The magical statehood campaign lasted months and finally passed at November's congressional meeting!
The instant it passed, all of America erupted in celebration.
MACUSA promised to vacate the Woolworth Building once their new headquarters was finished. They'd open St. Mungo's to some No-Majs, and the new magical state would welcome No-Maj tourists every Christmas.
These announcements filled ordinary citizens with anticipation, even catching attention from other countries' magical communities!
Who knew MACUSA would go this big from the start, essentially exposing America's entire magical world to ordinary people.
According to Tony: "When we're in the open, those who want to harm us will think twice. If we hide in shadows and something happens, nobody knows—we'd be even more restricted."
When Tony finished with magical statehood and returned home, Happy secretly tattled. Only then did he discover he'd almost been robbed?!
"You're sure? That pretty boy is handsome? More handsome than me? And richer?" Tony and Happy sat behind the bar, watching Pepper hum in the distance, whispering.
Happy looked Tony up and down. "He looks younger than you."
"What the fuck?!" Tony jumped up.
"What's wrong? Are you fighting?" Pepper looked back.
Tony threw his arm around Happy's shoulder with a stiff smile. "No! Honey, I have some business. You two take care."
Tony's eyes widened. "You have business?! How do I not know about this?!"
Pepper applied lipstick in the mirror. "You've been so busy lately, what could you know? Alright, stop fussing. I'll be late."
Pepper grabbed her purse, blew Tony a kiss, and walked out.
Tony stood frozen, speechless. Happy patted his back consolingly, sighed, and walked away.
"So you came running here to ask if I have anything to curse people with?!" Gemini stared listlessly at Tony sprawled on the couch, sporting huge dark circles.
N.E.W.T.S were only months away. She'd been reviewing and preparing academic papers. She looked disheveled and haggard.
Tony covered his face. "What should I do? I can't live without Pepper. What if she likes someone else?!"
Gemini looked disdainfully at the wailing Tony. "Aren't you a playboy? Go charm her! What are you howling about here?!"
Tony grew more dejected. "Those women threw themselves at me. I never had to put in effort."
Gemini's eye roll nearly reached the sky. "What's your rival's name?"
"Something Killian? Ha! The name alone screams trouble!" Tony muttered like a bitter housewife.
Gemini threw a stack of parchment at him, interrupting his rambling.
"What's this? Something to curse that Killian?!" Tony grabbed the parchment like treasure. "On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Human Transfiguration."
"You mean turn him into a toad?" Tony stroked his chin. "I can definitely do that kind of transfiguration."
Gemini held her head. "That's my thesis. Nothing to do with your Killian."
Tony grew more resentful. "Not my Killian—Pepper's Killian."
Gemini stood up irritably. "Just go! If you're worried, ask the person involved! What are you doing playing bitter housewife here? Is that appropriate?!"
Tony jumped up. "I can ask? Won't that make Pepper think I'm spying on her?"
Gemini's wand began glowing, her smile twisting. How stupid of her—why had she let this person in?
Tony swallowed and backed away. "Calm down. I'm leaving right now. I was wrong to bother you four months before exams."
Ring ring ring!
Tony's phone rang. He answered while watching Gemini warily. After hearing something, his expression turned serious.
"You said Happy was in a bomb attack? Critical condition?! Which hospital?!" Tony asked. The caller responded. "Got it, I'm coming!"
Tony looked up at Gemini. "Are you free? Happy's in trouble."
Gemini rubbed her face, roughly pulled open a drawer, rummaged through empty bottles to find one full Pepper-Up Potion and downed it. She shuddered as clarity returned, grabbed her wand and medical bag. "Let's go."
They rushed to the hospital to find Happy lying bloodied on the bed. He'd been at the explosion's center. Though he'd found cover, the temperature was too high, causing severe burns including to his respiratory tract.
Tony nodded, cleared all doctors and nurses from the room, had JARVIS take over the hospital's network, then looked at Gemini. "Can you heal him? Can he still be my bodyguard?"
Gemini waved her wand as various colored lights emanated from Happy's body. She pulled out potions while complaining. "I know you don't like potion ingredients, but you should at least know what potions do. This is just ordinary physical damage—painful but treatable. If we faced some Dark wizard, that would be tricky."
Tony sat silently on the couch, watching Gemini work while having JARVIS investigate Happy's injury.
Looking at terrorist attack news reports, Tony realized he'd been neglecting things lately, focusing entirely on wizard issues. He'd ignored Pepper, hadn't even noticed these bombings in New York City. Tony felt this was his responsibility.
Especially seeing where Happy got bombed—a clothing store. He'd been injured while following Pepper for Tony. Seeing this, Tony panicked. Where was Pepper?!
"Open up! It's me!" Pepper's voice came from outside.
Tony opened the door. Pepper stood there looking panicked.
"How's Happy?" Pepper asked frantically.
"Where were you?" Tony asked.
"What do you mean where was I? All the doctors are outside—how's Happy?" Pepper asked anxiously.
Tony paused. "Gemini's inside. Come in."
He let Pepper in and closed the door. "Happy said that Killian had bad intentions. He kept following you. The bomb exploded right after you left that store."
Pepper looked at Tony incredulously. "You suspect me?!"
Tony saw Pepper's expression. "No, I don't suspect you. I mean that Killian..."
Pepper grew angry. "He's just a friend! This is coincidence!"
"What are you arguing about! Is this the place for your fight?!" Gemini shouted, stopping their argument.
Pepper immediately apologized. "Sorry. How's Happy?"
Gemini used a spell to disperse the last potion into mist that entered Happy's body through his breathing.
"He's fine now. I've treated all the burns. In about a week, after one round of skin metabolism, the old skin will shed." Gemini packed her bag and turned to Pepper.
"You really should be careful of that Killian. I've been learning some face-reading from Sun Xiaoxiao. Your face says you'll be betrayed by a friend." Gemini said seriously.
Pepper grew serious. She knew Gemini never spoke without reason. If she said this, Killian definitely had problems. "I'll be careful. We should investigate him. Now that I think about it, New York started getting chaotic after he appeared."
"Where's he originally from?" Gemini asked casually.
"I think he's from AIM in Florida," Pepper recalled.
Bang!
Gemini dropped what she was holding. "Ethan!"
"What? Killian isn't named Ethan!" Pepper said confusedly.
But Tony caught on. "You mean Ethan is at AIM?"
Gemini searched her memory. "I remember visiting Ethan after that China trip. It was AIM—yes! Ethan is there!"
"He won't be in danger, will he?" Tony asked worriedly.
"He shouldn't be. I gave him lots of protective items and a Portkey. If there's danger, he'd definitely return to the shop." Gemini said.
Pepper realized. "So this might prove Killian isn't a problem?"
"What? You're still thinking about him?!" Tony's eyes widened. "Do you like him!"
Pepper held her head. "What are you saying? Aren't we eliminating suspects?!"
Before they could start fighting, Coby suddenly appeared. "Miss Gemini! Ethan appeared in the safe house! He looks terrible! Come back quickly!"
???
Tony and Gemini could hardly believe their ears. They'd just mentioned Ethan and now he was in trouble? Were they jinxed?!
No time to talk. Gemini grabbed Coby's arm while Tony had Pepper hold onto him, Apparating directly to the shop.
Not bothering to compose herself, Gemini ordered Coby to prepare potions while running toward the safe house. Coby said Ethan refused to go anywhere else, only staying in the safe house.
Tony and Pepper followed Gemini toward the basement safe house.
Soon they saw Ethan's condition. He was like a human lightbulb, constantly flickering red from inside out, lying on the ground in agony.
"Ethan?!" Gemini shouted in shock. "What's your situation?!"
Ethan struggled to lift his head, looking at them with a bitter smile. "Get out quickly. I'm about to explode!"
"Explode?!" They all shouted.
Gemini advanced instead of retreating. Her wand moved, and various ominous dark red lights emanated from Ethan's body.
"Coby! Stabilizer! Calming draught! And magic-soothing potion!" Gemini commanded. Coby immediately pulled the potions from the medical bag.
"Drink these, Ethan!" Gemini said sternly.
Seeing Gemini's expression, Ethan felt a spark of hope. He reached for the potions, but before bringing them to his lips, his body flashed red again. The room temperature shot up and the bottles shattered, cutting Ethan's hands to pieces.
Ethan howled in pain. His wounds healed at visible speed, the red light growing more intense.
Gemini frowned. This wouldn't work. She immediately took more potions and used the method from treating Happy—dispersing them into mist. When Ethan's red glow faded, she sent it over. "Deep breath!"
Ethan followed her instruction and inhaled sharply. The mist entered his lungs, making him cough violently, but the red light's flickering slowed. Gemini felt relieved. "It's working!"
After getting all potions into Ethan the same way, he finally collapsed on the ground, the red glow fading.
"What exactly is going on?" Tony asked.
Ethan lay on the ground, tried to get up but couldn't, so he just spoke from there.
He'd accepted a botanist's invitation to research a virus called Extremis that could regenerate severed limbs—potentially great news for humanity if successful.
But the side effects were obvious—explosion. If someone's adaptability to Extremis wasn't good enough, they'd become human bombs. Once they exploded, at minimum they'd be obliterated, at worst they'd destroy an entire building.
Originally everyone was researching methodically, trying to remove the explosive side effect. But leader Killian had some problem and insisted on human trials. When Ethan realized something was wrong and tried to quit, he was put under surveillance. He didn't dare act rashly, fearing attention would turn to Gemini, so he continued research under orders.
Until today, when Killian got some stimulation and injected all dissenters in the base with Extremis, locking them in a room. Seeing this, Ethan had no choice but to activate Gemini's Portkey, transporting back to the shop.
Gemini angrily smacked Ethan. "You should have activated it long ago! I don't believe he could trace magical elements!"
Ethan smiled. "Even a small possibility—I didn't dare risk it. It's too dangerous. If that room hadn't been completely abandoned without even surveillance, I wouldn't have activated the Portkey."
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