Doomstadt, BATTLEWORLD, Monday
Tony Stark (8096)
Okay, so this was probably the strangest place Tony had been to. And not just because it was called Battleworld. But mostly because of that.
He kept his head down just in case someone knew him and wanted to kill him as he looked for Jessica. Because he was Tony Stark and that was sort of becoming a normal occurrence.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
The protests were getting larger. Louder. And they had finally stretched to Doomstadt itself. It wouldn't take long before people were outside the walls of Castle Doom, but for now, the people were still too scared for that.
One thing they apparently weren't too scared of was the Killiseum. In fact, a group had just made their way in and released the gladiators who were being held there, which probably unsurprisingly led to widespread fighting. Thors showed up to break things up, but most of the gladiators had already escaped, so the authorities were left to crowd control.
What they didn't see was a Spider-Man, who had watched the whole thing from a spot atop the Killiseum and was now trying to blend into the crowd in costume. With this crowd, it wasn't as ridiculous as you might think.
Tony Stark (8096)
That was yet another thing that Tony was just going to pretend made a single bit of sense. Despite none of this making any sense at all.
He tried to not get completely swept into the mob of people who looked familiar but obviously weren't. Which put him near a Spider-Man of some variety as the crush of people pushed around them.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
Bumping into people was just a thing that was happening as Spider-Man tried to quietly slip away - it wasn't so quiet with off the 'Oof's and 'Excuse me's, of course - but one of the people he bumped into happened to be a Tony Stark. He was getting more used to seeing Starks, and he definitely knew that one of them shouldn't be seen here. Even if this was just some general version of him, there were enough Baron Starks that he might cause an issue.
"Just so you know, you might want to get out of here before one of the Thors spot you," Spider-Man suggested.
Tony Stark (8096)
"What?" Oh god, why did Thor want to kill him here?
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"Tony Stark, right?" Spider-Man asked. "If the guys with the hammers see you, they're definitely going to question what you're doing in an anti-Doom protest crowd." And that might create more fighting, which probably wasn't ideal right now, especially if anyone figured out which Spider-Man he was. "Let's head this way." He pointed away from the Thors.
Tony Stark (8096)
Tony frowned, looking over at the Thors for a moment and then at the Killiseum (SERIOUSLY, WHAT EVEN) before following this kid on blind faith that it wasn't a trap.
But, let's be real, knowing his luck this would be a trap.
"What is going on here?"
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"How are you here without knowing the answer to that?" Spider-Man asked, finding a nice alley to duck into. "The protests have been happening for the past week here in Doomstadt and have only been getting bigger.... Wait, you're probably not from this Domain, are you? It's cool, neither am I, but it means we definitely have to avoid the Thors."
Tony Stark (8096)
"Doomstadt?" Even worse than Killiseum, Parker. Even worse. "No, I'm just here to find a friend. Jessica Drew?"
God, he hoped Spider-Man knew who he was talking about.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
Wait wait wait wait. This Tony Stark had no idea of the turmoil on Battleworld. Seemed to have no idea what the names of places were. And now he was asking about Jessica Drew, a name that clearly gave Spider-Man pause, which would be obvious just through body language.
"This is a shot in the dark, but did you come here from Fandom?" Spider-Man checked. He was really hoping the answer was no. "I'm the Spider-Man who helped with the Inheritor thing, we had to do the computer thing under the island?" He really hoped he sounded like a crazy person right now.
Tony Stark (8096)
"With all the clones attacking," Tony replied, nodding along. Way to not sound crazy!
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"Shit," Spider-Man said, hanging his head. Then he took a deep breath and explained. "They weren't clones. They were... kind of like this, actually. Taken from countless worlds throughout the multiverse. That's what's happening here. Doom rules Battleworld as a king and God, and people pretty much accepted that. There's some sort of rebel, calls himself The Prophet, who showed up recently and is spreading the word that Doom isn't God. Protests have started as that word spreads, and the Thors - Doom's police force - are sent out to try to quash the protests, which only pisses off more people and spreads the word further. And some of those protesters just bolstered their ranks by releasing a bunch of gladiators from the Killiseum."
Tony Stark (8096)
Okay, Tony followed approximately none of that. But only because his brain broke at 'Doom rules Battleworld as a King and God, and people pretty much accepted that' because nope.
"You know, just when I think I've found the worst possible version of home, I'm surprised by an even worse version."
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"It's not called Battleworld because it's a such nice place," Spider-Man said. "Because of all this stuff, there are rumors that Doom got an agent nobody had ever heard of from some place beyond Battleworld to spy on one of his Barons, to see if he was going to join the Prophet's forces. I assumed it was JUST a rumor, but if you're here looking for Jessica...."
Tony Stark (8096)
"Jessica is working for Doom?!" Jess, he had such a lecture for you.
Also, keep your voice down, Tony.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"Sounds like she did a job for him, at least. But if he presented it as a choice between helping him and letting Baron Sinister get a leg up, I can understand why she agreed," Spider-Man said. Because Baron SINISTER. His name actually undersold it. "From what I've heard, the agent went to Sinister's Domain, Bar Sinister, and disappeared completely. Tony, it's likely that she's dead. Or worse."
Tony Stark (8096)
And there went the wind from Tony's sails.
"Where is this bar?" he asked, clamping down tight on his emotions because it really wouldn't help if he lost it. Instead he was going to do something dumb and moderately suicidal.
Like you do.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"It's not A bar. It's Bar Sinister. It's a country. About the size of France," Spider-Man said. "If you have your armor, it's a few hours southeast of here, across an ocean." Spider-Man pulled a small notepad out of a pocket and started drawing a rough map. "But you should stay over the ocean as much as possible. The land south of here has you and Captain America involved in a decades-long war and directly across the ocean is Magneto's mutant utopia, where I don't think you'd be welcome either. Just stay below radar and watch out for any Thors. I've never been to Bar Sinister, but from what I know about Sinister, it'll be hard to miss his capital." It was probably neon.
South of the Monarchy of M on the map was the large Domain of 2099, and then a much smaller Bar Sinister.
Tony Stark (8096)
"Of course it is," Tony muttered, making a point to memorize the crude made. For all the good it would do in the air and all. He was just... not going to address any of the other points because ow his heart. "Thank you."
Hey, at least he could test out the new attempt at minimal armor with this.
Spider-Man (Arachnia)
"You're welcome," Spider-Man said. "But... if you do find her and she's okay, ease into telling her that you met me. Last time she saw me, I died. So."
"Good luck."
Tony Stark (8096)
"...will do." Their lives were special things.
[OOC: Played with the Invincible imafuturist, as you might have been able to tell!]