2014-03-22 - Stark Expo: Hammer Time

Tonight's main event is a lot less over-the-top than the opening ceremonies of the night before. The stage has a giant drone ship 'parked' in the center back. A single microphone sits on a stand in the center, the lights playing on it and across the displayed drone.

The Hammer Industries logo is displayed prominently on the big screen behind the drone.



The lights dim in the room when the show is supposed to start, but a minute or so passes before anyone steps out on the stage from the side-- in this case, the Mayor of New York City, Justine Hammer. She's dressed in a smart business suit of deep red. Her heels click across the stage as she moves to the microphone.

There is no music, no fireworks. Justine's presence commands the attention of those there like a CEO in a boardroom.

Noriko made it. A day late, but, she did make it. And she's probably the only person in the crowd who is actually wearing tech - X-Men tech, but tech nevertheless. A gauntleted glove over each hand, slightly bulky, and impossible to miss. Just like her electric blue hair, and her yellow-and-black sleeveless top with the X-logo on the chest. She seems less interested in actually what is (or, perhaps isn't) going on, onstage, and instead seems to be scanning the gathered crowd of interested parties, media, and so forth looking for a few people she might know. And at least one, specifically.

The perhaps strangest part for Noriko is she didn't have a single problem getting that tech through security. When she went through scanners, they just said: "Approved technology," and let her on through. They just treated it 'normal', not like she was a freak. Gotta love superhero ran events, where strange is the norm, right?!

Tony had walked in earlier himself carrying Asia on one hip, and his free hand at Natasha's back as he leads her to a seat in the VIP section. A section in it reserved for Xavier's Insitute members if they want to use the VIP seating was set aside as well. Stark made sure they were cared for, same with the Avengers Academy.

It's strange, the tree girl with two seemingly 'normal' 'parent-type's'. Wow, what a load of...anyway! Tony is happy to be with his "strange" family, and has this vaguely amused expression on his face as he settles down with two of his most favorite girls in the world right now.

Natasha reaches over and slides her hand into Stark's, settling back into her seat with a grim look. She and Justine get along about as well as two cats in a sack, for reasons neither one of them bother to explain. Apparently they just rub each other wrong.

Remy looks... bored. Insanely bored. He drew the short straw, so he was here with the few kids from Xavier's, including Noriko, that wanted to attend this show tonight. "Bettah have somethin' good," he mutters under his breath from his seat beside the blue-haired mutant.

Harry Osborn is sitting off mostly by himself, except for one man in an OsCorp hat that's probably his bodyguard. Or babysitter. More likely, babysitter, after this morning's Rag Magazine spread. He fiddles with his phone, sending out a text.

Asia has a lot of people watch out for her, it's pretty cool to have parent types for once. She smiles and looks amazingly adorable in her gold dress (feel free to look), she is on her best behavior like always hanging on to her Uncle and looking around at all the nice technology thingies. Maybe Uncle Tony will buy her a Robot, Daisy could use a friend. Of course she left Daisy alone..maybe she's hacking into the internet, who knows what goes on in that little Robots head..Dr. Mccoy or Dr Pym might know.

Charlie is sitting beside Harry though his attention is actually elsewhere. There were plenty of people for him to stare at though--Like that eye candy over on Stark's arm. Of course there may be many reasons for looking that way to begin with. When Justine Hammer walks out on stage his attention is pulled there to watch her only a moment before leaning over to whisper to Harry, "How much trouble would I cause if I wolf whistled at her?"

America sides in only to make her way to the VIP section. She sinks down to sit behind Natasha and Tony leaning her elbows on the chair as she leans forward interjecting her head between their own. "Hey."

Justine looks over the crowd-- admitted far smaller than the one for the previous night's big opening ceremonies, but that is how things go. She waits for a moment, and then picks up the microphone, removing it from the stand and pushing the stand aside.

"Good evening. My name is Justine Hammer, owner of Hammer Industries, and recently elected mayor of New York City." She takes a moment to meet Tony Stark's eyes where he sits in the audience. "And, I'm afraid Mr. Stark does not have the monopoly on big announcements for this week, though mine may not read quite as well in the papers," she says. Her smile is a politician's smile: it looks real, but somehow you know it isn't.

And Tony makes a point to stay out of Daisy's head, cause alien tech can be freaky to wirelessly connect to with your MIND thank you very much. In the meantime though, he settles Asia in his lap. She's starting to get a bit big for that, but Tony doesn't seem to mind. He does pull his cell phone out and sends a text over to Harry's cell phone: 'You do realize you are supposed to NOT get caught when you do naughty things with underaged kids, right? Especially as the responsible one. I keep swaying between wtf and hysterical laughter. Might want to hide from Hawkeye for a while though.'

Stark, the model of good behavior, is texting during Hammer's expo showing. CLASSY! And you're welcome. But he then looks up at Justine and grins wickedly, "If you are having a boy, I bet he will be cute as a button Justine!" Yes, he's onery, though likely only the front VIP sitting people could hear him.

Noriko looks over at Gambit, "I am -so- going to kill him, if he's not here. The school doesn't have a policy on strangling boyfriends that don't attend the school, right?" She asks. Then she leans a little closer, smirks. "If it gets boring, I could always short out the power," she reminds him, with a half-joke. Of course, she'd never do that sort of thing. But, it's something humorous to think about. She adds to Gambit, "Besides. I totally voted for Spider-Woman. She has a better ass."

Yeah Asia's getting a little bit big it is spring after all, but the good thing just wait a few months as she's bite sized again, and she's always concentrated awesome. She grins and looks around. "Are there gonna be Robots Uncle Tony?" she asks. She grins. "I bet he's gonna say he made a new Robot." So Asia is on a Robot kick. "Or a Robot Dinosaur, now that would be soo cool."

Tony after yelling up at Justine goes to lean back with some surprise at seeing America, "Hey chica." But he then smiles. Cause that's Tony.

Natasha glances over at America with a slight smile. "Ah, you came..." and then Stark. With his comments. She elbows the father of her children in the ribs with a sharp Russian elbow.

"True dat," Remy agrees with a nod. "As fer stranglin' boyfrien's, Nori, Ah cain't be aware of such thangs happenin'." But what he /doesn't/ know he can plausibly deny.

Harry jumps at the text, shooting Stark a vaguely stressed look from across the VIP section, before replying to 'Charlie', "Yeah, pretty sure that's a bad idea, big B. Pretty sure. Besides," he posits, "she's /old/." To be fair, the kid's only 20.

"Course I came. Someone has to keep an eye on the kids. Speaking of which have you seen the rest of my team?" America asks with a rather... dangerous edge to her tone. Oh yes there would be words. "Other than the pictures in the paper." A long sigh is taken as she mutters beneath her breath in spanish. Something about frustrating boys.

"Harry, Harry... Young women are fine and dandy, but take a skilled older woman who hasn't had some in awhile? You do not know what you're missing. Besides," 'Charlie' offers as he goes back to paying attention to the crowd like a good bodyguard should. "Mostly just messing around since I figure this is going to be el boringsville."

Justine gives Stark a dark look for the comment, but doesn't bother responding to it. Instead, she presses on with her announcement.

"My duties to the people of New York City will take me away from the day-to-day running of my company." She pauses. "As has already been mentioned at the ceremonies last night, legacy is a very powerful, a very important thing. And I will be leaving the legacy of Hammer Industries in the hands of my daughter, Sasha." She steps to the side, and Sasha Hammer, a young woman in her early twenties at most, steps out. She would be pretty, except for the angry look on her face-- the perfect blend of her mother and some unknown to the public, it seems Asian father. Before the end of her mother's campaign, most people did not even know Justine /had/ a daughter.

Sasha moves forward and hugs her mother once, before taking the microphone and looking out of the audience.

Tony grunts at the elbow, "Asia, your Aunt Natasha is abusing your Uncle Tony, tell her to stop," and he pouts at Asia. As for America? "Not since last night when they stole off poor Harry, who is apparently nervous and in the dog house," and he jerks his head toward Harry Osborn. "But I think Barton is realizing what it's like to watch the kiddies on a 'school trip'." Boy, did Stark retire just in time too! He shouldn't be as amused as he is about the bad PR, but...they are boys, and kids...he can't hate them for it. He stresses more when their lives are in danger than when they do something mildly stupid like this.

Still, Tony slips his cell phone away and says a, "Whoo-hooo!" After all, one hand is held by Natasha, his lap is full of an Asia, and the one-handed clap is just retarded. Luckily, other people clap for the angry little Sasha.

Tony then whispers toward Natasha, "Is it my imagination, or does she always look angry?" He means Sasha looking always so ANGRY!

Noriko gives Gambit a grin, "That's what I figured," she says, with an absolute clarity of that which he speaks. Then, "Also, when we get back? You are totally giving me fighting lessons, since you're more fun than Logan." If Noriko is clued in at all to Gambit's past (let's face it, it's Xaviers, so she probably is with the rumor mill of that school), she doesn't make it known. Still, she grins at the cajun, before she wads up a piece of paper, a small piece, and tosses it at America, to get her attention. She mouths, 'Do you know where Tommy is?' Then, she makes a throat-slit motion with her hand, all pantomime.

She's clearly not paying all that much attention. No. She ... didn't really come for the educational value of the Expo. Though she does glance up at Sasha, briefly, and then her eyes go back to America even as she mentions Gambit, "I bet the rod up the ass is hereditary," in regards to just how upset, and rigid Sasha is as she stands on stage.

America hmms quietly with a small frown. It seems she's about to speak when she gets hit with a wad of paper. Leaning back in her seat she spots Noriko. The gestures tossed across the way are met with a shake of her head. Holding up her fist she flips her thumb up then down in the typical 'take them down' gladitorial gesture. Apparently she wasn't pleased with him either.

Natasha shrugs, stifling a laugh. She, at least, found the entire 'boys will be boys' situation amusing.

Remy smirks, giving Noriko a nod. "Sure. Ah'm good at fightin'," he says casually.

Harry nods. "Yeah. Other than scowly-faced hottie up there being my new counterpart at Hammer..." he notes, giving Sasha a once-over. Still, the scowl is at least enough to turn him off, and he sighs.

Charlie nudges Harry in the side with his elbow gently murmering. "There you go, younger. Though I think she may want to break your neck if you ever flirt with her." Even so Charlie himself seems to consider the possibility of this while looking over the youngest Hammer.

"Thank you, Mother," Sasha says curtly, allowing Justine to depart the stage before continuing.

"Hammer Industries is /the/ foremost military weapons system designer. We have several new state-of-the art military tactical drones," and at this, she steps aside, gesturing to the inert Damocles Drone behind her. "This is our latest, the Damocles."

"Blurring the line between drone and missile, the Damocles is capable of launching from the ground or ships and loitering undetected above most targets for up to 72 hours before needing to return to recharge. When the attack command is given, the Damocles dive bombs its target and is capable of deploying a number of payloads including nuclear warheads." Sasha gives her first smile of the night, and it's grim and determined. "This, among many other new weapons advances, will be the next frontline in military peacekeeping."

Natasha frowns. "Why is when I hear any Hammer say 'peacekeep' I hear 'make war'?" she asks Tony quietly.

Asia yawns...needs more robots.

A yawn, "Ya, apparently the future of our children are bigger guns. I guess I should start on the Mini-Mark I and Mini-Mark II for the children, and make them uber-powerful." Stark then moves to kiss Asia's cheek, "Don't yawn, it's contagious. Though I gotta go handle something with security," he states. They didn't page him, did they? Nat and America are used to Tony knowing stuff like that oddly. He moves to sit Asia in his chair. Then goes to kiss Nat's cheek. "Look after Natasha, will you Asia?" Yes, cause he totally just did that.

He then annoyingly blows a kiss toward Sasha just to get her all hot and bothered, well...actually really, really angry, before he moves to slip out to handle 'security'.

Noriko gives America a little 'call me later' with thumb and pinky at her ear/mouth and wiggling it just a bit, grins at her. She mentions to Gambit, "Unless of course," comments Noriko, who might have a certain amount of talent for having an ample amount of wit and sarcasm, "Someone drains their energy." Still, she, too frowns. "So, great. Remote control nuclear warfare. Let me guess, the next thing they're going to reveal is going to be the underground city we can all retreat into that will later make us all zombies while the surface of the earth is covered in radioactive waste and monsters that'd make Godzilla cry like a little girl? I think I may like these people even less than Stark. Seriously. He's a total asshat, but at least he doesn't smile about offering to kill people."

Asia grins and smoochies Tony cheek before he switches places with her she gives him a thumbs up, and a little wookie roar you know the one Chewie gave Han when he told him to look after the Princess. Asia is totally going to look after Natasha.

America nods in return to Noriko before her attention turns back to the stage demonstration. She leans forward again to mutter to both Natasha and Tony, "Isn't this along the lines of saying 'things can't get worse' during a horror movie isn't it? Do we really need something that can drop more nukes?" Her voice is kept quiet, but there's no doubt that the people in the VIP with her would be able to hear.

Natasha grabs Tony's shirtfront and gives him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Don't get into too much trouble," she says as he departs.

Harry even balks a bit-- OsCorp has a weapons division, sure, but not one that gleefully advertises nuclear destruction. "...damn." he mutters to Charlie. "Remind me not to piss those ladies off."

Remy just blinks. "Could be worse," he opines. "Could be a bigger, better Sentinel." Did his accent drop? Yes, it did.

Charlie whistles low and slow at the reveal of what that is. Without even thinking of it he reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone flicking on the recording to take a quick view of it. "Damn, man. I like a bit of danger but that's insane. Aaand in the records now," he adds with a quiet murmur as he flicks the phone down again tucking it away. "Not that it matters much but never know what might come in handy."

Natasha sighs as Stark departs, then glances sidelong at America. "There are a lot of people who think so, yes."

Asia grins at Natasha. "Don't feel bad AH'll protect you. Rooooooaaaar." she says in on wookiespeak.

"You ever tried to catch a nuke? I haven't either but if push comes to shove, guess who is going to have to." America says this rather displeased as she drapes her arms over the back of Tony's abandoned chair. Reaching down she ruffles Asia's 'hair' lightly. "Still don't need more weapons of mass destruction in the world."

Sasha waits for the tittering and murmuring to quiet down before continuing.

"The second piece of technology I'd like to speak about tonight is too large for use to have brought into the facility. However, in co-operation with Trask Industries, we have built a new and improved Autonomous Detection and Enforcement Drone."

She pauses. "Such drones are useful for finding specific targets and detaining them without risking the lives of those not targeted. Precision detection, precision enforcement."

"Anata ga nozomu mono o chui shite," mutters Noriko in Japanese, loud enough so the Cajun can hear. "What was that you were saying about it not being a Sentinel?" Inquires Noriko, looking a little darkly at the stage, now, to Gambit.

"Bozhe moi..." Natasha says, actually... pulling Asia into her lap? Yes. And her expression isn't dark as she regards the woman on stage, but that frighteningly blank one that indicates she might be systematically considering ways to kill her without getting caught.

Asia grins as America plays with her hair and she leans back and blows her a kiss. "Hi hi." she whispers to her before she is pulled in to Natasha's lap. She cuddles and smiles looking at everything.

America lets her fingers linger in Asia's hair until Natasha pulls her away. "Hey kiddo," she greets back though her attention, too, was fixed on the woman on the stage. Slowly things are turning over in her head before she requests, deadpan, "Is that what I think it is she just pitched?" Unlike the skilled superspy though her expression was an obvious angry scowl. Leaning back again she looks over toward Noriko and if she should catch the other girl's attention she makes a gesture of splaying her fingers wide in a 'what the hell?' gesture.

Remy lets out a small string of curses in French. "A'righ'," he bites back a snarl. "Shoulda not joked 'bout better Sentinels, Ah see."

Noriko catches America's look. And, she looks very upset at the news. Then again, she's heard about the Sentinels; it's part of growing up in the Mansion. She's even seen videos. She knows what Sasha's news can implicate, though not nearly as real as Gambit can feel the threat. She shakes her head at America, and makes a fist with her gauntleted hand. Punches her open palm into the other gauntlet. There's a breif, momentary spark of blue electric; the sort that you might see in a dark room with static electricity. She points at Sasha, then she points at herself, then to America. Indicating, without question, just who she thinks these 'robots' will be targetting.

Oblivious, or perhaps uncaring of the reactions this announcement seems to have garnered from the audience, the young woman on the stage presses on with her presentation.

"The last of the advances I wish to display this evening is our new Penetrator Bomb. Bust the bunker under the bunker you were trying to bust. The penetrator is capable of delivering its payload deeper than any other explosive on the market. Built for today’s modern battlefield, the Penetrator can go deeper, further, and blast harder-- driving any terrorist organization out from their mountain or underground lairs, or burying them inside." She nods and gives another smile.

Charlie stares openly. "... Is she giving information on a weapon, or reading the script of a porno? Damn."

She-Hulk steps in just at that moment, in the back, scanning the room. Her entrance doesn't entirely go unnoticed...how could it...but it's clear the Hulk is trying her level best not to actually interfere with the presentation. Ah, there. She spots familiar hair and starts to move quietly towards Natasha.

Natasha blinks incredulously. Tony /did/ allow weapons presentations... but she was not expecting /these/ sorts of weapons presentations. She looks down at the little plant girl in her lap with a wry look. "Asia, we get ice cream of this, da?" She glances back to America. "You are well?" But then she spies Jen, and waves her down to the VIP section.

Asia watches curiously, and nods to Natasha. "This needs more Robots." she whispers, kinda loud. She also sees Jen adn waves. "C'mere we got seats!" she shouts out to her.

Harry at least doesn't look quite as discomfited by that last one. If anything, he shrugs. "So, Big B, pretty sure OsCorp's presentation is going to blow these guys out of the water," he comments, trying to lighten things up. Though the porno crack did gain a smile from the young CEO of OsCorp.

"Oh, absolutely. I can't wait till that reveal," Charlie has to agree with Harry. "Still that's some pretty harsh stuff. Not as cool as Oscorp though, by far."

"Other than needing to talk to my teammates about the drinking where cameras are... I mean, seriously. There's a reason I stay out of the lime light." America mutters quietly though she glances over to who it is that Natasha waves to. Spotting Shulkie she gives a quiet 'Hmm' before looking back. "I should probably go hunt them down in the first place."

She-Hulk sits down next to Natasha. "This is a little bit...un Stark Expo," she murmurs. "The supervillains are going to be taking notes."

Charlie takes more photos with his phone.

Natasha mutters back, "I could just shoot her?"

Asia shakes her head. "Ah don't think that would be good," she whispers to Natasha.

America glances over to Shulkie as she joins them there, sitting up again. "Yeah. Personally wanting to punch this person but can't so... Might get some air. Or find some teammates to punch for being dumb guys."

She-Hulk murmurs. "Hang out. I'll buy everyone ice cream afterwards." Because ice cream works when you can't have booze.

Sasha departs the stage, though only to a smattering of applause, mostly polite.