Lessons In Love: Chapter Eighty-Eight: Bangarang (Part 3)


That weird mirror sphere came to a complete stop. It actually came to a screeching halt, because the Sorcerer Supreme was flying very fast.

Baby Tony almost collided into the wall of the stupid mirror dimension. He felt two protective hands, and he was held in place. Stephen grabbed Tony's left shoulder, while Steve protectively grabbed his right arm.

Uhmahhh, Tony looked at them both. His eyes wandered from one to the other and he started swatting them away. Paws off, gentlemen. Baby Tony loudly cleared his throat and he even fixed his shirt all by himself.

He tried to look out and see what was going on. Steve and Stephen just looked at each other. Tony's behavior caused them both to shrug their shoulders. Steve wasn't sure what he did. He thought that they left on good terms, but apparently something happened.

Stephen was indifferent about Tony. It wasn't intentional, and he was unaware that he had to keep starting over with him. He didn't forget anything that happened between them, he just felt nothing in that moment. Tony was pretty angry, obviously, but they both decided to let it go.

They also wanted to see what was happening, so the two of them slowly moved in. They got close to the mirror wall, and Baby Tony thought that they were WAY TOO CLOSE.

Plus the energy was super thick in that stupid, mirror bubble. He nervously kept looking at the two of them. They just ignored him. One of them held a small grin, as they looked out at the older Stephen.

They could hear everything as he approached the older Steve. The soldier was standing beside someone that was holding a shiny hammer. Thor, Big Steve, and Big Stephen were looking at a group of people that were way off on the other side of the large room.

"Should I even ask?"

The older Stephen welcomed himself to the situation. Steve was quiet, and Thor immediately started filling the sorcerer in on what happened.

They all could see Tony's older self. His shirt was removed, and some sort of contraption was scanning over his chest.

Baby Tony used his suit to get a better look. He zoomed in on what was happening, and he showed the younger Stephen and Steve his screen. The three of them saw a giant scar across his body. It looked like he also had something lodged inside his chest.

It was right where his heart was. Baby Tony kept staring at his injuries. The conversation they had about his heart came to his mind, but a voice brought Tony out of his zone.

He looked out the mirror again, and he saw a smaller person floating around the room. That person was Uatu. He was speaking to Roma, but their conversation opened up for everyone else in the room.

"Anthony Edward Stark possesses two Infinity Stones, and he has hidden the rest. We have tried to extract them from his body several times, but we have been met with resistance."

Uatu spoke pretty loudly, and everyone in the room heard him loud and clear. The older Stephen was unaware that Tony had any Infinity Stones. He was very shocked with what he heard. He kept staring at the older Tony. Big Tony gently smiled at him, but he kept quiet.

"I'm urging Roma to let us extract the Soul Stone and the Mind Stone from his body, immediately. We also intend to retrieve the location of the other three stones by any means necessary."

Uatu made his case. Apparently, the older Tony was going through some sort of mini-trial. Roma was the judge of the situation, and it didn't seem like there was any jury that could deliberate what was said. Roma was still sitting on her throne.

She saw the Sorcerer Supreme arrive, and she studied every ally that was there for Tony Stark. They all looked upset, confused, and ready for a battle. Roma settled her focus on the ally that stood in the middle. She knew that version of Steve Rogers channeled Oshtur.

He looked like he was contemplating a chess move, and Roma could sense that he was going to be a problem.

"I am aware of the Infinity Stones migrating around since the death of Thanos. I thought that the Vishanti Trio were fusing them into their hosts. That is why I experimented with another group."

She looked directly at the older Stephen. Roma knew all about his accusations, and his assumptions about the younger Vishanti Trio.

She wanted to see if the Infinity Stones would migrate to them. Now, she knew more about where they were disappearing. She had questions about that, so the older Tony received her entire focus.

"How have you been hiding the stones? And where are the final three?"

Roma had a few more questions for the inventor, she settled on the two questions as she stood up. Roma made her way to Tony and he debated his answer.

He thought that he'd die for sure if he gave up the other three stones. Tony thought it over and he glanced over at Steve. His main man was super serious.

Honesty was always the best policy, according to Steve Rogers...

So, Tony decided to confess his sins and be honest with Roma. He looked at her and answered the first question.

"A while ago, Stephen Strange was blinded by Loki and the Enchantress. I inspected his amulet and cleaned it for him. I figured out the materials needed to conceal the Time Stone, then I made more for the others."

He used that material and concealed the Soul Stone and the Mind Stone in his body. Tony was given access to Mystic weaponry and he had accumulated everything he needed over the years. He was guilty as charged, and Tony didn't deny anything. He looked over at the older Stephen.

Stephen had a pretty troubled look on his face. He remembered the Ancient One trying to extract something out of Tony years ago. He began to wonder how long he had the Infinity Stones inside his body.

It explained too much. Tony's dreams made more sense, and it even explained the way he was with people. Stephen started thinking about the way Tony communicated with him. He felt like he was sometimes mentally and physically drawn in.

The Mind Stone worked like that. Stephen didn't understand, and he looked pretty upset. Harboring the Infinity Stones was serious shit, and Tony did it right under his nose.

The Sorcerer Supreme knew right at that moment that Roma was going to kill him. He took in a short breath and walked over to Steve.

The three younglings watched the older Stephen place his hand on Steve's chest. They couldn't tell what that did, but the two of them seemed to be in unison about something.

"Where are the other stones?"

Roma was smiling. She was being very nice, and her behavior wasn't what Tony saw in his dream. He kept looking at her for a short while, and then he decided to confess again.

"I hid the Space Stone in Steve Rogers. The Power Stone is hidden within Clea Strange, and the Reality Stone is in Thor Odinson. The Time Stone has always been with Stephen."

Tony gave a shrug at the end of his confession. Did they intend to extract the stones out of every single hiding place? The brunette didn't think so.

Uatu and the Inhumans reacted to what he said. One of them mentioned a giant imbalance of power. Tony didn't necessarily agree with that, because they all operated in different locations. Thor was Asgardian, and Clea was mainly in the Dark Dimension.

The stones were technically separated, sorta?

"Why have you done this? That is my final question."

That was the ultimate question, because they all wanted to understand why. Everyone except for Uatu. He was not interested in the reasoning. He strongly felt like it was too dangerous to have the stones in Tony's possession.

The brunette was ready to answer his final question. He thought it over and looked at his main man again. It felt like death was knocking. Tony felt it before he answered the first question.

The brunette closed his eyes, and he quietly sent Hoggoth in Steve's direction. The entity seemed to slip off his bones, and he made his way toward Steve. Tony decided to stall his answer, but then he gave Roma his initial thought.

"I did it for preservation. Adapt or die, right? I think I picked up the Mind Stone unintentionally. I don't know when it happened. I know my older self possessed it as well. In his dimension it became something called "Vision". The Mind Stone made me look for the other stones."

That was the only answer Tony had up his sleeve. He was manipulated by the Mind Stone, and it wanted to combine with the Soul Stone. Tony did what it wanted, and now he was a fusion of the two.

He sometimes blamed Hoggoth. Tony convinced himself that it was what the tiger kitty wanted for preservation.

Roma listened to his answer and studied Tony's face. She looked over at the other two members of his trio, then she made a decision.

Roma formed a red barrier in front of Tony. It contained him and the Inhumans. She decided to rule in their favor.

"I'm sure you have wonderful intentions, but you are too corruptible to carry the stones. I will allow Uatu to remove them from you."

She added some additional strength to her barrier. Roma turned her back to Tony, and she looked out at his small crew. Steve Rogers took two steps to his left.

He looked at the barrier and remained completely silent. The soldier was about to make his move, and the younglings didn't know what to think.

They were trying very hard to keep up. They were out of the loop on so many levels, but they kinda understood that the older Tony was going to die?

Baby Tony wanted to cry. He kept looking out at the scene. He yelled at Roma a few times, like they were watching it on TV.


Chapter: END

Thanks for reading.