Lots of things are happening. As his resources grow, so are his reach. Stray brings down his phone as he amiably smiles at Ursula. "Thanks for the cookies… I definitely would love it if you use chocolate chips instead of nuts."

"Ok," She cutely raises her small fist telling Stray that she will do better next time. Ursula is barely 13 and she is very talented in baking. She remains as likable as Stray remembers from the first Spiderman movies. The little lass leaves Stray to his own, excited to do some more baking.

That aside, Stray brings his attention to another person, Anton Vanko, Ivan's dad.

"I just had a nice chat with your son, how are you doing Anton?"

"Still feels like shit…"

Stray laughs at Anton. With a confident smile, Stray gives Anton his word. "You will live. That's the price of your son's loyalty to me. It is unexpected how filial he can be…"

"How would you do that? You are not god… I am already this old… Age all gets us…" Anton mocks Stray.

It is true that he is not a god. But it is also true that Anton is still alive. Through a series of manipulation, Stray was able to achieve this delicate balance to perfection. Stray believes that one of the contributing factors to how Ivan becomes a villain was his father's emotional death.

So, that is what Stray will exactly NOT do… Give Anton an emotional death, no, never.

In this timeline, Ivan should still be in prison. But because of Stray, a lot of things are changing. While Obadiah's hired mercenaries are busy extracting Ivan from the Pakistani prison, Stray is busy acquiring Anton.

Ivan who was patiently waiting in his prison is aware of what he should be doing as per the email he received a week ago requests of him. The deal between Ivan and Stray is simple… Keep his father alive, cure him, and give them money… It was crass, but Ivan is a very straightforward person.

*Knock *Knock

Stray opens the door and behind it is Ivan.

Ivan pushes Stray away and heads to his father away. The son and father share a moment of silence. Rarely do his father gets to visit him in prison because of health issues. And if his father does manage to visit him, there was always the glass panel separating the two of them.

It was sad. It was miserable. And for it, Anton blames Howard Stark. It is reasonable considering that deporting him is too much of an overkill. Stray also sympathizes with Anton. Howard fears the Arc reactor technology will end in the wrong hands as Anton tries to make business with it.

In Anton's eyes, Howard's fault lies in his overprotectiveness of the tech.

Anton is at fault too as there are processes to things. If only he has a proper corporation in name, the right connections, and also has the heart to manage his greed.

Ivan stands up and looks at Stray. "Our deal is done. I will take my father and go."

"Woah~ woah~ pal… Hold your horses… You really don't want to stay? I know a lot of brilliant people who can help your dad. Come on, just know this, I am a more 'legitimate' business than Obadiah…"

With these words that seem to come from a devil's tongue, Stray extends a contract from his hand. "I know you are not one to shy from crimes, but let's be honest, if a choice of a life of riches without the laws hounding you presents itself to you… I am pretty certain you'd grab it… But what if? I offer something that would be infinitely better… Like let's say, on top of riches, you'd get a fulfilling life!"

"You talk too much…" Ivan gives Stray a stinging gaze, but it looks like Ivan is receptive to the idea. "What do you want?"

"A new Stark Industries… and you will be its COO…" Stray pushes the contract to Ivan.

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At the contract's header, the name of the company 'Heromaker' presents itself to Ivan. And it has a very interesting business model. The customer target is literally letter by letter 'H-E-R-O' as in Hero. Ivan dumbly looks at Stray.

"Ivan, we won't be just selling weapons like how the Stark industries usually do it… We will also be selling public opinion, also lots of techs that would help a lot of people of course, and most of all— a name… We will be selling the brand 'Heroes', and you dude just helped me create one… Just wait… It will definitely tickle your knockers…"

Stray smiles, mirth overflowing with glee. With bouncy steps, he leaves Ivan to his own as he makes way for a new destination in mind.

…

Meanwhile, Morgan who is beside the coffee machine is having the worst days of her life. Apparently, Natalie Rushman is on her, which is baffling for Morgan. This isn't the right time yet.

There was no Ironman even yet, not that Morgan is planning to let her father become Ironman again.

Aware of Natalie's real identity as a Black Widow, Morgan is very careful not to let anything suspicious out. That includes her secretive building of weapons in an underground basement somewhere in the Stark Industries Headquarters building and also her somewhat suspicious hacking of some business rivals' systems.

Natalie's presence has been especially getting more pronounced lately after the ambush on Tony Stark.

"Come to think of it, where is Tony?" Morgan whispers to herself.

An ominous premonition rises at the back of her mind. She can only think of that traitorous Obadiah, but why? Tony Stark didn't even create any Arc reactor that would rouse Obadiah's greed.

Morgan is on the verge of going insane. Coming to her rescue is Pepper Pots, her should-be-future mother. Before she can even ask where is Tony, Pepper Potts takes the words out of Morgan's mouth. "Maguna, did you see Tony?"

Morgan freezes.

"N-no, Ms. Potts… I am sorry." Morgan forces herself to reply to Pepper.

"Sorry about that… I am just worried about him. After the attack, I think, he has become more erratic, you know? Saying stuff that only more weapons can stop something like that from happening again." Pepper ruefully says as her attention returns to Maguna. "You too, I am worried for you… how about you take a day off… okay? I will take care of it."

"Yes, m~ma'am…" Morgan almost utters mom, but luckily she was able to control herself. Accepting Pepper's nice words, Morgan bursts off.

From her rear, she cannot see the Black Widow shadowing her, but Morgan is certain. Sneaking a peak at the nanotech-turned-smartphone, Morgan sees a red dot following her. This puts a smile on Morgan's face.

Tagging a superspy would definitely earn her lots of bragging rights… not that she has someone to brag about. She doesn't want to see Toussaint, Love pretty much hates her guts now, and Stray must be living his life already.

After some zigging and zagging, and a couple of tricks, she manages to lose Black Widow. For how long she can remain 'invisible' would be a matter of chance. Time is gold, and thus Morgan rushes forward.

Morgan recalls the various times that Stray plays the role of the guy behind the chair sometimes. It wasn't anything hero-related, and it doesn't even come short of vigilantism, but more of a prank of a couple of students. Still, the memory warms up her heart.

"Living his life, yeah… he must be…" Morgan recalls her best friend, Martin 'Stray' Lieber, who seems to be doing lots of suspicious stuff lately. The news of the 'Stray' doing his noble deeds after all is always a hot topic on the internet.

The earliest vigilante that the public acknowledges is Spiderman, and for a good reason too. In the current timeline, Spiderman isn't yet active. Daredevil might be doing some stuff currently, but he is a sneaky type, so he'd rarely appear on the news. The Punisher is someone who is vigilantism is a bit questionable, with him being busy with his vengeance and traumas… He is like Stray whose inclination lies more to a criminal nature.

To some, Stray might appear to be a vigilante, but to a different some, he is just a criminal.

Morgan would love to ask some of these vigilantes for some help, but they are unavailable for obvious reasons. Stray is also a vigilante, but Morgan wouldn't dare to contact him.

To her surprise though, it appears that Stray has a different opinion. Suddenly appearing in front of her is Stray. He is wearing normal clothes and looks harmless, but Morgan is not a fool.

In their last confrontation, not counting the Ironman handshake, Stray did manage to outsmart Morgan.

"What do you want, Mart?"

"Ooff, ouch… Mart, really? If you'd decided on using a 'stranger-I-don't-know-you' card, you should have just addressed me as Martin… But really…"

"What, do you want me to call you, Stray? What the hell is your problem, gosh, to think you'd go as far as stealing as your main career… but hell you are impressive. Do you know? Mr. Stark has this plans of creating a Stray-gifting project... which is insane. He is thinking of paying you for stealing from him..."

"Yeah, I miss you too Morgan…"

There was a long silence between them. The stillness is aggravating Morgan. Only now did Morgan sense something amiss. Stray is buying time, for what, Morgan can only make a wild guess about Stray's appearance.

"What did you do, Stray?" Morgan grimly asks her once best friend as she removes all politeness in her mind.

"Me? Nothing… What is meant to happen will happen, Morgan…" Stray painfully smiles, and the bitterness in his eyes is too evident to see.

Just like that, the two best friends come to their second confrontation.