Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ BGC: Mecha Wars ❯ Iron Man! Two ( Chapter 6 )

Mecha Wars: Iron Man Part Two

Tony Stark sighed softly, sitting down on her bed at the hotel. The past few days, so far, had been a series of unmitigated disasters. First her attempt to go see Sylia yesterday, and then having that bastard Quincy sneering at her across his desk this morning.

She closed her eyes, laying back on the bed. 'Too hard,' she thought, wriggling her shoulders to try and get more comfortable. Absentmindedly she unhooked her prostetic leg, letting it thump to the ground, and she sighed with relief.

"Computer," Tony said aloud, "is Sylia Stingray's telephone number on file?"

"There is only one Sylia Stingray in Mega-Tokyo's directory," the female voice answered. Tony asked the address, and nodded in confirmation.

She sat back up, turning on the phone beside the bed. She debated silently for a few moments on the wisdom of what she was thinking of doing. "Please connect me to Ms, Stingray," Tony finally instructed the computer.

The phone rang for a moment, then the computer spoke up, "There is a screen in place. Do you wish to identify yourself?"

"Antonia Stark," she said with a smile.

The screen went blank for a moment, then Sylia's face appeared on the small screen. "I'm sorry," the image said, "but I am unable to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep." She smiled, "Beep!"

Tony disconected, deciding not to leave a message. "I wonder where she is tonight?" she wondered aloud, and turned on the room's TV. As soon as the news report came on, she sat up and took notice.

The reporter smiled, "Several construction Boomers seem to have gone on a rampage. AD Police are on scene, and Genom's public affairs officer has given a statement that they obviously must have been tampered with."

She noted an update, "This just in, the Knight Sabers have also been seen in the area. More on the story as it develops."

Tony shut the screen off. She closed her eyes for a moment hoping the problem would just go away, and then she reluctantly reached for her briefcase...
Sylia, Priss and the others watched grimly as the Boomers rampaged below them.

"It's a set-up, isn't it?' Linna asked grimly.

"That many boomers going rogue at one time?" Priss shook her head, "Of course it's a set-up. But how do we handle it?"

"We have to go in," Nene sighed.

"She's right," Sylia agreed, "even if it is a set-up, those boomers could hurt someone. We have to try and stop them."

Priss grinned, "Any excuse to thrash Boomers is all right with me."

"Let's just watch each other's backs, shall we?" Sylia sighed.

Nene and Linna nodded, but Priss was already running towards the Boomers. She brought her cannon arm up as she dropped in the middle of trhem. She blew the first Boomers' head off even as she dodged another's blow.

Linna was right behind her, slicing the Boomer that had tried to hit Priss. "One of these days you're going to regret rushing in," Linna snarled.

"Not today," Priss smiled, blasting another Boomer.

Sylia was like poetry in motion, weaving through the Boomers while her blades flashed. They exploded in flames behind her, all but one.

Badly damaged, it subled forward even as Nene cried, "Sylia, look out!"

Sylia turned just in time to see the Boomer cut in half by a energy bolt from above. She looked up, and saw a figure in red and gold armor floating there, thrust from it's boots and backpack keeping it aloft.

"Iron Man," Sylia murmured.

"The Knight Sabers, I presume?" Iron Man asked. A shoulder mounted cannon turned, laying down supression fire on the few remaining Boomers.

"Should I?" Priss asked, crouching to leap at the armored figure.

"No," Sylia gestured. Looking up, "I think we have a common enemy for now," and she nodded to the Boomers.

"You have a point," Iron Man admitted, and the five of them turned on the Boomers. A very short battle later, and the five were standing concealed on a rooftop, watching as the AD Police cleaned up the mess.

"Thank you," Nene said quietly.

"You're welcome," Iron Man said, rising from the roof on his boot thrusters. "I'll see you again." was all he said and he was gone.

"What was that about?" Linna asked.

"I don't know," Sylia frowned, watching the suit soar off. It simply faded away, disapearing from their view as she murmured, "I just don't know.".

"Cloak, on," the armored figure ordered at it flew across the city. It's skin shimmered as it dropped from view even as it flew onward, soon nearing the Mega-Tokyo Hilton. A soft thump was heard as it landed on the balcony, then the patio door hissed shut, then closed behind it. "Cloak off," and the suit reappeared.

Red gauntleted hands reached for the helmet, pulling it off smoothly. Antonia Stark shook out her hair, smiling grimly, "Well that was interesting."

Tony popped a small computer disk out from her glove and set it on the bed, before stripping herself of the armored suit. The suit rectracted into a few small segnents, each of which she pached away into her silvery briefcase.

One leggedly, she made her way to the bed and lay down. The suit could function in the place of her leg, but she felt the strain on her body once it quit. She took out her laptop, plugged in the disk, and images of the Knight Sabers appeared on the screen.

"Where have I seen those designs before," Tony muttered, before pulling the computer closer to her and getting down to work.
Sylia rose the lift to the penthouse, even as she considered what had happened tonight. 'That was obvious, even for Quincy,' she thought grimly. She shook her head, 'What did Genom hope to gain, pulling an attack like that?'

She went into her suite, and heard the soft chime of a message being held for her. Sylia raised an eyebrow, "Display message, please."

It was only a few seconds long, but Sylia still froze when she saw Tony's frowning face appear on the screen, then disappear without saying anything.

"Delete message?" the computer enquired.

"No," Sylia barked. Softly, "Save message."

She sat down on the couch where Tony had sat that morning, and imagined that she could still feel the day old warmth from her body. 'I wish I hadn't said those things,' Sylia thought to herself grimly. A smile tugged at her lips, remembering...

Her father and Tony's had begun exchanging letters, eventually meeting face to face at a trade show. They hit it off immediately, and arranged to meet again in Tokyo. Anthony Stark had brought his daughter, Tony, and she had tagged along with her father.

Sylia had seen the older, brown haired girl and immediately developed an enormous crush on her. It didn't help that Tony seemed as equally smitten with her, as well. They spent most of their time together, while their dads discussed engineering and, eventually, the coming Boomer problem.

Every couple of months for the next few years they would visi, and each time Sylia would eagerly await Tony's return. They pledged to be friends forever. Sylia blushed, remembering a much younger Sylia promising a smiling Tony that she wouldn't have to marry any yucky boys. Instead, Sylia would marry her.

Sylia's expression grew grim. And then her father died.

Tony disappeared along with her father, and Sylia didn't hear from her for years. It wasn't until she was an adult that she recieved any word, and that was the wedding invitation of Miss Antonia Stark to Mr. Franklin Richards.

She still didn't know why it hit her so hard. She knew the promises they had made to each other as little girls didn't really mean anything, but she had looked at the gilt card and cried. Before getting angry and shredding it, of course.

'And all that hurt bubbled right up again once I saw her again,' Sylia thought. She got up from the couch, pacing about the room like a caged beast. 'Should I?' she wondered.

"Connect me to the reception desk at the Hilton," Sylia finally said.

"Yes," a officious looking young man asked.

"I'd like to contact one of your guests, Ms. Antonia Stark," Sylia asked cooly.

"Whom shall I say is calling?" he asked with an irritating little sniff.

"Sylia Stingray," she answered, and the young man became much more respectful.

"Oh, Ms. Stingray," he smiled, "she left word that you be put right though." He pressed a few switches on his control panel, and the image changed.

Sylia had to fight the urge to laugh. Tony was intently studying a computer screen, chewing absentmindedly on a pen. She was so focused on her work that she haddn't even noticed that she was connected to someone.

"Ahem," Sylia finally cleared her throat loudly.

Tony looked up in surprise, then saw Sylia's face on the screen. She spat the pen out, blushing furiously, "Sylia. I was hoping you'd call."

Sylia noticed a few cowlicks in Tony's hair, leaving little tufts of hair standing up. "I wanted to invite you out to dinner," Sylia smiled at how cute she looked, "and maybe apologize for making such an ass of myself yesterday."

Tony sighed, "I gave you plenty of cause." She brightened, "And I'd love to go out to dinner with you. It's a bit late, do you want to go out tomorrow?"

"I'll come by the Hilton to pick you up tomorrow night, then," Sylia smiled. "Is six all right?" she asked.

"I'll be waiting," Tony smiled back at her.