Chapter 316: Take Care of Morgan for Me
"RUN!" A sudden shout cracked through the air like thunder, snapping Tony instantly out of his indecision.
He spun around and spotted Ant-Man, tiny as a speck of dust, streaking through the wind — with the ugly mutt he'd sneered at earlier, Deadpool Dog, in hot pursuit right behind him.
Naturally, Tobey-Peter had already spotted the ant-sized human being chased down by Deadpool Dog and immediately understood: an intruder.
Not that Tobey-Peter had any idea yet that the "Tony" standing right in front of him was an intruder too.
He shot forward, snatched Ant-Man out of the air, and activated his suit's flight mode.
But just as they climbed into the sky, Ant-Man let out an urgent warning: "Look out!"
Before Tony could even react, a bolt of lightning split the air, and a figure appeared before them with terrifying speed.
Pietro. Tapping into his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability, he closed the distance in an instant and drove a brutal kick straight into Tony.
The force behind it was staggering — neither Tony nor Ant-Man could withstand it, and both were slammed straight down into the ground.
"Well, this is bad. Guess we got made." Future-Tony had taken the hit hard, but his suit's shield had absorbed most of the impact, leaving him unhurt.
After all, this future version of the Mark armor had been through more upgrades than he could count by now.
Still, staring up at the ring of superheroes now surrounding him, Tony felt the pressure mounting fast.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on, everyone — it's me, Tony! This is just a misunderstanding — this is just some new gadget I threw together!" Future-Tony tried playing off the tension by pretending to be this universe's own Tony.
The words had barely left his mouth when a familiar voice cut through the crowd.
"If you're Tony... then who am I?"
Future-Tony knew that voice better than he knew his own. He turned — and there stood this universe's own Tony Stark.
This world's Tony pulled off his helmet, staring with visible complexity at the identical Mark armor in front of him, complete with the exact same miniature arc reactor glowing in the chest.
The moment this universe's Tony appeared, future-Tony could immediately feel several distinct presences lock onto him at once — the pressure was suffocating.
Just as future-Tony was scrambling to figure a way out of this mess, this world's Tony suddenly clapped him on the shoulder, tone light and easy. "Ah, I get it now. You're a fan of mine, huh? Not bad work, kid — getting the suit to actually fly, and that little arc reactor's a scarily good copy. Though, not gonna lie, my color scheme's better than yours. Mine's just nicer to look at."
There was, admittedly, a subtle difference between future-Tony's Mark armor and this world's version.
Future-Tony felt a wave of relief wash over him — clearly, this world's Tony had mistaken him for nothing more than an overzealous fan.
Sure, being mistaken for a fan of another version of himself stung his pride a little, but to avoid any unnecessary trouble, future-Tony just nodded along.
This world's Tony kept going. "So — where do you want the autograph? Gotta say, your work's impressive. Ever think about coming to work for Stark Industries? People try to copy my look all the time, but this is the first time I've seen anyone pull it off THIS convincingly. You're clearly one of my biggest fans — no doubt about it."
Then he waved off the rest of Hell's Kitchen's crew gathering nearby. "It's fine, just a fan of mine. Go on in without me — I'll catch up with him a bit longer."
Listening to this universe's Tony being this shamelessly full of himself, future-Tony couldn't help but feel a flash of secondhand embarrassment.
So this is what I used to be like, he thought, wincing internally. But to keep his cover intact, all he could do was nod along and let this world's Tony scrawl an autograph across his Mark armor.
Once he'd finished signing, this world's Tony clapped him on the shoulder again, and this time looked him dead in the eye, serious.
For one heart-stopping moment, future-Tony was certain he'd just been made.
But a second later, this world's Tony simply pulled him into a tight hug — then turned and walked straight into the Lucky Dragon without another word.
Both future-Tony and future-Ant-Man let out a long breath of relief.
"Guess your eyesight's not what it used to be in this universe — didn't even recognize your own self," future-Ant-Man teased quietly, equal parts amused and grateful they hadn't been exposed.
"You really think he didn't recognize me?" Future-Tony wasn't at all sure whether that other version of himself had genuinely missed it — or simply chosen to play along.
Either way, it didn't matter anymore. Just as the two of them turned to leave, this world's Tony paused at the entrance to the Lucky Dragon and called back over his shoulder, without turning around:
"Take care of Morgan."
Both future-Tony and future-Ant-Man froze at that. Ant-Man's eyes went wide.
They both understood instantly: their cover had never actually held. Morgan was future-Tony's daughter's name.
"Holy crap — he DID know it was us," Ant-Man said, stunned.
Future-Tony just stared toward the Lucky Dragon, his expression a tangle of complicated feelings.
Of course he figured it out. A man that sharp — there was never any real chance he wouldn't. What future-Tony couldn't figure out was why this world's Tony had chosen to help him.
He had no idea, either, how this universe's Tony even knew about Morgan's existence in the first place — by this point in the timeline, he hadn't even married Pepper yet. It left future-Tony deeply curious about this whole universe. Everyone in it seemed to carry some kind of impossible foresight.
None of that mattered right now, though. They needed to get to the rendezvous point, fast.
Their own mission here had failed. Time to go check how Banner and Captain America's end of things had gone.
Inside the Lucky Dragon.
"Why didn't you call him out on it? Don't you want to ask your own future self a few questions?" Doc Ock asked, genuinely curious, turning to Tony.
Doc Ock had figured out the truth the moment he'd seen the Mark armor — he'd clocked future-Tony and Ant-Man's arrival the instant they showed up.
"Nah. Our futures aren't the same anyway," Tony said, his tone carrying more weight than the words let on.
"Wait, what are you guys even talking about?? Wasn't that just Mr. Stark's fan a second ago? Wasn't it?" The only person in the whole restaurant still completely lost was Tobey-Peter, utterly baffled by what had just happened.
At that, the entire Lucky Dragon erupted into laughter.
Meanwhile, over at S.H.I.E.L.D. —
Future-Captain-America was running into some trouble of his own. He'd just come face to face with someone wearing his exact uniform — unmistakably Captain America — except this one was a woman.
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