one █ voice

[uzi]

_{( The voice is clipped, sharp, and to the point-- no scuffling with controls or stopping to take things in, here. Also? Whoever this woman is, she sounds pissed off. )}

So, City—great name, by the way, though I think someone beat you to it—stop me if I’ve got any of this wrong.

Alternate dimension, time travel, and duplicates of people we might already know. Superpowers, overly ambitious AI, and absolutely no discretion about who it pulls in, despite claiming to want “heroes.”

And apparently no reliable way back, since you’re all sitting on your hands, here. Perfect.

Just one question—is the universe as I know it going to implode because of all this crap?

Comments

[mocks]

Spotted a few familiar faces already?

[uzi]

Familiar, but not exactly who I thought. Still trying to decide whether that's a good thing.

[mocks]

It's much easier to maintain the allies you have than to make new ones.

[uzi]

Does the same go for enemies?

[mocks]

Yeah, it does. There's a whole boatload of villains and crazies here to deal with, just in case you get bored.

[uzi]

Which explains Richards.

Screw it. This is more trouble than it's worth.

[mocks]

You're from his world? That world and my world are like first cousins.

[uzi]

_{( that sounds like something jessica mentioned... )}

Unfortunately.

Yours doesn't have any Ultimates, does it?

[mocks]

No. We have Avengers.

[uzi]

_{( monica's avengers are supposed to be a ~secret~, so-- )}

They any good?

[mocks]

Not to brag, but yeah, we are.

[uzi]

Professional pride says you're probably not as good as us.

But considering our nutjobs are still running around even here, maybe that's not true.

[mocks]

Your nutjobs, some of ours, and literally dozens of others. There's about 270 imPorts here at any given time, and a big swatch of them are genuinely evil.

[uzi]

That's easier to believe than a city full of genuinely good people, at least.

[mocks]

I hear ya.

I'm Mockingbird. Welcome to the City.

[uzi]

Black Widow.

Thanks.

[mocks]

Black Widow, huh. Natasha's gonna love that.

[uzi]

I can't say I really care what she loves.

She's never come to ask for the name back, at home. _{( because... she's dead... )}

[mocks]

It's nothing she can't handle.

Are you a part of the Ultimates, then? We had a few of them here a couple of years back.

[uzi]

Yeah, those idiots are mine. _{( there is no affection, there. )}

Looks like I'll be getting on without most of them for the time being.

[mocks]

I wouldn't hold my breath too long. Your universe is nearly as popular as mine with ol' Lachesis.

[uzi]

Yeah, she's just the gift that keeps on giving, isn't she?

_{( monica huffs out a breath, here. and then, after a pause, she asks blandly- )}

I don't suppose you'd know if any version of Nick Fury had ever been here.

[mocks]

Not that I've seen. He likes to lay low, but not to this degree.

[uzi]

Either that or he's been here for ages and he's going to pop up randomly just to screw with us.

[mocks]

I like to hope he likes me better'an to pull that crap on me. But it's Fury. He's the master of sneakery and popping out when he's least expected.