3.
"The Multiverse?" she repeated, blinking back at them in confusion. "Yeah, I've heard of it, Tony had some theories. Makes sense though, like this morning I had toast for breakfast, and in one of my hundreds of thousands of other lives I had cereal and it changed everything, and so on..."
"Okay, true, but more importantly-" Strange swept back his cloak and sat upon the couch, Kat sitting next to him. "We've recently had quite the experience with the Multiverse, quite the adventure. You know Wanda-"
"Maximoff? The witch? My fellow Jewish Sokovian and Avenger? That Wanda?"
"Yeah, Wanda. She broke open the Multiverse in search of her kids-"
"Wait, she has kids too?"
"Yeah, long story. But she wanted to kill our new friend, America Chavez, because she can open portals through the Multiverse."
"Anywhere out there?" Kass gestured wildly but vaguely.
"Anywhere," he confirmed, mirroring her gestures.
"We went to Earth 838," Kat added. "And we're here on Earth 616. So there's at least eight-hundred-and-thirty-eight other universes, but likely hundreds more."
Kass stared back at them. "Why are you telling me this?" They stared back. She choked on a sob. "Oh my God - he's out there-"
"Yes," Stephen confirmed. "Yes he is."
"We know this is a lot to take in," Kat sympathized. "A real information dump. Maybe you should sit and have some tea and something to eat, allow yourself to absorb this new information-"
"No, I don't want tea, I want to go, now." Kass was suddenly on her feet.
The two Sorcerers - Wizards - exchanged a glance. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, more than anything. And not just for myself, but for Morgan, and for Tony."
"I have felt the weight of Stark's loss ever since the battle," Stephen admitted. "But it was the only way."
"I know, out of fourteen million six hundred and five."
"Yes. We won in that one."
"Yeah, but someone always loses."
"But maybe in another, you can win."
Kass's heart was thundering wildly. "Take me to her, your friend," she said, absolutely decided. "Let's burst open the Multiverse."
"I love it that I'm babysitter when you get to go out and be badass with your cool superhero friends," Regina said when Kass summoned her for emergency babysitting.
"You love spending time with Maguna."
"I do, but I can be pretty badass too."
"I know you can. But this is where you're needed right here, right now."
"Fine, go, be cool, and bring your baby daddy back so your baby can have a daddy and you can have your man and you can all be a family."
"So we can all be a family."
"Sounds good to me, Sis."
Suited up in her Iron Shadow suit that Tony had made especially for her, compete with armour, weapons, and invisi-tech so she could suddenly disappear if she needed to, Kass joined the sorcerers to meet their friend at their Wizarding World base in Nepal.
"Hi, I'm America!" a smiley teenager greeted her, wearing robes like Kat and Stephen.
"Nice to meet you America, I'm Kass."
"Nice to meet you too!"
"You ever met a Tony?"
"Tony Stark? No, but I have heard whispers of him."
The sorcerers led her deep into the compound.
"I always thought I struggled with my powers," America explained. "But Stephen and Kat helped me to see that I've actually been in control of them all along." She grinned. "So, where do you want to go?"
Kass, with the help of Kat and Stephen, explained her whole situation, America listening intently.
"Okay, a couple of things first - there are some rules of travelling through the Multiverse: one, assume you know nothing. And two, find food, preferably pizza."
"And don't cause an incursion," Stephen added.
"Okay, what's an incursion?"
"Two universes hurling towards one another, resulting in either one or both being destroyed."
"Oh..."
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll do my best." Then she asked the question burning on her tongue, and that had been ever since hearing of their Multiversal adventure. "Was there a Tony in the universe you visited? Earth 838? Did you see him?"
"There were signs of him, but not him himself."
Kass nodded and tried to ignore the squeezing in her stomach. She was very nervous - not about finding him, but about losing him, all over again. She couldn't bear it.
"Okay so we need a universe under specific circumstances. One where I'm alive but not in the picture - I don't want to steal him from my other self. And one, of course, where he's alive."
America nodded. "Right, I can do that."
Then Kass realized something. "Wait, how will I get back here, to this universe?"
"We already thought of that-" With a flourish Kat produced an item from her robes: a piece of interwoven metal that looked both ancient and modern at the same time. "When you need to reach us here, just turn the top pieces on this device and it will send a signal out to us here at Kamar Taj and we can get America to open the door for you."
"Okay. So I'll guard this with my life then." She tucked it into her pack. "Okay, well, I think that's it..." This was happening, this was really happening. She was really doing this. Here I come, Tony.
"Okay, stand back-" America held her hands together, one fist enclosed in the palm of the other. Then she threw out her fist and punched the air - a sharp, electric blue light shot forward, bursting out in front of them in a star shape - an opening. An opening in reality, in the fabric of reality itself.
"Wow," Kass breathed. "Nice."
America's grin widened. "Thanks!" she called over the crackling of her conjured portal gateway. "It's all yours!"
"Good luck," called Kat.
"Thanks." Kass stepped forward and the portal swallowed her whole.
Yay, Stephen, Kat and America are just a few of the many cameos to come! ;) Goodbye for now Earth 616!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)