—Alright, this is really the end... but hey, everyone asked for it, so I couldn't just let it slide.—
…Final…
Stephen crossed his arms with that dramatic seriousness he only used when he was about to do something monumentally insane.
"Alright, everyone knows the mission," he declared solemnly, as his siblings surrounded him with expressions of fake concentration.
"We go in, we kidnap, we run."
Wanda nodded with mock gravity, barely holding back laughter.
"Wait, when did this become a kidnapping!?" protested Tony, frowning.
"And what do you suggest? Showing up out of nowhere and saying, 'Hi, it's us, we're not dead, we were just partying in another universe. Oh, and by the way, we're siblings now. Total fun! We just came to grab Pepper'?"
Stephen let it all out with a face so serious it bordered on ridiculous.
Natasha tilted her head, thinking.
"That... actually sounds weirdly logical."
"Not that I want to admit it, but scaring Thor would be the cherry on top," added Loki with a sly smile.
Everyone looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Awww, do you miss your little brother?" Wanda teased.
"Tsk. Let's just kidnap the woman and get out of here," Loki growled, instantly regretting showing emotion.
"Alright, if we time this right after my death by Thanos, we'll drop in at the exact moment everyone's gathered... like some damn Christmas special," said Tony, adjusting his multiversal watch.
"Are we good?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Perfectly. As soon as we touch that universe, the crazy one and I will link to the super dimensional batteries."
Stephen grinned with that dangerous spark of pride.
"Kicking interdimensional butt sounds fun, doesn't it?"
Wanda had the exact same grin. Being twins wasn't just about genetics.
"If you do that, I'm telling your fiancées," Natasha cut in, arms crossed.
Both twins immediately lost their smiles.
"Fine," said Wanda, defeated.
"By the way, Harry's awfully quiet," Stephen commented, glancing at the young man sitting in a corner.
"What? I'm just waiting to see how your brilliant plan collapses in record time," Harry replied with a calmness that bordered on resignation.
"Note to self: beat up Harry after the trip," muttered Wanda.
"Beat up Harry," Stephen echoed, writing it down on his "strategy board," covered in ridiculous scribbles, doodles, and... was that a pizza?
"Enough nonsense! Let's go already! Thinking of more dumb ideas is giving me a headache," Wanda complained.
"Obviously the coward's stalling because he's scared," Loki suddenly blurted.
"Who?" asked Tony, feigning innocence.
"You, obviously. Open the portal."
"Tsk… Fine! Ready! 3… 2… 1… GO!"
Tony hit the button, and the portal swallowed them up, launching them into multiversal chaos.
…
On Earth-616...
"Tony..."
She knelt beside the fallen hero. His body burned after using the Infinity Gauntlet.
Tony Stark, the Iron Man, said nothing... but his gaze said it all.
Around him: silence. Pain. Honor.
One by one, heroes, gods, and titans knelt before the human who saved the universe.
Tony Stark… was dead.
But amid the mourning...
Something changed.
Doctor Strange, still kneeling, felt a disturbance. He stood up suddenly, alert.
"Accio wave ring," said an unfamiliar voice.
Strange's ring shot off his hand, pulled by an invisible force.
He took to the air, conjuring magical defensive circles—only to be tackled midair by a cape identical to his own.
Confused, he barely reacted before a portal opened beneath him. His spells failed. His magic... didn't respond.
He fell.
The portal closed.
"Was that necessary?" asked a sarcastic voice.
Everyone turned toward the source. From the light, six figures emerged, walking with the ease of people entering their own living room.
Two capes battled in midair until one flew straight into a young blond man.
Stephen Flamel.
The Flamel siblings had arrived.
And with them, Wanda—who, upon touching this dimension, smiled as energy flowed into her like the universe itself welcomed her with open arms.
"No," said Natasha, realizing what Stephen and Wanda were planning.
"Tsk… you're no fun," Wanda grumbled, staring directly at her counterpart: Wanda Maximoff, who looked back at her, confused.
The energy… was identical.
But something interrupted the moment.
"Loki..." Thor whispered, spotting two familiar figures.
"Wow! He recognized you with just one look! Now that's brotherly love," Stephen teased.
"My magic's linked to the Yggdrasil, you idiot!" Loki instantly snapped back.
Thor ran forward with a smile and open arms to hug him…
Only to tackle Tony instead.
"Let go of me, moron! I'm not Loki! He's Loki!" Tony shouted, trapped in an Asgardian hug.
"Pfff!" The siblings burst out laughing.
"They literally look like some weird mix of Tony Stark and Loki Odinson. Like… their kids or something," laughed Wanda, pointing at the two.
"Shut up!" Loki growled, annoyed, and before Thor could hug him too, he snatched Mjolnir and used it to send him flying.
All the superheroes stared in shock.
The Flamels, meanwhile…
ignored it completely, walking through the battlefield remains as if they owned the place.
"Natasha?" said Barton and Bruce in unison, tinged with disbelief.
Unlike the others, Natasha still looked surprisingly like herself. Just younger, more beautiful… and cloaked in a faint magical glow that made her seem unreal. Much more grounded than those weird Loki-Tony hybrids, that's for sure.
"It's good to see you again," she said with a warm smile that seemed to stop time for a moment.
"Where's Stephen?" asked Wong, frowning as he cautiously eyed the newcomers.
"Wong! You look just as chubby as in my timeline. Still hiding cookies in the 'Book of Illusions'? Second cabinet to the left, right?" said a familiar voice.
Everyone turned to see Stephen—or rather, a younger, more handsome, and definitely more confident version of Stephen Strange—smiling mischievously.
"How do you know that?" asked Wong, visibly embarrassed.
"I'm Stephen. Just better looking, richer, engaged… Oh, and I sent him to the South Pole," added the young Strange with a mocking laugh.
Bruce looked down, trying to process everything.
"So… are they from parallel dimensions? They're not our Natasha and our Loki?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his voice as he looked at the redhead.
"Yes and no," Stephen chimed in, his tone that of a storyteller recounting an old legend. "This Natasha died for the Soul Stone. This Loki… hid to avoid being killed by Thanos. But right after their deaths, their souls were ripped from the natural cycle and bound to us. Oh, and Tony and Loki are twin brothers in our timeline," he added with a grin that showed he enjoyed dropping bombshells.
"By the way… I'm you," said Wanda with a smile, addressing her alternate self. Her hair and outfit instantly shifted into that of the imposing Scarlet Witch, though her face remained unchanged.
Tony, meanwhile, didn't know how to approach Pepper. He had just heard what Stephen said, seen his original self die… and now he was facing a teenager claiming to be him.
"Let me help a bit, since we caused such a commotion," said Stephen as he pulled out a wand he didn't usually use.
"Reparo," he pronounced solemnly.
A golden light burst from him, and the world responded. Buildings, roads, structures… even trees began to move, restoring themselves as if time were reversing.
"I'll also take you home," he added, and dozens of golden portals opened beneath the feet of everyone who didn't belong in that world.
One by one, they fell back to their homes. Only the Avengers, Pepper… and a few others without a fixed or nearby home remained.
"Are you really… Tony? This Tony?" asked Pepper, confused, slowly approaching.
Tony looked her straight in the eyes.
"Do you remember the day I came back from Afghanistan? Your eyes were red… did you cry for me?"
Pepper's eyes widened, surprised by the precision.
"No… they were tears of relief. Finding another job would've been a pain," she said as an involuntary smile crept across her face and her eyes turned red again.
"So… vacation's over," said Tony with a bittersweet smile.
Pepper, of course, didn't know what to do. She had seen her husband die, and now a boy under fifteen was saying he was him.
"Plan B?" Stephen asked from afar.
"Plan B," Tony nodded seriously.
Natasha sighed and said goodbye with a glance at Barton and Bruce. She knew she could visit them again now, but that didn't make saying goodbye any easier.
"What's Plan B?" asked Wanda, curious.
"Silly, Plan B is actually Plan A," replied Stephen with a smile. He waved his hands, and a portal opened in front of them.
From it emerged a small girl, confused and curious.
"Morgan?" Pepper said, her voice trembling.
"See you around," said Wanda with a final smile as the Avengers could barely process what they were seeing. A new portal opened, sucking in all the Flamel siblings, Pepper, and Morgan.
Thor came running just seconds later, panting and looking around frantically.
"Where is Loki?" he asked urgently.
"They're gone," Barton replied, scratching the back of his head. "And I think they kidnapped Tony's wife and daughter… they looked like the kind of family Natasha always wanted," he said with a smile.
Natasha's death was something that ate away at her inside, but even so… she was a little happy for her. If she was the Natasha they knew, it was really nice to see her alive and happy.
"Where's Mjölnir?" asked Thor as he raised his hand… but nothing happened.
…
In another universe, Loki held the hammer with a proud grin. He had just pulled off the greatest prank in the world.
"Nothing's gonna happen from changing this timeline? Isn't that breaking the time rules?" Harry asked.
"The moment I stepped in, the TVA showed up," Stephen said calmly. "But I kicked them out and sealed this timeline. They can't touch it."
"I'm sure we'll come back… so this is for the best," Natasha commented.
"I left a little gift for my poor self," added Wanda with an angelic smile. "I have love, and she deserves it too."
"You brought someone back from the dead?! Whoa! I'm telling my grandma you do necromancy," Stephen teased.
"Technically, it's a robot. I didn't bring anyone back. I just put the stone on his head," Wanda defended herself.
"Aren't we supposed to return the stones to the past?" asked Natasha.
"Timeline's sealed. Can't do it. Maybe we'll mess up other timelines… but meh, there are plenty," Stephen answered with a shrug.
"Did you just kidnap us?" Pepper snapped, furious, glaring at young Tony.
"Technically, it was their idea," Tony said, pointing to his "brothers," who all pretended not to hear anything.
"I think my fiancée is calling me," said Stephen before bolting suspiciously fast.
"I don't care about your talk. I'm now worthy to be king!" Loki exclaimed, spinning the hammer proudly.
"Come on, little Morgan," said Natasha, taking the confused girl's hand. "I'll show you around while your mom scolds the bad boy."
"I… well, I have no excuse. I'm just gonna go," Harry said before vanishing.
"By the way, technically Tony is underage now. So be careful," said Wanda with a giggle before disappearing with a "pop."
Tony watched everyone leave… then turned to the angry Pepper.
"My brothers… are everything I didn't ask for. But now I've got to put up with them," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
It didn't help.
...….
Hahaha, writing these idiots at their peak is an absolute pleasure. But yeah, this is the end. Don't ask for more, because the temptation to come back is real. Better to let the main story stay true to itself—no detours, no regrets.
Later on, I'll dive into another one with multiversal travels, but for now, there are four stories demanding my attention.
And in case you hadn't noticed, the Storm Children in the Dragonborn Comes specials are, without exaggeration, the very embodiment of these lunatics' madness.
The end. THE END. DONE.
(Or… is it? 👀)