[Snowflakian]

Well then for now, I'm entering in one of my X-23 customs, but changing up the custom's back story.

The Enrapture Adaptoid Armor.

*Note: This story takes place while Tony Stark is still feeling the effects from Axis where he was inverted. His arrogance from that ordeal being a key point to this story. Including why this armor has no GPS tracking chip in it.(Plot hole. Whoopsy!)*

Tony Stark, realizing that his armors are all lacking in one aspect, has taken to dismantling the super adpatoid technology to build a new kind of armory for himself and those he deems fitting for others to use. This time around though, he's opting to collect combat data as well as other additions to the armors and choosing to leave behind his trademark Ironman face plates for them. A little diversity, he thought, or more accurately a way to start trademarking other design cues before anybody else starts using them.

Having been turned down by Cap previously, and Natasha not willing to help him in his efforts, he started going through the Avengers database to find someone that might be willing to 'help' him in his quest to create a more robust melee combat ready armor. Elektra crossed his mind, but one wrong word to her might be the end of him. Iron Fist is possible, but he's not returning any calls either. Quickly sorting through the list he stumbles upon one name that's ranked equal among all the fighters. Laura Kinney, AKA X-23. One quick phone call and she agrees to help.

X-23 has never been one to depend on tools before. Sure she's always been capable of using any tool or item at her disposal nearby, but to depend on them? That goes against all her training. She's always been self-sufficient in her missions, even though she may creatively play with the parameters. When called by Tony Stark though and his promises of letting her try out a new kind of armor he's created, she was curious. He promised it wouldn't hinder her movements and he had even taken into account her claws. Not entirely trusting his promises she agrees to have him design an armor for her from her specs. Not entirely sure how he planned on allowing her claws to still be used without damaging the suit, she requested a katana to be implemented into the design.



Starting out slow with the design on the suit. Stark had shown her it was very durable and doesn't restrict her movements. The suit clings to her like a second skin with extra armoring in key vital spots. Just as he promised, the suit also allowed her to use her claws without any restrictions. The adaptoid material opening and resealing every time she'd 'snikt'. To almost addictive levels she tested this out and marveled at how fluid it'd react to her movements. Sensing the muscle contraction that allowed her to use her claws, it reacted as quickly without any hindrance whatsoever.



Next came the helmet design. Having listened to her tales of her previous experiences and code names. He heard the name 'Talon' in there and decided why not, let's go for a slight bird motif with this suit. So he designed a more angular yet rounded helmet design and interface for her. One that'd be more combat ready without any extremely obvious grapple points for others to get a hold of.



The design was almost complete, but it was missing something. It needed a little bit of flair still. Something that could whip in the air and all around add a cool factor. Who cared if it removed the entire point of his 'caution towards grapplers' point. So he tweaked the suit for Laura's hair to flow out of it in a ponytail.



Next came the sword tests. To her dismay, the sword itself reacted as well to her movements. Light weight yet as durable as her claws. It also could split into two swords at a mere flick. She could dual wield swords or use her claws. Allowing a total of 8 blades of precision when needed.



Next came a full-fledged field test. He found a mission perfectly suited to test all manner of parameters within the suit, and it so happened that Falcon Cap was already on the job. This would be the perfect opportunity to flaunt his work in front of Sam who previously rejected his offer.



While on mission, the suit surprised Laura. It sprouted wings to keep pace with Sam Wilson and allowed her even more tools at her disposal with them being as durable as the swords had proven to be before. The suit was quick to adjust to all manner of threats that arose. Deflecting and protecting herself from more and more firepower than could be thrown at her, and even if concerned over the suit itself, the wings provided even more avenues of protection and deflection.



Light weight and retractable, these wings didn't hinder her movement, provided flight, and even protection. They soon became as second nature to her instincts as her claws themselves were. Versatile, lightweight, durable, and sharp, they extended her blade reach more than even the swords did.



She could hardly believe the craftmanship involved in this suit that Stark designed. Surprising her at every turn it was almost too easy to become reliant on such a tool. It made her uneasy about using it.

After a few more field tests, she returned it to Stark. This suit was a danger to her skills. The way it reacted and moved with her, it was as if the suit had adjusted to her combat techniques with a will of its own. It was as if the suit itself was moving her and not her moving it.



Upon returning the suit, Stark swore not to let others use it. It was designed for Laura, so for Laura it would remain if she ever changed her mind. In his arrogance, he shipped it off to a storage facility without a care... Of course after downloading the combat data he needed from it. The adaptoid inspired armor proved successful, unknown to Laura, it had recorded every one of her techniques and maintained them as integral to the suit's operation. It even recorded her claw usages, and allowed any user to also use her same style of claws even if they didn't have them. The suit itself adapted to maintain every tool Laura had been capable of using and even managed to analyze how she used tools in the field to display such options to the wearer. Everything Tony had hoped it would do and much much more.



Stark christened the suit 'Enrapture Mk I' for he was enamored with how it turned out. This new adaptoid protocol within the suit had proven itself a success beyond a shadow of a doubt even beyond his wildest dreams.

Only one hindrance to the design. It had conformed so well to Laura's requests, the suit refused to be worn by males. Even after turning off the adaptoid protocols, it remained inactive every time he tried to adjust it for a male wearer. So with keeping the data, he shipped the suit off to an undisclosed warehouse. He was going to start anew using her data to create a suit that would respond to him and only him from what was left of the adaptoid material.

In his arrogance. The truck that carried the suit to the warehouse had a small road mishap, and the contents of it were scattered all across the road, most of it junk, he never gave it a second thought or even worth his notice. Why bother caring about a suit he could never use. The box containing it was brushed aside to an alley during clean up. Everything was recovered from the truck but the suit.

A young woman leaving a club one night, was startled by a group of men cat calling at her. She tried to ignore them, but then they became meaner, and wouldn't leave her alone. So she ran. Turning down an alley, she tripped over a box and landed on the ground. The box tilted and opened from her momentum. The helmet rolled to her feet, and she saw the sword sticking out. Grabbing the gauntlets and the sword, she managed to startle and dissuade her pursuers to leave her alone. The gloves extended claws and made her pursuers jump back in shock. 'Mutie' they scoffed, but she was undeterred and stood her ground. This material and how it reacted to her, how it managed to protect her was a godsend. Her pursuers fled, fearing she was the 'clawed slasher' they had heard of before that'd anonymously dispatched pimps and other human traffickers.

She grabbed the rest of the box and took it home to think upon this discovery. The Stark label across the side of the box made her wonder if she should return it. Was this one of the many Ironman inventions she had heard of? Should it be returned? Should she keep it and hope no one knew? The only other thing in the box besides the suit was a paper that read 'Enrapture Mk I.'

This new wielder's exploits didn't go unnoticed by Laura. Did Stark break his word? She went to investigate starting with Stark himself.
Interrupting his newest adaptoid armor process. He arrogantly told her everything unthinking of what he'd said before to manipulate her into giving him the combat data. Feeling used, she destroyed the computer and the servers her data was stored on. The feedback loop during his new suits download phase caused the adaptoid material to become inert. His personal suit was a failure. A lifeless husk of metal that could neither adapt nor even move. Satisfied with what she had done, Laura left to find this new suit wearer. Of course after warning Stark what would happen if he tried to ever use her like that again. She did after all have her own can openers always at the ready to use on him if required.

This new suit user attempted to use the suit to become a superhero. She wanted to see what all it could do, but at times, the suit acted almost as a will of its own. Displaying combat options, and allowing her to do martial arts without ever having trained to do them herself. This suit was miraculous, but the feats, they were scarier than any roller coaster, they were more frightening than any amusement park ride. This suit even pushed her to literally fly as it organically sprouted wings and took to the air when she was on a rooftop. Soaring was glorious, the freedom, the exhiliration, but she was trying to be careful so as not to be noticed.

Laura caught the scent of the suit though that night. She managed to find this person, and even fought the suit to a literal standstill. Move for move it countered or she countered, until the person inside took to the skies outside of Laura's reach. Yelling down to X-23, she finally managed to get X-23 to stop trying to attack her. "Could we talk?" She asked. "Fighting is pointless and, well, you're scary as hell. Is this your suit?" She asked.

Laura nodded, and sat on the roof where they were fighting. The wielder landed, sat across from her, and removed the helmet as a peace offering. They talked for what seemed the entire night as the sun started to come up. By the end of it, Laura decided that maybe this suit was in good hands. Leaving her number behind, she gave her permission to the user to keep the suit. Laura also showed her a few other little aspects of the suit. It also had feet claws, and the sword could separate into two. Standing up but before parting, Laura tilted her head in the suit wearer's direction. "By the way, I never got your name. Mine's Laura. What's yours?"

"Karen." She responded. "Karen Marie."
Laura smiled. She didn't mean to, she just did.
"Well Karen, you better take good care of that suit. Otherwise I'll know. But if you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call." She said before leaping off the roof and heading back home.

Karen Marie, still a bit scared, put the helmet back on and flew home after this ordeal. Still debating on her own code name, she finally settled on "Enrapture" as the paper in the box read. But this suit, and that fight with Laura, that was really scary. Moreso than any of what she'd done before. This made her unsure of actually facing any super-villains. She took the suit off and tossed it back into the box. Then pushed it to the back of her closet to ponder on more about it, and if this was something she wanted to do. She promised to not let Stark get his hands on it again though. So at least that she would do.

She climbed into the shower to wash the cold sweat off of her from how frightening everything was, continuing on thinking about this experience.

Was the risk of being a superhero worth it? Was the risk that Stark would try to confiscate it from her worth the lives she could save? She continued on debating this over and over as the water pelted her in relaxing patterns. Unsure of her final choice as she climbed out to put on pajamas, the suit would remain safely tucked away in her closet out of anyone's hands until she could reach her final decision. This was a choice she would have to sleep on.




So this one's my entry. I changed the back story from when I first uploaded this on toyark awhile back because I liked the idea of Superior Ironman's arrogance and the super adaptoid technology he'd tinker with as much as he did the Extremis in LA previously. Originally when I made this custom a few years ago, it was a DarkHawk amulet that attached to X-23, but the adaptoid angle provided a more robust story point to use that allowed a new person to use the suit. This is also only a rough draft that was pretty much written spur of the moment. So yeah, the writing style is all over the place as well as the tenses, and my apologies if it's a bit confusing or hard to read. Also big shout out to Marvel for providing the story elements that I drew upon. When I first made this custom, Superior Ironman didn't exist yet. I also threw in some references from X-23's oneshot comic and her since cancelled ongoing comic. The second to last issue that had Jubilee to be precise.