Date: October 21, 2011
Location: Stark Expo, Flushing Meadows
The line between a grand celebration of progress and a catastrophic failure of containment was, in Lloyd Nipple's experience, usually dependent on one idiot touching the wrong rune.
In this case, the idiot appeared to be the man with the spray tan, Justin Hammer.
The Stark Expo had dissolved into bedlam. Above, the night sky was streaked with repulsor blasts and missile trails.
The "Red Knight or Iron man " the one the crowds worshipped as a deity of technology was engaging in a high-speed dogfight with the grey marionettes.
Debris rained down like hail, a piece of a concession stand landed inches from Lloyd's boot. He didn't flinch, simply kicked a smoldering pretzel aside and continued his leisurely stroll toward the epicenter of the violence.
"Inefficient," Lloyd critiqued, watching a grey drone clumsily crash into the Unisphere.
"If you are going to animate a construct, at least give it a flight charm that accounts for wind resistance. That one flew like a drunk hippogriff."
Around him, the Muggles were fleeing in a herd like panic. Lloyd moved through them like a ghost, his Notice-Me-Not charm working overtime to ensure he was simply perceived as just another piece of background scenery.
Beside him, trotting faithfully on a leash made of transfigured rope, was Gibraltar. The Asgardian hound was still under the guise of an oversized, slate-grey English Bulldog.
The illusion was holding, though the creature was drooling dust every time it barked at an explosion.
"Stay focused, Gibraltar," Lloyd commanded softly. "We are not here to fight the tin men. We are here for the scraps."
Lloyd's eyes scanned the carnage.His Mage Sight was active, turning the burning fairgrounds into a landscape of energy signatures.
Most of the drones were uninteresting mass-produced steel and primitive circuits. But the ones chasing the Red Knight...those had cores that pulsed with a familiar, dense energy.
Palladium Or perhaps something synthesized to mimic it.
"There," Lloyd pointed.
A hundred yards away, one of the Hammer Drones had been clipped by a blast.
It spiraled out of the sky, crashing through a glass pavilion and embedding itself in a decorative fountain.
"Target acquired," Lloyd whispered.
He quickened his pace, stepping over shattered glass and abandoned Stark Expo tote bags.
When he reached the fountain, the drone was twitching. Water sprayed over its superheated chassis, creating a cloud of steam. The machine tried to rise, its servos whining in protest, but its legs were shattered.
"Fascinating," Lloyd murmured, stepping into the fountain. The water soaked his boots, but he ignored it. He approached the dying machine, the drone's head swiveled toward him. Its singular red eye glowed brighter, the targeting reticle locking onto Lloyd's chest.
"Target... Acquired..." the machine's voice box rasped, a distorted, mechanical sound. "Threat... Unknown."
"Unknown?" Lloyd looked offended. "I am a Class-A wizarding hazard, you toaster."
The drone raised its arm and a machine gun barrel spun up.
Lloyd didn't dodge as he didn't have to.
"Gibraltar.... Bon Appetit."
The Bulldog at his side lunged. As Gibraltar leaped, the Notice-Me-Not charm flickered and failed under the stress of sudden movement.
For a split second, the illusion of the dog vanished, replaced by the reality of a three-hundred-pound creature of living stone.
Gibraltar slammed into the drone's chest.
Metal shrieked and the drone's machine gun fired wildly into the sky as Gibraltar pinned it down.The hound didn't bite the gun; he bit the shoulder joint.
With a savage twist of his rocky neck, Gibraltar tore the drone's arm clean off. Sparks showered them like confetti.
"Good boy," Lloyd praised, pulling a screwdriver from his pocket. "Now, hold him still.....Daddy needs the brain."
While the hound chewed contentedly on the titanium arm, Lloyd went to work on the drone's chest plate.
He didn't use brute force as he placed the tip of the screwdriver against the seam of the armor.
"Alohomora "
The locking bolts clicked and popped open. The chest plate slid off, revealing the glowing blue core beneath.
It was a miniature Arc Reactor..a crude copy, likely made by someone intelligent, but it hummed with raw, volatile power.
"Beautiful," Lloyd whispered, the blue light reflecting in his eyes. "Self-sustaining mana battery....no ley lines required."
He reached in and the energy burned his fingers slightly, a tingle of radiation and static but he twisted the core and pulled.
The drone went limp and the red eye faded to black. Lloyd pocketed the core, it was heavy, warm, and worth more than his entire apartment building.
"One down," Lloyd said, patting Gibraltar's rocky back. "Let's see if we can find a leg servo for the...."
Thoom.....
The ground shook.
Lloyd looked up.
Another drone a larger one, painted with the insignia of the Army landed heavily on the pavement ten feet away.
This one wasn't damaged, It stood tall, its shoulder mounted cannon swiveling, but it wasn't looking at Lloyd.
It was looking past him, Lloyd turned.
Cowering behind a planter, clutching a Stark Expo helmet, was a small boy.
He couldn't have been more than eight years old. He was staring at the robot with wide, terrified eyes.
The drone stepped forward, raising its weapon. "Hostile detected."
Lloyd sighed, a long, weary sigh that came from the depths of his soul.
"I hate children," Lloyd muttered to the Niffler in his pocket.
"They are sticky, they are loud, and they have zero survival instincts."
He looked at the drone, then at the kid and at the loot in his pocket.
Logic dictated he walk away, the drone was focused on the boy and It was the perfect distraction for Lloyd to escape with his prize.
But...
"If I let the kid die," Lloyd reasoned aloud, "the paperwork with the local Aurors or Police will be a nightmare and it's bad for the zoo's public image."
He stepped out from behind the fountain.
"Hey!" Lloyd shouted. " Stupid Tin Man!"
The drone stopped, It swiveled its head toward Lloyd.
"You are disrupting my salvage operation," Lloyd stated calmly. "And your design is derivative."
The drone paused, its primitive logic processor trying to categorize this man in a trench coat holding a screwdriver.
"Threat Assessment: Civilian," the drone announced. "Clear the area."
"Civilian?" Lloyd's eyebrow twitched. "I am a Magizoologist....you dickless fucker. Gibraltar!!!!!"
The Rock Hound looked up from his meal of titanium. He saw the new, bigger metal man and his yellow eyes widened.
Dessert...
Gibraltar roared,a sound of grinding tectonic plates and charged.The drone reacted fast, firing a repulsor blast, the red beam of energy struck Gibraltar square in the chest.
The hound was thrown backward, sliding across the pavement.
"Gibraltar!" Lloyd hissed.
But the creature just shook its head, where the blast had hit, the stone skin was glowing red hot, but it hadn't cracked.
Asgardian rock was forged in cosmic storms; a cheap knock-off laser was merely a warm bath.
Gibraltar stood up, angrier.The drone prepared to fire again, but Lloyd was already moving.
He didn't have a combat spell and he didn't have a wand but he had a pocket full of seeds.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of the Devil's Snare seeds he had harvested from his plant back home.
"Eat your vegetables," Lloyd snarled.
He threw the seeds at the drone's feet.
They scattered on the concrete...but nothing happened.
"Right," Lloyd realized. "No soil..No water."
He grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby abandoned concession stand and hurled it. It burst over the seeds.
"Engorgio!" Lloyd shouted, pushing every ounce of mana he had into the spell.
It wasn't a wand focused beam; it was a shotgun blast of raw magical intent.
The seeds exploded.....
Thick, black vines erupted from the pavement, cracking the concrete.
They didn't grow slowly; they lashed out like whips and In seconds, the drone's legs were ensnared.
The machine struggled, its servos whining as it tried to step back but the Devil's Snare reacted to the struggle. The more the drone fought, the tighter the vines squeezed.
Crunch..... Snap.....
The vines crushed the hydraulic lines in the drone's legs and the oil sprayed out.
"Now, Gibraltar! The head!"
The gargoyle launched himself off the fountain, using the momentum to become a living cannonball. He collided with the immobilized drone, knocking it flat into the mass of writhing black vines.
Gibraltar hammered his stone fists into the drone's faceplate.
Once....twice...three times.....
The metal caved in and the red light died.
Silence or as much silence as could be found in a warzone returned to their little corner of the Expo.
Lloyd walked over, breathing heavily.
His mana reserves were dangerously low again and he felt a migraine building behind his eyes.
He looked at the boy behind the planter.
The kid lowered the plastic helmet and looked at the destroyed robot, then at the stone monster and lastly at Lloyd.
"Are you... are you a superhero?" the kid whispered.
Lloyd dusted off his coat. He looked down at the boy with a sneer.
"Superhero? Do I look like I wear spandex? I am a businessman."
He pointed a finger at the kid.
"This never happened, If you tell anyone, the rock dog will come and eat your homework. Understood?"
The kid nodded vigorously, terrified.
"Good, boy"
Lloyd whistled."Gibraltar, Leave the carcass. The authorities will be here soon and we have what we came for."
He turned to leave, the Niffler's pouch heavy with rare metals, his pocket warm with a stolen core, and his hounds belly-full of titanium.
As he walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the park, Lloyd checked his System interface.
> [Quest Complete: The Scavenger]
> Objective: Loot the Expo
> Bonus Objective: Protect the Innocent (Accidental)
> Reward: 200 XP, [Blueprint: Arc-Runes]
> Reputation: +5 with [Unknown Faction: Future Spider-Man]
Lloyd paused as he read the last line.
"Future Spider-Man?"
He looked back at the kid.The boy was gone, having run back to his parents.
"Wait," Lloyd muttered, realization dawning on him. "That kid....it's wasn't that Parker kid, so who is this one...?"
He stepped out of the Expo gates just as a convoy of black Suvs with the eagle logo SHIELD....came screeching in.
"A productive evening," Lloyd decided, slipping into the anonymity of the New York night. "Very productive indeed..."
Authors Note:-
Well ,even though mr nipple doesn't wanna be a hero , paperworks are a bitch and PR will be expensive 🫰...so he became a hero.....😂.
Hope you guys are enjoying it.....
I haven't seen the love my dear readers....where are the Power stone ... comments and reviews 😔...
Support with power stones and collections.
Also please read my other orginal novel...poor thing only has 1 collection yet.