maskormenace | 001; video

[For long moments, Ororo simply stood outside, on House #015's lawn. She took a look around the rooms, sure, and she'd spent some time looking through the file that she'd been given earlier. But ultimately there was something about the house that unsettled her. It didn't feel very lived in, and though it was spacious enough, it felt too small. A little like the walls were closing in on her. So she'd escaped to the front yard for some air, and to gather her thoughts and consider her options.

She wasn't a stranger to being pulled into new worlds. It wasn't something that happened often, but it had happened before, so she wasn't too troubled about that. No, what did trouble her was everything that she'd left behind: the school, the students, her team, her family... For her to be pulled away from all of them, at a time like this, left her frustrated and more than a little annoyed. Outwardly she remained calm, but it was harder to keep the sky from reacting to her building temper. Lightning flashed in an otherwise clear sky, and Ororo couldn't be bothered to do more than frown idly up at the clouds. How fortunate, she thought, that she didn't have to worry about upsetting weathermen in this world.

Eventually, she finally takes action. If this were like any other time she'd visited other dimensions, it stood to reason that perhaps one or two of her teammates were around here. It was just a matter of finding them. She switches on the communicator and, after a beat of hesitation, decides on something short and to the point and, hopefully, wouldn't give too much away about her.]

Good afternoon, all. If you have heard of, or know of the X-Men, I would greatly appreciate it if you would please contact me. Thank you.

[ There. Formal, polite, and straight to the point. But... well, not very friendly. Ororo decides to tack something else on, in a much warmer tone of voice: ]

That being said... My name is Storm, and I am newly arrived. Our handlers have been kind enough to fill me in on the situation, but I must admit that it is still a bit much to take in. Would it be too much to ask for some clarification on the information that we have been spoonfed?

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Well, if you're looking for information... I'm sure you know who to look to for most of it.

Hello, Tony. Valeria mentioned you were here. [She makes no indication of answering his comment since, like he said, it goes without saying that she'd turn to him for more info at some point. Probably.]

Of course she did. [ A beat. ] Welcome to Cape Canaveral, by the way. I'm sure the heat's at least bearable to someone who can control the weather.

[A casual shrug.] The heat never really bothered me anyway. [Weather powers or not, she did do a lot of growing up in the Serengeti, after all.]

But thank you, for the warm welcome. [She cracks a small smile. Look, see, she can do levity if she wants to!] Valeria tells me you have not been here long?

Here, no. Other places, yes. It's a complicated situation, but we were imports before Cape Canaveral, a place with an uninspiring name called the City.

Unfortunately, I've been away from home for the better part of... [ A pause. ] Well, too long, let's just put it like that.

Hmm. How odd. I'm relatively sure you were in New York just yesterday. [Maybe. Who knew, with Tony and the Avengers.] But Valeria mentioned something about divergent timelines and other dimensions as well, so I suppose this should not be altogether too surprising.

But it sounds like you've been away from home a long time. How are you faring, Tony?

Oh you know, this is just like any other day by now. [ A pause. He doesn't like talking about how much he worries about home. ]

How are you holding up, really? This is...well, pretty par for the course for us, but I'm afraid that it's generally for the long haul, if you haven't figured that out yet.

That's always the worst news.

[Ororo frowns slightly, shaking her head.] ... You have been in this longer than I, Tony, so I suppose I will have to take your word for it. But generally that is not the kind of attitude I would take. [She runs into hopeless situations on an almost regular basis. The trick was to keep going as though it wasn't "for the long haul."]

Don't lose hope, Tony. We will make it out of this; we have you, do we not? [Ororo quirks an eyebrow at him, smiling wryly.]

You know how to say just the right things, don't you?

[ A corner of his mouth lifts into a self-satisfied smirk. ]

Whether or not we'll get out of this remains to be seen, but at least while we're here, we can make something of a difference.

[She just manages to keep herself from rolling her eyes. She knows to deal with Tony Stark, doesn't make his attitude any more likable.]

We will get out of this, [she corrects him, keeping that eyebrow arched on him pointedly. She won't take any compromises on that. Too much is waiting for her at home.] but I will agree that if we can make a difference here, we should. What did you have in mind?

Well, suddenly, there are quite a few of us. It's a nice change. Don't you think maybe we should reward their goodwill with a little of our own?

Make sure that anyone who's from here -- or any other world -- will be able to recognize that we're a group that honestly wants to do something great here.

X-men, Avengers, we're all going to be working together, I'd hope.

[That gives Ororo pause, considering what just went down for her in their world. But, that wasn't even the first time the X-Men and the Avengers had had to face off against each other. They'd gotten over things eventually, and they did work together rather than against each other more often than not. So she nods.]

That would be the wisest course of action, yes. And it would not be the first time. [She offers him a smile.]

And hopefully not the last, huh? I can't say I wouldn't mind working at your side again. It's been a while.

[ For him, since the wedding. Where he had a pissing contest in the middle of.

How awkward. ]

Has it? [Ororo smiles, chuckling quietly.] A few short months for me, but you know how it tends to go for us. There's always something.

Oh, always. If our lives weren't a constant stream of one crisis or another, I'm pretty sure we'd all go stir-crazy.

Perhaps, but I think I would appreciate a moment to breathe, now and then. At least all this keeps us on our toes.

Thankfully, breathing doesn't seem to be too difficult.

I think you'll find it's one of the things we can count on, is breathing.

Given our luck, putting it that way may just jinx us.

I'll just have to knock on wood and make sure to make my own luck, then.

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