Alexandra Ricci Was getting ready for a night out and had dressed in a finally custom-tailored revealing dress—very much the type of outfit that was expected for a person of her status at this type of event.
Far too much time had been spent on makeup and hair, picking the right jewelry and whatnot. Normally, she would never have accepted such an invitation, but given it was from Tony Stark, she had decided that it would be best to humor him.
After all, he was an important person in this universe, and having a close connection with him was a key part of her future plans. Given that he had just experienced the whole Afghanistan incident, it was a good time and opportunity to check on him and see how he was doing.
The fact that he had invited her to this event, one that she didn't think he went to in the original universe, was a clear sign that the butterfly's wings were flapping furiously.
But there was little she could do. After all, with a constant stream of new SCP objects appearing, the future was bound to get messy. Frankly, it was a miracle that the ancient one hadn't already made an appearance; she could only assume that the system somehow hit her and the foundation, at least to some extent.
But more than her companion for this event, which drew her to join, was the fact that she, Alexandra Ricci, had not been invited for what was apparently a black-market auction. Sure, on paper, she was nowhere near as wealthy as those invited, but in reality, as the head of the Richard crime family, she had wealth exceeding most of them.
And someone who had been active in the underground world for decades, such as Alexander Ricci. She was enormously curious about who was behind this auction, as she knew every significant auction house in the underworld.
This meant that either something new appeared without her notice, or something small appeared without her notice. At the same time, she was busy dealing with the Foundation and handed over much of the Ricci family business to her subordinates.
Or it was Marshall, Carter, and Dark. If that indeed was the case, this could be an excellent opportunity to empty out what little inventory they were trying to sell out tonight. So, given that she was supposed to be attending the event, she couldn't just send in an army of foundation agents to shut it down.
That is why she had a small group of bodyguards standing around her as she waited for Stark to finally arrive. Normally, she would never go out with so few people, not even if she was going to a casual event, much less anything potentially dangerous as a group of interest.
Yet these people were far from normal no, this was Twu-5, the legendary Samara. The most elite mobile task force in the entire Foundation, these few semi-immortal cyborgs created through anomalous means and anomalous materials were more than enough to ensure her safety while also being able to crush this little event.
Finally, the man of the hour arrived. She had to admit she was surprised he wasn't more late than this. But she guessed it was because he was going to meet a beautiful woman that he was able to get here only half an hour late.
'I guess he finished it then.' She thought to herself as she was escorted out to the back where the tennis court had opened up, revealing a landing spot where a sleek, flamboyant, and highly advanced jet was sitting.
It up and revealed the smiling face of none other than Tony Stark. "Alexandra, as beautiful as ever." He greeted her, and he was able to stop herself from rolling her eyes as she greeted him. We said far too long, huh, and a kiss she only barely managed to ensure landed on her cheek.
Clearly, Stock still needed quite a bit more refinement before he was truly ready to become an Avenger and even more before he was willing to perform the snap.
"Mr. Stark, it is wonderful to see you again. I was deeply worried when I heard what had happened. I tried my best to reach out to the people I knew, but I found precious little. I have found a lead with some small group of terrorists to discuss amazingly lucky, but I'm glad to see that you were equally lucky and escaped unharmed."
Tony seemed to process her words for a moment. "Well, not entirely unharmed, but yes, I'm back. Now, why don't you teach discards and Java board my new ride, eh? I promise it's like nothing you have ever ridden." She felt that there was an innuendo in the last part.
"Quite an impressive craft indeed, though I'm sure the real impressive part is the tech rather than its appearance; however, I am afraid I will have to bring at least these few guards with me. I'll need someone to carry my purse after all."
While Tony clearly wasn't happy about it, after a few more minutes of talking, he relented, and they all got on board his jet and took off.
Honestly, Alex would have been more relieved if Jarvis had been in control of it, but no, clearly Tony wanted to show off his skills to her and decided to fly manually the entire way while also constantly flirting with her.
She won't be thankful that the craft was clearly built to stay in the air, even with a distracted and inexperienced pilot.
By the time they finally arrived at the very secretive venue for the event, she could already feel his face hurting from all the fake smiling she had to do while listening to Tony prattle on endlessly.
She decided that he clearly needed some more stimulation to turn over a new leaf. And that if he hadn't changed remarkably before the end of his fight with Stane, she would have to cook up another plot for him.
"This event just looks that impressive from the outside, now does it?" She commented as they stepped out of the craft.
Sure around them was helicopters private jets expensive cars lined up on run rates and parking lots but the building they all surrounded seemed remarkably boring.
If it was Marshall Carter and Dark, she answered that, after all, they're getting used to losing plenty of facilities to the foundation and wouldn't put much effort into its outward appearance.
"Well, I'm sure it's more impressive inside," Tony said, clearly feeling similarly to her.
Entering the venue was another problem, as they clearly weren't happy about her guards. Bud Tony, wanting to impress his state, turned out all the cards and managed to force their way inside. The hosts probably didn't want to bother since it was just a small group of guards and two very important guests, even if only one of them was invited.
They were likely the two richest people there, even though the world still had no true idea of how much the Ricci family fortune Alexandra controlled.
When they finally entered the building, they quickly realised that the inside was infinitely better than the outside, long gone with the dull concrete walls; instead, everything was stylish and rich.
Stark is one of the richest people in the world. Even though his own company's stock had decreased massively in value, the kid managed to retain his position as the world's wealthiest person in some parts due to Alex and the foundation buying up as much stock as they could, preventing the fall from ever reaching the estimated 40%.
This spot is, no doubt, the wealthiest guest here, earning him a VIP room where they could watch over the masses, which rolled so millionaires and billionaires just a far lesser extent. Countless familiar faces appeared in the crowds; Norman Osborne was there.
As were people that had existed in the real world of the old universe, at least, such as Bill Gates. It was rather impressive to see someone like him here who wasn't known for dabbling in the underworld, which meant that Marshall, Carter, and Dark, whom Alex was now certain was behind this auction, had managed to construct a truly impressive guest list with a very little reputation.
Though if they did have anomalous objects on the list tonight, she was certain they would cement their reputation in this universe as they had in the original SCP universe though she would make damn certain that every object on display here would end up in foundation containment.
I said, arriving as some of the last of the auction began not much after thankfully saving her from more of Tony's unbearable flirting and his endless attempts at getting her to undress right then and there.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this exciting event hosted by Marshall Carter and Dark. Tonight, we have some truly exciting things for sale for you all, including some things that will make you question reality itself. These might seem impossible, but here, ladies and gentlemen, the impossible can be yours at a price."
At the auction, an older, well-groomed gentleman began his speech, drawing plenty of excited chatter from the many guests. Equally, many notes and disdainful comments were whispered or spoken in rather loud voices by those who did not believe that they would walk away with the impossible here.
After all, these people were among some of the richest from all over the world. There was already nothing they couldn't get, so for them, practically nothing was impossible, though Alex knew that notion would soon change.
This did open the question of whether they should be amnicticies and made to forget about this whole thing or if the Foundation should try to use this to its advantage. O5-4 Was already working hard to ensure that world leaders and elites around the world once again threw their support and money behind the foundation.
Could this then be an opportunity to show them the abnormal and then later reveal the danger of the abnormal, making them scared, fearful of their life and safety, and willing to part with their hard-earned money for protection?
It was certainly a possibility. She wished she could ponder what he said dearly more, but Tony's endless comments kept distracting her.
"Little start off with the less exciting, but I assure you these items might be the least exciting of tonight, but that is merely because the last few items are far, far beyond imagination." The auctioneer continued as if he hadn't heard the comments going around the room and began with the first item.
The first object wasn't anyone out of the ordinary, though it could still be considered a rare treasure: a painting by the famous Leonardo da Vinci, a piece that is so far publicly unknown.
Such a claim naturally caused quite a stir around the room, as possibly no artist had created more legendary art than him, and he was not even a full-time artist. She expected that Bill Gates might be very interested; after all, he had purchased an old notebook belonging to da Vinci.
No, first, they would naturally need to have it verified, which took quite a long time as this and that well-known art expert was invited to give their few words about why they believed after extensive tests that it was an authentic piece.
All this bored a few people who were not interested in art. Sadly, Tony was one of them, and he turned his attention to an equally bored Alexandra, who then had to deal with his ceaseless flirting comments.
The night went on, and item after item was displayed and so, sometimes, for enormous prices. Clearly, Marshall, Carter, and Dark had gone all out on this. Taking up what would normally be the crown jewels of their more ordinary auctions and placing them here as mere appetizers.
"Next, we have a sentence that might excite some of you; it is likely no secret to anyone here that the weapon's inventor, Tony Stark, was kidnapped while demonstrating his newest creation, the Jericho missile."
"This isn't happening." Whispered starkly as he stood up and glanced down at the auctioneer.
"And that soon after being rescued from that ordeal, he stopped selling the weapon and all other weapons for that matter altogether. Which is why we are pleased to inform you that we will be selling off 3 create each containing 13 Jericho missiles."
While many were excited by this opportunity to get such a powerful weapon in their hands, either to sell to you or to study, Tony was livid.