//------------------------------// // S1: Unseen Invasion // Story: The Technological Technicolor Technomare // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Rainbow tinkered away happily in her lab, seeing what she could do to boost the performance of her armor even further. While she had worked on a few other things in her lab - some just for fun, some just to see if they were possible, and some that actually got sold through Stark Industries - more and more often she found herself coming back to her armor. It wasn't enough just for it to function, or do its job. She had to find every conceivable way for it to function even better than normal. ARMIS' hologram projected into the lab. "Rainbow Dash," he said calmly, "it's time to get-" His voice paused. "...how long after you told me to stand down for the night did you keep working?" Rainbow chuckled nervously. "Umm...how long has it been since then?" "Eight hours," ARMIS replied disapprovingly. "Then...about eight hours?" Rainbow offered. ARMIS frowned. "So what are you working on this time?" he asked. "New weapons systems? Faster flight? No wait, let me guess...matter generators!" "No, but that last one sounds like a neat idea!" Rainbow replied excitedly. "I wonder what it would take to be able to generate extra matter from the armor out of raw energy..." ARMIS sighed, face-hoofing. "So what are you working on, then? Last time you worked so hard on the armor you missed sleep, you were working on systems to allow the armor to generate breathable atmosphere from your magical energy, after hearing Tony had designed an armor for use in outer space." "I got it to work!" Rainbow countered. "And the optional thicker layer of armor is perfect for space flight, and I won't even need a big tank of air like Dad does!" "Yes, at less than 50% conversion efficiency," ARMIS groused. "So are you working on improving that efficiency?" "Nope!" Rainbow countered. "The arc batteries are already designed to convert my magical energy into power for the armor...so now I'm working on a system to work the other way, and convert other forms of energy - like solar - into magic! An extra treatment to the outer layer of the armor would let it absorb solar energy just by being in sunlight. If I could convert that extra energy into magic, and that magic into oxygen to mix in with the air in the suit, I could stay in space indefinitely!" "Or at least until your muscles atrophied completely from null-gravity," ARMIS grumbled. "Oh, there's another idea! Maybe I can design a back up system to electrically stimulate my muscles and nervous system so as to simulate gravity in a null-gravity environment like outer space!" Rainbow made a quick sketch of the idea before returning to her work. ARMIS shook his head. "Rainbow, don't you think your obsession with 'perfecting' your armor is starting to get out of hand? This latest work binge...when was the last time you slept now? Three days ago? And when was the last time you ate something that couldn't be purified and stuck in your modified-beer-hat?" "Who are you, my father?" Rainbow asked crossly as a mechanoid poured another vegetable smoothie into her hat-bottles. "No, but I have him on speed dial," ARMIS countered. "And he'll just know I'm taking after him," Rainbow countered. "What exactly is he going to say?" "I also have your mother on speed dial." Rainbow visibly winced. "You wouldn't." After a few moments of silence, she sighed. "You would." ARMIS smirked. "Shall I call them up and let them know you'll be visiting?" "Can I finish tweaking the energy conversion system first?" she begged. "I've almost finished it, and then I can test it out on the way!" ARMIS sighed. "Fine!" he relented. "As long as you first eat something that actually involves chewing." Grabbing a carrot off a nearby counter, Rainbow crunched it all up before returning to her work. "I will be calling them to let them know to expect you, though," ARMIS cautioned. "Yeah, yeah, I getcha," Rainbow replied absently, focusing on her tools. Rainbow flapped her way through the sky in a low altitude path through the city, keeping just high enough to be in direct sunlight at all times, save those times she deliberately flew through shadow to compare the actual magical drain of the armor as opposed to what was drained when that energy was supplemented by solar energy. "Well, it looks like the system works," Rainbow murmured. "Overall drain on the Arc batteries for flight is reduced by 20% in atmospheric flight when in direct sunlight. Wonder how much more that will work when in space!" "While you have not yet actually been in space and thus have no basis on which to judge," ARMIS informed her, "based on previous data from Tony and others, I would estimate that the overall conversion efficiency of solar to magic to oxygen/thrust would be anywhere from 5-30%," ARMIS informed her. "Hmm...definitely going to need to improve those readings before taking the suit into space if I can help it," Rainbow commented. She pulled to a complete halt. "Wait, what'd I just see?" Focusing her attention, she zoomed her suit's optics in on one of the civilians she spotted below. He looked like a perfectly ordinary human, but at the same time he didn't. "There's...there's something odd about that guy," she muttered, wracking her mind for the proper words. JARVIS and Ultron had intended ARMIS to be able to assist Rainbow in all sorts of ways, including with her magic which was beyond both of them. As such, they had incorporated a scan of her brain chemistry into his basic AS neural program in the hopes it would allow him to interpret the data Rainbow was able to pick up with her magic. It was a partial success. While he was able to analyze the data - as opposed to JARVIS only being able to say that there was data there - he was limited to Rainbow's experience with magical stimuli as far as interpreting it. "It is almost as though the human image has been superimposed on another image," ARMIS offered, "and we are somehow perceiving bits and pieces of the image underneath. He is also not the only one showing that effect." He reoriented the optics, zooming in on several other civilians in sight range who showed the same afterimage. "What could be causing that?" Rainbow asked worriedly. ARMIS quickly went over all data available to him regarding the phenomena. "I have only found one possible explanation that matches the scenario in excess of 10% probability. However, it is only rated 32% likely." "What is it?" Rainbow asked immediately. "Some form of biologically induced shape shifting," ARMIS concluded. "You have demonstrated that you are able to perceive the energy auras of such things, like that which binds Mjolnir to Thor, or the gamma energy aura surrounding Hulk and Zuki." "Shapeshifters?" Rainbow demanded, surprised. "Then they're bad guys?" "Not necessarily," ARMIS countered. "No facial recognition matches appear with the individuals showing this visual effect. They could very well be new alien residents we haven't been informed of." ARMIS rueful amusement was palpable. "Considering it's been a week since we left the lab, that's quite possible." "Alright! Alright!" Rainbow groaned, turning towards Avengers Tower. "Geeze, you're worse than the others have ever been!" "I'll take that as a compliment," ARMIS replied mendaciously. When Rainbow returned to the tower, she was rather disappointed to learn that Hulk was sleeping. However, everyone else was there, and she was more than happy to exchange news with them all, talking about the past week. Thor had been spending more of his time with Sif, showing her about the world he'd come to care for. From what Rainbow was able to interpret, the two of them were starting to grow quite close. The fact that Tony jokingly said that Thor was becoming henpecked confirmed her suspicions, and Pepper's telling rejoinder of, "You're one to talk, dear," set everyone to laughing. As criminal activity was at a low, the rest of the Avengers were also enjoying their downtime. Steve had - at Clint's urging - been hitting a few clubs, and was embarrassed and unnerved at the sheer number of 'digits' he'd gotten from various women at the clubs. Rainbow still wasn't sure what the humor was when Clint joked that "Not all the digits he was given were phone numbers," but for some reason it turned the Captain's face redder than his shield. Even Ultron apparently had romantic prospects, as quite a few women - and men - had attempted to romance the mechanical man. Ultron was rather uncertain how to handle it all, as he wasn't entirely certain he even had a sexual orientation, or even the capacity for romantic emotional attachments. He was rather bemused at the entertainment his predicament brought the rest of the table. Glancing from all of them to her parents, Rainbow struggled to suppress a sigh. She'd never admit it, but a part of her was a bit jealous at her friends' and family's happiness in this regard. They all either had someone special or had plenty of prospects in that area. Rainbow really didn't want to admit any interest in that issue, but she was 14 years old. Apparently, that meant teenager for her race just like it did for humans, and all that implied. She was a bundle of hormones with no release, and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Tony and Pepper had both tried to give her the "Birds and the Bees" talk in the past, but a lecture on the human reproductive system didn't do much good to answer questions of that sort from someone who wasn't even humanoid, as Ultron had pointed out. Unfortunately, the others weren't much better. Even Sif was no help as, despite being a Valkyrie and riding a different variety of pegasus than Rainbow was, she knew nothing about their mating habits. As all this tumbled through Rainbow's mind, a man she didn't recognize entered the room. He had graying brown hair, paleish skin, green eyes, and looked rather tired. Tony greeted the stranger with a surprised smile. "Bruce!" he said happily. "We were beginning to think Hulk would never let you out again!" The man - Bruce Banner, Rainbow interpreted from Tony's comment - smiled back. "We had a talk," he said easily. "He wanted to rest for a time, anyway." "Well come on then," Pepper said warmly. "Join us for breakfast." Bruce Banner happily approached the table. As he grew closer, however, Rainbow noticed something odd about his image. This close, she though she saw an afterimage of green around him, and not Hulk green. "You haven't formally met Rainbow-" Tony started to say. Rainbow shot out of her seat, decking the stranger hard in the chin and sending him flying back. "Rainbow!" Tony demanded in shock. "What's gotten into you?" "Rainbow, what is the malfunction in recognition?" Ultron asked in confusion. Rainbow slammed into the figure's chest as he started to stand up again. "You can't be Bruce Banner!" Rainbow snarled. "You don't have the gamma aura Hulk and Zuki have. Since tracking gamma radiation is how Natasha tracked you down to recruit you for the Avengers to deal with Loki in the first place, you should have the same aura as Hulk! ARMIS, locate Hulk!" ARMIS projected from her armor belt. "Scanning...Hulk is in the underground reservoir, playing fetch with Zuki." As the others gasped, the stranger's eyes narrowed. "You've got the same after image effect those others I saw outside had," Rainbow continued. "ARMIS concluded that was shapeshifters. It's one thing for a shapeshifter to be a civilian; that could just be fitting in. But you tried to pretend to be someone we know, and there's no way that's innocent! So what's your deal?" She flew up until she was nose to nose with him. "Are you a spy?" The stranger growled, then smirked. His image began to blur. His hair vanished completely. His eyes turned solid yellow, amd his skin turned green and wrinkly. His ears became sharply pointed, and he gained a good deal of muscle mass. His clothes morphed into a grey and purple military uniform with gold edging. "Not a spy," he growled through his grin, his voice gravely and deep. "I am Skrull. I am a soldier. And we bring you war." He pressed a button on his belt. Outside, several buildings suddenly were enveloped by beams of light from the sky and explosions. Screams of terrified civilians filled the air. Rainbow responded the only way she knew how. "It's time to Pony Up!" she shouted, the sentiment echoed, though in different words, by all in the room. To be Continued...