tushanshu_logs | EVENT | LANDFALL

Gene's been sleeping poorly as of late, ever since they've made landfall at Siaxhi. He's felt something itching at him, something pulling, some reason he needs to go and explore. And he has been resolutely ignoring it.

Until when he finally does manage to catch some solid sleep, he dreams.

A gold dragon with pink wings sits in a darkened ruin, waiting, calling out to its fellows. The other nine dragons hear its cry, and begin biting at their bearer, trying to catch his attention. And he refuses to listen.

It's your destiny, he hears his mother say. Your birthright. Go and claim it.

"I can't," he says, his throat dry. "I'll hurt people."

You will harm nobody who does not deserve to be harmed. Take it. Take your power. Take it or be unworthy as my son!

He awakes with a cry, a splitting headache blooming, practically blinding him. It's the dead of night, but he has to go, now. If only to get his stupid brain to shut up. He gets some clothes on and shoves the rings haphazardly onto his fingers, before the armor forms up around him. There's a flash of light, and he disappears, reappearing on the mainland.

The armor's too big, so he dismisses it and begins searching, feeling the pull he hadn't felt when he'd been searching for it before. Is this because it's been activated? Were the rings all somehow reconnected now that they had been reunited on both his hands and the Overlord's?

After some careful searching, he spots a glint of gold half-hidden under some rubble, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight coming through the broken roof, and he kneels to investigate.

Gold spiked band. Pink flame-shaped gem. He picks it up, and it feels right in his hand.

And he doesn't want it to.

But he can't seem to put it back down and walk away, either. So he stays kneeling on the ground, both cherishing and dreading the thing in his hands.

Edited 2014-08-11 03:58 (UTC)

[Tony's in the lab working late when he hears a beep from his pod. There's no cell phone network here, obviously, so he's just got it set up to send him alerts from the lab. But he's in the lab right now, and he doesn't have any timed experiments running at the moment, which can mean only one thing: his sensors have detected a surge of Makluan energy.

He checks the pod to confirm.] Dammit, Gene, [he mutters under his breath.

He's not as angry at Gene as he was when he first arrived, but he still hasn't forgiven him -- and he sure as hell doesn't trust him. It's possible Gene's using the rings for something harmless and trivial. It's also possible he succumbed to the temptation of the rings' power once again and is about to do something really, really stupid. Tony's not going to leave it up to chance.

He suits up immediately, leaving the odds and ends he'd been tinkering with strewn across the work table. There had been two spikes of energy: one here in Keeliai, and one on the continent they've landed at. Gene teleported to Siaxhi in the middle of the night for some reason, and Tony's going to go find out what it is.

He flies over Tu Vishan and into the ruined city on the mainland. As he approaches the area, he starts to pick up traces of residual Makluan energy. That's not a good sign. It's helping him pinpoint Gene, but Tony's pretty sure it means that Gene has just done something big with the rings -- or is about to.

With his thermal imaging, Tony spies a human figure crouched in the ruins. Gene. He lands.

And when he sees what Gene is holding, he raises his hand, repulsor charged.]

Put it down, Gene. Drop it and walk away, [Tony says quietly.]

Edited 2014-08-15 19:14 (UTC)

[Gene almost doesn't notice Tony approaching, so engrossed is he by the ring in his hands. It is a strange fate that he should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing...such a little thing.

When he hears Tony's voice filtered through the armor's modulator, he speaks, as though half in a trance.] Why should I? [he asks, sounding perhaps less accusatory than Tony might be expecting. He's asking for a reason, in truth - but he also doesn't want to give it up. He's not looking at his friend/rival/enemy, his attention fixed on the ring.]

It's mine, [he says quietly. It's almost like there's a whispering in his head, goading him to put it on. And he's shaking with the effort of resisting it.

Why is he resisting, again?]

[Gene doesn't look up. He's still staring at the ring with a spacey, crazy-eyed expression that is frankly kind of unsettling. The way he whispers, "it's mine" isn't filling Tony with confidence, either. Whoah there, Gollum, dial it back.]

Um, maybe because last time you had all ten rings you tried to take over the world and started the apocalypse? No offense, but I don't think we need two Big Bads of Real Ultimate Evil to deal with on this turtle.

[Tony takes a step closer, keeping the repulsor aimed at Gene. If he's going to use it, now would be the time, while Gene's still distracted, before he puts on the tenth ring and becomes unstoppable. He should do it... but he can't.

Tony really wants to believe that Gene has changed -- he'd almost started to believe that he actually had. If Gene's not sorry for the things he's done, he's certainly been putting on a good act. Things between them have been tense, but surprisingly lacking in attempted murder and/or world-taking-over.

And, every now and then, it's almost like it used to be.

Tony desperately hopes that all that hasn't been just another elaborate manipulation.

(...Also, no matter the situation, blasting someone who isn't armored and isn't actively hostile is... pretty fucked up.)]

Hand it over, Gene. I don't want to have to do this the hard way.

Edited 2014-08-17 06:47 (UTC)

[Gene still sounds kind of spacey.] I can fix it this time...I can do better. [But he makes no move to put on the ring. He's still trembling with the effort to keep from putting it on. The rush of power he'd felt when all ten rings had been reunited on his fingers...it was addictive. He wanted to feel it again. Even though he knew it was wrong, that it wouldn't end well...he wanted it.]

I...

[Just put it on. Accept your birthright. Be the true Mandarin that you deserve to be!

As much as he wants to, he can't. He can't. He knows what will happen if he does. He knows exactly how much he will lose himself in the power of the rings, forget all the lessons he's learned.]

Wǒ xūyào... [He swallows hard, remembers what language he should be speaking.] I need this. [His voice is hoarse, and he finally turns his head to look at Tony. There's something almost like fear in his eyes. He doesn't want to do this, but he can't put it down.]

No. Not this time. Face it: you had your chance, and you blew it. I'm not going to risk letting you try again. [Tony takes a step forward.] Give me the ring.

[As he does, Tony realizes that Gene is shaking. He still sounds pretty out of it, too, and Tony starts to worry that Gene's about to have some kind of mental break. That's concerning for Gene's sake, but slightly more importantly, it could also be really bad news for everyone else. The Mandarin losing his marbles just as he is returned to his full reality-warping powers? Yeah. That's not gonna end well.

Tony hesitates. Then, with a grimace, he powers down the repulsor and turns his hand over, beckoning instead of threatening.]

Come on, you don't want to do this. Please, Gene. I'm giving you a chance to do the right thing here. [Please take it. I don't want to have to put you down.]

[The ring is loud. At least, it is in Gene's head. There's nothing he wants more than to put it on, and it's practically whispering that he should. It's almost like it wants to be reunited with its fellows.

When Gene speaks again, his voice still has some of that trancelike quality.] I am doing the right thing. If I have all of them, I can...I can take down M-- the enemy, [he says, catching himself. He's not that far gone, though it sounds like he's trying to convince himself of this, not just Tony.] We can go home. And I can fix everything. [That's all he'd ever wanted, at the heart of things. To fix the world, drive the chaos from it. Ruling would have just been a neat perk.

All the while, he can hear the ring - or maybe it's not the ring, maybe it's just his own half-crazed mind trying to rationalize things away - whispering poison in his ear. Kill him. Put the ring on and rid yourself of this pest. He will not be able to stop you. Nobody will.

Or is that his mother's voice, carried over from the dream?

He swallows again, his mouth dry. This is all he's been seeking for years, and the ring is practically humming in his hands, so close is it to its fellows. He wants it. He wants it. And why shouldn't he have it? He could do so much good with it, but aside from that, it belongs to him. He'd found it, he'd activated it, it's his by right of birth and combat!

There's one thing Tony will never understand about this: There's nothing so sweet as power to someone who's never really had any.

He reaches for it, and realizes what he's doing, and curls his fingers into a fist around the ring, the spikes on the band and the points of the gem digging into his skin, half-waking him up. Struggling to do it all the while - what are you doing, put it on, claim your birthright, embrace your destiny! - he finally manages to hold the ring out to Tony. When he opens his hand, Tony can see that he'd gripped the ring tightly enough for some of the spikes to draw blood.]

Take it, [he says, half-begging, sounding more like himself than he has this entire time, more like the teenager he is instead of the man he's trying to be.] Take it, please. Take it away from me before I...before I do something I'll regret. [His eyes are closed and he's half-turned his face away from Tony, tears threatening to spill forth from his eyes and his mother's voice from his dream echoing around his head.

Take it or be unworthy as my son!

Giving it up hurts. It hurts more than anything he's ever had to do, but he knows for a fact that he can't be trusted with it, not yet. Skul and Amelia had given him another chance when by rights he deserved none. He doesn't want to disappoint them. He doesn't want them to know how tempted he is to just put it on and blast Tony and all who oppose him into atoms before getting the real work done.] Take it, take it, take it, I can't have it, it's too much. I'm not ready, I'm not ready for it yet. [He's barely aware that he's speaking. He just wants Tony to take it away from him...before he succumbs to his weakness.]

[Gene starts talking about fixing things again, and clenches his hand around the ring, and for a horrible moment, Tony's afraid he made the wrong call. Fire! the ruthlessly practical part of him demands. Take him down while you still can! But Tony remembers Gene's scream of agony as Tony twisted his dislocated arm, and the sickening self-loathing he'd felt, and he can't bring himself to do it.

Then, still quaking violently, Gene uncurls his hand and holds the ring out to Tony. He begs Tony to take it, sounding more like himself than he has this whole time.

It's almost too easy -- what's the catch? Tony nearly says. But he doesn't hesitate. He takes another step forward, snatches the ring out of Gene's hand, and quickly deposits it in the shielded pocket in his armor.]

Thank you, Gene, [Tony says.] I'll... keep it safe. [You're never going to be ready, he doesn't say. He's not going to tell Gene this, certainly not now while he's so unstable, but Tony doesn't intend to give the ring back. Ever.

Maybe one day he'll be able to forgive Gene for what he's done, and rebuild some of the trust they'd once had. But he doesn't think he'll ever again trust Gene enough to let him have all ten rings.]

[When the ring disappears into the shielded compartment in Tony's armor, the temptation stops - and a good thing, too. Gene had been about to tackle him in a suicidal rush, wanting the ring back so badly that he didn't care if he took a repulsor through the chest in his attempt to get it back, get it back at any cost.

And when the armored pocket closes, he practically collapses, still shaking. Idiot. Idiot! He knows he's done the right thing, and he'd thought that would make him feel better about giving up the one thing he's wanted all his life to someone who nearly ripped his arm from his socket not even a fortnight ago.

It hasn't. It hurts worse. He had it, he had it in his hand, all of that power...and he'd let it slip through his fingers. Last time, the Overlord had summoned it; this time, he'd given it up, willingly.

And he has no illusions that Stark will ever give it back of his own free will.

He lies on the ground for a moment, shaking, weeping, the hand that had held the ring clenched into a fist, a trickle of blood seeping through his curled fingers. Then he pushes himself up off the ground into a sitting position, pushing his glasses up to wipe his eyes on his sleeve, before turning back to face Tony.]

Do you believe me now? [he asks, trying to keep the tremor from his voice.] The old me wouldn't have given it up. Especially not to you.[He looks at his wounded hand, the blood looking black in the moonlight. Like a monster's, he realizes dimly, remembering the sibilant whispers in his head goading him to don the ring and kill Tony.] Or am I still irredeemable?

[Tony stands there silently as Gene collapses crying onto the ground. Well, this is awkward. Is he supposed to, like, comfort him, or something? That would be sort of... weird, since Tony had been threatening to kill him just a second ago. Or at least seriously injure him by blasting him through a wall.

And yet Tony does feel bad for Gene. Just a little. He gave up the ring of his own free will, even though he's obviously devastated by the loss. And that's actually a pretty big deal. Gene's right: the old Gene, the one Tony remembers from the Makluan ship, would never have relinquished any of the rings.]

I... I believe you're willing to try, [Tony says slowly.

He'd believe it a lot more if Gene handed over all the rings, but Tony's not gonna hold his breath for that.]

[Gene smiles. It's less a smile than a wounded animal baring its teeth, but the rictus could potentially pass for a smile. In the dark. To someone blind.]

That's a start, [he says, getting to his feet. But yeah, Tony...never gonna happen. You wouldn't give up your armor, would you? Nah. Didn't think so.] I'm going to need it back later. When...when it's time to fight what we were brought here to fight. We're going to need all the firepower we can get.

But I can't have it right now, [he says, far less shakily than he did before.] I can't handle that kind of power the way I am now. You've seen the proof yourself, [he says nastily.] I'm working on it. I have people who are helping me. [The 'which is more than you ever did' is wisely left unsaid.]

[Okay, he was feeling sorry for Gene, until he went and got all snotty about it. ~~Y U GOTTA BE SUCH A JERK, GENE.~~]

Yeah. Well. We'll see about that, [Tony replies tersely. He'd rather try to take on Malicant without the Mandarin, first, and keep the final ring as a last resort.]

I'm so happy for you, [he says, with only slight sarcasm. He crosses his arms.] They do say that the first step is accepting that you have a problem.

[Gene continues to smile nastily. He hadn't meant it in a snotty way, but if that was how Stark was going to take it...!] We might not be in a position to see about it. Like it or not, Stark, we have a common enemy now. [Again. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.] I'm willing to put this conflict aside if you are. I...

[He swallows again, putting a hand on the back of his neck.] I want to start over.

[Aw, lookit him, trying to be the bigger man.]

[Great, Gene's being all noble, and now Tony feels like the bad guy again. How come you always bring out the worst in me? he thinks bitterly.

No. That's not fair. That's his problem, not Gene's fault. Just because Gene can be a huge dirtbag sometimes ~~all the time~~ doesn't mean that Tony's right to retaliate in kind. Their fight on his first day here had showed him that.

Fine. If Gene's going to take the moral high ground, Tony will suck it up and try to follow suit.]

...Okay. A fresh start. [He takes a deep breath, choking back all the nasty things he's tempted to say.] I guess, since you did give up the ring, you... deserve another chance.

[This time, Gene's smile is small, but genuine, and it's gone so quickly that Tony could be forgiven for thinking it's just a trick of the dim light.] Thanks, [he says, and it sounds sincere.] I'll try not to fuck it up this time.

[He takes a breath. Then another.] ...you know I'm sorry, right? For...everything. [He'd said as much after the fight, but he wasn't sure how much had actually stuck.] I know it doesn't fix anything. But...

[Tony uncrosses his arms and rubs the back of his neck; the same gesture of discomfort and uncertainty that Gene had made only a moment before.] I know. I know you're sorry. And no, it doesn't fix anything. But... Thanks. It... it does mean something, that you're sorry. Even if it doesn't change anything.

[He sighs, and looks away, his hands falling to his sides.] Would you change things? [Tony asks, very quietly.] If you'd known, would you have done anything differently?

Edited 2014-08-18 06:55 (UTC)

[For a moment, Gene's speechless. How can he-- how can he even ask that? It takes him a moment of looking both shocked and offended before he manages to say,] Of course I would. I never wanted it to happen like that. I...I never thought things would...

[He'd been blinded with anger and a desperate hunger for agency, to shape his own destiny. And he'd change a lot if he could - not even kidnapping the right Stark, like he would have changed a few weeks ago, before he'd been sent back and the shit had hit the fan.

He feels remorse. Genuine, gut-twisting remorse. It's not a sensation he feels all that often, and he's not sure what he thinks about it.]

I don't want to hurt you anymore, [he finishes lamely.]

Okay. Thanks. [That... does actually make Tony feel better. It's one thing for Gene to be sorry that people got hurt because of what he did, and another for him to admit that people got hurt because what he did was wrong. The second kind of apology carries a lot more weight.

Tony sits down on a low wall and opens the armor's faceplate.] You could have just asked for our help, you know, [he says, sounding frustrated.] If you'd been up-front with us from the start, we probably would have helped you. If you hadn't lied and manipulated us, if you hadn't tried to use your power to rule the planet... things might have turned out okay. [We could have done amazing things together, if you hadn't screwed it all up.]

I had no reason to think you would help me, [Gene admits simply, looking down.] I had no reason to think anyone would want to help me.

[And there it is, the chief difference between them. At least when Tony had suffered tragedy after tragedy, he'd had people who looked after him, people who wanted to help him. Gene hadn't had anyone. He'd grown up with the incontrovertible truth that people were bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling to a man, and the equally incontrovertible truth that he could only rely on himself. Even his mother had left him - not of her own free will, but she'd left all the same, left him alone to Zhang.

He's not sure he can forgive her that, for dying when he needed her most.]

[What a horrible way to live, Tony thinks. Sometimes he forgets that Gene was raised by a ninja gang and a crime boss stepfather who didn't give a shit about him. Maybe it's not such a surprise that he turned out so messed up.

Even that can only explain so much, though.] But... once you came to the Tomorrow Academy, we were helping you. Couldn't you see that? [he asks, confused, the frustration in his voice rising.] You didn't have to betray us when you got the fifth ring. You could have kept the rings, and we could have still been friends, and studied them together, and used them for good. You-- you sacrificed yourself to save Pepper! It was the most... noble thing I'd ever seen anyone do, and then you turned right back around and stabbed us in the back! Why?

[Of all the awful things Gene did, this was the betrayal that hurt the most, because Tony just doesn't get it. It doesn't make any sense. He doesn't understand it, and he doesn't know how he can forgive Gene for something so baffling, so cruel, so pointless.]

You had your own agenda, just as I had mine, [Gene says, the bitterness returning to his voice, and stops. When he speaks again, he sounds...sad.] I had already gone too far. You were Iron Man, I had your father...I didn't see another way. Might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb, [he says, bitterness creeping in again - but this time, it's directed at himself.]

I couldn't figure out how to save the situation. And I didn't want to. Not after...not after finding out that you were my enemy. I guess I wanted you to hurt like I did. But it didn't help. It made things worse. [Like I always do.

He swallows hard again. He can't stop the words, he's held them in too long.] You know I nearly came crawling back? I'd forsaken the rings. I threw them away. But then they activated this map...and it was easier to go after them than to go after you. You wouldn't have forgiven me. There wasn't a point. I don't know. Maybe I thought that once I had them all, I could fix what I'd broken.

[He laughs without humor.] What an idiot I am!

Edited 2014-08-18 21:26 (UTC)

[Tony stares at Gene. He doesn't know what to say. After a long minutes of silence, he lets out a strangled laugh.] So you dug yourself into a hole, and your solution was to keep digging? And what, hope if you dug deep enough you'd eventually pop out on the other side? [~~WHAT A STRANGELY FAMILIAR STRATEGY~~] You are an idiot.

I guess it didn't occur to you that apologizing and admitting you messed up and bringing my dad back might have gone a long way towards getting me to forgive you?

It didn't, [Gene says savagely.] You wouldn't have forgiven me. You wouldn't have had a reason to. Look me in the eye and tell me you'd have done anything but toss me in prison. No. I'd gone too far. You'd understand, if you'd ever messed up that badly. You'd understand that I had no way out.

[Not even twenty and he's already screwed his life up beyond repair. Much to his horror he can feel tears starting to form in his eyes, and blinks them back.]

I did this to myself, [he declares. He's not blaming it on anyone else, like he might have done earlier, before he'd had the time or inclination to think on his sins.] I'm not content with ruining my own life, am I? No, I have to go and ruin everyone else's.

Edited 2014-08-18 22:12 (UTC)

Maybe I would have, if you'd given me a reason to! Do you think it was fun, hunting down someone I'd thought was my friend? I hated it, but you didn't leave me any choice! I didn't want you to go to prison, I just... I just wanted my dad and my friend back. [Tony's shoulders slump.]

I kept hoping you would, [he says sadly.] That you'd show up with my dad and say that you messed up and wanted to fix it. And that we had been your friends, and you were sorry.

[Tony shrugs and looks away.] Maybe that's dumb. Maybe it wouldn't have worked. I guess we'll never know, [he finishes, the last words tinged with bitterness.]

[A surge of anger floods through Gene at Tony's words.] You've got a funny way of showing it. I came back, half-dead, begging for your help, promising to return your father to you! And you spat on me and called me 'monster'! But I kept my word, Stark. I gave him back to you, and I left. You. Alone. You were my friends! You were the only friends I'd ever had! And none of you wanted anything more to do with me, ever again! I didn't have anyone, I didn't have anyone left! You were the last thing keeping me human, and you turned your back on me!

[He's half-yelling now, tears in his eyes obscured by his tinted glasses.] What does it matter, anyway? If I told you I was sorry, you would have never believed me! Well, I am sorry, do you believe me now? Or will you turn your back on me again?

Edited 2014-08-19 04:49 (UTC)

The Finding of the Ring | closed to Tony Stark | after the Legacy thread | Tolkien jokes within

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im not even sorry. ALL OF THE TOLKIEN JOKES [seduction of the ring theme intensifies]

CAST IT INTO THE FIRE, ISILDUR

shut up Elrond, you're not his supervisor

/pushes Isildur into Mt Doom/ whoops my hand slipped

I passed the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Gene-ladriel.

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Tony's such. an ASSHOLE. god.

/mashes their faces together

just get married already ugh

well gene DID offer him a ring on bended knee, and he accepted. that's as good as a proposal, right?

yeah, totally. OFFICIALLY MARRIED

u may kiss the shitlord

i now pronounce u big gay nerd and bigger gay nerd

we could have had it aaaaall, rollin' in the deeeeeeep~

literally ANYTHING else you could have done would have been better, Gene

he's never been taught how to make good choices

they're both fucking morons

it's so true. it's SO true

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