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[ Medusa's long been used to addressing large crowds of people. How to keep her face perfectly unreadable is a matter of habit, now, even as her hair swirls and shifts over her shoulders and around her face. She doesn't want to be doing this, but there's no point in beating around the bush with subtlety either. She'll have to make her requests. ]

Fellow guests of the Moira, my name is Medusa. I am Queen of the Inhumans and New Attilan. I speak to you today to ask you for your help. It has been some time since I last found myself on this ship, but I do not know how long. It seems some of those I considered friends previously have departed. If any of those I knew still remain, if anyone can tell me how many months I have lost, and what I have missed, I would be glad to hear from you now.

[ This part's a little trickier. ]

In addition, if there are any who have heard of the Inhumans, or those we consider our allies— The Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men— I would like to speak with you. To speak with any who have even heard of them. It does not matter if we knew each other before. I imagine that many of you may not have heard of of the Inhumans, even though we know of you. This is... [ Only a moment's hesitation, her hair billowing out in thought— and then she refocuses, and continues. ] A complicated situation to explain. So I leave it to you to decide whether or not to come forward. If you do not, know that I will not seek you out. I have no desire to impose meaning and familiarity onto strangers. I will respect your privacy as I would want my own to be respected.

[ And this one, this one final long shot in the dark: ]

If you are an Inhuman, of any tribe or city— know that you can always come to me for aid. The time for petty and superficial differences has passed. We are one people, and as one people I will defend you and stand for you as I would any citizen of mine.

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[ Anthony. His eyebrow ticks upward. ]

Gonna go with honest. Final answer.

If you are similar to the man I have always known Tony Stark to be, then I know this— you are not a patient or humble man. You are dedicated to protecting and shaping the future, and you have a tendency to respond with passion even when it would be prudent to do otherwise. This sometimes leads you to...extreme responses. Then when challenged, you respond with self-righteousness and refuse to back down from your position.

[ It's not like she hasn't seen this before. ]

Sometimes this is admirable. Sometimes this is disastrous. Sometimes it is difficult to tell which way he will go. We share many cautious friends, in my world. We have many enemies, and sometimes friends have been those enemies. And for the sake of honesty, I will admit— there are some things I would not tell the Tony Stark I know, though I will grant that he would know this without saying, and plan accordingly in turn.

[ Tony meets all this information... with a snort. ]

Sounds like an asshole.

[ JUST SAYING. ]

Fortunately for everyone [ Said with a touch of sarcasm ], there's not a lot of kneejerk "problem solving" for me to get up to when we're dealing with things like long-exploded planets. That's the past, not the future. I doubt hiding ancient history from me is helping anyone, here, least of all me.

[ He shrugs, but despite what could be considered a very formally worded tirade against his character, he still seems pleased with the honesty. Whatever other-him got up to, that's not his problem. The guy sounds like a hot mess, anyway. ]

Either way, I think their motivations for it are probably a little different from what you're assuming. It likely boils down to "we really just don't feel like talking about this unless you drag it out of us."

I don't know, Anthony. I don't know what's happened in your world unless you tell me. I hope you are right.

[ That's...still somewhat honest, okay. ]

Do you have Hulks in your universe?

Uh, yes and no. We have a Hulk. One. Singular.

[ And that is MORE THAN ENOUGH. ]

Please don't tell me you have armies of them running around.

How many constitutes an army?

[ THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION. ]

[ NO. ]

Jesus. Okay, you know what, forget that. Let's just skip to the actual point you were working your way to.

I know of very few people with the base raw power to destroy an entire planet by themselves and unaided, regardless of intention. Even my husband, who can destroy a city with the smallest whisper, would require some aid to shatter a planet.

[ It's not that she doesn't want to spell it out for him. It's just that she has nothing but bad news for him. ]

From what I was told, it wasn't intentional. There was provocation. But humankind has no greater weapon than the Hulk, and it seems even in another universe, Dr. Banner struggles to control his other self. There are always consequences, when the Hulk is released. This time, it was a planet.

Edited 2016-06-29 03:57 (UTC)

[ ... Bruce?

Medusa earns the dubious honor of actually getting him to shut the fuck up for a moment, because somehow, that's not one of the potential answers he'd predicted. It makes perfect sense, of course. Tony's seen what the Hulk can do, there's no question that what she's proposing is perfectly plausible. That it was or wasn't intentional isn't even a variable in this equation. Of course it wasn't intentional.

Jesus Christ. ]

Scratch my earlier assumption. The guy most likely to tell me about it is the guy who did it. That's why.

Dr. Banner does not respond well to interventions.

[ Like that time the Illuminati forcibly ejected him from the planet, and then he came back and beat the shit out of everyone. You know how has a pretty vivid memory of that? Medusa.

A lot of baggage, too, but nobody needs to go there today.

She also means don't go doing the exact kneejerk passionate thing I told you you do. ]

There has been no retaliatory response. While I'm sure some crew members remember the incident, it isn't something he would want openly discussed. Nor is it necessarily something it would be safe to openly discuss. I have never confronted him with this knowledge, or the fact that I know who he is at all. I would suggest that if you intend to act on this information, you do so with as much subtlety and delicacy as you are capable of.

Act how? Throw around accusations he'd just immediately agree with? Demand answers he doesn't have? Toss fuel on his already-raging self-hatred fire?

[ Tony rakes a hand through his hair, clearly a movement borne of stress. The gravity of this is starting to truly settle in, but he's not lying. For now, he has no inclination to do anything with this information but absorb it. ]

Gimme a break. He's my friend.

I know he is your friend.

[ It's just that in her universe, they are all really shitty friends. All of them. Including her. And if in his universe they spend less time at cross purposes, Medusa is honestly jealous. Her life would be much easier if there were fewer politics bringing her into conflict with everyone else. ]

And I am trying to be your friend, and I am trying to help you. That's why I caution you to think seriously about what you will do now that you know this. Do you think I would say that if I didn't know what happens when one makes the wrong choice on how to handle a Hulk?

This isn't just a matter of dealing with the Hulk. It's dealing with Bruce Banner, and I think I've gotten pretty good at that.

[ He gets her concern, if everything she's said about the other-him is true, and he's not denying he can sometimes go to extremes, himself. He's self aware, if nothing else. But the idea that he would use this information in a way that would antagonize Bruce to the point of a Hulk incident, or else work to his (or anyone's) detriment if an incident occurred for other reasons is - well, as far as he's concerned, ludicrous.

So, yeah, Medusa probably has some things to be jealous of. ]

Listen - I can respect a healthy dose of paranoia. I dunno what happened in your world and can only speak for mine, knowing you've got no reason to trust me. But I've got faith in me, and my team, and yeah, him. [ Sometimes Tony think he has more faith in Bruce than Bruce does- no, he knows for a fact that he does. ] Your worst case scenario probably isn't looming on the horizon.

[ Because Medusa is in a generous mood— because she has no choice but to be in a generous and forgiving mood, given her situation— she won't try to argue that it's not paranoia when backed by legitimate experience. ]

If I did not have some level of trust in you, I would not have told you anything.

[ And it's a wiser move on her part to let them all discover some of what she knows about them for themselves. There'll be no real satisfaction in those I told you sos when they come. ]

To some extent, this conversation is an act of faith on both our parts.

[ He considers that for a moment, before she's afforded a brief smirk. ]

Guess so.

[ Tony could've easily shut down this conversation right at the start, and there had been a moment or two where he was tempted. But curiosity will probably be one of his (many) downfalls, and his brief time here so far has already thoroughly tested what he considers his modus operandi. ]

Those aren't usually my style, so you're one of the few and privileged.

Believe me, I know.

[ Because she knows all about the little boys club that calls themselves "The Illuminati", and what it says about every member's ability to trust. Including her dear husband's. ]

I am not given to it myself. But we are all put at a disadvantage simply by being here, and closing that gap takes priority above all else.

You won't normally hear me vouching for teamwork and collaboration and all that, but you're not wrong. I've been thinking along these lines myself.

[ So, yeah, he might be egomaniacal, and sure, he might assume he can handle most things on his own just fine. But this isn't a situation he'd ever predicted in his wildest imaginings of the future, and if there's anyone who spends an undue amount of time pondering the shape of the future, it's Tony Stark.

He needs to take what resources he can get. It's why he has half a mind to try and wrangle the Avengers, even if it'll be like herding cats. ]

Lucky for you - and me - the Ingress seems real fond of people from our assortment of universes. Assholes like Loki aside.

Edited (god im tired) 2016-07-07 00:52 (UTC)

I am sure there's some reason for its preference, but I'm more concerned with taking advantage of it than discovering why.

[ Unless discovering why helps them take advantage of it. But that's for the science nerds to figure out. ]

If Loki is the worst of it, then we should consider ourselves fortunate.

Are you kidding? The "why" is the most interesting part.

[ Science nerds. True. ]

But I'll agree to disagree, because 1.) I don't wanna know, 2.) seriously, I really don't, and 3.) that guy's at the very top of my shitlist right now.

I don't suppose Thor is here to make the problem simply go away.

[ That's what she'd do with Loki. Nothing anyone could do to him would be greater punishment than what his own family would do. ]

See, you say that, but if Thor had the ability to simply make the problem go away, I don't think we'd have had a problem to begin with.

No, I suppose not.

[ One can hardly ask a man to do away with his own brother. ]

Contain the problem, then.

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