Ch9. Hocus Pocus

"Here we are. 177A Bleecker Street." Tony muttered to himself.

It was a wonder he remembered the address of the New York Magic Club. One would think they would have some kind of defenses to prevent visitors from remembering it but since Strange asked him to come for a visit, Tony knew about it.

Normally, he would have aversion to all things illogical... the chief among which was Wanda Maximoff but hey! Magic counted too!

Normally, he would have never visited with the intention of learning... pfft, magic, of all things.

Unfortunately, Tony knew he didn't exactly have a choice. He was just a normal human without his suit and that simply wouldn't do. He needed power and while he had no idea if he would be accepted, this seemed like a good start.

Yeah, Tony Stark was going to learn Hocus Pocus.

The world was becoming a strange place indeed...

He came towards the door and knocked, waiting for a response all the while feeling weird that he was really doing this.

The door opened and a black man appeared in them, "Hello, how can I help you?"

Tony looked him over, not being amused at the monk-ish clothes the man was wearing, "Er... I'd like to talk with the Sorcerer Supreme... I think." He said unsurely. He had no idea where his confidence left him but he certainly did not feel comfortable right about now.

"Right..." The black man gave Tony a once over, his eyes gaining an unamused glint, "Give me a moment." And the door shut in front of Tony's face.

"Well... this is new." Tony muttered for himself, never before having the door shut in his face. "What a disrespectful bunch. I feel I will fit right in." He sarcastically added.

The following wait was quite awkward for Tony. He just stood there, in front of the closed door, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Before he knew it, half an hour passed.

When he was starting to think he was given a cold shoulder and the magic men were simply having fun at his expense, the door finally opened.

"The Ancient One will see you."

'The who?' Tony mentally asked but outwardly... "Okay, lead the way."

As suicidal as Tony was capable of being sometimes, even he knew there was no need to antagonize someone who could teleport him to the North Pole with a wave of his hand...

He entered and instantly noted the interior was a bit different from what he saw in his past. It was... empty and frugal. He was led to an equally empty and frugal room with a few pieces of oriental furniture where a bald woman clad in monk robes sat behind a table, quietly sipping her tea.

Before Tony even finished his observation, the man who led him in left and closed the door with a bang which startled Tony out of his reverie, his eyes widening in surprise when he realized this supposed 'Ancient One' was the bald woman in her thirties in front of him.

"How strange. I haven't seen you coming." She calmly said with a small inviting smile that had just the smallest inkling of excitement on the edges. "Please, sit, Mr. Stark."

"Er... okay?" He nodded and cautiously approached, seating himself opposite her. His caution must have amused her a great deal if the small widening of her serene smile was any indication. "Is this the usual service or are you weirding me out on purpose? Because I gotta say it is working."

And in his usual fashion, when under pressure, Tony went for the snark.

"What do you think?" The Ancient One asked back.

"Does it matter what do I think?" Tony lifted his eyebrow at her.

"Humor me." The bald woman said and raised her cup of tea to take another sip.

Tony's lips twitched in amusement at that. This kind of conversation was right up his alley and his discomfort was starting to disappear. "I'd rather not." He shot back.

Silence spread between them for a moment. Not the irritating and awkward kind but one that was kinda soothing.

"So, did you regain your comfort?" The Ancient One amusedly asked after a while and Tony blinked, realizing what she had just done. The entire conversation was simply to ease his caution.

"Oh, you are good." He couldn't help but praise her for that.

"Thank you." The Ancient One slightly inclined her head. "Now, then. Why did you come?"

"I... I'd like to learn the Hocus Pocus." Tony realized how that came off only after he uttered the words. "Er... I mean, the..." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"You mean the Sorcery." The Ancient One asked, full of mirth at the guy who desired to learn the Mystic Arts from her yet had no idea how they were even called.

"Yeah, that too." Tony felt a bit awkward but he just confidently nodded.

"May I?" She stretched her hand across the table towards him while a green glow encompassed it, causing Tony to look at her weirdly but after a moment, he understood what she wanted and warily nodded before slowly offering her his hand.

The Ancient One took a hold of it for just a brief second before letting go but her eyes instantly widened. "I have no clue if I should be impressed that you sacrificed yourself for the well-being of your dimension or horrified at the possibility of such a future befalling this one."

"Oh... the time stone." Tony retracted his hand and briefly glanced at the necklace around her neck. He almost didn't recognize it since it was so long and it was not opened. "What did you just do?"

"I had a small glimpse at your past since I no longer am capable of seeing your future. Now I know why." The Ancient One said, visibly satisfied now that she confirmed why the stone did not work on Tony.

"You can't see my... what?" Tony's eyebrows lifted from shock before he realized he should not have been so surprised. Strange looked into the future too in order to predict that Tony had to sacrifice himself for the team. Yeah, in hindsight, Tony started to dislike fortune tellers. He decided to hide his distaste with his own brand of humor in an attempt to cheer his souring mood, "Eh, ever heard of privacy laws?"

"Such a thing exists? The humanity has come far indeed..." The bald woman jested back, "Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you ask," She gave Tony a meaningful look at that, "I can no longer see your future."

"Oh, thank God for small mercies..." Tony breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that's not what she probably wanted to hear so he pretended his previous sentence never happened and continued, "I mean, that's horrible! What are we ever gonna do about it!"

Clearly enjoying the discussion between them, the Ancient One decided to play along. "Nothing, Mr. Stark. There are some other individuals whose future I can not foresee but..." She mysteriously smiled at Tony, "I am sure you will meet them later down the line."

"Hmm... No, I am good. Really." Tony dryly refused. "So... will you teach me?"

"No." The Ancient One shook her head and Tony sighed again.

'Figures.' He mentally grumbled. Well, at least he got an interesting conversation out of it.

Tony was about to try his luck at persuading the dangerous Magical Grandma in front of him when she started speaking again, "But I have no intention to block you from learning. I will not take you as my personal disciple but you are free to come with me to Kamar Taj and learn by yourself or find a master willing to help you."

Hearing her, Tony became relieved that this path was not closed for him. But there was still one thing that bothered him. "And will that mean I have to join this little cult of yours?"

"No. We won't force you to join any sort of... cult." The Ancient One rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay. That's a relief. I am not the most religious person." Tony joked, "There is just one small thing left. I don't intend to learn the Mystic Arts to protect the world. Will that be a problem?" He had to ask. It would be incredibly bad if his intentions came out in the middle of his tutelage and this cult of Sorcerers decided to hunt him down because of it. He would rather not join and look for other ways to get stronger in that case.

"I think... you earned that right with your actions in your own dimension." The Ancient One calmly informed him. "As long as you won't try to destroy this reality or horribly misuse your powers to hurt innocents, I don't care what you do with what you learn here. Besides, you will fight Thanos even if I won't ask it of you. Self-interest is the best motivator, after all."

"Heh, you totally got me. I'd loathe having to go through the trouble of pulling the world back on its feet just because some Purple Prick decided to wipe off half of the universe. That was such a pain in the ass!" Tony lightly said and casually shrugged. "So... will I get a room here or should I go book myself a hotel?"

"Funny. I have no idea if you mean a hotel room or an entire hotel." The woman smiled. "But no, you will get a room at the Kamar Taj. At least until you learn how to open portals with the Sling Ring. I doubt you would want to stay beyond that. Master Drumm, the man who led you in, will show you your living quarters."

Tony silently nodded and stood up, "Well, this was lovely but the sooner I start the better, I think. I can't be away from the Company for too long or it will crumble without my awesomeness to hold it all together." He said and had no idea what to do next. Should he thank her? Bow to her? Or do something else?

His brief existential crisis was answered when the Ancient One just shooed him away with her hand and with a snort, Tony decided to do just that. He turned around and walked towards the door only to be stopped when he was about to open them.

"Oh, and Tony?" The Ancient One suddenly spoke, "I enjoyed our conversation immensely. It is not often I can speak to someone whose reply I did not already foresee. Thank you."

"You are welcome, Tao." Tony nonchalantly replied and proceeded to leave through the door.