Sorry for the wait, everyone! Here's this week's Power Stone bonus chapter. A lot of you mentioned the bold text was kinda distracting, so I'm removing all the bold formatting from now on.
Enjoy!
When Gemini arrived, the atmosphere in Tony's house had reached peak awkwardness. In the living room, Happy, Bogg, and Coulson sat on opposite sides of the sofa, eyeing each other warily. Down in the basement lab, Tony and Fury sat across from each other at the table in a standoff, with Maria's portrait placed in the center as she leisurely sipped her tea.
"So what exactly is going on?" Gemini frowned as she entered the lab. Both her previous customers were here—she'd be truly foolish not to realize something was up.
"Sorry, shop manager. I didn't explain my identity before. I'm the director of the Strategic Home... forget it, S.H.I.E.L.D. for short," Fury said, seeing Gemini's furrowed brow.
"I wasn't asking you. You're just a customer in my shop. I don't care what you do," Gemini said with displeasure, glancing at Fury.
"Why did you call me here?" Gemini asked Maria directly. Tony was still a novice, and Fury was an outsider—Maria must be the one who'd asked for her help.
Maria set down her cup. "I'm just a portrait now. I hope you can serve as a witness for them to make an Unbreakable Vow."
Gemini immediately raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Maria nodded. "Fury has influence in the No-Maj world, which would benefit cooperation with the wizarding world. Tony has already taken on this Congressional matter, so we need to prepare in advance. Tony can't handle those politicians—he needs a safety net."
Gemini nodded in understanding. "No problem. What's the vow?"
"First, you must not inform anyone hostile to Tony Stark about the wizarding world through any means. Second, you must fully cooperate with Tony Stark in advancing cooperation between ordinary people and wizards. Third, you must not allow the U.S. government to harm the interests of Tony Stark or the wizarding world." Maria considered carefully before stating the three vows, then looked at Fury.
Fury also thought it over carefully. "I have no problem with this. I can agree to all the conditions."
Gemini excitedly drew her wand. "Then let's begin! This is my first time as a witness—I've always been curious about this magic."
Fury narrowed his eyes. Magic? That's what he thought it was. And Maria had been talking about the wizarding world and ordinary people—it seemed there was much about this world he didn't know.
"How do we do this? George told me he once wanted to make a vow with his little brother, and his bottom was never the same afterward. I'm quite curious too," Tony said enthusiastically, watching Gemini. After all, Maria's three vows all restricted Fury—there was no downside for him.
"Come stand here and extend your hands to clasp together," Gemini said.
Tony and Fury stood on either side of Gemini, extending their right hands to clasp each other's. "Like this?" Tony asked.
Gemini nodded, signaling him to be quiet, and placed her wand on their joined hands.
"Nick Fury, will you refrain from informing anyone hostile to Tony Stark about the wizarding world through any means you know?" Gemini gestured for Fury to answer.
Fury blinked. "I will."
A golden chain shot from Gemini's wand, wreathed in flames that didn't burn, coiling around their joined hands.
Gemini continued questioning Fury. After he answered, the second and third chains successively wrapped around their hands.
Once the chains faded from their hands, leaving only burn marks, Gemini withdrew her wand. "The Unbreakable Vow is complete. If you violate it, you'll die immediately. This is a vow that affects the soul—even if you change bodies, you can't escape it." Gemini gave her final explanation.
Tony and Fury released each other's hands, looking at the burn marks on their own. Under their gaze, the marks crawled up to their wrists before disappearing.
"These marks are usually invisible unless you intend to violate the vow, so don't worry," Gemini explained, watching them examine their wrists repeatedly.
Fury immediately shook his sleeves to cover his wrists. "Now can you tell me what's really going on?"
Maria smiled. "This is a very long history. I believe S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database should have many unexplainable cases, and more than half of them relate to the wizarding world."
Gemini had no interest in listening to a magical history lesson—she'd always relied on classmates' notes for Professor Binns' classes. She chose to take her leave, but out of friendship, Gemini had Coby send over a deluxe set of magical history books for their reference.
After consulting everyone, Fury called Coulson down as well. After all, advancing cooperation between ordinary people and the wizarding world couldn't rely on Fury alone—someone had to do the work. Coulson, having cooperated before, was a suitable choice.
Right there in Tony's lab, Maria gave these men a general overview of wizarding world history, the origins of MACUSA, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the cooperation methods between countries that all wizarding government officials knew about.
Remarkably, except for America, the leadership of other magical nations knew about these matters. For security reasons, they didn't keep written records, which was why S.H.I.E.L.D., supposedly Earth's last line of defense, knew nothing about it.
After hearing the wizarding world's history, Fury felt his worldview shatter. This was more absurd than when he'd first encountered aliens, but it was undeniably fact.
"So will wizards pose a threat to humans? After all, magic isn't just for healing or assistance, is it?" Fury asked with a grave expression.
"Humans? What are you thinking? Aren't we human?" Maria looked at Fury in amazement. What was he thinking?
Fury was immediately speechless. "No, I mean ordinary people."
Maria sighed. This was exactly why MACUSA didn't want to cooperate with the U.S. government. No other country had this attitude. Look at China—the Central Land Daoist Sect was already openly recruiting students. Britain's Prime Minister had to clean up after King's Cross Station every school term, and did they complain? Look at America's attitude—truly shameful by comparison!
After hearing Maria's explanation of other countries' wizarding worlds, Fury's eyes lit up. "Do you think I could recruit a wizard special forces team?"
Maria looked at Fury. She was beginning to regret this. Really. How had she ended up with this person? Even Coulson behind him seemed more reliable!
"You're dreaming. Wizards have their own government departments, their own laws, their own security forces. Anyone who can join the Aurors—that's the wizarding security force—is carefully selected from thousands. If just anyone could be used, Aurors wouldn't be so few in number. And those without special training would likely be corrupted by Dark Magic during missions, causing even greater harm. Give up that idea." Maria's rejection was completely unsparing.
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