Amongst our new crowd, I saw two fierce eyes staring right at me, coming from the Black Widow herself. Did she seriously just gauge that increase in strength that I just received from Aura? No normal assassin can do that, you know?
"Just what on earth did you just do? It's like you're bubbling with energy all of a sudden.", Natasha uttered. She kept her cool demeanor, but I could see the shock in her eyes. Her senses are heightened compared to the rest of the group here. That much I can tell. I didn't know when a time like this would come, but being Baki again has its perks. Just being him I can bullshit my way out of situations like this.
"You see. Where I come from, my blood's a tad bit special. I get stronger simply by breathing~", I retorted, half-jokingly. But at the same time, I couldn't ever be more serious. There were reasons why Baki and Yujiro were a cut above the rest of the characters from their world. Their strengths were just that crazy. And because of that it gives me leeway to what I can and can't say. Such being the case here.
And it's not like I'm exactly lying, either. I leveled up when I created my first skill, and now, I Leveled Up again when I met three major MCU characters. I'm sure more rewards will come down the line, prompting Level Ups like this. This was just the beginning. And that equaled a rise in my power. I know the Black Widow doesn't know the existence of Aura, but her senses are sharp enough to see my strength rise. That alone is scary.
"You can grow stronger just by breathing? That's just fantasy talk.", Natasha retorted.
"Think of it as you see fit. Consider it as a token of gratitude for looking after Lala-chan and the girls. Oh and me. Can't forget that either, haha!", I replied, laughing.
"Uh-huh.", Natasha said, rolling her eyes.
As we exchanged that bit, the elevator closed, and the bonafide War Machine entered the chat. Er, I mean, entered the room, alongside Pepper Potts. Pepper was probably used to us already knowing how frequently
"So who exactly are these guys, Tony? And is that seriously a tail? Did you develop a new kink while I was away?", Colonel Rhodes said, greeting us as he walked into the room.
"Don't sweat the small stuff. Glad you had time to drop by. They're guests. Not from around here, but I know a thing or two about 'em.", Tony said.
"Guests. Didn't think you'd throw a house party during the daytime, but anything goes, I guess. Especially after all that shit went down a week ago. I could go for a drink. Seriously Tony, it's just been non-stop ever since you went ahead and decided to sponsor that new department. Can I just like, take the next year off and you do my work instead?", Colonel Rhodes retorted, giving a handshake to Tony.
"Hey buddy, I don't make the decisions. It was Shield's decision to transfer that work to the government. I just go where the demand is. Not my problem, you work for the feds.", Tony replied, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah. Well, aren't you going to introduce me to this, "friend"?", Colonel Rhodes questioned.
"I can do that. The name's Baki Hanma. A pleasure.", I said, greeting the bonafide War Machine in English. That was the common language here. Lala just tilted her head to the side, unable to hear what I was saying to him. This language barrier thing should be our first problem to solve. After that, the world's our oyster. We can't go back, so we can only go forward from here.
The next big event should be Avengers: Age of Ultron, where rogue AIs, that will eventually give birth to Vision, will try to take over and destroy the world. And until then, several characters will have their own individual movies/stories taking place. One such case is being Tony Stark here. He might be coping with the aftermath, but unbeknownst to most folks, he is suffering the most. His mini Arc Reactor, the portal and drifting in space before we hopped into the picture, Thanos planting the upcoming war into his head, and so on. He's suffering both physically, and mentally.
Originally, Tony ends up coping by distracting himself with various tasks. That includes working on his Iron Man suit. Ever wonder how high his Marks got by Endgame? It wasn't just for fun and daisies. He had mental issues, and working on them provided good enough distractions. Thankfully, albeit taking a while, Tony did come to realize this and eventually created a suit that you would see in Endgame. Fully nanotech and everything.
But right now, that is still far from being realized. It was 2012, and to be honest, his illnesses are likely at his peak. With me being thrown into this picture now, I'm sure I've added an extra layer to what goes on inside that head of his. I think by Iron Man III, his suits would be in the Mark 40s. Talk about loopy, huh?
War Machine here, on the other hand, has been drowning in work, thanks to the reconstruction of the city, keeping up the public image, and all that fun stuff. He's been at his beck and call with the government since that department was passed to them. His workload is likely thousands of times bigger than Tony's is now.
But nonetheless, it is still great meeting a character like War Machine. I found his personality quite enjoyable, especially later on. He learns how to handle the government. He could be a good foothold to squeeze ourselves into that area, should the chance arise.
Hell, we even haven't gotten our identifications squared away. Once we cross the language barrier, getting our identifications might have to be our next item to do. And then, find a place. Considering Tony now owes me a favor, I'm sure finding a place won't be too much hassle. We can't stay inside this tower forever. I'm either leaning toward staying here in Midtown Manhattan, or heading over to Brooklyn, or Queens. Captain America should still be in Brooklyn, while Spiderman will eventually crop up in Queens. Plus there's Midtown High over there. It's a shame I'm already eighteen or potentially older. Otherwise I would have chosen to study there for a while. Even if it's just for the experience itself.
"Baki Hanma, huh? You do sound like a foreigner. I can see it in those eyes too. What brings you to the states?", Colonel Rhodes responded to me. "Oh and it was rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Lt. Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Military. It's been hell since that attack was launched on the city, and flying in and out of the states isn't exactly the safest it could be. But we work with what we got, right?", Colonel Rhodes continued to say, formally introducing himself to us.
Ahh, there's one of his lines I like hearing. The latter part, anyways. But at the same time, I need to remind myself that the people around me aren't just mere actors. They're really Iron Man, the Black Widow, and the War Machine. The real deal.
"Quite so.", I replied, nodding my head. And like I just said to him, I'm going under the pretense that we flew into the states, in hopes of searching for a job. It's what a lot of people who leave their home countries do to come to find work over here in the United States. Extensive background checks do take place, but skipped that hurdle, considering you know, we flew through that portal with Tony. As I responded with that, I lifted my finger and pointed by thumb toward Lala and Momo.
"And by the way, the girls don't speak a single word of English. It isn't exactly their forte, but they're good at what they do. Especially Momo. If you have some time, she's cooking us a home-cooked meal from her homeland. We came under Tony's care for reasons I won't say why. You'd have to get through her. I don't think you'd be up to the challenge, heh.", I said, pointing my finger now to the red-haired woman beside me.
"Hey, you can't just drop the subject like that.", Natasha uttered back to me, wanting to find out more I'm sure. I mean, we could take it to the ring later. Natasha's an excellent opponent to get back into the swing of things. This body is still in a raw state, and I haven't exercised much of its muscles yet. Once I start doing that, I'm sure its muscle memory and attack patterns will return. And the Skills too. We can't forget about those.
"A subject about what, exactly? You two were whispering on and on so I couldn't hear it quite well.", Tony retorted. As for Colonel Rhodes, he simply stared at the red-haired woman. Just seeing her here surprised him. He knew well who she was. And seeing the seriousness in my eyes, he knew I wasn't joking.
"You're actually being serious here. You're related to THEM of all people?", Colonel Rhodes said, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he looked at the Black Widow. "Okay Tony, what happened? These guys just can't be "looking for work". They're in your damn tower dude.", Colonel Rhodes retorted, cursing out.
"Took you long enough to realize it. 'Fraid these people aren't that simple. I could give you the logistics and everything, but we'd be here for ages and I don't have the time for that. All you need to know is these guys came through that portal with me.", Tony explained, keeping the explanation short.
Colonel Rhodes just stood there, letting it dawn on him.
"Oh god. You're aliens.", Colonel Rhodes exclaimed in shock and took another moment to look at us.
"Took you long enough. Seriously. The military is always short on the uptake. I've had this figured out a week ago.", Natasha retorted.
"That's because you WERE there. I wasn't. But seriously. Aliens? Since when can Aliens speak English?", Colonel Rhodes retorted.
"That's part of the logistics I won't explain to you. Take it as you will. Oh and the chicks speak Japanese. I learned the language overnight.", Tony responded, puffing his chest out in pride. He acted as if he had accomplished something. Well he did learn an entire damn language, so I'll give him props. It's thanks to that we could let Lala and Momo have easy conversations like this.
"Uh-huh. I'm totally following all of this.", Colonel Rhodes replied, letting out a sigh. Hearing that, Pepper laughed.
"Haha, you don't have to get it right away, Colonel. But you're more than welcome to join us for a meal. Momo is a very nice girl, despite being Alien and all that. She's cooking us a home cooked meal from her homeland. Granted, using ingredients from here. They have hotpot, it seems.", Pepper suggested.
"A home cooked meal made by an Alien? What could go wrong?", Colonel Rhodes questioned.
"Oh I could think of one or two things that could potentially go wrong.", Natasha replied with a playful smile.
"I don't need to hear that from you.", Colonel Rhodes retorted again. A wave of laughter spread throughout the 91st floor after that was said. It was Tony who spoke next.
"Before we meander and all that, can you spot me one, Rhodey?", Tony suddenly asked.
"Spot you with what, exactly? I don't like the sound of where this is going...", Colonel Rhodes replied.
"Oh trust me, it ain't much. These four have nowhere to go, and they got no papers they can identify themselves with. Throw a fast one on me, will you? I want four IDs issued by the government. They saved me, and I'm looking to return the favor.", Tony suddenly said. So that's what he was thinking of the favor he owes me, eh? I mean, if he handles all of this, we won't have to worry about living in the shadows. We could even find a place after Nana wakes up.
"A tit for tat. Normally I'd have denied your request outright, but these are aliens we are talking about. I'm not sure...if this is my field of expertise. Shouldn't identification be handled by Shield?", Colonel Rhodes questioned, looking at the Black Widow.
"Normally, yes. But right now, that's classified info. I'm afraid I can't give you the circumstances. Shield can't issue them this paperwork. That's all I can say on the matter.", Natasha replied, sighing.
I can see where Natasha is coming from. It's likely the order Fury gave her. The one where our existences are being kept under wraps. Shield doesn't know of us yet, besides Director Fury, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow. If Shield attempts to issue us identification papers, we'll get registered in their system and we don't want that. Tony likely realized this from the get-go, so he's turning to his best friend who has ties with the military. Colonel Rhodes.
"Classified, huh? Can't really argue with that then. I'll see what I can do. No promises. Not having them know English is going to be problematic. Apart from you, that is. You really aren't a foreigner.", Colonel Rhodes said, looking back at me.
"Sorry. It's as Tony said. We came through that portal. I did not lie about my name, though. The name is Baki Hanma. And if you can issue IDs for us, you can use that name. I'll have the girls pass theirs along later before you depart the building. How does that sound?", I suggested.
"I guess that will be fine. I'll have to go through some hoops to get this under the radar. What sort of papers are we talking about here?", Colonel Rhodes asked, wanting to be sure.
"Birth certificate, passports, and state-issued IDs. The entire kit. I'm counting on you, Rhodey.", Tony answered.
"Sounds like you all have a plan moving forward. Why don't we all have lunch? You can spare some time right, Colonel?", Pepper questioned.
"Sure I can. I just came to check in on this doofus. Didn't think I'd be sharing lunch with aliens. I mean there is Thor. But you're different. You don't have a hammer either.", Colonel Rhodes said, observing me.
"Heh.", I replied with a smile. I'm sure I'll get to meet the other Avengers eventually. For the time being, I glanced back at Momo, speaking Japanese this time. "Say Momo, why don't you finish cooking? If Nana-chan wakes up, we can call her over too.", I said to Momo.
"Okie-dokie!", Momo happily replied. She suddenly grabbed Natasha by the hand and the two returned to the kitchen. Not in their naked apron setup this time. It'd be best not to tell the rest of that image. I'll burn it deep into my memory. Colonel Rhodes raised his eyes.
"So the aliens can speak too. Why am I not surprised? Was that really Japanese?", Colonel Rhodes questioned.
"Sure was. Why do you think I even bothered learning that convoluted language?", Tony retorted. "Anyways, I'm famished. We can catch up on what happened over the week. At least of what you're able to say.", Tony said, grabbing Colonel Rhodes and Pepper to another open area of the room where a large table could be seen. Several seats accompanied it, allowing many to sit down and enjoy a meal together.
Lala looked back at me and smiled.
"These people are a fun bunch, aren't they? What name did you call them, exactly?", Lala questioned.
"They're called the Avengers. Earth's mightiest heroes. Iron Man is one of them while War Machine's a friend. He won't be one until later. There's more that you haven't met yet. We need to find our own place first. If they can handle our identification, we should start checking out some apartments nearby afterward. I don't want to stay in this tower.", I said, keeping my voice low.
"The Avengers, huh? Sounds cool! Identifying yourself can be a hassle. My homeworld has a system like that too. It's much more complex once you start heading out into the galaxies.", Lala responded.
The galaxies...Reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy. Their own respective story will be taking place separate from Planet Earth in the coming time. We aren't alone in the universe. It's a wide place out there. We have to take small steps first before we can consider such matters.
And that is finding a place to call home.
Should we remain here in Midtown and continue this relationship with Tony and seek out Daredevil, move on over to Brooklyn and meet up with Captain America, or seek out Queens and a younger Peter Parker and watch him become Spiderman?
While thinking of where we should go, Momo and Natasha finished making lunch. We all enjoyed a hot meal served right out of a hotpot. It was very brothy and enjoyable to eat. Packed with different kinds of meats and veggies. And sure enough, Nana woke up, rather dazed. But she was quick on the uptake after being confused for a good moment. Once she spotted Momo and Lala having lunch with the rest of us, she quickly calmed down. Her stomach called soon after, and realized having a good meal would suit her best. And once she started digging in, her own emotions started settling down.
Once lunch ended, Colonel Rhodes excused himself, as did Pepper. Colonel Rhodes reminded us that he was going to look into getting us some identification. I made sure not to forget passing along the girls' names to him. Hopefully he can work his magic.
I know this could become a big hassle if it's not handled right away, and sometimes it even leads to unfortunate situations like meeting with thugs and people who are out for blood trying to get your hands on those papers. Most of those stories don't end well. Thankfully, we didn't have to go that route.
And now that is out of the way, I turned to Tony and began speaking of where our next interest was.
Finding a new place to call home.