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A massive shadow fell across the base. Alex glanced up and saw the United Government fleet making its entrance—over a dozen hovering battleships cruising majestically through the sky, their hulls gleaming in the sunlight. The enormous United Government emblems blazed brilliantly, impossible to miss.
General Starwind was definitely on one of those ships. Nobody else got that kind of escort.
Alex knew the player well—hard not to recognize someone who literally traveled with their own theme music. But there was another reason Starwind stood out: he was one of maybe five players in the entire North American region who owned a Striker-Vickers, the ultimate limited-edition mech from ET Games.
That mech was legendary. The absolute ceiling for equipment in Infinite Realms, with a market price of five million dollars. They'd literally called it "the craziest mech ever made."
And it wasn't just about money. ET had limited production to maintain exclusivity—you couldn't just buy one even if you had the cash. You needed an invitation, a spot on the list. Most players could only afford the $500 collector's edition miniature replica.
Alex's predecessor—the original owner of this body—had desperately wanted one. Never got the chance.
But for Alex, with memories of an entire other world's worth of mech designs? The Striker-Vickers didn't particularly impress him. He'd seen cooler, sleeker, more innovative mechs in countless films and shows from his previous life.
And the Avengers project was going to introduce some of those designs to this world. Starting with Iron Man.
The fleets passed overhead, and Alex returned his attention to more important matters.
Three Weeks Later – Stormwind Studios
The movie scripts were finally done. Iron Man, Captain America, and The Avengers had all been finalized after countless revisions with Morrison Entertainment's production team.
Casting was progressing smoothly. Robert Downey Jr. was locked in for Tony Stark. They'd found Steve Rogers. The supporting cast was coming together nicely.
But the Avengers game content? That was proving more challenging than Alex had anticipated.
He'd set incredibly high standards for this project—higher than anything Stormwind had attempted before. The goal wasn't just to make a good game. It was to properly introduce the Marvel Universe to a world that had never seen it before.
The dungeon design drew from multiple films—Iron Man 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and The Avengers—but Alex wasn't just copying those plots wholesale. He was doing extensive secondary creation, restructuring timelines, cutting scenes that worked in film but wouldn't work in gameplay, adding original content designed specifically for interactive experiences.
Movies and games were fundamentally different mediums. Films could spend twenty minutes on character development through dialogue and subtle acting. Games needed action, player agency, meaningful choices.
But here was the problem: the Marvel Universe was completely unfamiliar to this world. There was so much worldbuilding to establish, so many characters to introduce, so much lore to explain. You couldn't just drop players into the deep end without context—they'd be lost.
If Alex streamlined too aggressively, the story would lose coherence. Character motivations wouldn't make sense. The emotional beats wouldn't land. The whole thing would feel shallow and confusing.
But if he didn't streamline enough, the gameplay would suffer. Players would get bored watching cutscenes and reading dialogue when they just wanted to blast bad guys and save the world.
Finding that balance required constant iteration. Adjusting pacing, rewriting scenes, testing different approaches.
And he couldn't really delegate this work. Nobody else understood the Marvel Universe's deeper lore and interconnected storytelling. These characters didn't exist outside Alex's memories. He had to be hands-on with every major creative decision.
That's partly why he'd greenlit the three films. They served as supplementary character development for the game content—giving audiences a deeper understanding of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers before they encountered them in Infinite Realms. The movie plots and game plots would complement each other, creating a richer overall narrative.
Some content would overlap between mediums, but that was intentional. Reinforcement helped establish these brand-new characters in people's minds.
After nearly a month of grueling revisions, working late nights and weekends, Alex finally had a script he was satisfied with. Development could officially move into full production.
Stormwind Studios – Main Conference Room
Alex called an all-hands Avengers project meeting. Today was the big reveal—he'd finally show the team the finalized character designs, costume concepts, and most importantly, the Iron Man armor.
The conference room buzzed with anticipation. This was what everyone had been waiting for. The story was clearly incredible based on what they'd heard so far. But what would these characters actually look like?
Especially Iron Man and his suit. That was the million-dollar question.
Everyone in the industry knew that mechs were the most popular and profitable equipment category in Infinite Realms. And in the mech space, ET Games had absolute dominance. Their MechWarrior content had defined the aesthetic—every successful mech design since then had basically been variations on their military-industrial template.
The Iron Man suit was positioned as a powered armor mech, which meant it would directly compete with ET's content. Could Stormwind actually challenge ET's supremacy in this space? Could they create something that players would choose over the established classics?
The pressure was enormous. The stakes were incredibly high.
But Alex seemed confident, which was encouraging. He'd delivered twice already with Avatar and Fast & Furious. Maybe he could pull off the hat trick.
"Alright everyone," Alex said, pulling up his presentation. "Let's talk about what makes the Avengers universe unique, starting with our flagship character—Tony Stark, aka Iron Man."
He clicked through some early concept sketches showing character progression, story beats, key moments.
"Tony's not a soldier. He's not military. He's a billionaire genius inventor and playboy who gets thrust into a situation where he has to become a hero. That core concept informed every design decision we made."
Alex took a breath. "So without further buildup—here's the Mark III armor."
He clicked to the next slide.
The 3D model rotated slowly on the screen in all its glory.
The conference room went dead silent.
People's expressions shifted through confusion, surprise, and something that looked uncomfortably close to disappointment.
The armor was... beautiful. That was the word. Genuinely beautiful.
Sleek. Streamlined. Elegant curves and smooth transitions between components. The color scheme was eye-catching—brilliant crimson red with bright gold accents, creating a striking contrast that screamed wealth and showmanship.
But there were no visible weapons. No angular armor plating. No aggressive military aesthetics. No mounted cannons or missile pods or any of the design language that defined "combat mech" in this world.
It looked less like a war machine and more like a very expensive sports car that someone had somehow transformed into a suit of armor.
The difference between this and a standard Infinite Realms mech was like comparing a Ferrari to a tank. Both had their place, but they were designed for completely different purposes and audiences.
Nathan Pierce, the VP, finally broke the silence. "It's... definitely unique."
"It looks like something you'd wear to a gala, not a battlefield," David said carefully, trying to be diplomatic.
Emily Watson tilted her head. "It's gorgeous, don't get me wrong. But where are the weapons? The armor plating? This looks... fragile?"
Tom was more blunt. "Boss, I'm just gonna say it—this looks like a pretty rich boy's toy, not combat equipment. Players are gonna take one look at this and laugh."
The room murmured in agreement. People were clearly trying to be respectful, but the concern was palpable.
Alex had expected this reaction. He'd known the Mark III would be controversial, that it would clash completely with this world's established mech aesthetics.
"I know this design is radically different from what you're used to," Alex said calmly. "That's intentional. Let me explain the thinking here."
He pulled up comparison images—ET's MechWarrior designs next to the Iron Man armor.
"ET Games dominates the mech market because they defined what mechs should look like in this world. Heavy armor, visible weapons, military-industrial design, intimidating presence. They did it first and they did it well."
Alex clicked to the next slide.
"If we try to compete by making similar designs, we'll lose. We'll just be the knockoff brand making inferior versions of ET's classics. We'd be playing their game by their rules."
He let that sink in before continuing.
"What we're doing is creating a completely different category. We're not making military mechs for frontline warfare. We're making something else entirely."
Alex pulled up Tony Stark's character profile—images of luxury cars, expensive suits, high-society events.
"Tony Stark is a billionaire playboy. He's not a soldier. He doesn't spend his time in trenches getting shot at. He throws parties in mansions, dates supermodels, drives vintage sports cars worth millions. He's involved in weapons manufacturing, sure, but as a CEO, not a grunt."
The team was listening now, their skepticism giving way to curiosity.
"When Tony builds the Iron Man armor, he's not designing military equipment for mass production. He's designing something for himself—something that reflects his identity, his personality, his lifestyle."
Alex zoomed in on the armor's color scheme.
"The red and gold? That's taken from a 1932 Ford Flathead Roadster in his garage—one of his prized vintage cars. The sleek design? That's because Tony thinks military mechs are ugly and unsophisticated. He's creating something that's both functional AND beautiful, because that's who he is."
Nathan leaned forward, starting to see it. "So the design is intentionally aspirational rather than practical-looking?"
"Exactly," Alex confirmed. "This isn't armor designed for war. It's armor designed by someone who wants to look good while saving the world. Someone who has the resources and ego to make his equipment as much a fashion statement as a weapon system."
"The weapons are hidden," Alex continued, pulling up technical schematics. "Repulsor beams in the palms, repulsors in the boots for flight, concealed missile systems in the shoulders. Everything's integrated seamlessly into the design because Tony values aesthetics."
Emily's expression shifted. "So it's supposed to look like a luxury product because that's Tony's brand?"
"Precisely. When players see this armor, I want them to think 'I want to BE that guy.' Not 'I want to shoot that gun.' The fantasy isn't military power—it's being rich enough, smart enough, and cool enough to build your own personalized superhero suit."
The room was quiet, but now it was thoughtful quiet rather than disappointed quiet.
"I get the concept," Tom said slowly. "But will players actually go for this? It's so different from everything else in the market."
Alex smiled. "That's exactly why it'll work. We're not competing with ET's aesthetic—we're offering something completely new. A mech that's aspirational instead of intimidating. Sleek instead of brutal. Personal instead of mass-produced."
He clicked through more angles of the armor.
"When this launches, yeah, some players will hate it. They'll want the traditional military mech look. But there's a huge audience out there who's been waiting for something different. Something that makes them feel cool and stylish instead of just powerful."
Nathan nodded slowly, a grin spreading across his face. "We're not trying to make a better military mech. We're creating an entirely new product category."
"Exactly," Alex said. "Let ET keep their corner of the market. We're building our own."
The team's energy was shifting. People were starting to see the vision, understanding the strategy.
But Alex could still see worry on some faces. This was such a radical departure from the norm. Such a huge gamble.
Could this design really succeed? Would players accept something so different?
Only time would tell.