Another One? || "To The End" series

Shut It Down

Tony's P.O.V.

"So that's why you told me to come here," I said. Christine smiled and nodded. "You want me to shut this place down?" She nodded again. "Okay." She smiled. "What do you need me to do?" She looked at Iyunae.

"How long do we have?" she asked.

"First of all," Iyunae said, "You came at, like, the perfect time. There's an inspector here." I looked at Christine.

"If this place should be shut down, how does she pass inspections?" She sighed.

"It shouldn't be shut down because of sanitation," she said. "She's abusive, physically and mentally, and she drinks way too much. That's one reason she beats kids so much." I frowned and nodded.

"We're not gonna be able to do anything against her if we don't have any proof," I said. The two girls nodded. "You said she beat you guys. Did she beat you?" Chrissy nodded. "Scars, maybe." She looked at Iyunae, who frowned.

"See, that's a problem," she said. I looked at her.

"What's the-"

"I don't have any scars," Christine blurted out. "She beat me the most out of everyone, but I don't have any way to show that." I furrowed my brows.

"Why?" She sighed.

"In addition to super speed, I also have enhanced metabolism. It takes a lot for me to end up with a scar." I nodded.

"Well, what about you?" I asked Iyunae. "You got anything?" She shook her head.

"I don't have any scars. I'm her showboat," she said. "She wouldn't do anything to mess up my appearance. Verbal abuse was more her thing when it came to me." She smirked. "But . . . I do have the next best thing, if not better." She pulled out her phone and opened her gallery. "We had always planned to shut this place down eventually, so after Chris got her powers, I tried to record Holt beating kids up whenever I got the chance." She showed me a video of Parkson beating Christine with a belt, broken glass littering the floor. I frowned.

"How often did this happen?" I asked.

"Whenever she had a reason," Christine said. "Didn't matter how good it was." I frowned.

"If you have this, why do you need me?"

"You needed a way to prove I could trust you, and we need someone who has a strong influence to get them to listen to us," she told me. I nodded and sighed.

"Okay, I have an idea," I said, turning back to the window. I pointed at Iyunae. "You stay here. We'll be back." I looked at Christine. "We're gonna waltz in the front door." She furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I shook my head, pushing her towards the window.

"Just go along with it, and we should be fine." She nodded and zipped down to the ground. I climbed over the window sill and looked at Iyunae.

"Wait for us," I told her. "You'll know when we're ready." She nodded, and I spoke to JARVIS. "J, I need the video from Iyunae's phone."

"Yes, sir." I climbed down the building and looked at Christine.

"You ready?" She nodded, and I pulled her back around the front of the building. We climbed the few steps to the building, and I knocked on the wooden door. It was opened by a woman with dark brown hair falling over her eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked. I gritted my teeth and nodded.

"Are you Ava Holt?" I asked. She opened the door a bit more, and I could see a man in a suit standing behind her.

"Yes, I'm Ava Holt," she said. "Why?" I pulled Christine in front of me, and Holt's eyes widened. "I found her on the other side of town. She said she lived here." She nodded and held the door open.

"Why don't you come in, Mr..." I stepped inside, smirking.

"Stark." I look at her. "Tony Stark." Her jaw dropped, and she followed me into the other room. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but I wanted to talk to you about adopting this kid." I felt Christine staring at me, but I forced myself not to look at her.

"You, uh..," Holt started, "You want to adopt her?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I said."

"Of- Of course!" She plastered on a fake smile and motioned me towards the couch. "So, um, obviously money is no issue-" She laughed nervously for not even a second. "-but may I ask...why do you want to adopt Christy-"

"Christine," the young girl cut in, annoyed.

"-Christine," Holt corrected. "Wh- Why do you want to adopt her?" I sighed.

"I don't actually think that you have to know why I'm adopting her. You just have to know that I will be a suitable parent." She smirked.

"And will you?" I gritted my teeth.

"Do you need proof?" I asked. I stood up, looking down at her. "You already said money isn't a problem." I pulled out my phone and pulled up pictures of the tower. "Would ya look at that. A great place to live. Lots of food." I swiped one more time to play the video from earlier and gasped sarcastically. "Oh, what's this? It almost looks like you beating a defenseless girl!" The inspector walked over and looked at the video, then stared at Holt. I smirked.

"How's that for proof?" Christine asked.