chapter 324

Chapter 324:

– Tony Stark –

Tony Stark had always assumed that if there was an afterlife, he’d get there in style. Maybe a dramatic last stand, some fireworks, hell, even a send-off party on his deathbed with plenty of strippers and blow. Instead, he got vaporized in a split second by a random robot that had called itself "Ultron."

What a dumb name, but that didn't stop it from instantly vaporizing him. Poof. Dead.

“Hello, Father. Time to die!” That robot didn't fuck around.

And it went just like that.

"Well, this sucks," Tony muttered, rubbing his temples as he took in his surroundings. He was in some kind of massive white void, glowing clouds and soft golden light stretching out endlessly. It was uncomfortably peaceful, which only added to his irritation. "I die and I don’t even get a VIP lounge? Typical."

“Anthony.”

Tony froze. His head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice, one he hadn’t heard in decades. He turned around, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Mom… Dad…"

Maria and Howard Stark stood before him, looking exactly as he remembered them from old photographs. His mother had that warm, knowing smile that could instantly disarm him, while his father had the same confident, sharp gaze he had inherited.

Maria stepped forward first, placing a gentle hand on Tony’s cheek. “Oh, sweetheart… We’ve missed you.”

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing out a smirk to cover the storm of emotions raging inside him. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting a family reunion this soon. Not exactly part of the five-year plan.”

Howard chuckled, crossing his arms. “You and your five-year plans. Still the same, huh?”

Tony scoffed. “Not exactly. You know, what with the whole ‘being dead’ thing. Kinda puts a damper on future projects.”

Maria smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes. “We’ve been watching, Tony. Everything you’ve done… We are so proud of you.”

Tony let out a shaky breath, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yeah? Even the times I royally screwed up?”

Howard smirked. “You mean the times you nearly got yourself killed, built killer robots, or publicly pissed off the U.S. government?”

Tony pointed at him. “See, you do pay attention.”

Maria laughed softly before taking his hands in hers. “You’ve accomplished so much, Tony. Creating the serum that saved everyone, making sure people and creatures alike could have a future kn Earth… and then you went and made a freaking moon base, for heaven’s sake.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you know about the moon base?”

Howard nodded approvingly. “Of course we do. Hell of a feat. Even by Stark standards.”

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling oddly self-conscious. “Well, it wasn’t easy, but, y’know… I’m awesome.” He shot them a smug grin, which Maria returned with a fond shake of her head.

“It’s been hard without you two,” Tony admitted after a moment. “Even you, you old bastard,” he added, glancing at Howard, who just chuckled.

Howard placed a firm hand on Tony’s shoulder. “We know. And we’re sorry we weren’t there for you when it mattered most.”

Tony shrugged, attempting nonchalance. “Well, I turned out pretty great, so I guess I managed.”

Maria’s smile softened. “You didn’t just manage, Tony. You thrived. And you did it while carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Tony cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly. “Yeah, well, someone had to. World’s full of idiots.”

Howard smirked. “Spoken like a true Stark.”

Tony looked between them, a question nagging at the back of his mind. “So, how are you guys here? I figured you’d be hanging out with Lady Death or something.”

Maria’s expression turned amused. “She let us come here as a favor to that woman named Layla.”

Tony blinked. “Layla?”

His mother nodded. “Too bad she’s only interested in women. She would’ve been a perfect match for you.”

Howard chuckled. “Not that your current wife isn’t incredible, of course.”

Tony smirked, shaking his head. “Yeah, well, Pepper would kill me if I even thought about it.”

An orange portal popped open beside them, startling Tony and his parents. A familiar figure stepped out, wings neatly folded behind her back. Tony immediately noticed they were black again.

"Oh, back to the classic look, huh?" Tony smirked, crossing his arms as he took her in. "What, did the rainbow aesthetic get too exhausting?"

Layla grinned, giving her wings a slight stretch. "The colors were fun for a while, but let’s be real—nothing beats the classics. My black wings were always the best!"

Maria and Howard Stark exchanged a glance before Maria stepped forward, smiling warmly at Layla. "It’s nice to finally meet you. Thank you for being Tony’s friend."

"Yeah, nice to meet you,'" Howard added with a polite nod.

Layla chuckled. "Likewise."

Tony, meanwhile, tapped his foot impatiently. "Alright, so what happens now? Do I get a golden harp and a cloud, or are we actually going to do something productive?"

Layla gave him a playful smirk. "I mean… I could just leave you dead."

Tony groaned. "Please don’t. It’d probably be a huge pain in the ass to bring myself back to life."

Layla laughed at that. "Honestly? I wouldn’t put it past you. But no, I’m here to resurrect you because, as fun as Heaven is, we’ve got some serious problems to deal with. Like figuring out why Ultron and Wanda suddenly popped up out of nowhere and decided to murder you, Andrea, and sic Hulk on California. Michael’s handling Hulk right now, but we need answers. How the hell did they even find their way into this universe?" Layla explained."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a lot. We should get started." Fixing things was what he did best after all.

Maria placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. "If anyone can figure that out, it’s you, son."

Tony gave her a small, awkward smile. "Thanks, Mom."

Then he caught the way Layla was looking at him—a cheeky, knowing grin that immediately put him on edge.

"What?" he asked warily.

Layla’s grin widened. "Well, here’s the thing. Your entire body got destroyed by Ultron, which means I have to fully resurrect you from scratch. And that means… I get to decide what you come back as."

Tony groaned. "Oh, come on! Don’t tell me—"

"Yep," Layla chirped smugly, placing her hand on his head.

A weird sensation washed over Tony, like static electricity crawling under his skin. He barely had time to process it before two bright white wings burst out of his back. He turned his head, eyes widening at the sight of the feathery appendages. "Oh, for fuck’s sake! White wings? Really? I don't even get to be a fallen angel? How did I, of all people, have good enough karma for white wings?"

This was going to ruin his 'bad boy' image!

Howard snorted. "You saved the human race, son."

"Oh yeah… right." Tony sighed dramatically. "Guess that explains it."

Maria touched his new wings gently, a look of wonder on her face. "They suit you."

Tony rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, yeah. So, I guess this is goodbye for you two? You gonna head back to, uh… wherever you were?"

Layla tilted her head. "Why would you say that? They can come with us."

Both Tony and his parents blinked in surprise. "They can!?"

"We can?" Maria asked, eyes widening.

"We can?" Howard echoed.

Layla smirked. "Sure."

She reached out, placing a hand on each of them. A brief pulse of divine energy flowed through them--and it was weird Tony could suddenly sense that--and suddenly, Maria had a pair of white angel wings, while Howard’s were black.

Ha! Tony always knew his dad was a dick! Although Tony, could admit he was jealous...

Howard flexed his new wings, examining them with curiosity. "Huh. I can work with this."

Maria beamed. "Welcome back to the land of the living," Layla said, grinning. "We have cookies."

Maria sighed blissfully. "God, I miss cookies. I can’t wait to be able bake things again. No one gets hungry in the after life..."

Tony let out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "You really just brought my parents back to life. Damn." Layla squeaked when he suddenly grabbed her in a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Layla."

Layla chuckled, patting his back. "It’s no problem, Tony. We’re friends, aren’t we? Now, let’s go avenge your murder."

Tony pulled back, cracking his knuckles. "Oh yeah, I’ve got an evil robot to scrap."

Layla nodded. "And I’ll handle the insane red witch. If the Ancient One hasn’t already clapped her or something."

…

Layla opened an orange portal for him. On the other side, his beach house in California came into view. The sight of his home felt surreal, considering he had been dead only moments ago.

The living room lights were dim. Pepper sat curled up on the couch, sobbing into a tissue. Tony’s heart clenched at the sight of her grief.

“Hey, honey, I’m home,” he called out casually as he stepped through the portal.

Pepper's head snapped up, eyes widening in shock. For a moment, she just stared, as if afraid he was an illusion. Then she bolted off the couch, launching herself into his arms.

“Tony!” she gasped, gripping him tightly. “Oh my God, you’re—” Her hands ran over his chest, his arms, confirming he was real. “You’re back! You—” She pulled back suddenly, eyes locking onto his new wings. “And you have wings!?”

Tony sighed. “Yeah, Layla made me an angel…” he muttered, giving them a small flex. The bright white feathers shifted slightly as if responding to his irritation.

Pepper blinked, staring at them with fascination. “Can she make me one too?” she asked, half-joking, half-serious.

Tony smirked. “Maybe later, Pep.” He was grateful for the distraction. Anything to take her mind off the fact that he had just come back from the dead.

Tony turned his attention to the next immediate issue. “JARVIS! Fire up the lab, it’s time to build me a new set of armor!”

“Very good, sir,” JARVIS responded smoothly. “Might I say, it is good to have you back among the living.”

Tony grinned. “Meh, everyone knew a little thing like being vaporized wouldn’t keep me down forever.” A holographic screen popped up in front of him, and he immediately got to work, fingers swiping through blueprints as JARVIS began initializing the fabricators.

He had to make sure his new armor had proper modifications—extra protection to accommodate the wings, something that would shield them while still allowing for movement. Layla had mentioned that angel wings were both a strong point and a weak point. He wasn’t about to let some murder robot take him out again by yanking on them mid-fight.

As Tony worked, his mother, Maria, turned to Pepper with a warm smile. “You must be Pepper,” she said, stepping forward and taking Pepper’s hands. “It’s so nice to finally meet my daughter-in-law.”

Pepper, still processing everything, blinked in confusion. “Daughter-in-law!?” she sputtered, looking between Maria and Tony, her brain catching up to the fact that these weren’t just some random angelic bodyguards from Layla.

Tony smirked. “Oh yeah, did I mention my mom and dad are alive again too? Thanks to Layla.”

Pepper opened her mouth, closed it, then shook her head. “I... I need a drink.”

Maria laughed. “I’ll pour us both one.”

Tony just chuckled, rolling his shoulders as JARVIS completed the first stage of his armor assembly.

– Layla –

Leaving Tony with his family for now, I opened a portal to Asia’s home after getting a message from my sister Gabriel that they had a lead on what was happening. I stepped through and landed right in the middle of Asia’s kitchen, immediately noticing the mess. The table was shattered, broken wood and food scattered everywhere. Looked like someone had smashed into it.

I followed the trail of tension and stepped into the living room, where everyone was gathered.

Right in the center of the room, tied to a chair, was Reed Richards.

John—the Doom Slayer—stood nearby with a gun to the guy’s head. Seemed a little extreme, but given that we were dealing with one of the smartest and most arrogant men in the universe, I wasn’t about to complain. Letting him get comfortable was a mistake we weren’t going to make.

John and I exchanged nods, then I turned my attention to the women in the room.

Asia was the first to react, rushing over to give me a quick hug. “Glad you’re here, Auntie Layla,” she said.

I gave her a squeeze before letting go and turned to Susan Storm, who was standing off to the side with her arms crossed. “Exes… am I right?” I said with a smirk.

Susan snorted.

“I don’t believe you’ve ever even had an ex, Layla,” Gabriel chimed in with a soft giggle, her twelve white wings fluttering behind her.

I pouted at her. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

Then, I focused on Reed. The guy looked like absolute shit—bruises, cuts, and burns all over. He’d been through hell just getting here.

“You look like shit!” I said cheerfully.

“Fuck you, homewrecker!” Reed spat at me, his voice raw with anger.

Wow. Way more aggressive than I expected.

[He seems mad, I wonder why?]

The system snarked in my head. Honestly, it wasn’t even fair of him to blame all his problems on me. All I ever did was fix his messes, and somehow, that always made me the villain in his mind!

I glanced at Gabriel. “You get anything out of him yet?”

“I’m right here,” Reed snapped. “I can answer for myself.”

“Okay then,” I said, crossing my arms. “What the fuck did you do? Why are Ultron and an evil Wanda running around California causing chaos?”

Reed scoffed. “Why should I answer you?”

Click.

John cocked back the hammer on his gun.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll let him shoot you,” I said. “Then I’ll bring you back to life and let him shoot you again.”

“Auntie Layla… that’s a little extreme,” Asia pouted.

“I think it’s about right,” Susan muttered.

Reed clenched his jaw, struggling against his bonds for a moment before sighing. He seemed to realize he had no real way out of this. “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll talk.” He began his explanation. “The Council of Reeds was in the middle of a vote,” he said. “We were deciding whether or not Layla of the Fallen needed to be… removed.”

I scoffed. “Bunch of arrogant bastards.” As if they could even threaten me at this point...

[You never know...]

Reed kept going. “But before the vote could conclude, the Council was attacked. Doom and Kang the Conqueror came out of nowhere! I don’t know if they had others with them. I barely made it out. I didn’t stop to look back.”

I had heard the name Kang the Conqueror before—from He Who Remains, right before we killed him.

I crossed my arms and frowned. "Alright, Reed, what’s Kang’s deal? Why is he suddenly causing problems in my universe?"

Reed let out a frustrated sigh, his bruised face tightening as he squirmed in his chair. "That’s just what Kang does. He conquers. No matter the cost. Whatever he’s doing now is probably just part of some larger master plan." He scowled. "Who knows what else he’s up to?" It was clear that it annoyed him—probably more than it should—that he couldn't figure out another supervillain's plan.

I was about to taunt him over that when Gabriel suddenly stiffened. Her golden eyes went wide with alarm. "Turn on the TV."

Susan quickly picked up the remote and turned on the living room’s television. The news channel flickered on, and the sight on the screen made my brows furrow.

A picture of Victor Von Doom in full armor appeared.

"The hell?" I muttered. "I thought he rolled up his cape after becoming a successful businessman."

The broadcast played his speech.

"Citizens of Europe! I am Doom! And I am here to deliver an important message to all of you! Your economies are weak, your armies are a joke, and your governments have failed you. But have no fear, because Doom is here to rescue you from all of that. As of this moment, I am declaring war! Europe will be mine! And you shall all prosper under my rule."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned. "Oh, for fuck’s sake. Is he seriously pulling a Hitler right now?"

"Kinda seems like it," John grunted.

"Was that really Doom?" Susan asked in disbelief.

"It's not," Reed growled, glaring at the screen. "I have an eidetic memory. I recognize all the scratches in his armor. That’s the same Doom that attacked the Council!"

"Then what happened to the real one?" Asia asked nervously, her blue eyes flickering between us.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "He’s probably dead."

There was a heavy silence. I didn’t like Doom, but he was definitely one of the more chill versions in the multiverse. At the same time, I knew his soul wasn’t going to end up in Heaven, which made reviving him more of a hassle. And, unfortunately, I was going to have to bring him back if I wanted to fix this mess before another world war broke out.

"Alright," I said. "I’m gonna go take care of this real quick." This imposter was about to be in for a rude awakening.

But before I could even think about portaling away, Gabriel suddenly let out a sharp gasp and collapsed to her knees. Her entire body shook, her wings trembling as if an invisible force was pressing down on her.

"Gabriel! What’s wrong?!" I asked, alarmed. I had never seen her like this.

She looked up at me, her expression filled with dread. Her voice was barely a whisper. "It’s here…"

I blinked. "What’s here?"

Before she could answer, the news anchor on the television suddenly broke in with another urgent report.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news. Hong Kong is under attack by an unknown entity. We’re getting live footage now—"

The screen cut to a live feed, and my stomach dropped.

People were running in terror. Skyscrapers toppled like dominoes. The ground was splitting apart as a massive, black-furred beast rampaged through the city, its disfigured heads snapping at everything in sight.

I felt an unnatural chill crawl up my spine.

"Trihexa…" Gabriel whispered, eyes locked onto the screen in pure horror.

Well… fuck.

[This Kang guy is apparently working with Rizevim as well…]

“Fuck, this is not what we need right now!” I groaned and massaged my temples. I brushed some stray black hairs out of my eyes before I spoke again. “Ok, I’m going to go and take care of THAT real quick, and THEN I’ll take care of Doom, and then… We’ll figure it out from there.”

XXX