1,268AN: Ogremen: Alright folks, we are DEEPLY apologetic for how long it took to get this chapter out, as I decided to reread and make a list of things we mentioned and never brought up again, or, that, were going to be plot points but were never addressed, it ended up being QUITE a long list, lol But, you know what they say about great stories, sometimes you get lost in the details, lol ;P Anyway, we HIGHLY hope that you enjoy this chapter, and a really massive shoutout of recognition to one reader: blueshark10101. We really want to thank you for enjoying our story so much and we hope that things are improving for you! :) Anyway, my portion of the opening AN is pretty much done, so, without further ado, now, a word from the Mistress of Mysteries herself, Oracle!
Oracle: Lost in the details he saids. If you readers could only see the list of things both that we need to tie up and of ideas for the fic you would be amazed lol. But yeah, part of the delay was Ogremen refreshing his memory of everything that has transpired so far, and from the reviews/comments it seems some of you were also doing this as well. Thank you everyone for reading this story and we hope the wait was worth it for this chapter.
~w~
~Location: one of the lesser known ports in Europe~
Tony sighed as he looked at his armor, or, rather, his 'backpack'. He still couldn't figure out what was connecting with it, or even how it was doing it. All he could tell was that it was some form of AI, which had him a bit worried, given his past experiences.
Pepper, meanwhile, was wondering why they were still at this port, waiting for a boat. They had also been led, by coordinates given, to a shop that sold clothes, where Pepper was able to pick up a prearranged pack of clothing as a disguise for Tony. Needless to say, the other four people in this group of five, had found the outfit amusing as hell. Tony's 'disguise' consisted of a large hat with a wide brim, a sort of European poncho, and, much to Tony's undying embarrassment, European short shorts of a style worn by male strippers. Rhodey had not been able to prevent himself from commenting that whoever it was that had arranged for the disguise, clearly had a sense of humor. While Pepper found herself having to avoid from staring at Tony's butt in the shorts...a lot, luckily she was able to consistently hide her blush. As for Pietro and Wanda, they had not dined to share their comments, but both could be heard chortling from time to time together in hushed tones.
They had been told to be at this harbor's port for about an hour later then when they had arrived. They had arrived early because the traffic on the country roads had been surprisingly light...or it could have been the fact that Tony had ended up driving the van faster then they were technically supposed to, and so arrived ahead of schedule. They had been informed by the mysterious person providing them the information, to wait here for a boat that would be expecting a 'Patricia Potts and company'.
As they waited, the group ended up talking with one another. Of course, the first to speak had been Pietro. Who had blurted out his question in his usual, blunt, and to the point manner. "Are you really Tony Stark?" he had asked quietly, looking around with shifty eyes as he had said the name, even though they were the only ones on the pier at the moment, and even then, there was a deep, thick, European fog that had been lingering for hours.
Tony had been surprised by the question, as had Rhodey and Pepper, who had all looked at one another, while Wanda had face palmed at how her brother had asked the question. She was thankful to Pepper for helping them bandage their few wounds they had had earlier using various bits of cloth they had managed to scrape together from somewhere in the van.
Pepper was the first to reply, "Why, I mean, it's not like he is famous?" she asked, the three of them had not been reading the newspapers, or watching much of the Televisions that had aired the news, more concerned with figuring out what had happened, where they were, and trying to find out how to get back to America once they had realised where they were.
Pietro sneered, "Tony Stark, is one of the most evil weapon designer's on the planet!" he said acidly, his thick eastern European accent coming through. Wanda placed a hand on his shoulder and said to the trio, "Sorry about my brother, our family has...history...with Tony Stark and Stark Industries..." she said, feeling conflicted right now.
Pepper, Tony, and Rhody exchanged looks again, confusion clearly shown on their faces.
"Um, to be clear, you said Stark 'Industries', right?" Rhodey asked with obvious confusion.
Wanda frowned. "Yes, Stark Industries. Started by Howard Stark many years ago, and now run by his son, Tony Stark," She confirmed, sensing something was off but unsure of what it was.
"Everyone knows about Stark Industries," Pietro scoffed and shook off his sister's hand. "One can barely go anywhere on the planet without hearing about it and Tony Stark."
Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey looked at one another, confusion even more evident on their faces now, which in turn confused the twins.
Pepper then spoke up before Tony or Rhody could, "Stark International is the name of Tony's company," she said simply, causing more confusion between Wanda and Pietro.
"On top of that," Tony spoke up now, "My company hasn't made weapons since before I was born!" he added heatedly.
"And on top of that," Rhodey added, "My mother was Howard's lawyer, and she told us that Howard had a change of heart for business after Tony was born!"
Tony then added, "And since then, my company has mostly been producing my designs, like my Earth Movers, which were designed for excavation of archaeological sites!" he finished, clearly confusing the twins further.
Wanda, before her brother could say or do anything impulsive, pulled Pietro away and out of hearing range before speaking. "As strange as this may be, I think I believe them," She told him.
Pietro gave her a look of disbelief. "Are you serious? This is complet-" She cut him off.
"You only hear what they are saying, but I can sense more than what words can ever hope to say, and what I have felt is unlike anything I have felt before," She told him before glancing at the trio. "There is much more going on here than we realize," She said. Seeing him about to argue she quickly pointed out, "If we make enemies of them, then we will be left on our own to find a safe place to stay. It is best we see where they are being led, and perhaps learn more about what is going on. Or would you rather take chances and get caught and brought back to the labs again?" She asked him with a flat look and an arched eyebrow.
Pietro just huffed, crossing his arms as he turned away from his sister, but, he kept listening, even if he pretended not to be.
Pepper, while the twins had been talking, had had a hand on her chin in thought before she turned to Tony, "Um, Tony," she began awkwardly, "You don't think we...we died, do you?!" she asked in a panicked tone.
Her question caused Rhodey to facepalm, "How can we be meeting people who don't know Stark International if we're DEAD, Pepper!?" he hissed in reply.
Tony, however, had another thought, "My suit did detect foreign energy particles when we were transported..." Tony said, "If anything, we might be in an alternate reality or something..." he said as he began to think of what he had seen through his suit's cameras, then he remembered, his suit probably recorded the trip before it had lost power, so, while part of the recording might not have been saved, he was sure that a good chunk of it had been.
Rhody sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in thought and annoyance, "Alright, alright, so, assuming that Tony's idea is correct, which, granted, it might very well be," he said, glaring at Tony, who had been about to butt in, "Are we saying that, there are other versions of us here?" he asked in confusion. This, of course, caused Pepper to have a mild panic attack at the idea that all of their friends and family could possibly not exist here.
Tony gave a slight shrug before smiling in excitement. "Could you imagine meeting our other world selves? Seeing how else our lives could've been had things been different? Imagine what if we had siblings? Or if we were the opposite sex? Oh! What if our roles in life were different, like if my dad and I were just normal people and not brilliant and rich?" He asked as he wondered just what kind of person this world's him could be, completely forgetting what Pietro had said about this world's Tony, due to imagining what this world's Tony Stark might be like.
Pepper glared at Tony at that. "You aren't even the slightest bit freaked out by this?! We could be in a world where no one we know exists! Where we might not exist, and we currently have no way to get back home!" She snapped at him angrily with panic also in her voice.
Tony gave her a cheeky smile at that to try and reassure her. "Ah but you heard those two, I do exist in this world, and really, who's ever heard of Tony Stark without Rhodey and Pepper?" He asked her, getting a punch to the shoulder for it from Rhodey.
Pepper frowned, still a little panicked, before she could respond, there was suddenly a long, loud, blast of sound cut through the fog. Rhody looked up at the sound, "That's a fog horn!" he whispered out loud enough for their group of five to hear.
Suddenly, out of the fog, came the crustiest, most beat up looking pilothouse boat that any of the group of five had ever seen.
"Woah…" Pepper said, surprised that the pilothouse boat was still floating, her panic forgotten by the arrival of the old pilothouse boat in the dark.
As it finally pulled to a stop at the dock, a man stepped off the boat, looking around with a mobile fog light.
"Oi! One of you Patricia Potts?" The man called to the group as he looked them over with narrowed eyes.
The group looked at one another, before Pepper stepped forward, "Yeah, that would be me," Pepper said awkwardly, as the rest of the group walked up carefully behind her.
The owner of the boat, the captain really, sighed and pulled out an old fashioned pipe, setting it alight, he looked at them as he took a puff. "Names Archibald Haddock the Fourth," he said, taking another puff, "Know anyone by the name of 'Mister J'?" he asked, his accent had a Scottish tone but also some kind of influence on it indicating a lot of time spent somewhere else as well. When he saw them shake their heads in the negative, causing him to sigh and shake his head before he looked at them and nodded his head towards the boat. "Boat's fully stocked for a trip across the Atlantic for a group of seven people, get on," he ordered as he gestured for them to board.
Pepper quickly shoved Tony and Rhodey on before either of them could say anything while Wanda dragged her brother onboard and told him to watch what he said from now on as they can't risk getting kicked off anytime soon.
Once they were onboard, they noticed there was a cabin hidden under the front of the boat and access via a hidden entrance that Captain Haddock showed them. Needless to say, Tony was freaking out about how this shouldn't be possible on a boat this size. Captain Haddock just shrugged his shoulders in response and told him the boat came like this when he bought it at an auction.
Wanda, while Tony was having his freak out, investigated the hidden cabin using her powers when no one was looking. She could sense some sort of energy unlike anything she had felt before, though much different from what she detected from the three they were traveling with, though she did note that the energy surrounding their traveling companions was gradually fading.
"So, how is it possible this is here?" Pietro questioned her as he looked at the room that would comfortably hide all five of them and should be impossible with the other cabins built into the boat.
Wanda shook her head. "I'm not sure. There is a power at work that is making this room possible, but I can not begin to understand it..." She then glanced at the captain who Tony was grilling for answers about the room. "But I doubt very much that man is anything more than the benefactor of someone else's work regarding this.
Pietro didn't like this, he also didn't like how the captain had mentioned a 'Mister J', and he especially didn't like that they were traveling with a guy calling himself Tony Stark. He was half tempted to bolt, to grab his sister and just run. The only reason he wasn't was because they had nowhere else to go and he knew she would kill him if he did it. So he grit his teeth and tried to remind himself why they were doing all this.
Suddenly a shout came from the far end of the hidden cabin. "What the..." Rhodey's voice rang out. "How the hell is there a huge bathroom in here with some kind of massive floor tub?!" he shouted in outraged confusion. His words had Tony tearing his way through the cabin to check out the 'bathroom'. When he arrived, he immediately fell to his knees, crying tears as he complained about how the 'bathroom', which also had stalls for toilets, was breaking the conservation of mass to space ratio, or some such, it was honestly kind of hard to make out, what with his blubbering, crying actual tears, and Pepper standing behind him trying to cheer him up as she rubbed his back slowly in a comforting way.
Pietro turned to his sister after glimpsing the bathroom. "Whoever this Mister J is, had better not be Hydra or worse. For I have no wish to go back there now that we have what we wanted."
"If he is, I doubt he will be expecting us as Hydra has kept silent about us," She reminded him. "Though I will admit this makes little sense," Referring to the young Tony Stark and the strange boat with a hidden cabin that's bigger on the inside. "But we need to go along with this for the time being. Unless you want to end up in a row boat in the middle of the ocean having to paddle our way to land..." She pointed out.
Pietro huffed, knowing that even if they did he could get them to land fast enough, but he could see her point. He just didn't have to like it.
Captain Haddock suddenly stuck his head into the cabin, "Alright, keep quiet for now, this thing ain't got no way to block out any sounds ya make!" he said seriously, "I'll be sure to let you lot know when we hit international waters, got it?" he stated before closing the cabin door and hiding it once more with a barrel and crate.
~w~
~Location: Triskelion, Washington, D.C.~
Alexander Pierce sighed heavily as he looked around the room he was sitting in. The room in question was the current HQ of the WSC, or the World Security Council, a little known organization, at least to the public anyway. The current reason they had been called was the discovery, or, depending on who you talked to, rediscovery, of one James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, friend of Captain America, a lost hero of WW2, who had been considered MIA for decades, only to have 'recently' been found brainwashed, and put on ice frequently after being turned into the infamous and 'mythical' Winter Soldier assassin. There was, of course, also the topic of that wild…'creature'...Gilgamesh, and his….'dog', Enkidu. There was also the topic of Hydra apparently having been discovered to still be existing, along with how they had managed to do so. And the final topic that was to be discussed today, at least in regards to major topics, was one Harry James Potter, his company Auror Corp., and his Trickster program that had saved the world, alongside the Avengers, in the Battle of New York City. There was also a host of minor topics to be brought up, but they were nowhere near as important as the other ones that were on the WSC's agenda for today.
"Alright," Peirce began, "I call this meeting of the World Security Council to order!" he began, from his position as head of the Council.
All the members, who had been gathered for this very important meeting, sat up straighter now.
Peirce cleared his throat as he began with the first topic. "First order of business should be Harry James Potter, Auror Corp., and their Trickster program," he began, opening the floor for the various members to voice their thoughts. Privately, he wanted the boy shot, and his company taken over by a Hydra member, that way they could usurp the Trickster program for Hydra's needs, sadly, that was an increasingly unlikely outcome given one of the other topics they had to discuss today, and one he was hoping he could brush off more or less.
"I disagree," Yen spoke up. "The first topic should be the rediscovery of Hydra. For years we have missed that it has still been active and I for one, would like to know how it managed to slip under our notice." Yen pointed out, getting agreeing nods from Rockwell and Singh. "The boy and his people can be discussed later as Hydra poses a true threat since they operate from the shadows."
Peirce, outwardly, nodded in agreement, but inside, he was absolutely furious. "Well, we would have to turn to Colonel Fury for that, wouldn't we?" he replied, thanking that his agents inside of Shield had made sure to routinely check for any mentions of Hydra's activities, and scrubbed them, as such, he turned to Fury, who was considered an 'honorary' member of the WSC by its other members.
"Perhaps if this council would stop trying to control what Shield does and doesn't do we might have found this threat sooner," Fury pointed out. "The number of times I've reported to this council that we'd found something odd or off about something we encountered during times in the field, only to be told to ignore what we found and finish the mission, and then being pulled off the field immediately after completing the mission are too many to count."
Gideon leaned forward at that. "We can hardly condone you chasing after every bump and shadow when there are bigger matters that need attending to." Gedeon glanced at the Hydra base report. "Besides, according to this, there were many Shield files located within the Hydra base, to say nothing of some of the fragments of the entity known as the Destroyer being present at the base. Care to explain that?"
"I'm looking into it. Trust me when I say I want to know how they got those things as well," Fury growled, not liking the thought of a Shield leak.
Peirce smirked, seeing an opening that he hoped he could manipulate the others into exploiting for him. "Perhaps Shield could use a replacement second in command, since the current one that serves you Fury, is proving to be...inadequate?" he finished in a questioning tone.
Fury narrowed his eye at that. "With all due respect, this council didn't even see Hydra coming. Should I take it that you also plan to replace yourselves?" It was a bit of a petty and childish move, but Fury would be damned if he let the WSC take Shield from him. If he had to, he would even reveal to Tony how it was Howard Stark's money that got Shield off the ground in the beginning and that Shield had never really stopped being majority owned by the Stark family. Fury smiled internally at the thought of the WSC having to deal with Tony Stark pestering them rather than him, even if Tony would just do it as a way to be a nuisance, and to piss people off.
Peirce, internally, growled menacingly inside, he really wanted to tear Fury down, but, as much as he hated Fury, he still needed the man's sharp mind too. So, taking a sigh, Peirce decided another tactic, "So, who will be in charge of the investigation into the Sokovia base that was discovered Fury?"
Knowing this move would piss the council off more, as well as help justify any future calling upon of this person, Fury answered. "Since there is a possible leak at Shield I figured I would out source that job to Lord Harry Potter-Black and his Tricksters." This was, in a way, the next step to getting Shield working more with Harry that they had spoken about, outsourcing jobs to the company that was slowly starting to become its own organization over time. Fury wouldn't be surprised to one day learn that Trickster had replaced Shield, though he wouldn't be upset about it either.
There was a moment of silence in the WSC council room, before pandemonium exploded as everyone began yelling at Fury, for one reason or another, and then yelling at each other for being of a different opinion to them.
Peirce, meanwhile, was absolutely livid inside, and had to resort to using that bastardised, non-magical version of Occlumency that Hydra had managed to develop to control his emotions. Granted, it was nowhere near as useful, or as good, as the actual thing, but it was a version available to non-magicals at least, and therefore, useful in its own way. After taking a minute to cool his temper, Peirce spoke, loudly and clearly, getting everyone else to quiet down gradually. "Is that a wise idea, Fury?" he asked carefully, "After all, they are not overseen by any government," he added, "What's more, they are employed by a teenage father who won his company through a game of chance," he continued in a snide tone, "And finally, While the Potter lord has, indeed, done good, he has also proven himself uncontrollable," he finished in a saddened tone, even though, internally, he really just wanted to have the boy assassinated.
"First off, that boy is in his twenties and has achieved far more in his short life then anyone else in this room has by his current age," Fury began. "Secondly, Tony Stark was deemed 'uncontrollable' and yet that didn't stop this council from wanting his weapons, and then later his suits. Third, remind me, what government discovered Hydra? What government fought off the invasion in New York? Because from what I recall, the invasion was fought back mostly by Trickster, which is owned and run by Potter, and it was Shield who found the Hydra base thus discovering that Hydra was still active. I didn't see any of you out on that field," Fury listed off. "Potter might be a young father, but tell me when Auror Corp. had anything leaked? That company is the most secure out there, to say nothing of the connections Potter already has. In fact, one of my agents assigned to keep track of those who entered the building recently reported the head of the Olympus Group, Hera herself, paying a visit to Auror Corp. just before this meeting was called," Fury then shook his head. "You may claim it a bad idea to include Potter, but from where I stand, having interacted with him and his people, I can tell you the boy, as you call him, has a strong pull to him that is allowing him to gather people and power. You can try to cut him off, but he's already finding ways around you without him noticing. Which is why I propose that we work with the young Lord rather than against him, as the payout will be far greater than the pain of trying to stop him." Fury knew that the possibility to gain more from Harry would tempt the group, which was why he had thrown that bit in. It would be up to Harry to fulfil that claim after all.
Peirce growled internally, but nodded externally, "Very well, if you could, Fury, would you please inform Lord Potter, that we would like to meet with him to get updates on the investigation of the base?" Peirce asked politely, what he really wanted, was to hopefully find out if Potter discovered anything he and his people shouldn't have, and if he would be forced to take some 'drastic actions'.
"I will, but remember," Fury let the corners of his mouth lift into a small smirk. "Since he's not bound to the government, he won't always bow to your demands. If he finds something he feels is unsafe for this world, he might pass it on to our new Asgardian friends to dispose of." Fury warned, though really it wouldn't matter if he told the council or not, Harry would do what he and his company thought best and from where Fury stood, Harry had a far better head on his shoulders then anyone on the council.
Peirce frowned at what Fury had told him, inside, it unsettled him that Potter could have any kind of pull like that, on the other, he was still 'just a boy' in Peirce's mind, albeit, one that needed some serious watching of course. "Be that as it may, we will be watching the investigation the boy and his company conduct, are we clear?" Peirce said.
Fury held back a grin at that. Clearly the council had yet to learn of Harry's relationship to Asgard, or to be more accurate, Asgard's royal family. This would make for some interesting moments once the council comes to find out, most likely due to them making a…drastic… mistake. "By all means, watch him if you want, just don't be surprised when you are left confused by what he does."
Peirce frowned at the warning, but carried on with the meeting. "The next order of business, is what to do about the Winter Soldier," Peirce began, "Considering his mission record that is attributed to him, I feel it would be best to have him executed for his crimes, as well as the fact he is too dangerous to have imprisoned," Peirce said commandingly.
Fury, having guessed this would be a case and thus had already taken action before the meeting crossed his arms. "That's going to be a little hard to do, seeing how I've already arranged for Steven Rogers to be informed about his former friend and have already contacted those in Auror Corp. who specialize in mental abilities about how best to mend Barnes mind and remove any triggers Hydra will have placed within him." Fury had gone beyond what he had just said, as he already had a few telepaths looking over Barnes's mind to see if it could be salvaged.
Peirce, again, was severely angry, but didn't let it show, so much was currently destroying their carefully laid plans that were slowly, and gradually, nearing completion, however, it seemed the proverbial train was going off the tracks now, and out of control fast. Sighing he said instead, "So what is to be done with the prisoner then?" Peirce asked, trying to make the council members remember Barnes, not as the war hero, but what Hydra had turned him into, a ruthless, cold blooded killer of near-supernatural skill.
"With luck Barnes's mind can be saved, allowing him to recover from being Hydra's puppet, and with that we may gain some good, hard information about Hydra's current inner workings. Seeing how an agent like Barnes would be commanded by the top men of Hydra," Fury pointed out. "After he's recovered and debriefed, I plan to turn him over to Auror Corp., seeing how Steve Rogers is a member, and thus have Rogers keep tabs on Barnes with Potter reporting anything out of the ordinary with the two." Fury then smiled, "Potter though does have a good track record with helping people reform, one needs only look at the number of former Brotherhood members to see that. Hell, look at who his chief of security is!"
It was at that exact moment, that Peirce realised the true idiocy of his organization, in regards to not having made sure they died putting an end to the Asset to avoid its capture. However, there was nothing to do now but to play his part and role, and hope for an opportunity to make his escape to fight another day after this meeting eventually concluded. "In that case then, onto the next order of business," Peirce began, acting like everything was ok. "We have two last topics to discuss before a host of minor ones," he began, "The two main ones, are Trickster and the damage they caused to New York City, and the creature known as Gigamesh and his 'pet', Enkidu," he said, opening the floor to discuss which should be the main focus first.
Suddenly, one of the other councilors spoke up, and in a nasally voice, said, "Kind of arrogant of him, don't you think?" he said, "Using the name of a supposed Mesopotamian king from mythical history, and said 'god king's' side kick as his own," he stated arrogantly, then, seeing the other councilor's confused looks, he gave a huff, "I was a history buff in middle and highschool, ok?" he said haughtily, crossing his arms. "Supposedly, Gilgamesh was a demigod king who, supposedly, ruled for about one hundred and twenty six years as a king, not including the rest of his lifespan, if he even really existed that is."
Fury frowned at the mention of Gilgamesh. "Shield is attempting to track him and, if possible, contain any further destruction. If we had a clue what that creature was after then we might have better luck, but for now all we can do is follow his path and see what we can learn in the aftermath." He sighed, "However, there is one thing we do know, and that this Gilgamesh is not of this world nor of the world the Chitari hail from. We have Potter's first born daughter to thank for this information, in a way."
Peirce had been unaware of that information as it had not been in the notes they had each been given. "Oh, and why was that information not in our notes for us to discuss?" he said, making a show of slowly going through and double checking his notes for it, only to still not see it.
"I was only just made aware of this before I got here myself. But rather than let me explain it, I'll let the one who informed me about this fact tell you," Fury answered, a note of amusement in his voice before he stepped aside.
"Hiya!" Standing on a chair behind Fury was a creature none on the council had seen before. It looked like a mix of a fox, cat, and rabbit with a ruby in its forehead. What was more surprising was that it was talking. "My name is Carbuncle and I can tell you about Gilgamesh if ya want."
~Song Start: Pokemon Season 1 Music: Silly Psyduck~
Peirce actually wanted to groan now, so, so badly, 'Now there was a talking bunny experiment or something?!' he thought himself internally, before, in a clearly resigned tone, "Just to be clear...uh...Mister...Carbuncle, was it?" he began in a questioning tone.
Carbuncle nodded, "Just Carbuncle is fine!" he said chirpily as he swayed his 'arms' back and forth from side to side happily while 'standing' on his hind legs and sitting on his bum in a sense, "Though Lily calls me Buncle!" he added happily.
"Uh...right..." Peirce replied unassuredly, "Anyway, Carbuncle, what, exactly, are you exactly?" he asked, both to help ease his own sanity at the absurdity of talking to whatever the hell this Carbuncle was with its utterly ridiculous appearance, and also to hopefully get some information on it for his organization.
Carbuncle smiled happily and eagerly, "Oh, what I am goes by many names!" he began cheerily, which was something that was off putting to a few of the council members, while some of the others found it kind of adorable. "Depending on the timeline or universe, me and the others like me have gone by many titles and names, gods, summons, eidolons, aeons, angels, demons, and a whole heaping host of others!" it said in a far too cheerful manner for what it just said. "But, anyway, back to what Gilgamesh is," Carbuncle said, in a swift change of conversation that left the council members with mental whiplash, "Gilgamesh is like me, in a sense, but, he is also a former human...I think..." Carbuncle said, raising one of its front paws under its chin in a thinking pose that was utterly adorable. "I mean, he was human, then he worked alongside a host of heroes, villians, some in between, before he went to work with Exdeath and ended up getting thrown into the Void..." Carbuncle rambled a bit, "Once there, he gained control over it in a sense to allow him to chaotically visit other universes, worlds, and timelines in our multiverse..." he again rambled ignorant of the shocked looks on the council members face, and definitely not seeing the highly amused face of Fury who was making sure to stand in the shadows behind the chair Carbuncle was sitting on. "Then I responded to Lily's heartfelt summoning plea, and Gilgamesh followed me..." he continued to ramble, then his eyes widened comically huge for such a surprisingly slim and small 'animal' thing. "Oh...I really hope HE didn't follow us through too before it closed..." he said with absolute fear written on his face and in his voice. Then, shaking away the clearly distressing thought, Carbuncle continued, "Anyway, Gilgamesh is a bit of a…collector..." Carbuncle finished awkwardly.
Fury frowned at that. "You hope who didn't follow you through?" He questioned, wondering just what something like Carbuncle has to fear given what the reports say Carbuncle is capable of. He would really have to get in touch with Harry and ask him to kindly keep his daughter away from summoning things as knowing Potter's luck the devil himself would most likely appear one day thanks to that little girl.
Carbuncle visibly wilted at Fury's question and almost looked distressed, "Um, hopefully they didn't make it through the portal before it closed behind Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but, lets just say that as bad as Gilgamesh is, there are worse out there..." Carbuncle replied, visibly distressed by even thinking about whoever he was thinking of.
One of the other councilors, however, decided to focus on the other thing Carbuncle had said. "You said Gilgamesh is a collector, a collector of what exactly?"
Carbuncle visibly cheered up at the change of topic eagerly, "Well, he is a collector of famous weapons, he also thrives on fighting strong opponents, the stronger, the better, he is always seeking the 'Blade of Legend' though...but he never finds it!" Carbuncle finishes with a cute, if definitely inhuman, sounding amused giggle.
The council frowned and looked to each other, wondering what this 'Blade of Legend' could be. They were also worried about this matter of Gilgamesh wanting to fight 'strong opponents'. Did this mean Gilgamesh might seek out the Hulk? But that didn't make sense as if Gilgamesh wanted to fight the Hulk then he would've had the chance back during the invasion, yet Gilgamesh didn't seem to have any interest in the green monster.
"What manner of weapons does Gilgamesh seek exactly?" Yen questioned.
Carbuncle tilted his head in thought. "Well, he seems to be drawn to swords mostly, but he has taken up other weapons when that weapon has become famous enough," Carbuncle answered. "I still remember that time one of the incarnations of Odin was slain and Gilgamesh got his sword. It wasn't Gilgamesh who killed him but a young man, yet Gilgamesh was able to over power the young man with a single swing of one of his weapons."
"So the weapon at least has to be of some 'renown' before he takes notice," Rockwell noted. "And what of these opponents? What does he seek in an opponent?"
Carbuncle managed to give a shrug, which on his small frame was adorable. "I don't know. He's challenged a lot of people over the ages, sometimes he shows up, interrupting someone else's fight to do battle with someone, other times he waits in an area for his opponents to happen across him. I don't really pay much attention to him as I'm not that interested in him. He's boring cause all he does is fight, collects weapons, and then disappears again. No fun at all." Carbuncle pouted sadly at the end, suggesting he had tried in the past to make friends with him but failed.
Pierce metally rolled his eyes at that last part. "I see. But how might we lure him and contain him?" Pierce asked, questioning in his head why he was still talking to this sorry excuse of a children's cartoon character.
Carbuncle tilted his head. "Um...you don't? Gilgamesh can disappear back to the void anytime he wants, which allows him to travel across worlds and to other worlds in the Multiverse. His link to the void can't be cut and so he can't be contained. As for luring him, well, maybe if you got a bunch of powerful people together for a big fight he might show up, but other than that, he goes where he wants to," Carbuncle answered with another shrug.
Fury sighed, so, they in essence, had a loose canon in their universe, or, multiverse as it seemed, that couldn't be contained, and was, in all honesty, probably unpredictable too. Shaking his head, he nodded to Carbuncle, "Thanks Buncle," he said, shocking many of the other council members with the fact he actually seemed to be on friendly terms with something. "If you want, you can go see Lily now, I am sure she is missing you something fierce," he said, grinning inside as he knew how Carbuncle, like Gilgamesh, was able to teleport, and therefore, unable to be contained.
Carbuncle nodded and saluted Fury cutely, "Sure, see you later Captain Eyepatch!" he said, emitating Nym before jumping into the air, curling into a ball, and seemingly vanishing as the ball got smaller before letting off a small 'pop'.
Fury's eye twitched a bit at the nick name, which was always changing it seemed, before smiling and shaking his head ruefully.
~Song end here~
"Well, that was practically pointless," Pierce commented in annoyance. He had learned nothing truly useful from that talking stuffed animal. "Since we have nothing of use on Gilgamesh I suggest we move on to the next subject." He did try not to sound bitter, but with Hydra's plans getting fucked over so much during this meeting alone, it was hard not to be bitter.
"Then that brings us to the matter of Trickster," Yen announced. "A collection of mutants and non mutants working under Potter for Auror Corp."
Pierce wanted to bang his head on the table before him. 'It just keeps coming back to that boy. How is he connected to so many things?' He wondered.
Fury nodded, "It would seem that many senators and even mayors across the US want to condemn Trickster and Lord Potter for the destruction caused to New York," he began sounding bored as hell as he spoke, before suddenly switching to amused, "When they tried to get to him through me, I told them all the same exact thing, 'Would you have preferred the Chitauri be allowed to run rampant, destroying even more than they did, taking more innocent lives then the, admittedly very few, that they did manage to end, and make the city suffer far worse then they would have without Trickster?'" he then grinned, actually grinned in amusement, scaring some of the council members further by adding, "Needless to say, when I pointed that out to them, they quieted down like a kicked puppy with its tail between its legs as they slunk off elsewhere," he finished. "Although, we did manage to arrest quite a few of those Neo-MRD members who tried to attack some of the members of Trickster," he added thoughtfully.
Gideon sighed, "Be that as it may, they still contributed to the damages to the city and should be held accountable."
"And firefighters should be held accountable for when buildings burn down? All armies should be held accountable for each innocent life that gets caught in the crossfire? Seems to me this council wants to hold Trickster to different rules and standards then any other group out there solving problems..." Fury pointed out.
"Most of those groups don't possess the power to level whole cities on their own!" Rockwell counter pointed out.
"No," Fury agreed. "But governments do with nukes, and yet how often are they held accountable for similar things?" Fury pointed out.
Everyone was silent after Fury finished, Peirce, however, was further angered, this whole meeting had not gone the way it was supposed to! Trying to salvage the situation, he proposed an 'idea', "What if we were to proposition Mr Potter into speaking about how his company should be held accountable for the damage cost to the city, since his employees were the ones who did the most defending of the city?" he asked carefully.
Fury tossed a few files onto the table. "Since this council seems to be missing information about Trickster I felt it best to bring this with me. These are from Potter's own accounting department and is an itemized list of how much they are spending to fix the city after the battle as well as where all the money is going. There's also a list of all the members of his company that are working for him, both on their own and with clean up and repair crews to fix the damages." Fury then smirked, "You need to fire whoever is feeding this council information, since they are clearly half assing it."
Peirce frowned externally, but, inwardly, he was nervous, as he would no doubt end up losing another valuable piece of his organization once this council started looking at its info gathering department. Shaking his head sadly, he sighed, "We will have to review this information on our own time, for now, the current topic is shelved until the next meeting," he said tiredly, "Now for the minor issues..." he said exhaustedly, "First order of business is the Neo-MRD, and the Sentinel Program that Mr Trask has been working on..." he continued, not seeing the frown that appeared on Fury's face at the mention of a program that he had not been informed of.
'Trask is trouble enough as is, but if he's working on a project that the council is aware of then that can't be good. Have to see if Harry is willing to lend some of his Trickster members to look into this. Also, Pierce doesn't seem the least bit concerned about this gap in his intelligence department, to say nothing of how he seems to be hurrying past subjects once I provide information or even show that I've already been handling them. It's almost like he's fishing for time on them. I should put a rush on Barnes's mental healing, maybe have a telepath look into his memories to see if any faces pop up that I know...' Fury thought to himself before speaking. "The Neo-MRD consists mostly of the remains of the MRD after they suffered a great deal of...misfortunes...over the last few years. As stated earlier the Neo-MRD tried to go after the mutants in Trickster, however we were able to arrest most of the ones that showed up. However this is the first I'm hearing of this Sentinel program."
Peirce noticeably grimaced now, "The info packet was sent to you, Fury, it shows up in our logs that you received it..." Peirce said confidently, though, inwardly, he was cursing the stupidity of his organization. He had, of course, failed to send the packet at all in the first place, but, his organization should have had it appear to have been sent in the logs even though it never had. "However, I will endeavor to see that your resent the packet after this meeting is concluded," Peirce sighed visibly, though inwardly he was cursing up a storm in his head.
Fury, meanwhile, frowned, this meeting had allowed him to put out a few of the fires that he had known were creeping up or had ignited of late, but, there was one fire he was dreading, the meeting that Natasha had arranged with him regarding the surveillance detail that had been on Harry for years now...and his bet regarding the genders of the triplets, he still couldn't believe that he had lost to a glorified driver/bodyguard. Still, that was one confrontation he was planning to wear a hidden Kevlar vest for...just in case of an...emergency. On more important matters, this mention of a Sentinel Program, was far more worrying, after all, with Trask's history of being one of the loudest and, in a way dumbest, voices against mutants and mutant rights, a program like that had to involve some nasty stuff, at least for the mutant community. There's also the matter of Peirce assuring him that the file on these Sentinels was sent to him, however Fury's last file from the counsel was in regards to Kingpin's recent activity outside New York and some connections with a group known as 'The Hand'. So it was clear bullshit that Peirce had sent him any such files about Trask. "Perhaps I should log into my files now and check. If it is there then I should find it easily, if not, I have my systems set up to keep multiple backups of every file the counsel sends me as a precaution." Fury made sure to make eye contact with Peirce, and he was the one causing Fury's bullshit meter to go into overdrive.
Peirce frowned, but shrugged, "If it's not there, speak to my secretary," Peirce replied simply.
Fury couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "Would that be Barbara? Sandy? Katherine? You've gone through so many in the last few months it's almost like they keep getting killed off like throw away characters on TV."
Peirce frowned and glared at Fury but said nothing as he continued the meeting, giving Fury a minor 'win'.
~w~
~Same time, Auror Corp. HQ~
Steve took a moment to process what Nat had just relayed to him from Hill. After all, the news just seemed so impossible, so unlikely regardless of everything he's seen so far. Yet a part of him had grabbed onto it and was praying he hadn't misheard or misunderstood what she was telling him. "C-co-could you repeat that a little slower?" He asked voice showing a strong level of vulnerability at that moment.
Nat arched an eyebrow but complied, "I said, Fury told Hill, to inform me, to inform you, that James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, has been found," she said, watching him carefully as the message was clearly taking a bit to sink into his brain.
Steve, meanwhile, was having trouble coming to grips with what she was telling him, Bucky had been lost in action during a mission back during World War two, something that Steve blamed himself for, since then, no one had been able to find his body, as everyone had been certain Bucky had died, but, now here was Nat telling him that Bucky had, in fact, been found. "Uh, w-whe-where is he, currently?" he asked uncertainty as he was unsure what to feel at the moment.
Natasha smiled slightly, "He is currently under the care of Shield, but, I was informed that he is enroute for treatment and assessment, by our various telepathic and mind specialist employees," she replied. "I have also been informed that my husband will be here in a few hours, so, we must inform the rest of the family to prepare to welcome some new family members too!" she finished.
Steve didn't hear the bit about Harry, his mind too focused on Bucky. Bucky was coming to Auror Corp., to Steve. To say he was both excited and nervous was an understatement. Then the part about Bucky being placed under the care of telepaths and mind specialist hit and he became worried. He knew, and trusted, everyone in that field since Harry was good at finding the best and most trustworthy people, or given people everything they need to change their lives and become the best and trustworthy, but Steve knew that if Bucky needed that whole department then something must be very wrong with him, something worse than nightmares and PTSD like what Steve struggles with. "I-I need to get things ready for Bucky. Any word on his condition? Maybe I should find that album for him, the one with all the photos from the war. He'll also need a room..." Steve's mind was buzzing with all the possible things he might need to help Bucky when he arrives but until he knows what's wrong he is just going in mental circles.
Nat shook her head sadly, what she was about to share with Steve would be saddening, anger inducing even, but also something he needed to hear right now. "He was found in a Hydra Base that was just outside of a city in Sokovia," Nat said sadly, "When he was found, he was in a sort of Cryo-stasis I was told," she said, seeing worry and questions explode inside of Steve's eyes, "What's more, when a foolish new member of Shield's forces activated the chamber and started the thawing process, something he took the initiative to do rather than be told to, Bucky, and I quote, 'Stumbled out of the chamber he had been in, and proceeded to rip the poor agent's arm off before beginning to use it as a club to beat said agent with it,' end quote," she said, sounding slightly amused, "After that, they managed to take him down, it's been hypothesized that as it was so soon out of the chamber, he was still too slow on response time, as such, with some difficulty, they managed to take him down," she then looked saddened. "Logs found at the same site are still being looked over, but what we do know is, they were using some form of mind control on him, Steve, it's bad," she said, looking at him sadly.
"Hydra?" Steve asked in shock. "No, no that can't be. Hydra was stopped. I saw Red Skull get disintegrated when he held the Tesseract!" All this time, Bucky had been held by Hydra, in some Hydra base they most likely hadn't known of back during the war. Alive, suffering, and alone. That tore greatly at Steve's heart. Then the mention of mind control clicked. "That's why he needs the telepaths and mind specialist department..." He said in shocked realization. "If I can be of any help, any at all, just have someone tell me and I'll be right there!" Steve was going to have to search for every mention of Bucky he can find online and every photo in the hopes of helping to break whatever hold Hydra has on Bucky, and then Steve was going to spend the rest of his life making it up to Bucky for having left him to suffer and end up as he did.
Nat meanwhile, tapped a few buttons on her new tablet, sending messages to each and every member of the family regarding Harry's soonish return, and with three other people coming with him to boot. The only two she couldn't send messages to directly, were Jacob and Queenie mind you, since they had, as of yet, failed to get cell phones, let alone an email for each of them. Then, turning to Steve, she said, "Don't worry Steve, Bucky will be in the best of care, our employees," she replied, smiling at her little joke of sorts, trying to get Steve to cheer up a bit. She really wished Lily Jr was here though, she would be able to make Steve smile easily.
"I know our people are the best. But it doesn't help my guilt over failing him back then," Steve sighed. "Please have them keep me informed about his recovery and let me know the moment I can see him," He requested.
Nat nodded and made a few taps on her tablet before looking back at him, "Done, you will be listed as Bucky's primary support person contact," she said in reply, "In other words, if anything happens to him, you will be the first to be contacted, aside from us as Head of the company, of course," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. Then she suddenly frowned as a new message appeared on the tablet she was holding. She was frowning as the email address sender was listed as an 'HungryMunchBiter', it took her all of two seconds to realise who that must be, and opening the message, she wasn't disappointed to read the following: 'Daddy in trouble Mama Natty?'. She smirked as she replied with, 'Not exactly Lily, but, close…' and sent it off.
Soon after Auror Corp. became a hive of activity as everyone began to hustle about to prepare a welcome back party for their head of the company, and a welcoming party for the three coming with him.
Queenie, who was still getting used to being around so many people but loving the friendly atmosphere and openness of everyone, looked around at all the activity in wonder. "What's going on? Has something happened?" She asked curiously.
One of the younger employees stopped, a young girl Queenie had spoken to a few times called Kitty. "Oh you haven't heard yet? Harry's on his way back with some new family members and the mind specialist department is getting a patient, a friend of Steve Rogers if I heard right!" she said excitedly.
"Oh how exciting! I can't wait to meet Harry's new family!" Queenie smiled, she then tilted her head. "Mind Specialist department? What's that?" She asked both in confusion and curiosity.
"Oh, it's where all the telepaths, empaths, and anyone with any abilities that have to do with the mind work," Kitty answered.
That interested Queenie quite a bit. "Really? I'm a natural Legilimens, maybe I should offer to work in that department!"
"If you want to work there then just talk to Natasha or Harry about it. I'm sure they would be more than happy to help get you set up with the people on that floor. Anyway, I best get back to what I'm doing. Talk to you later Queenie!" Kitty told her with a smile before waving and running off, and through a few people, on her way to her next task.
"What's all the fuss about?" Jacob curiously asked as he walked up to his long time girlfriend and soon to be wife.
"Harry's coming home with some new family, and I might soon have a job at this company!" Queenie told him before explaining what she'd just learned.
Jacob was surprised there was a whole floor of people who could do things like read minds at Auror Corp. but he was happy to hear that Queenie had found something to do. "That's great. I'm still weighing my options on what I can do around here."
"Why don't you do what you love? Bake for everyone!" Queenie suggested happily.
Jacob raised a brow at that, having not considered that as an option before smiling. "You got a point. This is why I love you," He told her before kissing her cheek.
"Come on, let's go see Natasha and talk to her about the jobs we want," Queenie smiled as she took Jacob's hand.
Cain, and his girlfriend, Jennifer, were both helping move some of the heavier stuff for the party, though, Cain had kinda found himself in the doghouse when he let slip to Jennifer that there had been another bet, this time started by Sirius, and that Cain had managed to make quite a bit of money by being one of the few that made the bet of 'Harry will land himself a milf with kids', needless to say, Jennifer had not be happy with his choice of language.
"Look I'm sorry Jen, but even you have to admit the kid was bound to end up marrying another older woman, one that already has kids," Cain tried to defend himself.
Jennifer meanwhile, was wondering how Harry's newest wife's children were handling everything, and how they would react to the...extended family.
"Keep talking about it Cain and see how long I'll keep you sleeping alone. I can easily move in with my cousin after all, you know Bruce would love to have me in his corner of the building for a while," Jennifer threatened, causing Cain to hang his head and give a look like a kicked puppy.
Black Cat meanwhile, was getting help from Jubilee, Gwen Stacy, and Hedwig in corralling the now large dog sized Nundu, and the two headed Hydra that was, itself, now the size of a smart car and a half. Granted, they were both behaving themselves, thanks mostly to Hedwig being present, but that didn't mean they weren't looking for openings. She remembered that time that weird guy, Newt Salamander, or something, she couldn't really remember his last name correctly, had come by to do a check up on Fangs and Saber. He had said the ominous statement that both were now entering what he, as an expert, would consider their respective species 'teen years'. Something that had made Black Cat shiver in fear as it was only a matter of time, in her mind, till they started pushing boundaries in rebellion of teenage spirit.
"How does Harry have permission to have these two here? Aren't these like normally the kinds of things you keep away from people?" Gwen questioned.
"From what I've been told, Harry's got special permission to keep them around since they bonded to him. That one," Black Cat pointed to the hydra. "Bonded to Harry upon hatching as he was the first thing it saw and thus deemed him 'mom'. The other one I think is only bonded to Harry through Hedwig," She shrugged.
"So long as they don't get out and run rampant through the city they should be fine," Jubilee stated. "Still, I wouldn't want to have to be responsible for the two if they ever did get out," She commented, which the other two girls could agree with.
Everyone in the building was, in one way or another, excited to meet the newest additions to Harry's family, after all, this was sure to make things more interesting in the building, which had been converted into two main sections, one being the company, laboratories and research sectors, and the other, living quarters for the company's employees and Harry's family. The formation of the company's living quarters had been requested by a large portion of the company due to many employees not being able to go outside the building without getting harassed, or pestered, by anti-mutant supporters, or fans of Trickster, Harry Potter, or the company as a whole thanks to the company's growing fame and the news coverage of the battle against the Chitari.
Tony, meanwhile, was 'trying' to help, but kept getting scolded by various employees and members of the family for trying to go overboard, and in some areas a little inappropriate, eventually Pepper had had to pinch Tony's ear and drag him to the side of the room they would be using for the party and to welcome the new arrivals, much to Tony's humiliation as he felt like a school boy being put in time out, thankfully he had his phone and decided to order a few little welcoming 'gifts' for Harry's new wife.
Nym, meanwhile, was looking after the triplets with Laura, and Lily Jr. While Phil had been called in to help debrief the newest family members about some of the secrets that they had married into, secrets that wouldn't have been covered in the list Natasha had given nor what Harry would've been able to properly explain to the new family members on his own.
Lily wanted to be front and center to meet the newest family members, her reasoning, when questioned, had been stated as, she had to do a 'taste test', something that, in hindsight, had actually happened to every single family member, and most of the employees of Auror Corp. too. Needless to say, Nym was making sure to keep an extra careful eye on her daughter as she was trying to become more parental with her own daughter, as well as wanting to prevent any accidents since they now knew Lily. Jr. did indeed have the mutant gene and thus they could no longer treat her ability to eat anything as something that was harmless to others.
Loki and Hera, meanwhile, were 'quietly' discussing what to do when they introduced Hera to Harry. They had, of course, taken over one of the meeting board rooms on the higher floors for this private discussion. Both understood this would be a great shock to Harry and were trying to work out how to prevent any major fallout. From what Hera had learned, Harry was a bit sensitive to things such as people knowing important, and sometimes life threatening, things related to him and not telling him about them. Loki had suggested she let him talk to Harry, explain what had happened, and why Hera hadn't been there before, but Hera shot that down as she was unwilling to wait for that, she still didn't really trust Loki as he'd made questionable choices, i.e. his absolute trust in Dumbledore when he had been James, in the past. She wanted to sit down with Harry and try to carefully break the news to him, but Loki shot that down stating that as soon as Harry figured out what she was telling him, Harry would bounce between anger for her having not searched for him, and wanting nothing to do with her for the years she had been out of his life. Loki even brought up the story he'd heard of how Harry had reacted to learning that Natasha was a spy sent to investigate him before they were married. Needless to say the two could not agree at all.
"I still think that Harry needs me, his mother, to explain things to him!" Hera shouted angrily at Loki, determined in her stubbornness, both as the former Lily Potter nee-Evans, and as Hera, queen of Olympus.
"A mother who, as far as he knows, died before he could even remember her! A mother who he, to this day, believes to be dead! I know you want to see him and return to being a part of his life, but this is no child we are talking about. Harry is a man with a family of his own, and thus should not be treated like he is still the child we lost!" Loki shouted back before sighing. "He has been through a great deal, even before I reappeared in his life. To treat him like he needs to be coddled, is pointless."
Hera sighed, sitting down and putting her head in her hands. "Ugh," she groaned, "This is so complicated!" she ground out before she let her head hang towards her legs. "What if we used Lily to try and break the ice, you know, prep him for a big shock or something?"
Loki smiled but shook his head. "Harry is bringing home a new family, Lily will be far too distracted with them to break any ice. She is easily distracted after all," He pointed out. "Perhaps Natasha should be the one to do it. She does have the most experience when it comes to helping break certain types of news, and Harry does trust her greatly as his second in command around here," He suggested.
Hera frowned, Natasha reminded Hera a lot of herself, and, come to think of it, their respective relationship with the rest of their respective families. For centuries, Hera had been the voice to control her family, while still being stubborn herself. Natasha seemed to do more or less the same thing for her family. Both women had also made some bad judgement calls in the past, but had grown from them, eventually trying to undo them in a way, or, more accurately, atone for them. She frowned, "Fine, but, I want to speak with her first…privately!" she added in a commanding tone when she saw Loki opening his mouth to reply.
Loki sighed, knowing that tone of voice and how pointless it was to argue against her when she got like this. "Alright. I'll go get her and bring her to you, though do keep in mind that while you might be Harry's mother, Natasha is the wife of Harry, mother of Harry's first son, and strong maternal figure to his first daughter, and second in command of Auror Corp. She will not be intimidated by you, nor will she do or allow, anything she thinks might harm Harry near him," Loki warned before turning and leaving the room. Personally he was glad he wasn't being asked to stay for that conversation. He knew how dangerous one red headed, stubborn, mother could be, and so didn't want to be in the room when two such women butted heads. "Maybe I should clear the building for everyone's safety..." He muttered to himself.
While that was going on, Laura, meanwhile, was talking with Gizmo, who had just arrived for the party after having been invited by Laura.
"So, know of any potions that can help increase chances of a baby?" she asked Gizmo quietly as they both sat at the bar, taking a break from the preparations, and watching the others run around as fast, and carefully, as they could.
Gizmo arched an eyebrow at Laura curiously, before putting her watered down drink on the counter, "I might know of a few..." she replied slyly, "Why do you want to know?" she asked carefully.
"Well if I wait any longer for Harry to decide to have one with me, then Lily will already have graduated whatever highschool she goes to and the triplets will be half way done with their schooling. What's more, Harry's bringing home a fourth wife, one who already has two kids of her own, and will still be expected to have one with Harry. I don't want to have to wait to finally be a mom any more!" Laura said passionately before adding, "Also I think Logan is getting close to marrying that one woman who has a kid, and from the way she acts around him I wouldn't be surprised if he's already gotten that woman pregnant. Everyone's getting babies but me!" She pouted in defeat as she crossed her arms.
Gizmo grinned and took a slow sip of her drink in thought. "Hmm," she said, though whether at the taste, or in thought, Laura couldn't tell. Then, after a minute, Gizmo put her drink down on the counter again and steepled her hands together. Mentally, she was going through all the potions, rituals, and runes that she knew, along with a few of the ones she herself had invented over the years for...various reasons...before nodding her head as she made her decision. "You are in luck, Laura, I usually go everywhere with sample sized portions of my stock of potions," she said, not even looking at Laura, "And I could easily give you a few runestones to 'enhance' your…'endevor'...along," she added, "Though, the runestones would have to be activated with a word of your choosing that was selected when I carve them and power them up..." she added as a seeming after thought. "The real question though is," she said, "When would you like them ready by?" she asked slyly.
Laura smiled and then thought about the question. "Since Harry is coming home with a new family, he most likely needs some time to relax and won't really be up for anything. And with Hera about to reveal herself to him, I don't think he'll be ready for it for a while..." She frowned at the delays but knew there was nothing that could be done about them. "How long can the runes sit and wait?" She questioned, trying to see if she had a time limit to use them.
Gizmo smiled, "My runestones aren't like batteries that lose power over time if unused and left to sit around," she said smugly in reply, "The magic I impart to the stones would be dormant until you said the trigger phrase," she added. "Now, I should add that the runes I have in mind would be ones I invented myself, and I know their limits well," she continued, "Basically, they would enhance his stamina, his seed's potential to produce the desired effect, but the price that is paid is, he would probably need a twenty four hour sleep afterwards to recover," she said thoughtfully, "Might also lower his seed count for a month or two, but, well, there's always a price with magic," she grinned as she shrugged her shoulders. "As for potions," she now smiled, "I have two in mind, one, would be for you, and is of an ancient recipe from my mother's side of the family," she grinned, "This potion would increase your conception chances drastically, and I mean drastically," she warned, "So be prepared, understood?" she looked at Laura now for a look of acknowledgement.
Laura was excited for the almost guarantee she seemed to be getting here, though she realized if she did this, she'd best warn Natasha that Harry would be out of commission so that Natasha can be ready to take over for the day. Still, she would get her baby and Harry would get a full day off with nothing going wrong, after all it wasn't like Harry could get into any trouble while asleep. Looking at Gizmo, she nodded, "I understand," she said.
Gizmo eyed her for a minute or two, watching her very carefully, "Alright then," she said with a shrug, "Alright, now, the other potion I have, would be for Harry," she continued, "You would have to make sure he drinks it, but how he drinks it, would be up to you. But don't, under any circumstances, mix it with anything sugary, what's more, he also shouldn't have anything sugary after he takes it until you finish with him, as the sugar would….alter...its effects a bit..." she said, trailing off as she seemed to recall a memory of something, then, shaking her head, Gizmo continued. "The potion is two parts in one, and is one of my own design," she paused for a moment, "Its one half, was a potion I made when I was…ahem, experimenting, with a few mundane sex drugs to try and make a potion to help stimulate a partner's sex drive..." she said, clearly embarrassed at the memory, "The other half, of the combined potion for Harry to take, is a energy potion, again, of my own design, and what it does, is, it would super charge his energy levels, allowing him to last for hours longer than normally. Down side, he would have to sleep to recover said energy, so, he would need a long sleep period, if you combine it with the runestones I mentioned earlier, then, increase his twenty four hour sleep, to about forty eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, also, expect him to end up snoring during said sleep as a side effect of the potion..." she said with a smirk.
Laura raised a brow. "So, basically I'm feeding him a magical energy drink and giving him magical viagra?" She questioned as that was how it was sounding to her.
Gizmo grinned, "Yes on the second, as for the first, more like a super charged energy drink," she said, giving a wink to Laura, "Though, I am sure you would be able to handle a monster of that stamina level, right?" she replied as she arched an eyebrow with an amused expression before turning back to her drink hoping that the party would have some of the hard stuff.
"Still, best to make sure Harry can handle it by having him do a medical check up beforehand. I can take a beating from potions, but Harry's not able to recover like I can," Laura was definitely talking to Nat about this later. Have to book Harry some time off for the resting period to say nothing of the actual time they would need for the 'baby making', and before any of that can go through Harry needs to have a full medical check to make sure his body can take the strain. He might have two gods as parents, but so far Harry's bled just like everyone else. "I'll let you know when I'll need everything ready by," Laura promised Gizmo.
Gizmo smiled, "Trust me, he can handle it," she said, tipping her glass back and finished it in one gulp before putting the empty glass, upside down, on the counter, "The only way that Harry could not survive, would be if he was like one of those pompous British purebloods who just sit around doing what they want without seeing to their obligations, or, hmm, what would be a comparison you would be aware of..." she said, thinking for a moment as she tapped her chin, "Oh I know!" she said, slamming her fist into the palm of her other hand. "Alright, you know that guy, Kingpin who rules a good portion of the crime in New York?" she asked, and, seeing Laura's questioning look, she waved it off, "One hears and learns many things when your ideas for inventions, new potions, and other things related to sex go on tangents..." she replied mysteriously, seeing the disbelieving look on Laura's face, she smiled mysteriously, "Let's just say that I have some contacts of my own around the world, alright?" Gizmo finished with a pointed look. "Anyway, basically, if Harry was the size of Kingpin, but didn't exercise as he does, then, yeah, he wouldn't survive and it would be a one time, one use, one off," she finished, "Understood?" she smiled.
Laura turned a little green at that. "Yeah, I so didn't need the mental image of that guy doing anything like that," She said with a shiver of disgust. "Think I won't be eating the rest of the week," She groaned.
Gizmo grinned like a kid at christmas, "So, you won't be eating Harry then?" she asked with an arched eyebrow and an innocent but clearly shiteating grin on her face.
Laura groaned and let her head drop onto the counter. "Should've known..."
Gizmo just grinned and patted Laura on the back, "Your welcome!" she said in her most cheerful voice possible.
~w~
~Omake 1: Strange Surprizes...~
~Location: Stephen Strange's Sorcerer Supreme office at the Sanctum Sanctorum~
Stephen frowned as he looked at the mysterious package that had been dropped off by the...to be frank, strangest owl he had ever met. The owl had been quite...enthusiastic, about delivering the package to him. It had also been dressed in a bright, almost neon orange suit that was clearly tailor made for the bird. The suit had also had a lime green bow tie, and a purple overcoat over its orange suit shirt. Needless to say, the whole thing had just been a big question mark to Strange. After he had untied the box from the bird, and taken the letter that had come with it, the bird had nodded, and then took off as fast as it could while still being dignified. The moment it had left though, the...many...Sneakoscopes that Stephen had acquired began to light up and whistle so loudly that Wong came rushing in, ready for battle, only to stop and look around the room in question before his eyes rested on Stephen.
Wong frowned at Stephen and shook his head. "I'm starting to miss the days when the only annoying wizarding thing around here was you," Wong commented dryly. "Why are those things making that racket?" He asked.
Stephen frowned before looking at the package again with some concern, "Apparently, this package is the cause," he replied, "As soon as the owl that delivered it left, all the Sneakoscopes suddenly went off at once," he frowned, "And just after I finished getting them shut off too..." he whined quietly as he thought of how long it had taken to quiet the damn things after he received each one from Nym.
Taking a look at the package and the lack of any delivery owl, Wong wisely figured out what his next move should be. "I think it's time for the students to get some exercise outside. Perhaps in Egypt..." He commented as he turned and walked back out the doors.
Stephen frowned, but nodded absently mindedly to Wong as he reached for the corner of the package and ever so carefully, began to open it. Suddenly a surge of magic appeared on his senses before the package exploded and his entire office became a swamp. Completely with various swamp life in the form of gators, deer, snapping turtles, a few cranes, crickets, and several small birds. As for Stephen himself, he was covered, from head to foot, in freshwasher seaweeds.
After taking a few minutes to contemplate what had happened, and taking in the change to his office, Stephen signed and went to search for the letter, which he found having been displaced by the explosion and ended up in the water...thankfully the letter had apparently been charmed to be waterproof.
'Dear Sorcerer Supreme,' the letter began as Stephen read it, 'We, Gred and Forge, have heard some most distressing news,' the letter continued. 'We had heard that your life was the most boring and dreary in existence, we humbly challenge you to a prank war in an effort to liven up your humdrum existence!'
'Sincerely, The Weasel Brothers!'
Stephen read the letter a second time before slowly looking over his office and all the creatures now inside it before pulling off a piece of seaweed from his head. He gave a slow nod before uttering, "God damn wizards…" to himself and left the room. He would make Wong clean up the mess for abandoning him without even trying to warn him against opening the package before reading the letter, meanwhile he had some revenge to plan and had to ask Harry for the location of these 'Weasel Brothers'. But first, he needed a bath…
~w~
~Omake 2: Girls Night Out Adventure 1~
~Time: The day Harry left for Amity Park~
~Location: Club Mystic~
Nym smirked as she brought the drinks for the other girls and herself. Only to raise an eyebrow at what she heard as she approached their corner of the VIP area.
"I'm telling you the truth, it's that big!" Laura insisted passionately with a blush.
"That's bigger than Tony!" Pepper said in shock, clearly blushing at whatever image had popped into her head in regards to whatever they were talking about.
Nat smirked, accepting the drink from Nym as she approached them. "It's true...I hate talking about it cause it makes me feel so…"
"Lucky?" Laura suggested with a smirk.
Nym, arching her other eyebrow too now looked at them expectantly.
Jennifer, blushing a bit herself, but also smirking, said. "We were having 'girl talk' when Pepper randomly commented on the size of Tony's…'Rumpleforeskin'," she said, smirking at Pepper with her last word.
Pepper shot Jennifer a glare. "He is not wrinkly!" she said, before blushing at the fact she revealed she actually knew what Tony looked like behind his pants.
"And there it is!" Jennifer said with a smirk of amusement, raising her extra large tankard in salute to Pepper. A tankard which was the equivalent of three or four for a normal person, but one for her.
Pepper shot a glare at Jennifer in response, sticking her tongue out maturely for good measure.
Nym however, raised an eyebrow, "Harry is totally bigger than Tony!" she said casually in a confident tone of voice before sitting down and taking a sip of her drink.
Pepper, however, raised an eyebrow at Nym, "How the hell would you know?!" she asked, very confused, and also a tad worried for multiple reasons.
Nym arched an eyebrow at Pepper and merely replied, "Whose the one that is not married to and or dating a glorified former manwhore who happens to have pictures of his naked arse on at least several different sites on the internet?" she asked dryly, getting a grumbled response from Pepper.
Pepper's response caused the others to just begin laughing at how easily Pepper had unintentionally set herself up for some teasing. Pepper then checked her phone as she noticed it getting a message, only to begin blushing heavily at whatever she had been sent.
Nat, meanwhile, quietly hid her smirk as she watched Pepper from over her drink, as she stealthily tucked her own phone back into her pocket.
Jennifer just shook her head in amusement at the other girls' antics before admitting with a grin, "Neither Tony, nor Harry, have anything on Juggy though!" she smirked before taking a deep swig of her tankard in the stunned silence that followed as the other girls just sat there, quietly, staring at nothing as they all thought about what Jennifer said.
~w~
AN: Oracle: Well here it is. The latest chapter took a while to get out but thankfully we finally managed to get to it. We know everyone has been waiting for the next chapter and hope this proves worthy of that wait period. We have a lot of things we need to deal with from past chapters, loose ends to tie up, and thus over the course of the future chapters we will be trying to address those while continuing the story. Hopefully going forward we won't take as long to post new chapters but as you all know, life isn't predictable. Thank you all for sticking with us and we look forward to hearing from you all.
Ogremen: WE HIGHLY hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and, again, we apologise for it having taken so long to get it 'ready and shipped out' to all of you X( But, like I said, I wanted to reread it and make a list of stuff we had to address, so, in future chapters, expect some blasts from the past of the story! ^w^ Till next time, Read, Review, and tell us your thoughts, also, don't be afraid to message either myself, or Oracle if you prefer to review that way! owo Just, please, no flames, ok? They will be summarily ignored =w=
