Lucien was back in his room. It had been two days since the Inhuman incident with Dante, and everything had returned to a relatively peaceful routine.
It was now night, and everyone in the apartment was asleep.
Anna and Illyana were sleeping soundly, and Laura was also deep in sleep after returning from another mission with Natasha. Even Jeff was curled up with Laura on the bed.
Lucien was chilling on his bed with a small object in his hand - another B-rank dungeon key he had received after completing today's daily quest. The weight of it felt good in his palm, and he was planning to clear this particular dungeon tonight.
The others were all safely asleep, and he wouldn't be missed for a few hours.
Getting out of bed quietly, Lucien put on his shoes and grabbed his jacket.
The dungeon's designated area was in an abandoned building nearby, which meant he would have to walk through some populated streets before reaching the more isolated location.
The walk started in areas that were still full of people despite the late hour. New York truly was the city that never slept, with late-night workers heading home, people going out for entertainment, and the usual mix of individuals who populated the streets at all hours.
Lucien moved through the crowds without drawing attention, just another young man walking through the city at night. He picked up countless conversations, the sounds of traffic, and the general hum of urban life continuing around him.
Eventually, he reached the transition point where the busy streets gave way to a more run-down area. The abandoned building he was looking for stood in a section of the city that had been largely forgotten by development and was mostly devoid of human life.
Of course, the native rats and stray kittens did stare at him for a second as he approached, as if saying hello before scurrying away to their hiding places. These small creatures had made the abandoned spaces their homes, and Lucien's presence was just a brief curiosity to them.
The building itself was a seven-story structure that had clearly seen better days. Broken windows, crumbling concrete, and graffiti-covered walls told the story of urban decay and neglect. But for Lucien's purposes, it was perfect - isolated, forgotten, and unlikely to be disturbed.
He made his way up the stairs, his footsteps echoing slightly in the empty stairwell. Each floor he passed was littered with debris and showed signs of previous occupants, but nobody lived here anymore. The seventh floor was his destination, where the dungeon portal would manifest.
Lucien moved toward the corner of the floor where a thick concrete pillar stood. This was where he would need to use the dungeon key to create the portal entrance.
But as he approached the center of the floor, Lucien stopped calmly in the center of the floor and spoke in a normal tone.
"How long are you going to hide yourself, Stark?"
For a moment, there was complete silence. No movement, no response, nothing that would indicate anyone else was present.
But Lucien knew better than to trust appearances.
Without any warning, he casually threw a dagger into the air above him. He didn't use any significant force behind the attack - it was just a casual throw to prove a point rather than cause damage.
The dagger stopped mid-air as if it had hit something solid, even though there was nothing visible in that spot.
"Damn, kid," came Tony Stark's voice from the empty air. "I didn't expect you to find me. My suit has the best stealth technology on the planet, yet you somehow found me."
Starting from his feet and moving upward, Tony Stark's Iron Man suit began materializing in the air as he deactivated his stealth systems. The advanced cloaking technology faded away to reveal the familiar red and gold armor floating several feet above the floor.
The mask on his face disappeared, revealing Tony's characteristic expression of surprise mixed with annoyance. The dagger was being held back by a bluish energy shield that had materialized around his forearm.
Lucien calmly summoned the dagger back to his inventory. The weapon simply vanished from where it had been pressing against Tony's energy shield and reappeared in Lucien's inventory.
Tony looked at the spot where his energy shield had been holding the dagger, watching as the weapon simply disappeared from existence. "How did you..." He paused and shook his head. "Never mind."
"What do you want, Stark?" Lucien asked directly.
Tony landed on the floor with a soft thud as his suit's repulsors powered down. He looked at Lucien with an exaggerated expression of hurt feelings.
"Come on, kid. I'm twice your age. Show me some respect," Tony said sarcastically.
It was obvious that he didn't actually care how Lucien addressed him - the comment was more about breaking the tension than any real offense.
Lucien didn't reply but kept staring at him with that same indifferent expression Tony had seen before. The silence stretched between them until Tony sighed.
"Look, kid, I did have something I wanted from you, but before that, tell me - why are you so... indifferent toward me?"
Tony's tone became more serious as he continued. "A kid I've never met before being cold toward me leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Usually, kids your age are fawning all over me. So say it - what's your problem with me?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately. He even considered just ignoring Tony completely and going into the dungeon, but he knew that Stark would probably come back later asking the same questions. It would be better to address this now and get it over with.
"Problem?" Lucien finally said. "My problem with you is that you supplied Sentinel guard bots to the facility I was held in for months."
His voice remained calm and matter-of-fact as he continued. "That giant Stark logo on those bots made me want to pummel you to the ground as well."
Tony's expression shifted to one of genuine confusion and concern.
"So tell me, Stark," Lucien continued, "why is it that you, the oh-so-great Avenger, supplied a mutant experimentation facility with those bots?"
Lucien said it simply to completely let go of any frustration he felt toward Stark. He remembered Bucky telling him that Stark Industries didn't produce or sell those bots anymore, but one thing that had been a thorn in his heart was what "anymore" meant.
Did it mean that Tony used to supply the bots before? If yes, then how could this man be painted as a hero?
"Wait, Sentinel guard bots?" Tony said, his confusion evident. "But I stopped making them long ago. And they weren't exactly for keeping mutants in facilities. They were guard bots I designed for general public safety - a watered-down version of Trask's Sentinels."
Tony's expression became more serious as he explained. "The purpose of them was just to protect the general public from mutants who weren't exactly the good guys."
He ran a hand through his hair as he continued. "You know, with millions of mutants across the globe, there were quite a lot of mutants who were basically thugs with powers. Their actions led to a lot of casualties daily."
Tony looked directly at Lucien as he finished his explanation. "But yeah, I stopped the program many years ago because many organizations were taking my bots and redesigning them for their own purposes. Though I could take care of that problem now, it's not needed anymore because of how few mutants are currently present."
Lucien listened carefully to Tony's explanation.
It made sense from a certain perspective - the intention behind the guard bots had been public safety, not persecution.
The fact that they had been misused by other organizations wasn't necessarily Tony's fault, especially if he had discontinued the program when he realized the potential for abuse.
But didn't that mean that the anger he felt towards Tony was meaningless?
Though it wasn't much in the first place, especially after Bucky gave him that information, still, a part of him wanted to take out the anger on Tony... thus, every time he saw Tony, he was irritated to the point he wanted to beat him up.
"I see," Lucien said slowly. "Well, there are still a lot of those guard bots being used for purposes opposite to what you designed them for."
Tony's expression became serious again. "I will look into it."
The sincerity in Tony's voice was evident, and Lucien realized that his anger had been somewhat misplaced. Tony wasn't someone who had been directly involved in their suffering at the facility.
The irritation he felt every time he saw Tony began to fade.
Lucien nodded and said, "So what do you need from me?"
"About that," Tony said, his demeanor shifting back to his usual curious enthusiasm. "I wanted to get more information about those dimensions from you. Like, can you bring out something for me the next time you go in?"
"Bring out what?" Lucien asked.
"Like anything," Tony replied with growing excitement. "Soil, rocks, plants, artifacts - anything from inside. You never told me anything about what's actually in there."
He smirked slightly as he continued. "Now that you know I ain't a bad guy, how about telling me what's inside?"
Lucien smiled for the first time in their conversation. "Nah, that will still be a no."
"Sheesh, what a bummer," Tony said with mock disappointment.
But then Lucien surprised him. "But yeah, I will bring something out for you."
Lucien didn't agree just because Tony had asked for it.
He had his own reasons for being curious about the dungeons, and having someone as smart and resourceful as Tony researching them would definitely bear useful results.
Tony raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "For real?"
Lucien smiled again and said, "What, you don't want it?"
"Hell yes, I do," Tony said enthusiastically. "I have been trying to figure out what those dimensions are for this past week, but I found literally nothing. It was awfully frustrating, so yeah, it will be a great help."
"Wait here for some time, then," Lucien said, moving toward the corner where he planned to open the portal.
"So you were here for that dimension?" Tony asked, his curiosity evident.
Lucien nodded and said, "I'll be back in half an hour."
He pulled out the dungeon key and placed it against the wall. For Lucien, a swirling portal of energy appeared, showing glimpses of the realm beyond.
But for Tony, watching from several feet away, it looked like Lucien simply stepped into the solid concrete pillar and disappeared.
The effect was startling even for someone accustomed to advanced technology. One moment Lucien was there, and the next he was gone, as if the wall had simply absorbed him.
Tony stared at the spot where Lucien had vanished, his mind racing with possibilities and theories.
Though his suit detected similar energy signatures as the last one, but detection was all it could do.
"This really makes me wonder what's actually inside that dimension," Tony muttered to himself.
....
.....
Want to read ahead of the public release? Support me on Patreon at "https://www.patreon.com/FreakyHaru" and get access to:
5 and 10 chapters of all my fanfictions.
Ongoing Projects:
Marvel: Shadow Monarch
ATG: Not a Cannon Fodder
DC/MARVEL: The Kryptonian Emperor(LAUNCHED!!)
Your support helps me keep writing and brings you more content faster!
Thank You