Things with Riri seemed to be going, well?

If you could call it that.

You stopped by her lab again today while Widow decided to take the girls out on a, "girl's day out" or whatever the hell she called it. Whatever.

You walked into Riri's lab where you found her working on on the new AI system that she had dubbed Natalie. In hornor of her friend.

Y/N: S'up?

Venom: We back.

Riri looked up and found you standing there. She waved before she noticed your clothes. A pair of jeans, some converse, a jacket, and a F/C shirt. But the shirt was what really got her attention.

Riri: Uh, what is that?

You looked down at your shirt and pulled it out more so she could see it better.

Y/N: It's my new shirt. Venom made them online.

In it was a picture of a fork standing victoriously over a bent spoon with the words "Fork Gang" on top.

Venom: I paid extra for over night sssshipping.

Riri: O-Kay. That's, actually kinda funny.

You smiled and pulled another one out from your back pocket and tossed it to her. This one was yellow.

Y/N: For my friend!

You pointed at her with a dumb smile on your face before Riri rolled her eyes.

Riri: Whatever. Wanna go get some snacks?

You smiled for real this time.

Y/N: Sure.

Riri: Cool. I know a place.

Monster:
Year 1

Boston was a pretty neat place. Before you went to the Vision residence, you had never left New York. Now here you were again, about to have a movie night with Riri at her lab. Well, after you got snacks.

Riri: So, what kind of chips do you eat.

Y/N: Whatever.

Riri: And drinks?

Y/N: Whatever.

Riri: What about candies?

Y/N: What...

Venom: CHOCOLATE!

You and Riri both looked at your arm before you turned back to the shelves. Then, the door was swung open and three men wearing ski masks came in with pistols drawn. You and Riri watched as they aimed the guns at the cashier.

Cashier: Hey, I sent a payment this week! I don't know what you want!

Robber: We own you! If we want more money, then get it!

A man walked out from the back and noticed what was going on.

Man: What's going on here?

Robber: Mind your business, old man!

Man: This is my business! I am sick of you terrorizing this neighborhood!

Cashier: Minh, please. These men are dangerous.

Minh: What are they going to do? Kill me? I'm old!

The robber went to fire his gun, but instead found his hand suddenly frozen. The men turned to find you and Riri standing there. Riri had her suit on and you had Venom covering your mouth. And shirt. You refused to let this shirt get messed up.

The men opened fire but the bullets bounced off of Riri and you just healed.

Riri: Leave. Now.

She aimed her hands and blasted the men's guns. The men, now very understandably sacred, all made a break for the door while you and Riri watched.

Riri then grabbed all the stuff you both wanted and set them down on the counter.

Minh: Thank you, Little Iron. Monster.

Riri: Ironheart. How did you get his name right?

You just smirked smugly.

Y/N: Hey, does this happen a lot? These people attacking you?

Riri: Yeah. I can give you a distress signal if you want.

The cashier just sighed.

Cashier: What would even be the point. I would be hitting it every day. Better I give them what they want.

Minh: Don't give in! Ironheart and he'd friend can help us!

Cashier: They can't be here all the time.

Riri sighed as she looked at her gauntlet.

Riri: I...I wish I could be. There are just too many people out there that need help.

You placed a hand on her shoulder.

Cashier: You do what you can. And if they kill me, at least I'll leave behind a handsome corpse.

The two men began to laugh while Riri stayed bothered. You understood her frustration. You were sure every hero could. You can't be in two places at once. You can't save everyone.

Like how you couldn't save Virgina or Vin.

But you had to save who you could. Like Wanda said.

Suddenly, there was the sound of tires screeching outside. You and Riri rushed to the street where you found a black SUV filled with the robbers now holding rifles.

Robber: You forgot who owns this neighborhood! This ain't a game!

They aimed their guns at the store.

Riri: Everybody, get back inside! Go!

The men opened fire as Riri blocked the entrance with her armor and you took the rain of bullets.

Riri: Get back! Get behind me! Get....get....

You looked over to Riri to see that she had stopped moving. Like she was frozen with fear. She was having a panic attack. She, she was getting triggered by the gunfire. Her step dad! Her friend!

You turned back to the SUV and growled as electricity began to coat your body. You zapped to the front of the SUV and covered your fist in fire as you swung it right into the hood. The SUV flipped upside down but you caught it and slammed it into the street.

You left it there and rushed back over to Riri.

Y/N: Ri! Riri!

You shook her before she snapped out of her thoughts. She looked at you and slowly grabbed your arms as you looked at her armor. It was damaged pretty bad by all the bullets.

Riri let go of you and looked at the two men.

Riri: Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?

Cashier: Yeah, you!

Minh: You were out of it. Your friend took the men down but you were still shot all up to bits.

Riri: Heh. Sorry. But everyone is okay now. I have to go, okay? I'll-I'll see you all later.

Riri suddenly blasted off without another word. You looked at the men, smiled awkwardly, shrugged, and blasted off after her.

Y/N: Riri!

Riri didn't answer. But you could hear the AI in her suit.

Natalie: That was bad.

Riri:....

Y/N: You don't want to talk about it?

Riri just shook it off.

Riri: Can you give me a full damage report, Natalie? I need to get them the distress prototype.

Natalie: No. You need to stop acting like you can gadget your way out of everything. You're a person. With person problems.

Venom: Weird thing for an AI to sssay.

Natalie: I'm an AI comprise of Riri's memories.

You raised a brow.

Y/N: And that means, the bad ones too.

Natalie: Yep. And she needs to talk to somebody about what just happened. That was a lot to.....oh no.

You looked at Riri's boot and noticed it was on fire. Like, full on fireball. You quickly hit it with ice and caught her before she could fall.

Natalie: Uh, damage report is done.
-----------
You and Riri ended up walking the last few blocks to the college as she examined her boot. Venom covered your face as to make sure no one saw you walking with Ironheart. You finally made it to her lab.

Riri: My gauntlet retraction isn't working. I'm gonna need to do a manual over.....come on! Not this again.

You and Riri found a bunch of guy in her lab. As in suit and tie type guys. And who was leading them but Bryant.

Riri: Dean Bryant, I thought we had a discussion about unauthorized visitors in my lab.

Bryant: Hello, Ms. Williams! These are authorized visitors from Alchemax, interested in sponsorship opportunities.

Oh, that sell out. At least you had shirts to sell if you were short on cash. Bastard.

Scientist: What is this? Another genius girl?

The man was taking photos of Natalie who was now a full on holographic image of Riri's friend.

Bryant: What do you call it?

Riri: The Neruo Autonomous Technological & Laboratory Intelligence Entity. NATALIE. And she's a she, not an it.

She sounded annoyed. Understandable.

Riri: And she's proprietary technology. No photos.

Bryant sighed as he leaned towards Riri.

Bryant: You seem to lack clarity. You are the only undergraduate with a lab...

Riri: Last time I checked, there's not exactly a super hero student union.

Bryant: There. Are. Costs. As long as you work under this institution, you play by our rules.

Riri gritted her teeth while you stepped in and gently, yet forcibly, pushed Bryant away from her. At the same time, Vebom moved under your shirt.

Y/N: Easy there, Dean. You wouldn't want the Avengers finding out you're disturbing their work, would you?

Bryant looked at you and Riri before he fixed his tie and turned away.

Bryant: Gentlemen, let's go.

Bryant lead the men out of the lab and away. The door closed and Riri groaned as she kicked a chair over. Venom uncovered your face.

Riri: Why does he think he can just parade people in and out of here?!

Natalie: Because he can. But if it makes you feel any better, they were on our wi-fi so I hacked I their phones and deleted the pictures.

Venom: And I infected their phonesss with midget porn.

So that's what he was doing.

Riri: That does actually make me feel better.

She sighed and began to force her suit off. As she did, you sent a text to Widow to let her know about the store robbery. Riri began to work on her helmet while you just grabbed a soda from the fridge. So much for a movie night. So close.

Riri: This isn't as bad as it looked initially. I fixed the short that caused the fire. The rest of the problems are cosmetic.

Venom: Thosssse are the important partsss!

You looked over at Natalie and found that she was looking at some news reports. You walked over and began to read them with her.

Y/N: So, you're based on Riri's memories?

Natalie: Yep. And you're Riri's friend?

Y/N: Trying.

Suddenly, Natalie found something. She stopped scrolling and looked at it. A missing persons report from Chicago.

Natalie: Riri, take a look at this.

She appeared next to Riri and showed her the news headline. Riri looked at it for a moment before her eyes went wide.

Natalie: This missing girl, isn't she...

Riri: Oh my gosh. Daija.

Y/N: Someone you know?

Riri lowered her head and looked at you.

Riri: Hey, think we can go to my place for movie night? I need to go home.
----------
South Shore, Chicago. Never been to Chicago before. It was nice. Cold, but nice.

You sat on Riri's couch and watched some old movie that was on TV while Riri worked on her computer.

Y/N: I watched this one with Quentin at film club. I ever tell you about that guy? He has a stutter but he's actually really cool. He likes to work on drones and stuff. I think you guys would get along.

Riri: Uh huh.

You got another piece of popcorn and fed it to Venom who was fully invested in the movie.

Y/N: Still looking into the Daija thing?

Riri: Indexing all the news coverage of her disappearance.

Y/N: And?

Riri: Honestly, there's....so little, Y/N. Hardly any details. Like no one is really looking for her.

That sounds rough. No one was looking for a missing teen? Like, at all? Sounds like something rotten is afoot. Or a hand.

Dum dun tiss.

Ronnie, Riri's mother, poked her head out of the kitchen. She was a nice lady. She was actually surprised when Riri showed up with you. So much so, that she hugged you and welcomed you into her home like you were family.

You weren't jealous.

Ronnie: You two want some pop?

Y/N: Yes, please!

She sat between you and Riri and set three things of pop on the coffee table. You thanked her and took a drink of yours.

Ronnie: Were you all talking about Daija?

Riri: Yes. Looks like I'm going to have to investigate this on my own.

You cleared your throat and Riri rolled her eyes.

Riri: You know what I mean.

Ronnie: I just saw her mother at the store a week ago. She said that Daija was doing good. Taking night classes part time and she even got an internship with someone on city council. It's so sad.

It was. Why did she suddenly just up and vanish? From what you gathered, it wasn't a kidnapping. It seemed like she ran away if anything.

Ronnie: I tell you, nothing but bad news.

Y/N: I hear you sister.

You both tapped your cans together and watched the TV.

Commercial: --wave of robberies. Police are advising residents that teens and even children have been stealing electronics.

Riri looked up at the commercial as you watched it more closely. The hell was going on in Chicago?

Commercial: Councilman Thomas Birch is fed up with the thugs that terrorize everyday people. He'll make our state safe again for the good Americans who deserve decent streets!

Venom: Make Chicago Great Again. I can make that into a sssshirt.

Birch: My name is Thomas Birch, and I approve this message.

You scratched your head for a moment. Birch. Birch. Why did that name sound familiar? Oh! You pulled out your phone and typed his name in the search bar.

Y/N: Oh. Oh! We talked about this guy in that weird government class at school! Because I am a good student who goes to school everyday.

The two Williams looked at you unconvinced.

Y/N: Anyway, uh, some of his oppenet's stuff got leaked.

Riri: What kind of stuff?

Y/N: Private stuff like his family, his mental health, text messages. That kind of stuff.

Riri raised a brow. She began to type on her computer as Ronnie held up and empty bowl.

Ronnie: You couldn't leave me no popped? I just brought this out too.

Venom burped under your shirt and you sighed.

Y/N: Sorry, Ma'am.

Ronnie: Anyway, Birch is that guy Daija was interning with. At city hall, filing a few days a week. Oh, her mama was on proud to tell me about it.

You and Riri looked at each other.

Y/N: I mean, sounds like a clue to me.

Riri smiled. She then leaned on her mom's shoulder.

Riri: Sure is. The kind of detail I was hoping to find in the news and didn't. Should've gone to the source to begin with.

It was a start.
-----------
Natalie: What are we looking for?

Riri: Basically, anything out of the ordinary.

You and Riri were flying around Daley Plaza trying to find something. Anything.

Then you did.

Natalie: Found you~

Riri looked down at a man walking in the plaza. You spotted him too, just as a kid came and snatched his phone.

Man: Ah! Stoo! Thief!

Riri: Got it!

Y/N: Little shit.

You and Riri flew down and gave chase after the kid. Your flames were too dangerous in such a large crowd, so you had another idea. Something you had been working on since you played hockey with Miles and Sam. You touched the ground and lowered your flames to a small setting.

Now it was like you were skating, but on fire.

Riri neared the kid and began to reach out for him.

Riri: Got you!

Suddenly the kid tossed the phone to another kid who began to run.

Riri: Hey, what?

Y/N: I got her!

You jumped over the stairs leading down and ended up skating on the wall to try and catch up on the kid.

Venom: Sssshe'sss fassst.

Y/N: Yeah, well I'm faster.

You leaped over some more people and landed on front of her before she could escape.

Y/N: Give it up, kid.

The girl just threw it between your legs and another kid caught it.

Y/N: Really?!

The kid made a break for it and you followed. But once you were outside, you had lost him. You sighed and zapped up into the air to grow your flames.

Riri: Did you get it?

Y/N: No. Bastards got away.

Natalie: Guess it's a good thing you got me now. The kid's running towards the Metra tracks.

Riri: Roger Roger.

You and Riri gave chase and found the tracks.

Y/N: There you are.

You landed on front of the kid. He panicked and tried to turn around to escape, but Riri landed there too. The kid ended up falling back, dropping the phone.

Riri: That's enough. No one is here for any more hand offs. So you'll...oh my gosh!

You and Riri looked at the kid, and he really was a kid.

Y/N: You're just...what are you? 9?

Kid: I *hiccup* I'm 10.

The kid began to cry as he held the phone out toward Riri.

Kid: I didn't-I didn't want to do this! They told me I had to or else!

Riri kneeled down.

Riri: Hey, breathe. I'm not gonna hurt you. Who told you to do this?

The kid got up and tossed the phone to Riri who caught it.

Kid: They're gonna be so mad! I'm in huge trouble! I'm sorry!

The kid ran off while you and Riri watched. You started to go after him, but your senses went off an there were suddenly two masked men. You and Riri were immediately on guard.

Natalie: Uh, heads up?

Riri: Where did these guys even come from?!

You didn't know and you didn't care. You ignited your claws and zapped over to one while Riri first a blast to another.

You swung at the masked man but he dodged before he slammed a knee into your gut. You staggered a bit but recovered just as he charged at you again. You ducked under his hit and swiped up fast enough to cut into his mask.

You then leaped back as Riri was kicked back. You both hit each other and fell on the tracks. These guys were way too strong for them to be human. Too fast too.

Masked Man: If you think you're going to interfere with our business, you are both fools!

Venom: He'sss not entirely wrong. But alsssso, fuck you!

You tried to sit up but the man you were fighting kicked you off the ground and began to kick you midair. Riri watched as he kicked you like a soccer player trying to show off.

Y/N: Oh! Dick! Oh! Ouch! Ow! Stop! Ow! That!

Riri: They're too fast. And it's like they know all the weak points of my armor.

Natalie: Don't panic. If that's all they know, then forget the armor. What would Riri do?

Y/N: Ah!

The man kicked you back towards Riri and you groaned.

Y/N: I feel...so...violated.

Masked Man: That's right. Give in. The Wellspring of Power flows through us.

Riri just sat up and relased a powerful electronic blast before she flew up and blasted the two men from above.

Riri: Hope you enjoyed getting the drop on me, cause it's not happening again. Especially once I find out who you are.

Y/N: Yeah...give them hell.....oh, my spine.

The two men stood back up and looked up at Riri.

Masked Man: You can never know us. The circle surrounds us. The circle exceeds us.

Suddenly, the two men burst into flames, leaving nothing but two black spots were they once stood.

Riri: Did they...did I..

Natalie: They ain't dead. Just gone.

Riri: But how?

Y/N: Fuck, my kidney.
------------
Man: So you're not even going to do anything?!

You and Riri made it back to the Plaza, after you were done rolling around in pain, and found the man whose phone was stolen. He was yelling at a cop.

Riri: Here you go.

The man smiled as Riri handed him his phone.

Man: Yes! Thanks, Iron Chick. Monster.

Riri: Heart. Ironheart. I got a heart on my head and everything. How do people keep getting my name wrong and his right?

Man: I'm tellingly you, this city is getting more dangerous. He stole my phone! In broad daylight! Police everywhere but they don't do shit!

The man then walked away while shaking his head and looking at phone. Right into a busy street.

Y/N: Hey! Be alert!

Venom: Hit him! Hit him with a car! I wanna ssssee it!

You just sighed and looked at Riri.

Y/N: So, I'm guessing we should looking into this thing of the thing now?

Riri: The Wellspring of Power.

Y/N: As I said.

Riri sighed.

Riri: That was embarrassing. I almost got got.

Y/N: But, they were definitely connected to those kids somehow.

Riri looked over at the nearby post where she saw the missing person flyer.

Riri: I wonder, if they're stealing phones, then maybe they're stealing people too?
------------
Somewhere else in the city, a man looked down at the four thieves who had just told him what happened.

???: So I am supposed believe that you didn't just steal the merchandise for yourselves?

Girl: No! It was...they were chasing us and...we tried, but...

???: SHUT UP!

The four flinched at the voice.

???: You are making excused. You failed. And those who fail, are punished.

The man moved to reveal a beaten girl on the cold floor.

It was Daija.