Chapter 289: Billionaire's Stupefaction

Chapter 289: Billionaire's Stupefaction

As usual, If you wish to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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3rd March 2013, New York City

(Tony Stark POV)

Tony Stark liked his life. Yes, his father was a shit parent, but his mother made up for whatever warmth and attention he needed and more. Sure, Tony liked to party and mess around as a form of rebellion against his father's authority, a desperate attempt to gain his attention and maybe even his approval, but it never worked. After his parents' death, he continued this lifestyle not knowing how to proceed, but after what happened in Afghanistan, his eyes were opened to how empty his life truly was.

And look at him now, he's still the same narcissistic billionaire he always was, but he was in a relationship with a woman he genuinely loved and who loved him back despite his many faults. He is admired by millions if not billions of people all around the world. He had surpassed his father's legacy. When people will hear the word Stark, they'll think of Iron Man, not some washed up World War two manufacturer. Tony Stark cemented his legacy in a way his father never could, and he was damn proud of it.

The only little itch he had was his mother's death. When the Morrigan came to him almost a year ago and told him about the truth of his parents' assassination, he geared up for war. He barely left his labs and continued improving his armor at a ridiculous rate, each one getting better, with a different design or purpose altogether. He was ready to march to war, and then SHIELD fell, taking Hydra with him.

Of course, Tony didn't take the woman's word about the truth of his parents' murder. Tony had immediately gone to the Triskelion pretending to visit Fury and copied the entire SHIELD database. He broke the encryption at his leisure in his home and found a hidden layer of files that even Fury had no access to. It didn't take long to know that it was Hydra.

For a year now, Tony was preparing a list of agents of Hydra and tracked their movements, only for them to slowly die off. The higher ups died suddenly, and SHIELD fell soon after. Whatever remained of the organization disappeared practically overnight, but there were rumors of splintered groups in the underworld for a few months after SHIELD's fall. He hadn't even talked to his teammates about it. They were growing distant as of late. Rogers was busy acclimating to the modern world. God knows whatever Romanoff and Barton did with their days. Bruce kept using his labs to try to revert his condition, and Thor was off world. So much for Earth's mightiest heroes, right?

He had hoped that there was something left for him to take revenge on, but it seemed that the Morrigan had taken care of it. She even healed the guy who was brainwashed to kill his parents. He still didn't feel anything about it, but the woman was ready to give Barnes up just like that. Unfortunately, the damn witch was right, his mother wouldn't want him to take revenge on an innocent.

It didn't matter. The Winter Soldier was dead, and as long as Barnes stayed the hell away from him, the Billionaire wouldn't give a second's thought about the man.

But now, the Morrigan came broke into his office without anyone noticing with a teenager of all things, who she claimed to be a superhero. And for what? Did she expect him to adopt him or something?

As for the kid, it didn't take long for him to figure out who he is. There are a lot of vigilantes running around New York after the incident, with the rise of goons wearing Osborn's little suits that tried to imitate his. Sure, the guy had a few good ideas for using Chitauri tech, but damn, even Obadiah's suit could have destroyed theirs in seconds. It seems like even with alien tech around, Oscorp will always be shit.

Back to the kid, he's obviously Spider-man. His height and build were enough. Tony never cared enough to figure out his identity. The spider themed hero did a lot of good without going too far. He figured out that Spider-man was young from his method of speech, but damn, that Parker kid was fifteen.

Back to the situation, he looked towards the smirking green eyed woman, "He's Spider-man, isn't he?" Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

She nodded, "I met him in his alter ego during the mess with Fury happened. He helped me out a little and I tracked him down, helped with his aunt's money problems as well as gave him a suit."

This was seriously getting ridiculous. Tony asked her incredulously, "You sponsored a fifteen year old to act as a vigilante at night."

"And why is this guy not in jail, why is he even on this planet?"

She shrugged, "He was acquitted because he was under the control of the sceptre in the first place. It's a complicated story, but the one who enslaved him is one of the people who are involved in the crisis. I was tasked to rehabilitate him and train him for Odin's conflict."

"He's responsible for the death of hundreds of people!" Stark exclaimed.

"And he might also help save millions," she retorted, "Do not mistake my courtesy for permissions. I am the protector of this planet, not you, as I have been for thousands of years. I am the one that decides if the godling is allowed to step foot on Earth, and I have already made my decision."

Tony growled back, "And who made you the 'protector of Earth'? what gives you the right to do this?"

The woman did not even blink, "I have saved this planet more times than I could count. You know nothing of the true nature of this world and the dangers that they represent. If not me, then who? You?"

Tony sighed, "The human race has grown up. We don't need a babysitter anymore"

The woman snorted, "We'll see about that. And you better be correct about that, because, after the crisis, you're on your own."

Panicking, Tony replied, "What do you mean, we'll be on our own?"

The Morrigan shrugged, "That's easy. If we don't all end up dead, I'm retiring after the crisis is over. I've had enough of this ungrateful little planet. I swear, if I wasn't bound for thousands of years, I would have left this cursed place a long time ago. And the moment I'm freed, I have this multiversal crisis to deal with because I can't even leave the damn universe to retire. So, yeah, you'll have exactly what you wish for, mortal. You'll be free of me the moment the crisis is over, and we'll see how long you'll survive on your own."

Before he could retort, the woman stood up, "I'm leaving now. I've finished what I've set up to do. Take care of the kid for me and stay out of my way. I'm serious Stark; I don't want anyone involving themselves in the mess with Asgard. You're responsible for doing this. If I find out that anyone is meddling, then it's on your head."

The woman teleported away, ignoring the anti-teleportation shield he acquired from Reed Richards as if it was nothing. The billionaire groaned and palmed his head. This hadn't ended well.

Sighing, he decided to check on the kid. After arriving at the lab, he was surprised by seeing the kid working diligently on some sort of device.

Leaning to take a closer look, Tony's eyes widened when he saw how complex the damn thing was. He expected this kind of work from his top engineers, not a high school freshman. It was a small robot spider that seemed to be capable of flight and could be recharged easily. It seemed to have a great range of movement and cameras that could transmit any feed.

It was pretty much a fancy drone, which was somewhat inefficient to Tony's standards, but it was leagues above what could be expected from a kid Parker's age. After a lot of polishing, the kid could shine. The eager smile on the teenager's face made Tony's heart melt. Perhaps, the Morrigan was right about something after all.

This was going to be fun.

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If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.