meaning they flutter with a variety of displays in the sides as he puts some muscle into pulling a heavy module out of the robot.

    "I'm great. Maybe a bit hungry. Nearly lunch, isn't it?" Tony asks casually. He looks at the tray robot next to him. "Place one of my usual Greek orders. Delivery here," he specifies to it. He sits back, expertly dismantling the part he removed from the robot. Tony himself is dressed simply, in the same thing he'd wear at the Tower to crawl under a car: just longsleeve shirt, athletic navy windbreaker, jeans.

    "Hi Natasha, Rogue. Greek okay with you?" Tony asks. It's more a manner of if she wants something in addition, not that he'd change the order.

Thor has posed:
    Lips pursing in consternation, no Keanu familiarity lighting in his blue eye, Thor gives a nod in answer to the question. "Aye, 'tis the noonday hour here in Manhattan." He steps forwards and shifts Mjolnir to his hip. He wears little of remark beyond the mystical hammer. Torn at the knees blue jeans, white sneakers, and a grey hoodie cover him while his hair has started to come in a touch more than before, bangs actually seeming to develop somewhat.
    "Order what you will and I shall partake." He waves it off and turns to the side as he observes the others. "Widow, Rogue. It is good to see you once again." He looks back with that one good eye towards Tony as he partially kneels. "Do you need a hand?" He starts to reach forwards to perhaps try and help Stark finagle that module out of the housing...

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's left hand comes up to hook some of her white hair out of her face as her eyes drift over to Natasha and she offers the redhead a smile. One of the more mysterious members of the team to her, that Widow. "Hey." She says to her, having said rarely much more than that since she's also probably the most intimidating of them to her, even more so than the Lord of Thunder standing here with his giant hammer.

Rogue looks to Tony then and she grins at him and his glasses. She just dips her chin in a little single nod at the billionaire smart guy. "Sounds great." She says in regard to the offer of Greek food, Rogue wasn't a picky eater by any means, she just never really ate that much of anything portion-wise. She glances at Thor and has to let her grin grow some just cause of how he speaks, its amusing to say the least.

"So whats goin' on here?" She asks them all really. "I've been waitin' t'hear what ya'll want me to punch, or who... I guess."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Greek sounds great," Natasha says as she takes up a spot a little to the side, a hint of a smirk appearing. It has nothing to do with the food. It has everything to do with Thor reaching a hand near one of Tony's toys. Admittedly, it did seem to be heavy so Rogue or Thor could be helpful.

    If Tony was one to like people touching his toys.
    "I wanted to check in and see if we had any ideas yet on how to get home sweet home back?" That was question one of many.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Sure. Hold that," Tony says after he pops the bottom out of the module, and gives it to Thor's outstretched hand. He points at Thor a little with a forefinger: "Don't let it explode," he comments idly without full attention to it. Rogue and then Natasha ask what's going on, and still doesn't pull Tony's gaze out of the robots. But that can't be much of a surprise.

    "The punchable list was empty until recently, but just gained a new contender coming up here," Tony answers. He looks at his parts tray, picks up something else. It looks like he's changing out some sockets on the robots to house different attachments. "So. Thor, you've been busy, let me take this from the top," Tony says. "There was a large riot in the street of mind-controlled sleep-walking people. Dr. Strange was among them. They assaulted the mansion and some local locations."

    "Dr. Strange had access to the mansion, and it appears he was directed inside and set one of my experiments to blow up a huge hole in the city. Happily, while he did do as instructed, he also woke up in time to relocate the mansion to some wizard dimension of hellbeasts and despair. Dr. Banner was trapped there a while. But Dr. Strange and Banner are now back. Wanda and Banner are looking at mansion restoration, but, well, Dr. Strange agrees with me that priority of major resources needs to be on our mind-controlling supervillain asshole."

    Tony takes a pause to direct a robot about moving positions, but he clearly still has more to say. "So yes, restoring it shouldn't be hard. Just have a bigger problem."

Thor has posed:
    "Indeed," Thor gives a nod towards Rogue as he looks back towards Tony, "I too have been awaiting a villain against whom to voice my ire." He folds his arms over his broad chest and frowns marginally while he looks between the others and the Man of Iron even as he straightens up from having taken a gander at the robotic patient that Tony is administering aid to.
    Now holding the module in his hand he eyes it warily for a moment but then shifts his attention towards Tony as he speaks. He does, however, think far enough ahead to shift his stance a bit to the side so that if the object he's holding does explode... well it won't explode in the direction of the mortals. But he listens for now to the words given by Tony Stark, nodding a little at the first part in agreement and understanding.
    "So we once again owe our thanks to the Sorcerer Supreme. He has served us well many times so far."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's attention is wholely on the robots that Stark is maintaining. She, in fact, starts to walk around some of them so she can roam her eyes over the mildly creepy things. While she does this, she listens to the things the others are saying... she does spare a moments glance toward Thor since he's holding something that could explode? But that doesn't concern her too much, she figures she'd probably live even if he did make it blow up.

"Do we really need the buildin' back?" The southern girl asks, her eyes looking at Tony but she really was voicing the question to all of them. "I mean, isn't it just kind've a huge target in a city full'a innocent people all around it? Aren't we doin' the city a dis-service by putting ourselves in a facility right amongst them? When all these major time assholes want t'blow us up?" She glances to Thor again then before she looks back to Tony and Nat.

"Just seems t'me that spreading ourselves out around the city... or maybe not basin' ourselves in it at all, makes a lot more sense t'me." She glances around the yard then. "This place should just be converted inta a park or somethin'."

Rogue clears her throat then and sighs sharply. "That bein' said, my pilot's jacket is in that hell dimension and I'd really like it back." And she shows a slight grin then.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Having been there for the mind controlled mob, Natasha remember well the way they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. She hadn't been able to do much there which frustrated her. She was always frustrated when she failed to stop something from happening.

    She flicked her gaze to Rogue and Thor, her smirk turning into a brief smile at their eagerness to go out and bash something. Two peas in a pod. The notation of the missing jacket makes her smile grow. "One of my favorite guns is there too," she adds.

    She looks back to Tony. "Do we have any idea who our newest supervillain is? All the key questions to follow up to that. Where, what, how do we take him or her down..."

Iron Man has posed:
    "I suppose you could thank him," Tony says skeptically. "But if he had resisted the mind control in the first place we'd probably be having this conversation in our mansion. I do intend to restore it. Rogue, I'd rather our location get targeted than something else--- and actually, the crime rates are far down after I set this mansion up here," Tony smirks some while plugging in the alternate part into the robot. "Proof's in the data. But I can't say if a hellbeast isn't wearin' your jacket in the meanwhile, or eating your favorite gun, Nat."

    He checks connections on his robot. "Give me full diagnostic. Not just the condensed," he orders the robot with the tray. He'll then move to another robot, tray bot-following him. It will produce another module for him to add to Thor's collection of things to Not Allow To Explode.

    "So, this villain. I've networked heavily with SHIELD and the X-Men on this one," Tony begins. "So Rogue, if you have more or if something's off, please add to the database." He pauses in his work now, tapping a tool slowly against the 'shoulder' of the robotic patient.

    "He's some kind of ancient disembodied evil thing that possesses people. The 'Shadow King' is the name I was given. I'm told that he's taken over the 'astral plane', which is a realm of thoughts and dreams." Tony shrugs a little. "He has a powerful magic gem, something called an infinity stone, Dr. Strange believes, which is making him astronomically worse than usual. But, good for us, is he has to have a physical body to use the thing. And we have some leads on where that might be, and there's some recon going on."

Thor has posed:
    "There are points to be argued towards either pass, Rogue." Thor looks to her sidelong, expression twisted with a subtle scowl at the corner of his mouth. "Would we be as those of the Justice League? Offering protection yet above? There have been times when our accessibility has aided those trying to reach us, though it does give us a weakness as well."
    He shifts his attention back towards Tony and quirks an eyebrow, as if curious as to what the entrepreneur might have to say about that particular topic, even as he maintains a double handed grip on the module that might very well explode! But likely won't. He gives a nod at Tony's opinion on the realities of the mansion's presence, but then offers a shrug to Rogue as if saying that they both have valid points.
    But it's the mention of the Infinity Stone that earns a stern glower, "You know this for true? This being holds one of the six in his hand?" He looks towards Rogue and Widow as if to see whether they understand the import on this matter, but he turns back to Stark, "Which one is under his control?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had a mental vision of a demon in her jacket eating a handgun and she wasn't sure how she felt about that, part of it seemed really 'metal' like a awesome album cover. Then she hears the bit about the Shadow King and the Infinity Stone? "That sounds like a band name from the seventies." She mutters.

With a dismissive shake of her head, Rogue speaks up further. "I haven't heard nothin' about any'a that from the X-Men, but its been over a month since I was out that way. I did a trainin' session with'em, but I ain't heard squat since." She bites down on her bottom lip for a second before she raises a hand and adjusts a pair of aviators she has resting ontop of her head over her black wool hat there.

"So there's good sides in havin' the house here with all'a us in it... but if we got Freddy friggin Krueger tryin' t'attack us in our dreams, then I'm not..." She trails her words off and shakes her head. "Its disturbin', thats all I'm sayin'. This is a fight I'm not sure I'm any good for. LIke, its all on Strange or somethin'."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Never heard of those," Natasha admits as she looks from one to the other. "It boosts his powers? And wait, there are six of these things?" Her list of questions just went from three more to about thirty. Maybe more depending on each of he answers to those questions.

    "So this Shadow King has psionic abilities normally and now they are super boosted by some sort of magic rock? Y'know, why did I decided to do this instead of just being a spy?" she asks rhetorically as she gives a shake if her head.

Iron Man has posed:
    The Serious Voice Thor is taking on draws the rest of Stark's attention off of the diagnostics he was getting on his glasses. "Pause diagnostic," he even says, and orients his body towards Thor, standing up, and brushing off his knees.

    "So this /is/ a big deal, not just a big wizard deal?" Tony questions, in his mild sarcasm, but he is bothered. He wasn't allocating full import to Dr. Strange's doom and gloom about the situation, really, though. "He called it... eh. I'll just play it for you."

    Tony pulls a handheld device out, looks around briefly as if to assess, and then uses the front-panel monitor on one of the larger robots. It adapts to show the footage: It's Dr. Strange, set in a Stark Tower meeting room. There's an Avenger or two present, such as Dr. Banner, just beyond him. Tony's in the foreground, eating a part of maybe a sandwich, but listening. Dr. Strange is describing something, oriented on Tony. "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 <redacted>, 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."

    "More relevant to us, there's a nest of the Shadow King's minions in mexico, on the site where the fungus was fought. We confirmed a sighting of one of the telepaths SHIELD caught. I think our Shadow boy's reviving it or using it in some way. It was weak to mind-powers. And also weak to being punched by you, if I remember, Thor."

Thor has posed:
    The Asgardian steps to the side, still keeping the explosively inclined module aimed off to the side somewhat so if it did blow it would be blocked by the bulk of his body. But he faces the others and tells them. "The Infinity Stones are many things to the people who have lived in what we consider our universe. To some they are the seeds from which all of existence springs forth. To others they are what remains of what being may have been responsible for the crafting of all of creation. Yet one thing is ne'er in doubt and that is their power."
    He looks towards Tony for a moment, as if checking if he would wish for him to continue, but not seeing any desire for interruption there nor likely from the others he continues. "There are six in total," He speaks with some reverence as he relates, "And in ages past my father did hold and make use of one, perhaps more though he never spoke on such matters. But each one grants... absolute dominion over one aspect of our existence."
    A nod is given to the display, "They have control over the Mind, over one's Soul or raw Power. There is a stone that controls the fabric of Reality. And there are ones that control the flow of Time and the aspects of Space. For one to even hold such a stone they must be a creature of great power. To make use of it, even moreso."

Rogue has posed:
The southerner glances over to the Russian woman and she grins at her comment about this job and while Tony, then Thor go on their rundowns of all of this she just walks back away from the robots and steps back onto the pathway through the yard, she sets her longboard down onto a stone bench and then adjusts the messenger bag strapped around her torso.

"Jeezus." Rogue mutters after hearing Thor's summation of the stones in particular. "That sounds like stuff we... don't wanna have anywhere near Earth." Space wasn't a topic Rogue liked to discuss much, she knew there were aliens 'up there' of course, lots of them. But she wanted space to stay up in space, and to keep it all far from her home here. "That kinda bullshit is stuff we don't want around us, its... world endin'. It not universe endin'."

She clears her throat then and smirks. "There's a mutant student at Xavier's School who eats stones. Like legit... he sits out in the garden just pickin' rocks outta the dirt and eats them like they're pizza rolls. We should get these Infinite Stones and feed them t'him." She's joking of course... sort of.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    For the moment, Natasha just falls silent. Her brow is furrowed, a sure indication that she is concerned about what is being said. The idea that there are stones that give infinite power over various things, and that a villain has one of them which gives him power over the mind on top of his psionics, this is the stuff of nightmares.

    At the explanation about the student at Xavier's, she has to ask, "Would that work? Not that it will be easy to access this stone to give it a shot but it seems worth the attempt."

    The information about Mexico leads to the follow up. "He's trying to get the fungi going again? Or something else? Or do we really even know yet? "

Iron Man has posed:
    "I'm not sure I'd want to see what type of vomit would come out of that kid if we gave him a... what, aspect of the creation of the universe-- to eat," Tony says. "Speaking of eating, the food's supposed to be here," Tony alerts everyone, in a way that clearly says he isn't going to actually go deal with it personally, probably.

    "Nat, he's doing a big variety of things. Some of them likely to be just to distract us, others... well. I'm sick of chasing this guy around, so if you have ideas on how to get out in front of him, that'd be really welcome. He's supposed to be a hedonist asshat, not global dominator. Pretty sure that's somewhat better."

Thor has posed:
    Setting the module aside gingerly, Thor looks at them all and says sharply. "If the Mind Stone is in play, then our time is short." He straightens up and unhooks Mjolnir from his hip. "There are sages and scholars amongst my people who are more knowledgeable about these matters. I shall speak with them and bring back their words for us to share. Perhaps we can find a path forward."
    Towards Stark, "If we learn that this entity is seeking the other Infinity Stones then we will have to act immediately. " His good eye shifts back towards Rogue and Widow, "There is no time to waste. Forgive me, I must forego the pleasure of our shared lunch."
    Stepping back, Thor whirls Mjolnir several times in the air as it builds up speed. "I will be in contact." The hammer makes a series of louder and louder /whoms/ as it grows in strength and then abruptly he launches into the air. An instant later he's gone though the sonic boom is heard and shakes the windows of the skyscrapers nearby.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just glances at Natasha and holds a grin at the redhead. She shrugs her shoulders. "I seen him bite inta stones like they're literally cupcakes. But yeah, maybe the... 'power' of these would be too much. Or maybe they'd just give'im heartburn. He's German though, German food is like hearburn city, so he'd probably handle that like a champ too."

At the mention of food, Rogue perks up then and picks up her board off the bench. "Where do we eat it now?" She asks as she starts down the pathway, glancing back at Tony. "Now that the house is gone'n all..." She looks ahead then to where the house used to be. "I think the kitchen was somewhere over... there..." She starts in that direction, apparently intending to eat her food where the general vicinity of the kitchen 'used to be'.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "We can have a picnic here in the backyard." In winter. With a gaping hole where the foundation used to be. Sure, why not. Natasha gives a shrug though as she turns and heads for the street out front. "I'll go get the goodies. We'll figure it out."