Laughter filled the limousine as bottles of wine and sodas were popped open. A celebratory mood had infected everyone today as the release of Yggdrasil's latest game was due to be shown this afternoon.
It had been announced by Twitch not but a week ago and everyone on the internet and across the globe was interested. News programs and websites were writing endless articles, waxing upon the dangers and positives of playing virtual reality games, VRG's for short.
This new game, the third full game to be unleashed upon the world; excluding the idle/horror games, was hoped to be a completely unique experience. Animations and small snippets of recordings showed it to be a first person shooter. This was debated heavily online and amongst my group of friends, naturally. Game reporters were making grand claims of woe and hope as they struggled to gain a foothold on the billions of gamers across the globe.
Gaming, once a niche subject, was the most popular form of entertainment across Earth. From my understanding, games that were thought too lethal in real life were slowly gaining traction as possibilities. That isn't even the only effect... Education was becoming pathetically easy for those who spent time within the 'Hub'. The Hub was amazing and bonkers all at the same time. It consisted of Japanese sectors and then bled into dark Gothic spires. And with the latest purchases of land within the Hub, the entirety of the internet was now backed up by the storage power of whatever allowed the Hub to exist. Some hypothesised that the Hub was just a very advanced program, with Tony Stark calling it a miracle of computer science.
Speaking of Stark... Stark industries had also purchased land within the Hub. Their latest expansion was within the 'Halo' district, as it is known. That district was specifically sci-fi and had the coolest aesthetics. Being a massive fan of Star Wars the Old Republic I couldn't help but geek out about the massive battleships that crossed the horizon of that sector.
"Peter, are you okay?"
A soft feminine voice caressed my ear as I panicked internally. I'd slipped into 'thinking mode', as aunt may called it, again. Honestly, you'd think spending time with Superheroes and Mutants would teach me to stay focused... I had to resist the urge to pout.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay Luna. J-just thinking about stuff..." I felt really awkward as my enhanced senses felt her breasts press into my arm.
"You think to much Pete, here have a soda and we can chat about SWTOR or something." She handed me a mountain dew whilst Ned across from me smirked at my situation.
My best friend had changed so much since experiencing the real world and was actually getting buff. His shirt jacket was tight! And that wasn't even accounting for the fact that he had lost his chubbiness and was now sporting a rather sharp jawline and shoulder length black hair. He looked like a more suave version of Jackie Chan... It was slightly intimidating.
"So how has you aunt been? You said she was getting into gaming as well..." I almost flinched from the conversation before realising that I was being rude by not answering.
"Ah, yeah, she is okay. She's playing a Jedi Consular and has been helping out the districts of Coruscant with their orphan problems. She says she can't help herself despite the kids just being NPCs." Looking over at her I couldn't help but swallow at the beauty she had.
MJ was hot, like really hot, but Luna was in another league entirely... Her hair was a mix of black and white that reminded me of the moon hanging in the sky. She had a perfect white and gold dress on, I had to drag my eyes away from certain parts it was that amazing. I barely even noticed her heterochromia, but when I did it was as if I were looking into turquoise and amber jewels. Her eyes shined with all the splendour of stars. The fact that they brought out small dimples next to her mouth was just the icing on top.
She blushed slightly at my gaze, which only served to fry my brain even further. Was I the one to cause her to blush!? 'Impossible, you're a loner and no one ever wants to really speak to you?' Blinking I tried to suss out if she was looking at anyone else. But when I turned to look there was no one else and she was staring straight at me... And that made me blush, deeply.
"Your aunt sounds really kind! Hopefully one day i can get to know her." If she was blushing before she could now be considered as entirely red. I couldn't process what was happening. Logically I understood that she had just implied getting to know me better and perhaps, dating... But my logical brain was just on the fritz now... And I answered with a confidence only sold to me by my complete lack of shame and the hormones currently flaring within me.
"I-I'd like that!" I said it too loudly and now every member of the Hyperlane Hustlers was looking towards us. 'Damn...! I fucked up!' The thought died upon impact however as a whistle broke the awkward silence that had suddenly clung to the inside of the limo. Emma was looking at the pair of us with a cheshire grin that could cut diamonds.
"Damn Peter, way to go tiger...!" The teasing cadence of Emma Frost's voice was enough to make me want to curl up in a corner and die. That result wasn't aided by the snickering and chuckling of my other friends as they whistled and wolf howled in response to our closeness. Looking over at Luna I found her feelings mimicking my own as she was pressing herself closer to me now whilst her fingers intertwined with my own.
'Ohhh, this is going to be impossible to explain to aunt May...' The limo came to a slow stop out the front of the massive Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane Australia. Warframe would be released tonight and the public would finally get a break from the current state of the world.
...
🎶
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all
Or if he moves, will he fall?
🎶
The recently released song from Black Sabbath blared loudly in Tony Stark's newly finished Mark DCLXVI Iron Man suit. He was on his way towards Suncorp Stadium with a pep in his flight.
SWTOR had started to provide much more than just mystical force powers for him. The technology used commonly for droids and machinery within the game was causing lightyear jumps within robotics and programming as a whole. Proof of this? Well, he had just met with Otto Octavius who was currently heralded as the leading authority on Robotic Programming and Autonomous movement. Which was surprising, since he had been a PHD in the field of Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics.
"Hey, Jarvis, start recording from now until the end of the Expo."
`Recording has begun sir.`
🎶
He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
For the future of mankind
🎶
The music washed over him as he approached a massive energy field. Australia had gone crazy since he'd last been here, not that it wasn't before... Under Freya's lead the entire country had shifted from an often discarded and forgotten power to the world's most powerful country. Australia had released much of the information on robotics and allowed Otto and himself the ability to devour the ideas. Robots now were projected to take over 30-40% of the workforce and that wasn't even mentioning the possibilities of leveraging protocol droids' positronic minds to create advanced General Intelligences.
Tony had even started creating his own version of the positronic brains used in those droids. It was far away from actual use but it was on its way to being tested. As for the energy field he was currently passing through... Well, it was obviously and extension to the shielding tech from SWTOR ship hangers and orbital defences. It was a frustration for him as the entire superstructure was awash with electromagnetic interference and unique particles, disavowing him of analysing what made it tick.
🎶
Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again
🎶
The wicked outro of the song finally faded into the soft embrace of silence as his suit was allowed entrance into the nation. It was much like passing through a warm membrane, if his external sensors and his force powers were telling him anything. That bead of information was quickly consumed by the stunning view of city lights below. They were blazing away in beautiful, chaotic, patterns. Like glimmering gems before a raging fire the skyscrapers glittered in the encompassing darkness of night. Roads were painted sporadically with cars and other vehicles that themselves looked akin to jewels falling from the golden coin pile that was the ambient light of Brisbane.
"Well, that just might be the puurtiest view I've seen in a while..." He chuckled as the suit, piloted autonomously by Jarvis, dived down towards a brightly lit stadium. He'd been here before but the stadium itself had changed and could barely be called the true 'Suncorp Stadium' anymore.
For one, the entire thing was now enclosed and covered with neon holograms that had famous sponsors and brands plastered over it. For two, it had more security than even he could poke a stick at... and thirdly, the size of the entire structure was double or triple that of the original; height wise.
`The Expo of Warframe begins within the hour sir, would like for me to contact Ms Potts for you?`
"Sure Jarvis, let her know that I'll meet her in the VIP box within the next ten minutes."
`Very good sir.`
His best friend's voice faded into the background as the din of the stadium finally reached his suit's sensor threshold. The noise was palpable and, by the calculations of the suit's onboard alchemical computer, informed that there were over 100,000 people within the stadium.
"Good old Freya doesn't do things by halves I see." He whistled as the black, gold and hot-rod-red Iron Man suit soared down landed powerfully against the outside cobbled exterior. His visor lifted and he stepped out, the suit closing a moment later and following behind him like a bodyguard. He loved this feature and it sure was cool to see people stare at it and him in wonder.
...
Bruce Wayne was currently seated in the VIP box of the stadium formerly known as Suncorp. In his hands a glass of champagne lightly swirled, barely avoiding the white cufflinks of his Armani business suit. Pressed and perfectly sitting upon his deceptively lithe form he appeared to be the exact image of a playboy philanthropist. The slight upturn and curvature of his smile only served to feed into his exterior image.
Quite oppositely, he had already scanned every exit and entry to the room for escape plans and threats. He had noted the superbly disciplined guards at the edges of the room with their red eyes and dangerous disposition. If he were new on the block, so to speak, he would have thought them to be the only guards... He wasn't however and thus he was capable of fishing out the fact that every server was also a trained assassin and that the small portcullis-like art fixtures upon the walls were in fact some defence feature.
Whilst processing his surroundings and the goings on around himself, he made an effort to absorb the atmosphere and architecture of the room...
It was a comfortable room that could house several hundred people. With tones and shades of purple, rose gold and silver it felt closer to an opulent sitting room than a dais to arrogance. That notion could have been challenged by the heightened platform at the forefront of the room, across from the massive see-through windows. It had a single chair, or throne for more accuracy, gracing its zenith and that singular edifice to hubris was the most detailed piece of furniture within the room. The design appeared to mimic the designs of Olympian thrones from mythology, discounting the sheer clarity of this particular throne's design.
He couldn't help but track the designs within his mind, remembering some of his training with the League of Assassins. Strawberries and vines twined up and around every facet of the throne and yet it was lined with symbols from Norse Mythology. The symbol for the nine worlds, a circular structure elongated with spherical representations of the worlds themselves was imbedded behind the head of the throne, connected by a repeating Web of Wyrd symbol. The web shot straight down to the bottom of the throne but was interrupted by the vine and strawberry motif. That interruption allowed for other symbols to connect. Irminsul, the great pillar, held up the mighty symbol of Mjolnir whilst the symbol for Yggdrasil grew out from the bottom of the web. Numerous other symbols connected to Norse Myth sprouted but they were merely mentioned, not made prominent as these were.
Bruce could feel the significance of the symbology but it slipped from his mind. Like oil upon water the meaning was lost to him. Fortunately he was distracted within that moment as a man dressed in deep green robe and wearing a face plate of what looked like Iron stepped up to the side of the throne and looked out over the Stadium.
"She is, impressive." The figure's words barely reached his ears but it was enough to identify who this was...
'Victor Von Doom. Interesting. Perhaps Freya is more connected than I outwardly assumed?' His musing was cut short as another figure stepped into the room, this time wearing a refined suit and sporting a silver cane. He sported a goatee of ash-grey and had his hair slicked back. His presence sent alarm bells off within Bruce's mind as he had been attempting to track this man down in his spare time, off and on, for the last month. Sebastian Shaw.
'He must have come as a plus-one to someone.' He took a sip of his beverage as the remainder of the VIP guests slowly entered the room. Tony Stark made an impression whilst the 'Hyperlane Hustlers' were attracting quite a hubbub of fans. Doom was simply standing next to the throne, waiting. The night was going strange, there was no doubt about it and if the presence of two very odd women at the very back of the room was any indication, it was just getting started.
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