1963-07-03 - Assassination Attempt
Summary: Raven reveals her true self to protect Tony Stark.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None' — please, don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
tony raven 


Charity parties are a dime a dozen, if a dime were worth ten thousand dollars a plate. Tony made a double contribution so he could bring a date. The blonde-haired mystery woman on his arm draws a few murmurs from jealous doyennes and their daughters, some of whom had come only for the opportunity to throw themselves shamelessly at the industrialist.

Having just finished a dance, Tony leads Malin off to the side to get a drink, taking a seat at their table and lounging with his martini and a cigarette. He watches as a few aldermen cluster several tables away, likely engaging in some sort of corrupt deal. That or just wife swapping.

For the moment, he's unaware of the men infiltrating the party - the waiter, the security guard, several members of the kitchen staff. None of whom are what they seem. All of whom have every intention of putting him in the ground.

*

She didn't expect an invitation to a charity ball. She was wrapped up in her modicum of self inclusion and didn't want to hear anything from anyone in a while. Self loathing was her fortay. She wanted to revel in it. But who in the world could resist an invitation to be Tony Stark's right hand when it comes to a dance? Certainly not Raven.

So she dressed herself to the nines for this event, a simple trick of changing herself with a ripple of skin, the silk cloth that hugs her body tightly in ways that no man could ever.. heels to match. Decorative nails and hair styled so pretty that would make anyone look twice. And the dance? It was a dance of honors. The way he spins her made her feel like a princess and all eyes were on them.

Retiring to their booth had her at his side, her shoulder leaned and pressed against his arm as she leans in to press her lips against his jawline. Playful flirtations of her whispering salacious things within his ear, wine glass gripped by the flute as she pulls away with a slight laughter.

"I do have to say, Anthony.." 'Malin' murmurs quietly, taking a slight little sip. "..you do know how to show a woman a good time. Even if these charity events are an obvious bore."

*

Tony smiles and sips at his drink, "The good time comes later. This is just a pretext," he says. "This is how business gets down - everyone playing peacock, showing off their feathers and demonstrating their mating capabilities. Men in power showing off their women to make one another jealous. And, of course, taking advantage of the noble excuse of charity to make deals and grease palms when everything looks on the up and up," he says.

"Look at them. They're all hungry, practically drooling over each other. The thirst for power in this place, for wealth…piranha, the lot of them. They'd all happily eat me alive," he says. "Unfortunately for them, I'm too much for them to swallow - and I'll make sure they choke trying," he says.

He reaches over and dances fingers lightly along her forearm, still unaware as a man in the coatroom has his throat slit, another of the quiet Pinkerton men eliminated, the covert security being weeded out by the assassins.

*

"Promises.." Malin teases, her eyes soon gone out to the crowd of lingering few. Surely, they were watching them, even if their booth was slightly dimmed by the light, candles decorating the middle as well as high priced food that remains untouched, yet the wine was dwindling down to nothing. Her lips purse ever so slightly as her eyes begin to narrow, it was a quiet commotion, yet 'Malin', aka Raven could tell that something did not sit right.

It was in the air..

The tickling of her forearm drew her senses about her, her gaze slowly turning towards him as she blocks him, her features pained as she begins to internally shift the vital organs around.. though.. that half lidded gaze could easily resemble something else.

"You have a way with words." She murmurs quietly. "There is also a rather inexpensive motel across the way.. two blocks north." Her head tilts in that direction, the final shift of her heart lowering two paces where the toughest part of her bone was. "..Perhaps.. you could recite some poetry. We'll steal a book from the library so you can recite it over my backside." She grins then, her hand lowering to grip his arm by the crook, urging. "..Let's go, let's show them all how insignificant they are by leaving right.. now."

*

Tony considers. On the one hand, he had made a significant donation to the cause and was even supposed to say a few words later on. On the other hand, the beautiful woman made a persuasive case for using the remainder of the evening in pursuit of far more fulfilling activities, cultural and otherwise.

"You know, it would be extraordinarily rude of me to just leave in th emiddle of the party. People are expecting me, after all. I have social responsibilities," he smiles, then downs the rest of his drink. "Let's go," he says.

Tony draws Malin to her feet and starts to head to the door. The assassins, having expected more time, see him starting to make a beeline for the exit and break their plan, reacting accordingly as one of the 'waiters' panics and draws his silenced pistol, drawing a scream from a fattened city council wife as she sees the weapon starting to be aimed at Stark.

*

'Malin' grins and quickly downs the rest of her champagne, quickly tossing the glass upon the table as she grips his hand and stands right along with him. Her fingers tug down her dress as she begins to follow, leaning in against Tony, her lips pressing against the lobe of his ear until the scream of the fatty wife catches her attention.

It was all a knee-jerk reaction. A passing waiter with a very, very delicious steak rolls by, turning to bring the plate itself close, Raven's hand reaching out to snatch the knife from it's surface, turning with a flourish of blonde hair, her arm tossed back and snapped forward.. releasing the blade within the air.

The knife soars nearly like a bullet, the *THUD* that draws from impact tough enough for the assassin to fall back, his hand grasping his throat in attempts to wrongly pull the knife straight from his adams apple, a clear struggle on his end.

Well. Shit. There goes this life..

*

Tony doesn't have Raven's reflexes and training, all of it happening in front of him before he has much time to blink. Nine others begin to draw their weapons around the room, starting to create general havoc to distract and give them cover.

Tony, for his part, always knew Malin was more than she pretended to be and, if he's shocked, he certainly isn't about to show it. "You're going to have to teach me that one," he says, even as he presses a button on his wristwatch and his shirt suddenly tears, armor plating rippling from the chassis he wore under his clothes, around the arc reactor in his chest, even as other plates begin to jet and fly in from Stark Industries itself, homing in on his location.

*

"Only if you give me one of those, mon amour.."

Malin clears the way away from Tony. She protected him -just- enough for him to summon his armor, and now it was time for her to get to work. The scramble of the rabbling crowd allows her that time to grasp his wrist and tug him down into safety, the crouch she produces forcefully ripping the silk wrapped around her legs, her fingers quickly working to undo the shoes that she wears to toss them aside.

They'll disappear as soon as she shifts..

"You are a very smart man, Anthony." 'Malin' concludes, "There is a time where I would have surely hurt you myself had I not spent time with you." Her fingers lift, glancing towards the window.. She's heard stories of the way he calls his armor to him. Hopefully, she put him in a good enough position for this to work.

"..But I enjoyed your company. Truly. And I'm saddened that this has to come to an end." She looks on towards him now, her eyes a stark yellow, her expression grave.. if not saddened. "I'd hope to keep this secret from you and pretended for years of who I was not. But.. this may very well be the last time I see you."

Her hand extends as her fingernails grow just enough for her to shear through the silk and rip if off. She could have shifted easily, but she didn't want him to see her true visage.. she was ashamed. But all that shame went out the window as a bullet wizzes past her, her body soon jolting upright in a flurry of limbs and a sharp kick of a chair towards one of the attackers.

…This is where it starts..

*

He's pulled down behind one of the dining carts, kneeling as he awaits his own transformation. When he sees Malin become Mystique, his eyes widen. Again, he knew there was more to her than meets the eye, but he didn't know it was true in the Transformers sense (yes, yes, that reference makes no sense in the 60s, but Stark is an innovator).

He watches the now blue-skinned beauty leap and start to fight off some of the assassins, keeping his position as his armor finds his position. The windows blow out as piece after piece flies towards him, disappearing behind the cover he's using and giving off a series of echoing clangs as it slaps into place around him, the helmet coming in last of all and locked into place by hand, latching with a click, followed by a resonant hum as the whole thing powers up.

And Iron Man lifts the cart up and hurls it at an incoming killer, flipping him back head over heels as he turns his head to watch Raven work. His voice, although a little hollow and metallic, still sounds like Tony. "Are you breaking up with me, then? Is it something I said?" he says sarcastically.

*

Tony provides the perfect distraction as the windows are blown asunder; Raven using this time to flip forward upon her hands like a tumble, her legs upright, then down again.. up again to clasp ahold of the neck of an attacker, her body jerking upright as she uses her weight to lean forward and twist until the man was off his feet. That particular curl of her body causes an audible pop, the man soon still after but not Raven.. no. She was still on the move.

A wrist was caught, her body winding around the killer, snapping his wrist in between his legs at an elaborate takedown, her own legs snapping his knee left with a loud *POP*, and he screams, dropping to the floor in a mass of writhing pain.

"Shut up Anthony and fight!"

Though, she does have a grin, something that fades soon after as a man looms over her, gun aimed towards her chest in which he fires…

*

Iron Man sees the weapon being aimed at Raven, lifting a hand and crying out, "No!" sharply as he unleashes a repulsor blast, striking the man right in the chest and sending him spinning across the room like a well-thrown frisbee. Moondoggy would be proud to see such a fling, although the sound of bones snapping when the guy hits the wall is probably not G-rated.

Sparks fly as bullets impact against the surface of the armor, gold and red shining as he cocks his head at another, moving to straddle Raven, standing over her like a colossal guardian as he throws a punch at another and sends him flying. "You'd better not be dead or I'll be very, very put out, young lady!"

*

Raven's hands immediately fly up, grasping against her chest. If she didn't move her heart a few paces to the left, she would have been dead. But it hurts. She hadn't felt hurt like that in a very, very long time. And it felt .. revitalizing..

Her eyes nearly roll as Iron Man straddles her, her eyes widening as she glances all around her, his body a shield as he continually is fired upon, her hand striking out to grasp a fallen pistol to keep closer to her chest.

"I'm okay.." She manages to squeeze out.. but for all he knew? She was just shot through the heart. A fallen towel was used to staunch the blood upon her chest, her hand soon striking out to fire a few shots towards the assassins. "Get the hell out of here.. you don't need to be around this!" Cause.. she was going to start going for the kill.

No one shoots her and gets away with it. No one.

*

Tony isn't exactly a pacifist - he was holding back a bit, but, even so, given the power levels of the armor, the normal men taking iron fists in the face and getting repulsor blasted aren't likely to be getting up anytime soon, not without months in the hospital.

He snorts in his helmet as Raven tells him to leave, "You're the one who's been shot, not me. You say you're okay, I'll believe you because you're a shapeshifting blue woman and who am I to argue?" he says, taking a step forward and backhanding one more assassin, "That said, I am getting out of here and I'm taking you with me. Too many civilians in the crossfire here," he says. And he reaches out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her against his chest as his other hand goes up and unleashes a repulsor blast, opening a massive hole in the ceiling and starting to jet upwards, flames shooting from the feet of the armor as he heads towards the roof, "Last one to the chimney is a rotten egg, scumbags!"

*

Raven rolls slightly to her side, her arm snatching out to fire more shots until the chamber itself was empty. There was nothing else for her to do, keeping her arm tucked against her as she tries to slide herself to safety. She's been in worse situations like this, but it's been so long ago.. her time with her brother has made her soft.

The snatching of her wrist causes her to cry out in pain. But she doesn't fight him. Not this time. She was prepared to throw away whatever.. thing they were doing so that she could continue to suffer in silence, to burn the world down around herself and meet her end fast and hard.. and this asshole was helping her live. Ugh.

"Goddamn it Anthony.." She manages to get out, keeping her arm wrapped around him as he lifts them into the air.

"D.. damn you.. to.." Her words.. she couldn't finish them. She was already passed out against the chill of his armor.

*

When he realizes she's out, he decides that wasting time picking more of a fight on the roof is pointless. He also recognizes that she probably doesn't want to be rushed to the local hospital. Luckily, he has private doctors that he pays for discretion - although, honestly, he probably knew as much as they did.

So it's back to Stark with the both of them, while he contacts his security team to go in, clean up and gets his PR people to start making sure that a nice, generic statement is put out to the press. And that any talk of Tony Stark's date showing anything but good manners and a nice ass is removed from the public eye.

*

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