Chapter 150: The Vanishing of Tony Stark. 2009 CE

Pluto was sitting quietly in his painting room as he tried to paint his newest piece on a canvas. It was a quiet evening, the wind was blowing softly outside, the sound of jazz music could be heard from Helios's room, which is weird for an 8 year old to listen to, but hey, he ain't complaining.

It was peaceful and a prime time to paint, that's why Pluto was concentrating really hard right now, but then, his blackberry phone rang loudly.

Pluto was a little bit ticked off because of it. He took out his phone, and saw who it was. It's an unknown caller, so Pluto just turns it off, returning the peace. He continued his painting as the peace came back, sighing in content.

The phone then rang again as he just continued for a couple of minutes, making him more and more annoyed. He looked at the caller, and again, no ID. he turned off the phone again, and put it back in his pocket.

When he wanted to get back to painting, the phone rang again. He wanted to throw the phone right there and there, but he quickly took it out, and finally answered the phone.

"What?" Pluto questioned, grumbling.

"Couldn't pick it up the first time could you, Mr. Smith?" the voice said.

Pluto frowned. "How the fuck do you get my number?"

"I'm the Director of SHIELD Mr. Smith, it's quite easy."

"What the hell do you want then? I'm busy, I thought I told you to use the phone from before?"

"Oh no, there aren't any emergencies Mr. Smith." said Fury. "I just wanted to tell you that Tony Stark has been kidnapped."

"So?" Pluto questioned. "Why'd the Director of SHIELD call me just for that then?"

"I thought you'd appreciate it." Fury said. "But from your tone of voice it seems I'm mistaken."

"What? You thought I'd save him?" Pluto scoffed. "No chance."

Fury was quite surprised by his answer. "I thought you're close to the guy."

"I am." said Pluto. "But like he said, I'm not his father, so I have no obligations to help him. Besides, if he comes out alive, he might be a changed man."

"Ah, I see." Fury hummed. "Very well Mr. Smith, I thought I'd just let you know about that, it'll be announced to the public shortly."

"Don't call me again unless it's an emergency." threatened Pluto. "First strike, director. Two more."

Pluto could hear Fury clicking his tongue, and he hung up the phone, returning the peace to Pluto. He sighed in content, and he painted once more.

—

As Pluto was eating dinner with his family of three, they were talking rather casually as the news played in the background, telling about the kidnapping of Tony Stark. It was big news with every channel reporting it, it's getting a bit annoying to be honest.

"Uncle Tony disappeared?" said Helios casually as he ate his pasta that Thena made. "Good, never liked him anyway, he smells of alcohol…"

"Helios… Don't be like that…" Thena sighed, looking at the tv as well. "But I agree, I don't know why your dad still goes to his parties and events…"

"Hey, he's Howard's son," said Pluto.

"Exactly my point." said Thena, making Helios chuckle, even though he didn't know what they were talking about.

Pluto sighed. "Let the kid be, his parents died when he was a kid."

"He's not a kid anymore, Pluto, he's almost 40."

"Hm, well, everyone's a kid in our eyes."

Thena frowned. "You must know something about him in the future right?"

"Oh gee, how did you know that?" Pluto said sarcastically. "Anyway, let's divert our attention from Anthony a little, let's go on vacation this winter."

Helios's eyes went bright. "Vacation? Where?"

"Someone's excited." Thena hummed.

"Need to get away from Gweny for a little…"

"You're still calling her Gweny?" Pluto raised his brow, making Helios blush in embarrassment. Pluto chuckled at the reaction and continued. "I'm joking, Let's go to Brazil this winter."

"Brazil? Why Brazil?" questioned Helios. "I thought we're going to the mountains or something…"

"Because your uncle's there." said Thena.

"Uncle? You mean Uncle Druig? The emo one?"

Pluto almost spat his drink as he heard Helios say that. "Yes…" he laughed. "The emo one."

"Don't say that, he's been through enough." Thena rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Why go there?" Helios questioned.

"It's time to start training my boy," said Pluto. "Thought I'd start it early now that these couple of years will be busy."

"You mean I get to use my powers?!" said Helios in excitement.

"Don't get too excited." whispered Pluto. "You mom's a beast when it comes to teaching."

Helios gulped as he heard it, looking at Thena, who was smiling rather widely, making Helios even more scared.

A knock suddenly came from the door, making Thena and Pluto raise their eyebrows.

"I'll get it." said Pluto, wiping his mouth with a napkin real quick, and walked towards the door.

As he opened the front door, he saw Pepper Potts, her eyes were red, and she looked tired as hell.

"Ms. Potts?" Pluto said, a bit worried about her state right now. "Are you alright?"

She sobbed as Pluto asked if she's alright. "I- I'm sorry Mr. Smith… about dropping out so late… but Tony…"

Pluto sighed. "Let's get you some tea first."

—

Pluto and Thena were now sitting with Pepper in the living room right now, Helios has gone to bed, leaving the adults to talk.

"I- I mean, what if he's dead from torture or something?" Pepper ranted about Tony's disappearance as Pluto and Thena heard her voice clearly. She went from sobbing, to angry, to sad in just a minute's time.

She kept ranting about her job, and Stark Industries won't prosper if there's no him, and how she'll miss him…

"T- This is really inappropriate right now…" Pepper sobbed. "But I've got nowhere else to talk to… you're the only one that he considered as family… Obadiah's more of a colleague more than anything…"

"He did?" Pluto questioned.

"H- He might not show it Mr. Smith…" Pepper murmured. "But he really appreciates all the gestures you've made to him… from the birthday parties… to the… parties…"

"A lot of parties…" Thena murmured.

"Yeah… I just realised that now…" Pepper chuckled softly. "I just… hope that he comes back alive from this…"

Pluto hummed as he looked at his cup of tea. "Yeah… Let's hope…"

—

As Pluto saw Pepper come home using Happy, he was now standing just outside his home with Thena, waving goodbye to Happy and Pepper.

"You're going to do something about it?" Thena asked calmly.

Pluto sighed. "You think I should do it?"

"It's your choice." Thena shrugged as she kissed Pluto's cheek, before leaving him alone at the terrace.

He took out his phone, stare at it a bit, before making a phone call.

He waited for someone to pick up, and then, someone spoke from behind the phone.

"Yes, father?" spoke a feminime voice, it was Cleo.

"Hey Cleo, remember your Ten Rings boyfriend that stalks you for hundreds of years?"

"H-He's not my boyfriend!"

"Sure, tell everyone that." Pluto hummed. "So, I need you to save Anthony from them, they should be around Afghanistan at the moment."

"I can do that." Cleo hummed. "But right now?"

Pluto thought about it for a second, before answering. "Nah, just wait for two months, but make sure he doesn't die though. Need to at least teach the man a lesson, after the two months are up, save him, make sure to save the other guy as well."

"The other guy?"

"It's Yisen or something… I forgot." Pluto shrugged. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later, bye."

"Bye."

Pluto hung up the phone, and took a deep breath, calming himself down, before entering his house once more.