Chapter 288: Billionaire's Stupefaction

3rd March 2013, New York City

(Tony Stark POV)

Tony Stark liked his life. Yes, his father was a shit parent, but his mother made up for whatever warmth and attention he needed and more. Sure, Tony liked to party and mess around as a form of rebellion against his father's authority, a desperate attempt to gain his attention and maybe even his approval, but it never worked. After his parents' death, he continued this lifestyle not knowing how to proceed, but after what happened in Afghanistan, his eyes were opened to how empty his life truly was.

And look at him now, he's still the same narcissistic billionaire he always was, but he was in a relationship with a woman he genuinely loved and who loved him back despite his many faults. He is admired by millions if not billions of people all around the world. He had surpassed his father's legacy. When people will hear the word Stark, they'll think of Iron Man, not some washed up World War two manufacturer. Tony Stark cemented his legacy in a way his father never could, and he was damn proud of it.

The only little itch he had was his mother's death. When the Morrigan came to him almost a year ago and told him about the truth of his parents' assassination, he geared up for war. He barely left his labs and continued improving his armor at a ridiculous rate, each one getting better, with a different design or purpose altogether. He was ready to march to war, and then SHIELD fell, taking Hydra with him.

Of course, Tony didn't take the woman's word about the truth of his parents' murder. Tony had immediately gone to the Triskelion pretending to visit Fury and copied the entire SHIELD database. He broke the encryption at his leisure in his home and found a hidden layer of files that even Fury had no access to. It didn't take long to know that it was Hydra.

For a year now, Tony was preparing a list of agents of Hydra and tracked their movements, only for them to slowly die off. The higher ups died suddenly, and SHIELD fell soon after. Whatever remained of the organization disappeared practically overnight, but there were rumors of splintered groups in the underworld for a few months after SHIELD's fall. He hadn't even talked to his teammates about it. They were growing distant as of late. Rogers was busy acclimating to the modern world. God knows whatever Romanoff and Barton did with their days. Bruce kept using his labs to try to revert his condition, and Thor was off world. So much for Earth's mightiest heroes, right?

He had hoped that there was something left for him to take revenge on, but it seemed that the Morrigan had taken care of it. She even healed the guy who was brainwashed to kill his parents. He still didn't feel anything about it, but the woman was ready to give Barnes up just like that. Unfortunately, the damn witch was right, his mother wouldn't want him to take revenge on an innocent.

It didn't matter. The Winter Soldier was dead, and as long as Barnes stayed the hell away from him, the Billionaire wouldn't give a second's thought about the man.

But now, the Morrigan came broke into his office without anyone noticing with a teenager of all things, who she claimed to be a superhero. And for what? Did she expect him to adopt him or something?

As for the kid, it didn't take long for him to figure out who he is. There are a lot of vigilantes running around New York after the incident, with the rise of goons wearing Osborn's little suits that tried to imitate his. Sure, the guy had a few good ideas for using Chitauri tech, but damn, even Obadiah's suit could have destroyed theirs in seconds. It seems like even with alien tech around, Oscorp will always be shit.

Back to the kid, he's obviously Spider-man. His height and build were enough. Tony never cared enough to figure out his identity. The spider themed hero did a lot of good without going too far. He figured out that Spider-man was young from his method of speech, but damn, that Parker kid was fifteen.

Back to the situation, he looked towards the smirking green eyed woman, "He's Spider-man, isn't he?"

She nodded, "I met him in his alter ego during the mess with Fury happened. He helped me out a little and I tracked him down, helped with his aunt's money problems as well as gave him a suit."

This was seriously getting ridiculous. Tony asked her incredulously, "You sponsored a fifteen year old to act as a vigilante at night."

The woman didn't even react to his implied accusation, "He's a stubborn kid. He would have gone out anyway, and it's not like I could forbid him. He's a weird mix between you and Rogers and, trust me, while the two of you are different people, you're just as immovable as each other when you've made your minds to something. The kid has Roger's altruism and nobility, your intelligence and guilt, combined with a life of insecurity as a bullied child in a financially delicate home. I took care of that last one, but the kid is still adjusting. I gave him the suit because I wanted to keep him safe. The thing is practically indestructible, and it was the only way I could find to guarantee his safety when he inevitably gets over his head. He's on the Kingpin's radar now. He'll need all the help he could get."

Shit. Tony wasn't as connected in the crime world as an underground hero, choosing to focus on the big picture. Crime would exist no matter what and trying to eradicate it would be a useless endeavor. That's just a fact of life. But even then, the name Kingpin was connected to the super suits that Osborn keeps making, so he chose to research it a bit and it wasn't looking good.

The Kingpin was the crime boss in the city, and while a known psychopath, he stabilized the underworld. There have been less messy crime related murders in the city because of him, but he slaughtered his way to power and kept doing so to remain in power. So, Parker now is going to be targeted by a crime boss with dozens of goons armored with super suits on his side. It didn't look good at all for the kid.

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Tony sighed, "Then why did you bring him to me, then?"

"You need stability, Tony, and he needs a mentor, someone to stop him from acting too rashly and making wrong assumptions about things. Just spend a little time with him. He's not expecting anything more than a conversation. You'll like him, believe me."

Tony groaned, "Fine, I'll give him one conversation. But if he's an idiot like most of the people in the world, I won't see him again."

The Morrigan nodded with a knowing gleam in her eyes and took a sip of her tea. They stayed silent for a good minute before the billionaire spoke up, "So, why did you come here, really? You said that meeting the kid was just a coincidence. What did you want to talk about?"

The possible goddess nodded, "That is correct. I am informing you that a conflict will occur soon. It will be somewhere in Greenwich."

Tony straightened up, "do you need the Avengers' help with this?"

Surprisingly the woman burst into laughter, "Of course not. This is a delicate matter that I am handling with Odin. It does not involve you. It might not even occur there, but with the breaches between the realms lining up there, it could be affected. I'm just letting you know so that you'll have something to say to the higher ups if they ask questions."

Tony stood up, angry, "You're bringing an alien invasion here?"

The witch shook her head, "No, it's a lot more complicated and relates to the nature of the nine realms. Midgard is not just this planet; it describes the known universe. The other realms are outside of it, traveling between themselves using the Bifrost, through the borders of the universe which they call Yggdrasill. Unfortunately, every few thousand years, the realms align, and small breaches appear for brief moments in time, which causes fluctuations in gravitational fields and electromagnetic anomalies. The convergence is happening soon, and with it, Odin wants to deal a powerful blow to one of his enemies. I am assisting him with the endeavor, but the conflict could pass through one of the portals and come to Earth, which is why I am telling you any of this."

"Why are you even involved?"

The woman stopped smirking at the question and looked serious for the first time in any of their conversations, "A crisis is coming, one that has the chance of wiping out countless universes. Life will die, and Death will reign. Nothing but remain in the multiverse but a single reality filled with nothing but Chaos and Entropy. I am talking about an extinction level event on a multiversal scale, one that I have been fighting for years. Odin offered his alliance in exchange for my help with a very dangerous enemy, one that I would have dealt with anyway. So, yes, I am involving myself because if I don't our chance of survival is very slim."

Tony Stark shuddered in fear. He had no idea about the scale of destruction the woman was talking about, "How can I help?"

The woman snorted, "You're but a man, Anthony. Sure, a single soul can save the world, and you'll have a role to play, but it won't be in the big league. You'll have your own role to play in dealing with the enemy's pawn."

Tony had forgotten how arrogant that woman really was, "Anything else I should look out for?"

The woman thought for a bit and nodded, "Yes, Thor and Loki are currently preparing for the coming conflict under my supervision. Should you see them, try not to harass them."

It took a few seconds for Stark to comprehend the stupidity he just heard, "LOKI? As in the guy who tried to invade our planet Loki?"

The woman nodded, "Yes."

"And why is this guy not in jail, why is he even on this planet?"

She shrugged, "He was acquitted because he was under the control of the sceptre in the first place. It's a complicated story, but the one who enslaved him is one of the people who are involved in the crisis. I was tasked to rehabilitate him and train him for Odin's conflict."

"He's responsible for the death of hundreds of people!" Stark exclaimed.

"And he might also help save millions," she retorted, "Do not mistake my courtesy for permissions. I am the protector of this planet, not you, as I have been for thousands of years. I am the one that decides if the godling is allowed to step foot on Earth, and I have already made my decision."

Tony growled back, "And who made you the 'protector of Earth'? what gives you the right to do this?"

The woman did not even blink, "I have saved this planet more times than I could count. You know nothing of the true nature of this world and the dangers that they represent. If not me, then who? You?"

Tony sighed, "The human race has grown up. We don't need a babysitter anymore…"

The woman snorted, "We'll see about that. And you better be correct about that, because, after the crisis, you're on your own."

Panicking, Tony replied, "What do you mean, we'll be on our own?"

The Morrigan shrugged, "That's easy. If we don't all end up dead, I'm retiring after the crisis is over. I've had enough of this ungrateful little planet. I swear, if I wasn't bound for thousands of years, I would have left this cursed place a long time ago. And the moment I'm freed, I have this multiversal crisis to deal with because I can't even leave the damn universe to retire. So, yeah, you'll have exactly what you wish for, mortal. You'll be free of me the moment the crisis is over, and we'll see how long you'll survive on your own."

Before he could retort, the woman stood up, "I'm leaving now. I've finished what I've set up to do. Take care of the kid for me and stay out of my way. I'm serious Stark; I don't want anyone involving themselves in the mess with Asgard. You're responsible for doing this. If I find out that anyone is meddling, then it's on your head."

The woman teleported away, ignoring the anti-teleportation shield he acquired from Reed Richards as if it was nothing. The billionaire groaned and palmed his head. This hadn't ended well.

Sighing, he decided to check on the kid. After arriving at the lab, he was surprised by seeing the kid working diligently on some sort of device.

Leaning in to take a closer look, Tony's eyes widened when he saw how complex the damn thing was. He expected this kind of work from his top engineers, not a high school freshman. It was a small robot spider that seemed to be capable of flight and could be recharged easily. It seemed to have a great range of movement and cameras that could transmit any feed.

It was pretty much a fancy drone, which was somewhat inefficient to Tony's standards, but it was leagues above what could be expected from a kid Parker's age. After a lot of polishing, the kid could shine. The eager smile on the teenager's face made Tony's heart melt. Perhaps, the Morrigan was right about something after all.

This was going to be fun.

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Alright, this is it, we're finally caught up to the current events of the story. This means that there will be no more mass uploads. I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I tend to be consistent (I have been for more than a year now) but I will let you know if I miss an upload day.

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