Chapter 88: The Mind Stone

A/N: In which the Mind Stone finally gets brought out of storage.

-x-X-x-

Loki's Scepter. The thing had caused Tony no small amount of grief in the previous timeline. First in the hands of Loki, where it was used to mind control SHIELD Agents and cause an invasion of Earth that the Avengers barely managed to put down.

Then, from there, it had wound up in HYDRA's clutches. They'd used it to empower the Maximoff Twins, who had quite a lot of hatred in their hearts for one Tony Stark. Wanda Maximoff in particular had delighted in using her powers to fuck with his head.

After that, it was in Tony's hands… and admittedly, he hadn't done a very good job with it either. He'd created Ultron, gotten JARVIS killed, and nearly ended the entire world in the process. Sure, Ultron failed in the end, and sure, the Scepter was booby trapped or something given how Vision had turned out… but it was still at least partially on Tony for not doing his due diligence.

And then there was Vision. Vision, one could argue, was a good thing to come out of the Scepter. He was a good egg and in his control, the Mind Stone had been put to good use… most of the time. Even with Vision, accidents like Rhodey's spinal injury had happened. Even with Vision, he'd drifted away from Tony, seduced to Wanda Maximoff's side where he'd spent his final days before Thanos literally ripped the Mind Stone off of his head along with half of his skull.

Was Vision and Wanda's love real? Or was it a product of the Mind Stone and Wanda's magic drawing them together? Tony didn't know. He hadn't known back then and hadn't dared try to step in and risk alienating Vision further. And he still didn't know now.

But now… it didn't matter. By this point in time, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff had already gained their powers from exposure to the Scepter. However, in this timeline, that hadn't happened. Tony had kept the Scepter under lock and key since the Battle of New York, using excuses like him needing it for the nonexistent Project Insight algorithm to keep it out of Baron Strucker's hands. Pierce had been so willing to go to bat for Tony on that front as well.

Meanwhile, Wanda and Pietro hadn't joined HYDRA this time around. They were still political activists, of course. They still hated Tony Stark and Stark Industries. That hatred didn't transfer to the Avengers this go around, mostly because the Avengers didn't exist, but that didn't make it any weaker.

Tony had JARVIS keeping an eye on the twins, of course. It shouldn't be possible for them to become the threat they did the last time around, not without the Mind Stone, but it paid to be vigilant and that meant putting them on the AI's Watch List, powers or no powers. He didn't want to have to kill them, but if they went from protesting to terrorism even without HYDRA's interference this time around… he swore he wouldn't hesitate. For the sake of Pepper and Morgan, he couldn't afford to hesitate.

That said, today wasn't about the Maximoff Twins. Today was about the Scepter… more specifically, it was about the Mind Stone held within the Scepter.

"… You sure about this, Stark?"

Looking to his side, Tony grins at one of the two women in the room.

"Well now Loki, is that a note of… nervousness I sense in your voice?"

The Goddess of Mischief's shoulders lift up like a cat's hackles being raised and she narrows her eyes at him, even letting out a cute little growl from the back of her throat.

"You and I both know the power of that weapon."

Tony tilts his head in acknowledgment, prompting her to continue.

"It's dangerous."

Chuckling, Tony lets his eyes shift to the all-encompassing blood red of the Aether. He leans towards Loki with a rictus of a grin on his face.

"So am I."

Loki blinks, blushes, and shivers… and not out of fear. Tony shakes his head in amusement as the Goddess almost looks ready to jump him right then and there. Before she can do so, he steps away from her, looking over at the other woman in the room.

"What do you think, Helen? Is it viable?"

Standing over the latest version of her Regeneration Cradle, she nods happily just as he knew she would. They didn't get to see each other as often as Tony and his other lovers did. Even Maya came around for dates and nights of carnal delight more than Helen did, but then to be fair, Helen lived across the planet and was a very busy woman. Still, they tried to get together at least once a month, and that seemed to be enough for her.

This though… this project seemed to make her come to life in a way she hadn't since the early days of Extremis and the first Regeneration Cradle.

"Oh yes. With the amount of Vibranium you threw my way, it's very viable. I still don't quite understand where and how you got so much… but I'm not complaining. The Regeneration Cradle wasn't originally designed for the purpose of building an entire living body of course. It was only ever meant for repairing what was already present. However, the modifications we've made to this one should make things work all the same."

Tony nods. He knew it should work, because he'd lived a timeline where it had worked. However…

"We'll be taking it slow anyways, so if anything comes up, we can adjust our plans."

Vision had been a freak accident in the original timeline. A stroke of good fortune yes, but still a complete and total one in a million chance. He was, at best, a Hail Mary that had turned out for the best. And the worst part was, Tony had never really understood why Vision had turned out so well even though Ultron went off the deep end. Was it because the booby trap in the Mind Stone was expended on corrupting Ultron? Or was it because Thor's lightning strike with the magically enchanted 'good boi' Mjolnir had 'purified' the malevolence in the Mind Stone?

They'd be finding out today one way or another, but FRIDAY herself would not be born today. JARVIS and Tony had been working on her code off and on for months now, tweaking this or that to make sure she was absolutely perfect, but even with all of that… Tony was planning for a significantly longer gestation process than Vision had gotten. Months longer, in fact.

Probably not a full nine months like a normal human baby, and she'd pop out fully formed, fully conscious, and fully adult… but still, they were going to take things slow. They were going to do this right.

"Why am I even here, Stark?"

Looking over at Loki, Tony raises an eyebrow.

"I thought we'd already discussed this. You and J are the back-up. If the Mind Stone proves to be too much for me even with the Aether, then I'm going to need you and JARVIS to work together to beat me senseless until I come back to myself."

One would think Loki would be all for this. After all, Tony had done the same thing to her two years ago in his Stark Tower Penthouse. One would think the Goddess would be itching to return the favor… that she would be thrilled to be sanctioned in getting some revenge.

But fucking her silly a few times had clearly made Loki soft, because she doesn't look nearly as excited by the prospect as he would have expected. Instead, she just looks nervous to be in the presence of the Scepter again after all this time. Truthfully... Tony can't blame her. But needs must.

"If we're going to defeat Thanos, we need as many Infinity Stones out of his hands and on our side as much as possible. Putting the Mind Stone inside of a Vibranium Synthezoid is pretty much the safest place we CAN put it."

Unlike Ultron, Tony wasn't going to put the Mind Stone on the forehead of the body they were making for FRIDAY, where it had ultimately wound up being placed for Vision. Instead, it would be hidden deep in her chest, in the most secure and reinforced portion of her new body, where it would take more than just a single grab from a certain purple thumb to tear it away.

Not that Thanos was going to ever even get in reaching distance of FRIDAY if Tony could help it, but there was no cause to be stupid about things.

"Or you could just take it for yourself. You're cleansing it anyways, right? So why aren't you just wielding it like you're already wielding the Aether?"

Tony pauses at that, looking at Loki for a long moment. She's serious. This isn't a scheme; this is an honest question. So he gives her an honest answer.

"Because I don't trust myself to not use it on everyone who inevitably gets in my way."

"But you'll trust one of your Artificial Spirits instead? Seems like a stretch."

Stepping towards Loki, Tony huffs.

"I trust JARVIS far more than I trust myself, Loki. And I trust FRIDAY to be as good as him in all respects."

Loki blinks, causing Tony to smirk.

"I'm not a good man, dear Goddess. But I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm not a good man. The power that the Mind Stone represents… I could use that to spread myself as far as JARVIS has. I could use Reality and Mind to go and grab Power and Space. And with just those four, I could conquer the galaxy. I could spread my mind, my thoughts, my Will across every living creature on every planet in the universe. I could make them obey; I could make them submit."

He doesn't realize he's right in Loki's face until he's done talking and he notes how hard she's panting.

"Why… why don't you? If you're such a bad man, why wouldn't you just do it?"

Pulling away, Tony huffs and turns back to the Scepter.

"Because I have rules, Loki. Lines I try not to cross, things I'm trying to avoid doing if at all possible. That's how I know I'm not a good man. Because good men don't need rules like I do."

Tiring of the conversation, and not really liking the looks that both Helen and Loki are giving him (one almost pitying, the other decidedly aroused by all of this talk of him being 'bad') Tony steps towards the Scepter.

"Enough talk. I'm going to get to work now. If I change my mind and decide integrating the Mind Stone into myself is the best path forward… no I didn't. Got it?"

"Yes Sir. Lady Silvertongue and I are standing by, ready to assist."

Loki straightens up at JARVIS' voice, a look of determination and focus spreading across her face as she nods sharply and prepares herself. Helen, meanwhile, stays near the Regeneration Cradle on the other side of the room, ready for when the work is done. Hopefully nothing too dangerous would happen, but seeing as Helen is a recipient of the Upgraded ES3, she should be fine either way.

Well, unless Tony gets mind controlled by the Mind Stone and then immediately mind controls her and Loki. But other than that, she should be okay.

Huffing at his own morbid thoughts, Tony takes the final step up to the Scepter, floating as it is in a gravity field. He reaches out, not with his bare hands… but with the Aether, letting the red liquid form of the Reality Stone flow from his pores and towards the Scepter. Tendrils of red latch onto the Scepter, grabbing it and holding it in place as more go for the gemstone itself in its head.

The blue gem casing for the Mind Stone is pretty tough. Very tough, in fact. However, it's not impenetrable. Especially when you're working with one of the building blocks of the universe. Tony has had a year and some change to get used to the Aether at this point, and while he suspects it'll be another hundred before he can truly say he's unlocked even a fraction of its true power… it should be enough for this.

The Mind Stone's casing fractures and then disintegrates, and the yellow Infinity Stone itself makes contact with the Aether. Tony immediately feels something assail his mind… but thankfully, it's not the worst case scenario.

The Mind Stone itself is not malevolent. Much like the other Infinity Stones, it's a neutral entity despite its domain literally being of the mind. If it HAD been the Mind Stone itself that was malevolent, Tony probably would have had a more difficult time with things because it would have been Stone against Stone.

But no, instead it's just a booby trap from Thanos himself, or perhaps one of his goons. That Ebony Maw creature had psychic abilities of some sort, if Tony was remembering correctly.

Either way, the booby trap reacts to the interference from the Aether as expected, by lashing out. However, in the face of another Infinity Stone, this booby trap is nothing. In the face of Reality in particular, it's easily unmade. Tony does so with a twist of his mental focus, dispelling the trap from the Mind Stone and in the process dispelling any chance of Ultron ever returning to haunt him again.

Tony can't help but let out a sigh of relief once it's done. Then, pulling back, he turns to see Loki still looking tense. A smile spreads across his face and she gets tenser and tenser as he lets the silence build between them… but honestly, he can't bring himself to be any meaner than that.

"It worked. The Mind Stone is purified."

Loki narrows her eyes.

"How would we know? What if you're just saying that to trick us?"

Tony raises an eyebrow, but before he can respond, JARVIS pipes up.

"Sir speaks the truth. I was watching the entire time. I watched as something unseen attempted to assail Sir. And I watched as he unraveled it through the use of the Aether."

Flicking a smile up at the ceiling, Tony nods.

"Thank you, J."

"Of course, Sir. Your safety and continued health are paramount."

Slowly, Tony makes his way over to the modified Regeneration Cradle. Nestled inside of the open device is the beginnings of a Vibranium Skeletal Structure. And nestled in the 'heart' of that skeleton is an open egg-like shape. That's where Tony carefully lowers the Mind Stone, letting it fit into place there and then utilizing the Aether to fold strands of Vibranium coming out of the Regeneration Cradle over it one at a time until the yellow Infinity Stone is completely hidden.

Pulling back, letting the Aether slide back into his body, Tony looks down, watching the beginnings of FRIDAY's form taking shape. A moment later and the Regeneration Cradle closes, the gestation period getting started. It would be a while, with Tony and JARVIS taking their time in uploading FRIDAY into the body to make sure nothing was amiss… but in just a few months, his baby girl would be born. Tony could hardly wait. That said…

After a moment of solemn silence from everyone in the room, Tony claps his hands together and smiles brightly.

"Alright then. With that out of the way, I'm off to the UN."

The reactions are funny. Loki just raises an eyebrow, either having no idea what the UN is or just not subscribing any importance to it more likely. JARVIS doesn't react at all, having already known where Tony was headed next. But Helen has the best reaction of all, squawking indignantly.

"The UN?! You mean the United Nations?! How am I just now hearing about this?"

Tony chuckles, shaking his head and grinning.

"It's sort of a last minute thing. Not a big deal, either. Some people are trying to throw their weight around, scheduling me to speak with less than a week's notice. They're trying to see if they can rattle me… and a certain group in particular are trying to finally get me where they can properly see me."

Loki scoffs at that.

"You are everywhere, Stark. Your visage can be seen anywhere anyone looks. How can they not have already properly seen you?"

Shrugging, Tony lets his grin widen.

"Been dodging them for a while. But they're finally pulling out all the stops, so I figure I'll let them get a proper scan off this time. Should be rather humorous. Anyways, I'm due there soon so I should probably head out…"

Helen squawks some more as Tony lets his suit encase his body and takes to the sky. This promised to be entertaining, if nothing else.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Next time, Tony has a meeting at the UN and poor Wakanda finally gets the answers they've been waiting for. But will they be happy with those answers?

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