Before leaving the Marvel Universe last time, Fang Yuan's biggest change was planting a mental suggestion in the Winter Soldier, giving the Ancient One a chance to save the Howards.
Fang Yuan skimmed the data Athena had pulled on Tony and saw that Howard and Maria had died in a car crash in 1991; their ashes were currently resting in a cemetery.
So Fang Yuan was curious what method the Ancient One had used.
"You're saying the soul of my brother is inside this little jar?"
In a hidden chamber beneath the Himalayas, Fang Yuan held a rune-covered vial, his expression odd as he asked.
Turns out what was in the cemetery really was his good brother's ashes.
Because Tony Stark had become Iron Man, Howard had instantly been promoted to the rank of Fang Yuan's "good brother" as well.
And the second vial sitting beside it naturally held the soul of Howard's wife—Tony's mother, Maria.
Fang Yuan had assumed the Ancient One would magic up a body double or something; he hadn't expected her to be so direct—she'd simply yanked the souls of his good brother and sister-in-law right out.
"I preserved them carefully; you only need to provide a body and place the soul inside—they'll wake up," the Ancient One explained.
Fang Yuan frowned. "Creating a body is no problem, but even accelerating growth, it won't be ready this fast."
Although he'd once grown a clone of himself, that one had used the Kryptonian ship from the Flash Universe and hadn't taken long.
With his current knowledge he could still hand-craft a clone, but only from an embryo; rushing the maturation might leave defects. After all, it was for his good brother—he didn't want to cut corners.
A certain Russian Bear of a man was already on his way to beat up his big nephew; missing that plotline would be a shame.
The Ancient One had her own solution. Her fingers formed seals, and the pendant at her neck opened, spilling green light.
"The Time Stone?" Fang Yuan's eyes lit up. "Brilliant!"
So Fang Yuan seized the moment, using Athena right there to start editing genes.
He naturally didn't have Howard's DNA on hand, but while Howard was gone, Howard's son was very much around.
With the Ancient One present, getting a blood sample from Tony would be simple; using the big nephew's genome as a blueprint to build the nephew a dad sounded rather nice.
Just as he was about to ask, the Ancient One produced two more glass tubes, each containing some crimson blood.
Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me this is my good brother and his wife's blood?"
The Ancient One inclined her head.
"Worthy of the true Sorcerer Supreme—head and shoulders above those later two who couldn't even afford sandwiches," Fang Yuan marveled.
The Ancient One kept her polite smile, though the corner of her mouth twitched twice.
She knew nothing of the Infinity War, yet she could guess which two successors he meant.
"Kamar-Taj mages do not chase material things," she said, salvaging dignity for her pupils.
With Howard's blood sample, things moved quickly; Fang Yuan drafted the clone's detailed blueprint at once.
Howard had been seventy-four at death; Fang Yuan naturally wouldn't age the clone to seventy-plus. He set Howard's bodily age at forty-five—just a bit older than Tony.
On top of that he gave his good brother a little extra love.
He slipped a dash of Super-Soldier Serum into the clone's genes—not enough to reach Captain America levels, but enough to make Howard far stronger than an ordinary man.
With Athena's computing power, the optimal gene-tweak plan was simulated in moments, complete equipment lists generated; Fang Yuan only needed to pick them up around the globe.
So, a week later, Tony Stark's dad was born.
After Fang Yuan checked the infant and confirmed no issues, the Ancient One cracked open the eye of agamotto, and the Time Stone's energy enveloped the body.
Then Tony's dad grew up.
One year… three… twelve… twenty-five… In barely two minutes Howard lived through forty-five normal years, transforming from a tiny baby into a middle-aged man.
Fang Yuan looked closely; Howard now closely matched his memory. Thanks to the super-soldier genes, the forty-five-year-old Howard only looked slightly more mature than he had at thirty.
Considerately—perhaps to spare everyone's eyes—the Ancient One draped a blanket over Howard, preventing any awkwardness.
Otherwise rumors of a bald woman hiding a naked man in a cave would spread, and the title of Sorcerer Supreme would be beyond salvage.
Fang Yuan produced the soul vial and, about to open it, cautiously asked, "This is definitely Howard, right? Not accidentally Maria?"
The Ancient One narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"We have this."
The eye of agamotto at her chest glowed faintly green.
Fang Yuan laughed wordlessly; even the Ancient One could crack a joke. In his mind, the Sorcerer Supreme, while not overly stern, usually acted rather old-school.
The Ancient One's lips curved slightly; if Wang had seen it he would have fussed again, because the Sorcerer Supreme he usually served only ever offered a polite smile—yet this time her grin carried a unmistakable hint of personal feeling.
Fang Yuan noticed, but Professor X's Telepathy had no effect on the Ancient One, so the reason remained unknown to him.
Still, Fang Yuan guessed it had something to do with that Dark Affinity Aura again; after all, the Ancient One had absorbed plenty of energy from the Dark Dimension.
He decisively uncapped the bottle. Once Fang Yuan coated his eyes with magic, he saw his transparent best friend drift out of the flask; with a light tap of her finger, the Ancient One sent the soul straight into the body.
Seconds later, Howard's eyes slowly opened, blank and unfocused.
It took a long while for clarity to return; only then did he recall the last thing that had happened before he lost consciousness.
"Maria!"
He shouted and sat bolt upright, then immediately realized something was off.
"My voice?"
He looked at his hands—they were definitely not the aged ones he remembered. Only then did he glance around, and suddenly jumped in fright.
"You're… Fang?"
Although Fang Yuan had been gone fifty years of his life, the impression he'd left on Howard was deep, the memory razor-sharp.
Yet Fang Yuan had supposedly died, gone missing the same day as Captain America Steve; as a mutual friend, Howard remembered it clearly.
He had even searched for Fang Yuan for a time.
Especially since the man looked almost exactly as he had half a century ago, so Howard blurted, "Am I dead?"
Fang Yuan nodded. "Dead."
Then he shook his head. "But not dead enough."
That settled it for Howard—he was alive.
Still, he regarded the Fang Yuan before him with caution; after all, the real Howard was well over seventy, no longer the thirty-something kid.
For the moment he overlooked the Ancient One.
"But you should be dead," he said to Fang Yuan.
"I just went to another World, and now I'm finally back." Fang Yuan gave a simple explanation.
Howard remained wary, skeptical of the authenticity of the man in front of him.
"How do you prove it?" Howard asked.
Fang Yuan had known that question was coming, so he fired back: "The first night we met you wanted to see who was more of a man, but before we were halfway the noises from next door—"
"Okay! Enough! I believe you!"
Howard rushed over, hastily wrapping the blanket around himself and planting himself between Fang Yuan and the Ancient One.
"A-hem, no need to continue!"
There was, after all, a lady present, and the Ancient One carried herself with classical elegance; Howard didn't want to lose face.
Seeing Fang Yuan's wicked grin, Howard felt himself hurled back to his youth. He exhaled sharply. "Time travel? You've been mysterious from day one."
Clearly, after Fang Yuan's disappearance, Howard had investigated the man's life and found it anything but normal.
"So what happened to me—did you save me? Where's Maria?" he pressed.
"The Sorcerer Supreme saved you." Fang Yuan tilted his head toward the Ancient One. "She preserved your souls and blood; I used tech from another Universe to rebuild your body, then returned your soul to it."
Howard's gaze went vacant.
A lifelong scientist, this was the first time he'd heard that souls were real—and that they'd been used on him!
"Sorcerer Supreme?" He looked from the Ancient One to Fang Yuan. "No wonder you're so mysterious."
Apparently he chalked up all of Fang Yuan's past oddities to the mystical side.
Which, strictly speaking, wasn't wrong.
Howard pressed on, "Then can Maria—?"
Like father like son: both Starks had been playboys in youth, but once married they were utterly devoted.
"Of course, she can be brought back too."
"How old do you want her?"
Howard blurted, "Twenty!"
Men—no explanation needed.
"Tony's forty this year; sure you want to hand him a twenty-year-old mother?" Fang Yuan's reminder dragged Howard back to reality.
"Forty? Then it's… 2010?" Howard caught on at once.
"So I've been dead over a decade," he sighed, finally deciding, "Then make her forty—forty-year-old Maria was gorgeous too… wait."
Howard glanced at the blanket around him and looked up sharply. "Can I operate this alone?"
Fang Yuan shrugged. "I don't mind, but Sorcerer Ancient One has to be present."
"That's fine." The Ancient One was a woman, so Howard didn't care.
His attitude made Fang Yuan pout—old buddies and you're guarding against me?
Afterward Fang Yuan briefed Howard on the current World, focusing mainly on Tony's experiences.
"Slept with every Playboy cover girl?" Howard nodded. "Takes after me."
Fang Yuan and the Ancient One exchanged glances.
"I've told you so much, and the first thing you care about is that?"
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