2014.03.16 - Tony Stark: The Crucible

Tony has some time to bewilderedly look around the steel room. A perfect circle, perhaps fifty feet. Beneath him are a number of grills, about an inch gap between them. Heat rushes up from it. Blood stains all around it, darkened and blackened from unknown times. Light only comes from the fire pit deep, deep beneath the grate, casting the room into a nightmare of shadows. Time would be allowed for Stark to notice Darkseid, before being grasped by the face and hefted up. Uncomfortable, but he would be released suddenly to land on his feet. Although disoriented, Tony is in absolute prime health and condition.

"Tell me. What was it like? Being dead. You claimed to be an atheist, and expected oblivion. Yet celebrated eternity with your loved ones. And were then taken, by the hands of Gods you deny, to their own eternal paradise. Do you still not believe that humans are small, useless creatures, and that greater beings who control your destiny exist, unfathomable and unknowable, above?"

Tony grunts unpleasantly, when grasped by the face and dropped to his feet. He lands, and looks up at Darkseid. Before looking down.

Hmm. Stark naked. How appropos.

He starts to answer, "I.." he pauses, an odd look crosses his face. "I don't remember." he says, after a moment's confusion. "I remember dying..it was almost pleasant." he says, "Then as far as I know, nothing. Then unbearable pain. Here I am, and you're in my face. Again."

He taps his chest, "I see what you did there, too. Do I think you're a God, Darkseid? Sorry, man, no. Having power over my death and life, that's science I can't do yet. But it's still science. It's all science. Even you have to acknowledge that."

"I will make things straight. I only brought you back for one reason, and one reason only."

Darkseid steps closer, looking down at Tony with an expression of... it is not rage. It is not anger. Stark might have expected some ruthless vengeance or other such common tyranny, but if it is so, it's not evident.

"You will fall to your knees, and you will admit I am a God."

A few heartbeats pass, Darkseid's arms behind his back.

"I will not threaten the lives of your loved ones, such as dear Pepper Potts. I will not threaten Earth. I will do nothing to give you an excuse to be a martyr and appease me. It shall be your words, and your words alone."

"Do it."

Tony crosses his arms. "We're gonna be here a while, aren't we?"

There's not even the slightest amount of hesitation. Darkseid's eyes flash, and a crimson beam moves to strike through his chest. A neat, clean hole would be formed and cauterized, where his heart had been a moment earlier. No witty remark. No comment on how he will break him. Simply a ruthless execution... one far more painful and horrifying than he was privy to saving Superman.

Tony has no time to react, no time to say anything. One moment he's standing there, whole, healthy and hale. The next minute, he's got a hole burned through him where his heart used to be. He sinks to his knees because he's dying. Again. He doesn't have a heart, he doesn't have blood flow, he doesn't breathe, and his brain is already starting to die. He looks up at Darkseid, his wind leaving him rapidly. "This..what you want?" he says, gasping slightly.

"To be a God is to demonstrate complete control over the destiny of a lesser being." Darkseid offers, simply enough. "In a way that lesser being cannot refute. What would it take to make you understand...? That is the question we shall answer together." Nothing more is said or offered. Tony would pass, much as before. And again, ascend up towards the afterlife...

Tony gets control of his breathing. It's weird, knowing his heart is not beating. Not knowing raelly how much time he has. "What do you want? For me to say you're the apex predator? Fine. You're the apex predator, Darkseid. You have control of the life or death over a lesser being. Congratulations."

Darkseid smiles, genuinely. "You are right. A cat with a mouse... it is not a God. A human with an ant... even if unfathomable and unstoppably strong, it is not a god. I understand now your philosophy." And then, Tony dies. There's really not much of an option left, when you lose your heart. Fifteen, maybe thirty seconds of consciousness, before blackness. Tony would be allowed to get far enough to see his father again. His family. And then horrible pain, brutal and all-consuming, before he's yanked back down. Eyes would blink open with Tony back on the grate, wound gone. Again, he feels healthy and at peak condition, lacking his reactor.

"I will give you one last chance, Tony Stark. You are strong willed for a human. But you should know when your defiance is pointless. Do it. Go to a knee. Claim I am a God."

"Or what I do next... ...will prove it to you, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Tony looks up at Darkseid. Keeps his gaze level with him.

Slowly, he sinks to one knee.

He can almost imagine the delight Darkseid must be feeling right now. He chooses his words carefully and nods, "You're right, Darkseid. I guess it's time I fess up and make the claim you've asked me to make."

Then that solemn expression turns to that cocky smirk that Darkseid has seen before, and speaks, "I. am. a. God."

Darkseid finally cracks.

Anger blooms across his features, and his face warps in a rage. However, Tony has vastly, vastly underestimated the rammifications of causing such. He steps forward, before two hands clamp on either side of Tony's head. He's lifted up, brought eye to eye. The glow of crimson is intense at such a range. Almost blinding.

"Enough. You will not see me for a long, long time. But I will see you again in a heartbeat."

The world suddenly fills up with red. Tony is lost within it. Looking down, his body disintegrates to nothing. But his mind is still there. Keenly aware, in an endless red void. He cannot move. He cannot do anything but think. And then, slowly it's replaced by darkness. He feels something; a body. But it's wrong. Everything is wrong. There's a woman shouting. A light. And then...

Tony Stark is lifted up. A newborn baby. He cannot move, still. But only think. Seeing what this baby sees, feeling what it feels. The confusion of it all. An alien inhabiting his own body.

He is then handed to his exhausted mother. "He's beautiful, Maria." his father states. "Yes... Howard. We'll name him after you..."

"Anthony... Anthony Stark..."

His childhood proceeds exactly as he remembers it, although now in real time. When his form sleeps, it lasts an eyeblink before a new day. He can reflect on everything his parents did for him with absolute clarity, growing to two, three...

And at age six... he regains control of his body and mind, abruptly.

Tony takes a very different approach to this. The same kind of approach he took when Booster told him he was going to die in the first place and he was able to start getting his affairs in order. The week leading up to the Vault was him dotting i's and crossing t's. So now that he finds himself a baby, then a toddler, with all the amassed intelligence and knowledge and very conscious about who he is and what he /will/ do? It all makes a weird kind of sense. No one could explain his advanced intelligence as a youth, and his ability to look ahead and see future iterations seemingly in his head..it all adds up now. Will it make a difference in the long run? Who knows. Maybe he's doomed to repeat this for eternity for his arrogance, his amassed experience of every lifetime stacked on the one previous and he being conscious of it all the whole time? It's a special kind of hell. But..ultimately..there's a point. A reason. Darkseid is doing this on purpose - to punish him for his arrogance. Once again he had gotten to him. If anything else, that alone is worth the price of admission.

Tony's live becomes surreal, then. Things aren't right. No matter how much the young Stark tries to build, to invent, it fails. It's as if his fingers are numb and fumbled. The ideas are there, but he can't write them down. He can't convey them. Any attempt to try to explain that this isn't right, that this universe is wrong, causes his mind to go dormant. A new Tony emerges; one who feels like a disappointment and a failure, unable to live up to his father's expectations. This Tony does not go to MIT at 15. He is unpopular at school. Awkward with girls. He goes to the Prom alone. Through a large financial donation, he's sent to a school for business administration. And he struggles. Every step, he struggles. Tony knows every answer. He knows every problem. But he can't get it down. Like he's in a dream, and his body won't obey.

Only this is no dream. No amount of pinching, slapping, or struggling will wake him up. It's not an illusion. Every sense tells him it's real. He even dreams; twisted dreams, where he is back in the real world, back as the real Tony Stark, but only awakes to the continuing nightmare.

He isn't allowed to kill himself, if he felt that might work. No. Any time he did, again, that false Tony takes back over and prevents it. His control is nothing but an illusion.

While failing college, his mother and father are killed. But he does not become heir. No; Republic Oil bought out all the shares and takes over. Through dirty manipulation, Tony is left without a penny to his name. He struggles. He fights. He fails.

In his mid twenties, he is homeless. Some days he can afford a sandwich and liquor. But most, he goes hungry in the cold, dirty streets of New York. One day, he sees Pepper Potts, walking by arm and arm with the CEO of ROXXON, a new global conglomerate, happy as can be. There are still heroes. There are still villains. The world goes on... but Tony is powerless, and only able to watch.

Tony doesn't make it far. Everything he tries, fails. Attempts to end this life, fail. He is homeless, cold, broke, and slowly going crazy. He tries to communicate his genius, but he never can, but he knows what's within him. It doesn't pay the bills. It doesn't put him in a home. It doesn't put food in his belly. So at age 31, Tony Stark dies of exposure in Hell's Kitchen. Ironically, his body is found by Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil. There is no obituary, and he is buried in Potter's Field.

Tony returns to darkness. Floating. Floating. And then he is once more in agonizing pain. A moment later, he falls to the ground. A hot grill. The smell of sulphur. And the massive form of Darkseid, standing above. His arms are behind him, and he looks curiously down. "How was it? Was it interesting? Are you even still sane...?" The latter, however, implies that he does not feel it to be the case. A normal person would, living a fascimile of their life that failed at every turn. But this Tony Stark might be of stronger material... yet even that has it's limits, in the end. "Will you claim machinery and man can do what I just did? Create an entire pocket universe, just for your personal torment? If that is not divinity, if that is not control, so be it."

"I will do it again. And the second time, it will be worse."

Tony is shaking. It's not from cold, indeed - it's very warm here. There is a tic he has developed, and even now he is pale. It was a maddening, surreal experience. It's a memory he will carry with him forever, however long that might be. He drags himself up to his feet. His posture is different. He's adopted the slight stoop he had in his most recent life. He looks up at Darkseid, the prickle of cold sweat on his skin.

"I won't say it's possible, but I won't say it's impossible."

Over the next few minutes though, he returns in full. The tic disappears, the shaking stops, and the stoop goes away. "You want to sway me, Darkseid? You really want me to hand it to you and say that you're a god. Surprise me..because I know you're the kind of sadistic bastard that will just keep coming up with one creative torture technique after the other."

Tony sniffs, wipes away some of the sweat. "Oh, you'll break me. You absolutely will. Eventually. I will fall to my knees and say exactly what you want me to. I'll be too shattered to realize it, and I probably won't remember it. But I'll say it, just like you want me to...but I won't mean it..and isn't that /really/ what you want? For me to say it as I mean now, as I stand, like this?"

A few steps are taken forward, and Tony is grasped by the face. Darkseid is angry once more. "How can you resist?!" he growls, genuinely uncomprehending. "How can you deny what you see?! I could break you. I could break you a thousand times. I could send you into an infinite hells that happen in an eyeblink, and even if the heroes save you, you will be broken beyond repair, believing it to be another cruel torture. I can strike you down, and drag your very soul from heaven!! WHAT DOES IT TAKE?!"

He then twists, hurling Tony against the opposite wall. Too hard; oops. His arms, legs, and spine just shattered, as did the majority of his ribs. He'd thump dying and disoriented to the ground once more, but still able to talk, and think, with focused effort.

The pain..the pain..

Tony can't do more than groan..more dying. The part of Tony's mind that makes him who is wonders what the running record for consecutive deaths and resurrections - as far as he concerned he's gotten past Optimus Prime, at least. So he's got that going for him, which is nice..

He speaks, his voice a mere croak, "Demonstrate..your..benev..olen..ceeee..." he says, before falling silent.

"Benevolence?! Do you think a God must be benevolent?! That is not what makes you one! It is STRENGTH. It is being WORSHIPPED. It is the child above an anthill, burning them with a magnifying glass because they are uncomprehending creatures of no worth!" Again Darkseid begins to stride towards Tony, fists clenched heavily. "I have conquered BILLIONS. Those who bowed to me I let live like vermin in the heart of Apokolips. Every living being here fears me. And that, too, is being a God. Something at the apex of existance, something that can only look DOWN, and everyone else UP. Envious, jealous, and irrelevant!!" Thrusting down, Tony's hair is grasped and he yanks him up to dangle. "Admit it!! Admit what you know is true!! You are NOTHING to me, POWERLESS, and I can warp the very universe to do with you as I wish!! Say it, say I am a God, and this will end...!!"

Tony can't move. Hell, he can barely talk. "Because you asked..so nicely..I will give you...what you want. But know this..you can only have..what I give you.."

Tony coughs, blood gurgles up and spills bright red from his lips. He looks at Darkseid, "I will admit..you..are..a god."

Tony summons the last of his strength to speak what will probably be his final words. He doesn't care at this point, he's over Darkseid's creative tortures. Let him live, let him die, just get on with it.

"Here stands before me Darkseid..the pitied god."

There's a roar, and then Tony is hurled against a wall. He is dead instantly. But that doesn't stop him from venting his rancor. Huge dents are thrown into the adamantium-strength walls, the very foundation of Apokolips shakes for a dozen miles, and in the end, the room has become some twisted, crimson horror movie. Darkseid is panting heavily, teeth grit, before slowly calming. Looking at his hands, painted red, he actually laughs. "Amusing. AMUSING! A human could actually get a rise out of me. It would be a mercy to let him rise back to heaven. It would be a mercy to erase his soul to oblivion."

Eyes glow crimson, and strike the ground once more. All of the blood and ruint pieces that were once Tony coalesce, and yet again his soul is forcefully ripped back into a flawless body atop the heated grate.

"But there is no mercy in Apokolips. DESAAD."

The great door opens, and a slim man in a red robe slinks in. Long sleeves appear to be hiding something. "I am done with this man. Do with him what you will." He begins to turn, before stopping. "Wait. ...Something is wrong."

Tony is whole again. In a flawless body again.

It's official. He has the record.

When Darkseid calls DeSaad forth, Tony looks over his shoulder as the man enters. Tony actually rolls his eyes. "You're gonna give me to him? Well, that's some thing wrong number 1 - this guy can't even take a punch. If you're in a habit of horribly punishing those that fail you, you might as start making him grovel now."

"Don't worry. DeSaad has a long history of... disappointing me." The crimson-robed man's eyes flicker, hate appearing just for a moment. "Observe. Kneel before me."

Mouth a thin line, DeSaad kneels.

"Call me your Lord, Master, and God."

After long seconds, "...You are my Lord, Master, and God..."

Darkseid laughs. "See? Even those who detest me know well enough to obey. And know well enough to fear. I will tell you something true, Tony Stark. If you had swallowed your pride and admitted that I was omnipotent, I'd have been satiated. As I said, it was the only reason I brought you back. Erasing you, torturing you, sending you back to Valhala, I would have not cared."

"Instead, you gain an eternity of torture. At least, until DeSaad grows bored. Then you will be thrown to the Lowlies. Fear not. You will be immortal. You shall live forever in the wastes of my grand world, feasting on it's filth and gazing at it's marvels. But first. You need to be fixed. You are broken, yes?"

"Well, that's mistake number two." he says to no one in particular, "Broken? That applies to so many aspects of my life -- you should probably get specific." and he looks over at DeSaad and shakes his head.

Darkseid gestures with a hand. A fragment of broken metal upon the ground suddenly flies into his palm. It is small, perhaps the size of a thumbnail, triangular in shape. "Here." He then flicks it forward in his thumb. Quicker than Tony can blink, it sinks into his chest, aligned perfectly with his heart. A familiar, horrible pain. Each beat of his heart lightly pricks the point of shrapnel, and his muscles clenching risk drawing it in. "There. Is that better?"

The impact causes him to stagger, and looks down as the blood begins to pour down his chest. Something he's gotten used to at least. He sags. His jaw clenched, determined to not give Darkseid the satisfaction of his physical torture doing anything more than what it actually does: hurt more than anything else he's ever endured, all told. "Familar.." Tony says, teeth pressed against together so tight the muscles in his face buldge, "..not so much better."

Darkseid strides forward, holding out a hand. DeSaad sweeps away his sleeves, and places a silver ball in his huge palm. It thrums a deep blue. Roughly the size of his Arc Reactor... but at a glance, he can tell the technology is infinitely more. "This will keep you alive for some thousands of years. But I did not wish for you to not feel whole. It is painful, to miss a part of yourself."

Eyes glow red, before Omega beams fire upon the arc reactor. It then glows bright red. Free hand grasping Tony by the neck, he then thrusts forward. Pressing the scalding white orb right over the wound, twisting and thrusting it until it is settled exactly where it is needed... and only then would he let go.

Curiously, for all the pain, there is no blood. No burnt skin. It is perfectly melded into him, exactly like the one he normally has. Each beat of his heart causing it to pulse, and drawing the shrapnel away to remove it's risk of puncturing his heart and killing him...

The pain, this pain, this particular pain is Tony's physical breaking point - no matter how many times his body has been destroyed, remade, destroyed again the psychological cost of this has been exceeded. When the far more advanced reactor is shoved into his chest, Tony's body goes rigid. His eyes flutter into the back of his head, and with a wordless groan, he crumples into an unconscious heap on the floor of the room. The mind simply shutting down the body - both have endured too much.

"He is yours." Darkseid comments, before turning and walking out of the cell in a casual stride. Grinning, DeSaad slips forward and catches Tony by the hair, hefting it up. "Oh... I'm going to have /fun/ with you. I'll repay you back for striking me a thousand... no, TEN thousand times over!!" Dragging his unconscious, limp body along, DeSaad strides out of the room, door slowly creaking shut behind...