50 Shades of Tony
By Rey
Author's note: If you got the version where Chapter 24 was identical to Chapter 23, please reread it, as I have replaced it. I can only say "Oops" to that… and "Sorry!" and of course, "Thank you very much to Brievel who once more caught a posting mistake of mine!"
Chapter 25
Tony Stark and the Introduction of New Problems
Warnings for:
Piece 624: Teens: Slavery of Non-Humans
Piece 633: Teens: Implied/Referenced Wartime Violence
Malibu, California, United States, February 2016
612. Frank
"To be frank, Mister Stark, you are far from the person I thought you are," Lockwood says, while his eyes are glued on Maisie, playing down on the beach with Tim, Lex, Jessie, Tony's sprogs, Vovo's, and the hybrid children, watched by their parental figures. Tony just points to Fié.
613. Member
"Can we add new members to the sprog fest?" Clint asks carefully when he manages to corner Tony alone. Tony shrugs to that. "Depends on if the new members need it, won't unnecessarily antagonise the other kids, and can be sworn to total secrecy. Their guardians, too. No exception."
614. Leverage
"Are you going to use the new members as leverage against the guardians?" is Clint's next question. It makes Tony stare sharply at him and retort, "Are you going to take children as hostages? If you are, let me dump you in the outer space. See how you'll like it."
Diagon Alley, London, England, United Kingdom, Beginning of February 2016
615. South
Tony learnt much, from what manuscripts Týo's team gathered during their reconnaissance to gather info of who cast a child to one of the most horrible prisons on Earth. It's not enough, though, for what he wants to do. Sadly, his jaunt at the magical shopping street quickly goes south….
616. Personnel
"What's wrong with being a giant?" Tony squawks, when one of the red-robed people – law-enforcement personnel, he supposes – tries to clap him in what feels like magic-suppressing cuffs, after another one cited the reason of why he's a danger to society. "I was doing nothing offensive, at that!"
617. Jigsaw
The hidden magical district empties in record time on Tony's admission. Not even the shopkeepers are there. Some establishments even close abruptly, tightly, and got surrounded by strong wards. But another group has just materialised nearby, intent on capturing him too. The situation feels like a wrongly completed jigsaw puzzle.
618. Clean
Imitating Hulk's favourite way, Tony makes a high, clean leap above the converging groups, thanking his hours of exercise. He makes a running beeline to the huge white marble building that's this place's bank from the intel, next. He needs clean money for his purposes, and the bank offers bartering.
Gringotts, Diagon Alley, London, England, United Kingdom, Beginning of February 2016
619. Hold
Tony barters away a chunk of ore, first; native to Ýmirheim, plenty to find, and nicely magic-conductive. The short, sharp-faced beings – goblins, the intel said – haggle fiercely. He haggles fiercely back, joyfully. They ignore the yappy, grabby humans flooding the bank, trying to… hold him hostage? Capture him for parts?
620. Rest
Tony ends up dealing with the clan chief of this bank for the rest of the ore he's got with him, for quite a nice sum of this community's currency, kept on his person in a small leather pouch bonded to his blood. Apparently, the goblins like making magicwork creations….
621. Name
Tony's starting to make a name among the goblins when he confesses that he likes to artifice magicwork things, himself, and does some blacksmithing on the side. The name gets more recognition when a visiting clansgoblin from old US of A reveals that he's a hugely successful global-scoped businessman.
622. Table
Then, Tony puts a reputedly famous, definitely useful Ýmirheimi pearl on the table…. The congregation bursts into paroxysms of delight and awe, this time. Apparently, the huge, rich-glowy-blue, magic-storing-and-amplifying pearl's supposed to be just a myth here. And that's before he tells them that it's to be bartered for, too.
623. Unable
"Ah. Sorry. I'm unable to decide on any trading agreement for this one. The ore's more abundant than this beauty, y'see. It's a national treasure," Tony explains when the goblin tries to set up a second contract with him, after agreeing on binding paper that they won't misuse the pearl.
Diagon Alley, London, England, United Kingdom, Beginning of February 2016
*624. Scout
Tony adores the fairies at the pet shop, but hates the fact that they're sold. From a brief observation alone, he finds that they're sentient, that they got their own language. To think that the pet shop's located in the supposedly "light-oriented" shopping district…. Still, "Wanna be my scouts, buddies?"
625. Flower
Various fresh flowers available for shelter, sustenance and garments are the currency for the fairies, apparently, and they're more than happy to become Tony's new eyes and ears. At least it's what he can interpret from their high-pitched chattering, which often overlap one another. Well, if so, "Wanna be babysitters?"
626. Lesson
The petrified salesgirl at the pet shop and the creepy, desirous-for-parts old man at the… wand?… shop are the only shopkeepers left in the district, if Tony doesn't want to go down the reputedly seedier part, Nocturn Alley. Well, it's a lesson to be more discreet in the future… maybe….
627. Loopy
It should be alarming, maybe, that Tony suddenly got loopy while trying to exit the district through the way he came: a humongous wrought-iron gate mascarading as dirty naked-brick wall. But, being loopy, all that he knows is how the world's suddenly a dizzying blob of colours which loves jigging.
628. Throne
Fortunately, it doesn't take long for the world to right itself up again. Unfortunately, the first thing that Tony hears afterwards is how serious Neuolvir the ruthless killer sounds, when they proclaim, "You shall answer to the Throne for intending harm on the Monarch's spouse." `I just wanna go shopping!`
Stark Tower, New York, United States, Beginning of February 2016
629. Flow
"Go with the flow" is the kindest thing any of the 4 teammate-spouses can come up to soothe Tony's temper. The would-be captors, just like the first batch forever ago, got transported to the interrogation floor in stark Tower. Unlike before, though, they apparently don't belong to a vigilante group.
Nocturn Alley, London, England, United Kingdom, Beginning of February 2016
630. Crate
Stubbornly, Tony returns to Diagon Alley, although now much shorter and looking different (`Thanks, magic!`), and escorted blatantly by the royal guards. Boulstered with such protection and seeing that the district's still empty, he veers off to the darker one… and finds two terrified teen boys stuffed in a crate.
631. Warming Box
Tony's no longer attracted to hot things anymore, except for hot people, after his transformation's this advanced. He's still got the nifty pocket dimension tied to his illusioned ellastic bracelet that he made forever ago, though. He gets out a warmer from there and makes hot chocolate for the kids.
632. Vantage View
The flying brooms available on Diagon Alley are ridiculous, for someone Tony's real size, but a flying carpet is another matter entirely. Fortunately Nocturn Alley isn't only a den of sins and vises, but also smuggled goods against political laws. The vantage view offers Tony and his people much intel.
*633. Worn
More children and adults in horrible situations not of their making who want to escape are recovered through the new way of "window-shopping." It mars Tony's first magical carpet ride, but the outcome's worth it… perhaps. These people are worn, beaten, even forced into obedience, but apparently still mostly salvageable.
634. Sickly Yellow
The endeavour isn't unnoticed by the wrong people, though, as expected. Jets of colours ranging from sickly yellow to sharp green rain on the flying carpet, creating air hazards that Ovrekka has to concentrate fully to navigate. Tony picks up the slack in shielding, marking his first ever magical battle.
635. Demotion
"We will get demoted by this," Týo remarks somewhat humorously at the end of the battle. "Ðolukonnar will not appreciate their spouse gallivanting into any battle, let alone an elða-based one." And, to that, Tony promises to rescind the demotion, in one way or another. `My own squad sounds good.`
636. Transform
Rústla notices the stowaway before the team's transported back to the tower. It's a girl… maybe… who can't seem to settle with being young, old, in-between, female, male, small, large, etc. Apprehension and excitement make her transform so quickly and randomly. Then she introduces herself, "I'm Nymphadora Tonks, former Auror."
637. Legal
The name draws the team's attention to the ever-transforming girl. Even Tony's aware of the significance. "Your organisation got a reason why they didn't do things all legal and the like, kid? Why'd they wanna kidnap me? What's an Auror? Why'd you wanna tag along? Y'know anything 'bout this situation?"
638. Phantom Pain
Nymphadora Tonks winces, cringes, curls into herself, as if with phantom pain too great and unexpected to hide… or maybe with real pain from some unseen attack. Tony frowns. Before he can say anything, though, she says, "Save all the Muggleborns, then don't come back. It's no longer safe here."
639. Reminiscence
Tony's further questions are met with visible resistance. "No time for reminiscence," the girl says at last, when Rústla prods at her with a hard look. She then explains that she's been evacuating the persecuted people off UK for a while, and she must return to that self-imposed duty ASAP.
