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tamingthemuseTitle: Room for Improvement (extra)
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: Light
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
The walls to his manse towered up over his head as he stared up at them from the floor. They glowed white, nearly blinding him the moment it took his eyes to adjust. He blinked rapidly as the distortion from coming back to life left him, and then pushed himself upright.
A dragon was writhing in the main all, it’s massive body twisting and contorting in the air, slamming its body against the walls. With a great sigh, The Most Gifted One put his feet under him and held up his hand.
“Be still, dragon, you will not desecrate my manse.” The tips of his fingers flared briefly after his words and, like a rock, the dragon dropped to the floor. The ground shook under the weight, and The Most Gifted One widened his stance to better keep his balance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of color and turned, his fingers weaving a spell before his lips could follow through. The Lunar caught his hand in a clawed grip, holding the spell away from her. She snarled into his face, long white fangs bared in clear threat. The Most Gifted One punched her in the gut, Essence poured into his fist. She doubled over, her grip dropping from his hand. As she struggled on the ground to recapture her breath, he stepped over her and turned his attention back to the dragon.
The water dragon shook its head, dazed. Then it turned a pair of black eyes on him. The Most Gifted One tilted his head and raised his hand back up into position. “Submit.”
Thick lips curled back, water dripping from its mouth. A forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air around The Most Gifted One. And then the dragon’s whole demeanor changed, lips curling back down to cover its teeth, body losing the tension that had puffed it up.
The Most Gifted One lowered his hand and turned his attention back to the fallen Lunar. One gleaming black shoe shifted her onto her back. Her eyes popped open, and she snarled at him. Smirking, he made to kick her, but a sound alerted him to something flying through the air at him.
He ducked down, the disc passing over his head by mere inches. He spun on the ground, one hand held out for balance and narrowed his eyes at the man staring at him with wide eyes.
“Tony, what are you doing?”
Narrowing his eyes again, The Most Gifted One tried to understand the words the man was speaking before he decided that these strangers in his manse were unwelcome. He stood to his full height, which, in this stolen body, wasn’t all that tall, and turned fully to face the man with the star on his chest.
A human.
Deciding he wasn’t going to be much of a challenge, The Most Gifted One turned back to the Lunar that was now trying to get to her feet. Her attention wasn’t on him though.
The Most Gifted One spun on his heel to face the dragon, both fists raised in preparation.
A Vizier stood on the dragon’s wide shoulder, silver hair a wild mess hanging over his shoulders, his yellow eyes as bright as the light from the stars as he glared at him. In his hands, he held the shield that the human had thrown at him before. As he watched, the Journeys tossed the shield to the side, the human catching it easily, and then jumped to the floor.
He walked easily toward The Most Gifted One, body relaxed. “Peace, my lord. We have no fight here.”
Ah, a tongue he could understand. He dropped his fighting stance and tilted his chin up. “What do you here? This is my place of power, and you are unwelcome.”
“We are your friends.”
He snorted and gritted his teeth. “A lie smith such as you could never be my friend.” He pointed down to the Lunar. “The both of you betrayed my people. Locked us away,” he roared. He flexed his hands and his sword appeared in his hand through a cloud of Essence. Without pausing for breath, he launched himself at the Sidereal.
The human gave a warning shout, too late. There were others in the room that he paid no heed to, all his attention on the one that he knew to be the most dangerous.
He brought the sword down, and the Sidereal was suddenly no longer in the sword’s path. The blade missed him as closely as the shield had missed The Most Gifted One earlier. Cursing, he kicked his foot out to catch his opponent’s ankle, but the Sidereal easily sidestepped him.
“Let us speak, my lord.”
“I will not give you the honor.” The next stroke of the sword was an upward arc that the Sidereal couldn’t move fast enough to dodge. The sword bit into his flesh and drew a welling of blood that the Sidereal quickly stopped with a faint pulse of Essence.
Behind him, one of the others that he had paid little heed to stepped forward. “Iron Man,” he said, his voice low and powerful like thunder, “What is the meaning of this?”
“He is no longer Iron Man,” the Lunar said, but like the other’s her words meant nothing to him. The Sidereal didn’t seem to be keen on attacking him, so he finally let himself look at the others. They were all staring at him, and his lips thinned in anger.
“Who are you people?”
There was an elemental, air, by the scent and feel of it, four humans, the dragon, the Lunar, and the Sidereal. The elemental held a war hammer in his hand, his grip as lax as the Sidereal’s. The Most Gifted One shifted slightly to keep him in his sight as well as the Sidereal. One of the humans seemed to shy away from the others, but gave off the waves of essence that confused The Most Gifted One’s senses. He wanted to keep an eye on him too, but he was timid enough that The Most Gifted One wouldn’t worry about him just yet.
The two humans that stood close together, watching each other’s backs, were a pair of clever ones, their eyes and hands steady as they watched him silently. He feared nothing from them. Whatever they could throw at him, he could easily counter.
The last human had an inner light of purity to him that The Most Gifted One hadn’t seen in a very long time. At least, not in his people. His eyes were clear and steady as they watched him, only a faint curve to his brow showing off his unease.
They all looked confused at his words, save for the two exalts. The Sidereal held his hands out, empty and pleading. He opened his mouth, but The Most Gifted One lifted his sword and held it at the man’s throat. “No, why are you here?”
The Sidereal backed off. “Your floating island has crashed. Your rebirth is determined to bring it back into the air.”
The Most Gifted one glanced at the lurking dragon, water still dripping off its heaving sides and out of its mouth. “Why does this dragon look so starved?”
The Sidereal shook his head. “Much time has passed since you last lived. The world is different.”
The Most Gifted One lowered the sword and only then paid attention to how the humans and elemental had taken steps closer to them, bodies tense as they clearly were conflicted about what was going on around them. The Lunar seemed to be translating for them in a low murmur, one hand curved protectively around her side.
The Most Gifted One eyed her a moment before letting his eyes roam over the others for another study of the Circle. He breathed a deep sigh and came to a decision. The sword dropped to his side and he turned fully toward the Sidereal.
“I shall warn you, then. There is a secret in this manse that you must be prepared to face.”
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: Light
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
The walls to his manse towered up over his head as he stared up at them from the floor. They glowed white, nearly blinding him the moment it took his eyes to adjust. He blinked rapidly as the distortion from coming back to life left him, and then pushed himself upright.
A dragon was writhing in the main all, it’s massive body twisting and contorting in the air, slamming its body against the walls. With a great sigh, The Most Gifted One put his feet under him and held up his hand.
“Be still, dragon, you will not desecrate my manse.” The tips of his fingers flared briefly after his words and, like a rock, the dragon dropped to the floor. The ground shook under the weight, and The Most Gifted One widened his stance to better keep his balance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of color and turned, his fingers weaving a spell before his lips could follow through. The Lunar caught his hand in a clawed grip, holding the spell away from her. She snarled into his face, long white fangs bared in clear threat. The Most Gifted One punched her in the gut, Essence poured into his fist. She doubled over, her grip dropping from his hand. As she struggled on the ground to recapture her breath, he stepped over her and turned his attention back to the dragon.
The water dragon shook its head, dazed. Then it turned a pair of black eyes on him. The Most Gifted One tilted his head and raised his hand back up into position. “Submit.”
Thick lips curled back, water dripping from its mouth. A forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air around The Most Gifted One. And then the dragon’s whole demeanor changed, lips curling back down to cover its teeth, body losing the tension that had puffed it up.
The Most Gifted One lowered his hand and turned his attention back to the fallen Lunar. One gleaming black shoe shifted her onto her back. Her eyes popped open, and she snarled at him. Smirking, he made to kick her, but a sound alerted him to something flying through the air at him.
He ducked down, the disc passing over his head by mere inches. He spun on the ground, one hand held out for balance and narrowed his eyes at the man staring at him with wide eyes.
“Tony, what are you doing?”
Narrowing his eyes again, The Most Gifted One tried to understand the words the man was speaking before he decided that these strangers in his manse were unwelcome. He stood to his full height, which, in this stolen body, wasn’t all that tall, and turned fully to face the man with the star on his chest.
A human.
Deciding he wasn’t going to be much of a challenge, The Most Gifted One turned back to the Lunar that was now trying to get to her feet. Her attention wasn’t on him though.
The Most Gifted One spun on his heel to face the dragon, both fists raised in preparation.
A Vizier stood on the dragon’s wide shoulder, silver hair a wild mess hanging over his shoulders, his yellow eyes as bright as the light from the stars as he glared at him. In his hands, he held the shield that the human had thrown at him before. As he watched, the Journeys tossed the shield to the side, the human catching it easily, and then jumped to the floor.
He walked easily toward The Most Gifted One, body relaxed. “Peace, my lord. We have no fight here.”
Ah, a tongue he could understand. He dropped his fighting stance and tilted his chin up. “What do you here? This is my place of power, and you are unwelcome.”
“We are your friends.”
He snorted and gritted his teeth. “A lie smith such as you could never be my friend.” He pointed down to the Lunar. “The both of you betrayed my people. Locked us away,” he roared. He flexed his hands and his sword appeared in his hand through a cloud of Essence. Without pausing for breath, he launched himself at the Sidereal.
The human gave a warning shout, too late. There were others in the room that he paid no heed to, all his attention on the one that he knew to be the most dangerous.
He brought the sword down, and the Sidereal was suddenly no longer in the sword’s path. The blade missed him as closely as the shield had missed The Most Gifted One earlier. Cursing, he kicked his foot out to catch his opponent’s ankle, but the Sidereal easily sidestepped him.
“Let us speak, my lord.”
“I will not give you the honor.” The next stroke of the sword was an upward arc that the Sidereal couldn’t move fast enough to dodge. The sword bit into his flesh and drew a welling of blood that the Sidereal quickly stopped with a faint pulse of Essence.
Behind him, one of the others that he had paid little heed to stepped forward. “Iron Man,” he said, his voice low and powerful like thunder, “What is the meaning of this?”
“He is no longer Iron Man,” the Lunar said, but like the other’s her words meant nothing to him. The Sidereal didn’t seem to be keen on attacking him, so he finally let himself look at the others. They were all staring at him, and his lips thinned in anger.
“Who are you people?”
There was an elemental, air, by the scent and feel of it, four humans, the dragon, the Lunar, and the Sidereal. The elemental held a war hammer in his hand, his grip as lax as the Sidereal’s. The Most Gifted One shifted slightly to keep him in his sight as well as the Sidereal. One of the humans seemed to shy away from the others, but gave off the waves of essence that confused The Most Gifted One’s senses. He wanted to keep an eye on him too, but he was timid enough that The Most Gifted One wouldn’t worry about him just yet.
The two humans that stood close together, watching each other’s backs, were a pair of clever ones, their eyes and hands steady as they watched him silently. He feared nothing from them. Whatever they could throw at him, he could easily counter.
The last human had an inner light of purity to him that The Most Gifted One hadn’t seen in a very long time. At least, not in his people. His eyes were clear and steady as they watched him, only a faint curve to his brow showing off his unease.
They all looked confused at his words, save for the two exalts. The Sidereal held his hands out, empty and pleading. He opened his mouth, but The Most Gifted One lifted his sword and held it at the man’s throat. “No, why are you here?”
The Sidereal backed off. “Your floating island has crashed. Your rebirth is determined to bring it back into the air.”
The Most Gifted one glanced at the lurking dragon, water still dripping off its heaving sides and out of its mouth. “Why does this dragon look so starved?”
The Sidereal shook his head. “Much time has passed since you last lived. The world is different.”
The Most Gifted One lowered the sword and only then paid attention to how the humans and elemental had taken steps closer to them, bodies tense as they clearly were conflicted about what was going on around them. The Lunar seemed to be translating for them in a low murmur, one hand curved protectively around her side.
The Most Gifted One eyed her a moment before letting his eyes roam over the others for another study of the Circle. He breathed a deep sigh and came to a decision. The sword dropped to his side and he turned fully toward the Sidereal.
“I shall warn you, then. There is a secret in this manse that you must be prepared to face.”
