Here's chapter twelve! It's winding up to an interesting night in London. Don't you love it when Tony gets under Natasha's skin a little bit? If so, I think you'll enjoy this installment. :)
Tony looked up, momentarily distracted from the final preparations on his device. He was working in the living room of his suite, which was- as he might point out- the largest of all the suite living rooms. The giant wall of windows, which regularly offered views of the outside world, was currently transformed into dozens of screens which displayed security camera images of every room in the compound except the other Avengers' suites.
They can't say I didn't give them privacy. Tony thought with a smirk as he viewed the footage.
Suddenly he remembered what had caught his eye an instant ago. Tony flicked his gaze back to the screen displaying the common area outside the suite doors, and watched open mouthed as Natasha nearly kissed Cap.
He laughed to himself as they jumped apart when Thor's door flew open. Tony returned to tightening the screws on his device and had F.R.I.D.A.Y. run a few final diagnostics and pressure tests as he pondered what he had just witnessed.
I shall hold that against them till the end of time. He decided wickedly. Banner might not like to hear that when I find him.
Donning a flashy white suit and red tie, Tony stepped back from his work, and set a couple of arm-bots the task of cleaning up the rubble and extra tools.
Suddenly Pepper emerged from the bedroom, clad in a lovely white gown. "Are you going to tell me what this machine is now?" she called, walking over to Tony's side.
Tony hastily pressed a few buttons on his watch and the security camera footage disappeared with a flash, returning the screens to window panels once again. The late afternoon light flooded the suite with brilliant golden illumination, but Pepper didn't seem to notice as she regarded Tony's creation.
"I'm not allowed to play favourites- you have to wait until I tell the others as well, Miss Potts." he proclaimed, crossing his arms.
Pepper rolled her eyes and glanced at one of the suite's wall clocks. She seemed to suddenly realize what time it was.
"It's ten to seven, Tony! Get the others in here and pray to god your plan works." She huffed, stalking back into the bedroom, presumably to grab her purse and touch up her makeup.
Tony slid on a pair of brightly coloured sunglasses.
"Showtime." He muttered to himself as he pressed the intercom button on his watch.
The watch beeped, indicating that he was connected to the intercoms of every room in the compound.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to make your way to the sensational and luxurious suite of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, Mr. Stark has generously arranged a ride to London for all Avengers compound guests, which you should arrive for promptly or else feel the wrath-"
Tony's long-winded summoning speech was interrupted sharply by the opening of the suite door.
"We heard you Stark...let's get moving." Natasha called out in a businesslike fashion as she and the rest of the Avengers and guests entered Tony's room.
Tony tried to hide his disappointment and waited for everyone to enter. He ignored their awe as they took in the superior size and luxury of the Iron Man Suite.
"Is that a hot tub, Tony?" Clint questioned jealously, gesturing to the other side of the living area.
Tony straightened his tie and smiled. "It sure is, Katniss. If you want to try it out later, it has loads of top-of-the-line features, like-"
Pepper cut him off quickly, clearing her throat. "Not the time, Tony." She chided briskly, drawing his attention back to the issue at hand.
Tony signed and stood up on his glass coffee table. "Right- my creation. You will all have the pleasure tonight of trying out the world's first trans-global nuclear particle transmitter."
Tony saw Jane's eyes light up. "A teleportation device?" she exclaimed excitedly, craning to get a better look at Tony's machine.
"Essentially, yes." The billionaire replied. Immediately excited and doubtful conversation filled the room, and Tony had to shush everyone so that he could continue.
"In a stroke of luck, there is a Stark Industries warehouse a few blocks from the address of the party. Inside said storage building lies a twin to the device we have here, since I originally designed twelve."
Steve still appeared doubtful. "Why is one of your teleporters in London?" he inquired, eyeing the teleporter suspiciously.
Tony raised his eyebrows. "I had actually scrapped this project after the battle in New York, since portals, teleportation, and such brought back...bad memories." He admitted, reflecting on his experiences with the Chitauri aliens. "I shipped off half of the devices to various Stark Industries storage locations across the globe, under the pretext that one day I might reopen the project, and sure enough, I was bored after this compound's construction was finished, and I brought one of these babies from California to tinker with."
"Is it...safe?" Steve wondered carefully.
"I am 99% sure it can get us to London in one piece, if we go one at a time." Tony said confidently, stepping down from the coffee table.
Pepper stepped forward to grab Tony's arm. "But what about that other one percent." She whispered, eyes filling with a lining of fear.
"Don't worry, I'll go first and make sure it works." Tony said simply.
Pepper whacked his arm and glared at him, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Tony proceeded forward to stand in front of the teleporter. There was a round raised platform containing a glowing circle which emitted a light similar to his arc reactor. A jumble of sleek machinery was stacked behind the platform, dotted with many tiny lights and buttons of a dozen different colours.
"I've already inputted our destination as London, therefore all you have to do is- what are you doing, Clint?" he asked suddenly, noticing that Barton was holding up his cell phone, presumably filming his spiel.
Clint laughed a little. "If this goes badly, I'm gonna have it all on camera so at least we'll get a good YouTube video out of it."
"Put that away!" Tony scoffed, flailing his arms a bit. "Anyways, just step on the particle scanner one at a time," he continued, glaring at Clint as he stepped up on to the glowing platform. "Then press this blue button with a triangle on it, and you shall be instantly transported across the Atlantic via a highly charged stream of nuclear radiation which is most likely not at all harmful to your health." He finished.
"See you in London, my friends." Tony called out before quickly pressing the button such that no questions could be asked.
Instantaneously, the Iron Man Suite faded around Tony, and he felt an unusual chilling sensation travel up his legs. He was briefly disoriented and saw nothing even when he opened his eyes. His head pounded and everything was spinning. The moment was over after an indistinct amount of time, possibly a heartbeat, possibly minutes. Suddenly the world returned to focus, and Tony was standing on a circular platform identical to the one back at the compound. Its blue light was fading, and Tony quickly stepped off and took in his surroundings.
Technology and machines lay strewn about in great piles all around, most broken or damaged, but some in perfect condition. The building was indeed a giant warehouse, crammed full of a sort of Tony Tech Graveyard.
As Tony stood in the chilled air, still catching his breath, the particle scanner lit up once more, and an instant later Thor materialized on the platform.
"It seems you have created a sort of miniature bifrost." Thor remarked as he stepped off the ledge. "Quite a respectable job you have done considering the limitations of Midgard technology." He added, tossing Mjolnir up and spinning it midair for good measure.
Tony adjusted his cuffs and straightened his tie. "I'm glad you like it, your godliness."
Next to appear on the platform was Darcy, who expressed profoundly how much she enjoyed the teleporter, and even begged to ride it again.
Later on came Pepper, still verbalizing her reservations about Tony's uncertain one percent.
After a few more minutes everyone stood in the warehouse, all having safely arrived in one piece. Tony glanced at his watch, which read 6:59.
"Sweet mother, we've gotta go." Tony muttered to himself before herding the unusual group out the warehouse's doors and on to the London streets.
Once everyone had been directed as to the destination and a brisk walking pace had been established, Tony fell into step beside Natasha.
"Evening, Miss Romanoff." Tony murmured, matching the assassin's long, smooth strides. "You're looking quite fetching in red."
Natasha glared at him and continued walking. "What do you want, Tony?"
"I want to know how long you've been in to older men." Tony whispered, gazing ahead at the Captain's bobbing blond head.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Stark." She lied, albeit convincingly.
"You know about my cameras, Nat. Don't lie to me." He answered as the group paused at a crosswalk. Tony watched Pepper press the crossing button and noticed that their misfit group of superheroes was getting some strange looks from the people they passed.
Beside Tony, Natasha pursed her lips and kept walking as the group proceeded through the intersection.
Tony continued to match her pace as they rounded a corner. "Banner might not like you...experimenting while he's gone."
Natasha seemed taken aback but continued to glare daggers at Tony.
"Is that a threat?" she whispered coolly as the group passed a mob of people holding up cell phones.
"Not at all, Natasha. I would just advise you not to linger in the middle."
Natasha stared straight ahead. "Of what value is advice from you, Tony?"
"Quite pricey, actually- in fact, I'm thinking of starting my own talk show..." he mumbled quietly, but Natasha was no longer listening, and she sped up to walk with Pepper.
As the Avengers got closer to their destination- a grand hotel in the city centre- the crowds and fanfare increased exponentially. Evidently this party was the talk of the town tonight, and news that the Avengers were attending had summoned huge crowds of paparazzi and fans.
In frequently decreasing intervals, Tony was stopped to give an autograph or pose for a picture. He was quickly becoming fed up with the interruptions, since they were already late.
"We're on the verge of going from fashionably late, to awkwardly late." Tony called out irritably as the group paused so Clint and Thor could sign a few autographs.
"It's okay, Tony, the party's just up ahead!" Pepper answered, pointing to a brightly lit building with a promenade of red-carpet guests, and an abundance of fancy old cars dropping guests off.
"Right. Everyone remember why we're here?" Tony questioned, stopping everyone once again.
Thor put up his hand with a smile. "To socialize and enjoy fancy food and drink for free."
Tony rolled his eyes and ignored Thor's comment. "We're making a business deal. Everyone needs to talk up Mr..."
"Pembroke. He always wears a royal purple suit, so you'll recognize him easily." Pepper added knowingly.
Tony nodded. "Convince this Mr. Pembroke to sell me his energy source, for any price."
"And have your weapons ready." Natasha quipped suddenly. "Lots of these guests are walking like they've got firearms up their sleeves."