-Broadcast-
The scene shifted, filled with the ambient sounds of New York City—traffic, distant conversations, the rustling of leaves. Tony Stark's voice carried through the air, animated and explanatory.
"Slow down, slow down! I'm totally joking!" he said, his tone defensive yet playful.
Pepper Potts's voice responded immediately, sharp with exasperation. "You're giving me a heart attack!"
"I mean, you were supposed to be donning that—"
The camera revealed Central Park in all its autumn glory. Trees lined the walking paths, their leaves painted in shades of gold and amber. Tony and Pepper strolled together along one of the quieter paths, away from the main thoroughfares. Tony was dressed casually—a far cry from his usual suits or armor—and Pepper walked beside him in an elegant coat, a scarf wrapped around her neck.
"You know what I actually want?" Tony continued, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "I want to tell you—look, remember when you had the dream where you're standing in sort of, like, sun-type public underwear, in the middle of, like, a Cineplex or something?"
Pepper's expression softened with recognition. "You have that dream all the time?"
"Everybody has that! And in the dream, you're thinking, 'Oh, this is just a dream. I'll wake up, it'll be fine.' But then you actually wake up—"
"And you realize you actually ARE standing in your underwear," Pepper finished, a small smile tugging at her lips despite herself.
"Yes! Exactly!" Tony walked ahead slightly, then turned around to face her while walking backward, his eyes bright with enthusiasm. "That's what I'm talking about. Last night, I had a dream. We had a kid. It was so real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?"
"Right. Morgan," Pepper said flatly, her head tilting down as if she couldn't quite believe they were having this conversation.
"Morgan," Tony repeated with a nod. "So you woke up—"
Pepper looked at him, her expression caught somewhere between amusement and concern. "Naturally."
"—and thought we were—"
"Expecting," Pepper supplied.
"Yeah!" Tony's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
Pepper closed her eyes briefly, taking a breath. "Yes."
"I had a dream about it," Tony pressed, leaning forward slightly. "It was so real."
Pepper stopped walking and turned to face him fully. Her voice was gentle but firm. "If you wanted to have a kid, you wouldn't have done that."
She reached up and unwound the scarf from around Tony's neck, then tapped her fingers against the arc reactor housing visible beneath his shirt—the nanoreactor that powered his latest armor technology.
Tony glanced down at it, then back up at her. "I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nanoparticles."
Pepper's eyebrows rose skeptically. "You're not helping your case, okay?"
"No, no, it's an attachment. It's not a—"
"You don't need that," Pepper said seriously, holding his gaze.
Tony's expression sobered slightly. "I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us. And future us, and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet instead of, you know—"
"Shirts," Pepper interjected.
Tony's face broke into a grin. "You know me so well. You finish all my sentences."
"You should have shirts in your closet," Pepper said, fighting a smile.
Tony stepped closer, his voice dropping to something more intimate. "Yeah. You know what there should be? No more surprises. We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight. Show off this Harry Winston. Right?" He lifted her left hand gently, bringing attention to the elegant diamond engagement ring on her finger—the same ring Happy had carried in his pocket during the events after the Vulture incident.
Pepper's expression softened completely as she looked at the ring, then back at Tony.
"And we should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you—"
"Yes!" Pepper said, her voice warm.
"I will," Tony said earnestly, leaning in to kiss her.
Their lips met in a tender moment, the chaos of their lives seeming to fade away for just that instant. The kiss lingered, sweet and full of promise—
"Tony Stark," a strange, authoritative voice suddenly announced from behind them.
Both Tony and Pepper broke apart, startled. Tony's body went tense, his hand instinctively moving toward Pepper in a protective gesture as he spun around.
A circular portal of golden sparks stood on the pathway behind them, hanging in the air like a doorway to another dimension. Through it, the interior of a building was visible—ornate architecture, mystical decorations, and notably, a destroyed staircase with rubble everywhere.
From this portal stepped a man in elaborate robes—red, with a high collar and intricate patterns. A blue tunic showed beneath, and around his neck hung a peculiar amulet that seemed to contain something glowing. A crimson cloak hung from his shoulders, moving slightly as if alive.
"I'm Doctor Stephen Strange," the man said without preamble, his tone businesslike. "I need you to come with me."
Tony and Pepper stared at him, completely bewildered. Tony's mind was already racing—assessing the threat level, calculating whether he needed to call his armor, wondering if this was some kind of attack.
Strange seemed to realize his timing might have been poor. He tilted his head slightly, his expression softening just a fraction. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."
Tony's eyes narrowed, his protective instincts fully engaged. "I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?"
Strange ignored the sarcasm entirely, his expression grave. "We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."
Tony's jaw tightened. "And who's 'we'?"
Before Strange could answer, another figure emerged from behind him, stepping through the portal. This one was much more familiar—a man with dark, slightly graying hair, wearing tattered clothes that hung loosely on his frame. His expression was haggard, exhausted, haunted by whatever he'd witnessed.
"Hey, Tony," Bruce Banner said, his voice rough.
Tony's entire demeanor changed instantly. Surprise flooded his features. "Bruce?"
Banner's gaze shifted to Pepper. "Pepper."
Without hesitation, Banner walked forward and wrapped his arms around Tony in a tight embrace. It was the hug of someone who'd been through hell and finally found something familiar and safe.
Tony returned the hug immediately, his hands coming up to grip Banner's shoulders. "You okay?"
-Real World-
"Time has changed! For Banner, it was only a short period of time, but so much happened!"
"We're getting married?" Tony and Pepper looked at each other, then thought of what happened in No Way Home and realized that this happened after that.
"Morgan! This name sounds good!" Thor, who came up from downstairs, praised.
Tony turned his head to look at him. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Thor nodded and walked to the sofa and sat down.
"What is Hela's attitude?" Natasha looked at him curiously.
Thor shrugged. "She doesn't agree with what I said! But it doesn't matter. We still have time!"
Nick Fury narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm afraid we don't have that much time! Once Thanos figures out how we turned defeat into victory, he'll definitely prevent this from happening again!"
Tony was naturally aware of this. He turned his head and looked to the other side, where several mechanical arms were assembling a brand new battle armor.
Referring to the energy emitted by the Power Stone, he planned to create a Mark Armor that could carry six Infinity Stones. According to the order, it should be named Mark 18!
The only problem was that he could not guarantee that the Mark 18, which was made of rare materials such as vibranium, uru steel, and mandrake metal, could really bear all the energy for him.
He would always remember that he died from the backlash of immense energy, so he was very cautious about it. He didn't want to die yet!
This was also another purpose of Strange and Wanda being here, to use their magic to help Tony complete further enchantment, using the dual means of technology + magic to build this latest set of armor!