[Tony walks by and sees a young woman he doesn't know standing by the steep hill of Makeout Point, looking out over the sharp drop, practically swimming in a trenchcoat. Naturally, one look at her face is all he needs to initiate conversation.]
Uh... please don't jump? There; now at least someone has tried to stop you, if no one else has already. I get the feeling that no one... knows your here right now?
Well, that's good. [He glances at the drop.] That... crevice? Is that what you call that? Crevass? Well, whatever it's called, I'm sure it didn't for one dead... I'm sorry, I don't know your name. That seems like a grievous mistake, as I'm sure you're someone worth getting to know.
I dunno. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I just needed a place to stay till all this blows over. Who knows how long that could be in this town. I'm used to stayin' outside anyway. [She cocks her head to the fire she built.]
Here? Yeah. But my "family" here thinks I'm some kinda fake or replacement ever since that news broadcast. Mayfield's messin' with people's heads. So I left. It was gettin' really... [she searches for the right word but comes up short.] ...weird.
Fake replacement...? [Tony's eyes narrow. He had been WONDERING about that... what did that actually mean...? He climbs up to where Barton sits and looks for a place to sit. Eyeing a log disdainfully, he pulls out a napkin and drops it on the log to sit on, careful not to ruin a good suit. He sits down.]
Okay, you've caught my interest, Miss Barton. ...Is that a surname you're using? Sounds a bit, uh... tough, I suppose, but also a bit too manly a first name for an attractive woman like yourself.
Hm. Okay. Barton seems to be your preference. Cool. Ah! How awful of me! Here I am, flapping my lips and... freezing my... ASS off, but I haven't even introduced myself. Anthony Edward Stark is my name. My enemies call me Stark, my friends call me Tony and my dates call me Irresistible. Please use whatever you feel comfortable with.
The creeps! Hah! I haven't known you long enough to be afraid of you! I make it a point not to be afraid of women, even young ones like yourself.
...Except Rosie O'Donnel. And Kirstie Alley, she's like a balloon, I'm afraid she'll suddenly just EXPAND like a dying star and smother... everyone around her... I keep my distance, maybe five feet away at all times...
[Sorry, Tony. Those names obviously go over her head, being from 1922 as she is. But she gets the idea.]
Trust me, I can be scary if I wanna. [Her deadpan expression and her monotone may sound like it, but the fact that she's only about 5'2" on a good day may make others skeptical.]
But this is different. Whatever Mayfield's doin'... There was a lot of people on that list on the television. I had this dream about erasing myself and then this happened. I wonder if they had it too. Did you?
[Tony whips his head in her direction now. She had the dream, too? Now, things are getting weird...er.)
Mmkay, can we compare notes? Apparently we're dream-buddies and got separated during the field trip? What exactly is happening? I had some strange dream that I... can barely remember, but involving something like what you're describing. Then I see that confusing broadcast, saying a whole bunch of people I never met before have vanished, apparently... and you're talking about being treated as a replacement?
You 'n' me ain't the only ones. A lotta people had similar dreams.
My brother asked me if I'd erase myself to save my family, and the people here from dying. I said yeah. When I woke up, that news report was playin'. After that, my "family" started actin' like I was... I dunno. Not me. Some kinda fake.
[Fragments of the dream begin to float back to Tony now. A bombed out New York City... him, hunkered in his lab, hammering away at a new armor model... Rhodey and Pepper standing near him, Pepper pleading with him to make a sacrifice, Rhodey leaning on the counter, arm in a sling, eyes glazed over...]
So Mayfield... brainwashed them? Because it's not as though you actually were erased from existence; I'm talking to you right now. And I doubt there was some sort of temporal meddling to prevent any of us from meeting you, because I've just met you, so it's already failed...
Uh... please don't jump? There; now at least someone has tried to stop you, if no one else has already. I get the feeling that no one... knows your here right now?
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I ain't. Wouldn't do me any good. And no, they don't. I'm just gonna stay up here until... Whenever all this "fakes" stuff blows over.
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An' it's Barton, by the way.
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Okay, you've caught my interest, Miss Barton. ...Is that a surname you're using? Sounds a bit, uh... tough, I suppose, but also a bit too manly a first name for an attractive woman like yourself.
Not that I'm complaining, or anything.
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You probably oughta have your eyes checked. And yeah, it's my last name.
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Ah! How awful of me! Here I am, flapping my lips and... freezing my... ASS off, but I haven't even introduced myself. Anthony Edward Stark is my name. My enemies call me Stark, my friends call me Tony and my dates call me Irresistible. Please use whatever you feel comfortable with.
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...Except Rosie O'Donnel. And Kirstie Alley, she's like a balloon, I'm afraid she'll suddenly just EXPAND like a dying star and smother... everyone around her... I keep my distance, maybe five feet away at all times...
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Trust me, I can be scary if I wanna. [Her deadpan expression and her monotone may sound like it, but the fact that she's only about 5'2" on a good day may make others skeptical.]
But this is different. Whatever Mayfield's doin'... There was a lot of people on that list on the television. I had this dream about erasing myself and then this happened. I wonder if they had it too. Did you?
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Mmkay, can we compare notes? Apparently we're dream-buddies and got separated during the field trip? What exactly is happening? I had some strange dream that I... can barely remember, but involving something like what you're describing. Then I see that confusing broadcast, saying a whole bunch of people I never met before have vanished, apparently... and you're talking about being treated as a replacement?
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My brother asked me if I'd erase myself to save my family, and the people here from dying. I said yeah. When I woke up, that news report was playin'. After that, my "family" started actin' like I was... I dunno. Not me. Some kinda fake.
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So Mayfield... brainwashed them? Because it's not as though you actually were erased from existence; I'm talking to you right now. And I doubt there was some sort of temporal meddling to prevent any of us from meeting you, because I've just met you, so it's already failed...
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