I walked down the dirt path that led to a lone grave. I came to a stop with the grave just in the distance. I could read the name "Anthony Edward Stark'' on the gravestone from where I stood. There was a young man standing by the grave. My brows furrowed. All I could see was the back of his head and I didn't recognize him. Occasionally, some members of the Avengers would also visit Tony's grave. I just don't recognize this one.
I continued to walk and stopped once I was next to the young man. In the corner of my eye I saw the young man turn his head. I could see him go tense. The guy was definitely on the young side. He looked to be seventeen to eighteen years old. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slim build. Something about him seemed awfully familiar but I don't recall meeting him before.
"Did you know Tony?" I finally spoke. I turned my head to him. The guy opened his mouth but no words came out. He cleared his throat before trying again.
"Uh, n-no. I just huh…really looked up to Iron Man, you know?" His voice struck a chord with me. I've heard that voice before. I know that voice.
I kept an impassive expression on my face, "Yeah, I know. A lot of people around your age were just kids when Iron Man first showed up." The guy nodded.
"I was only eight. I got to meet Iron Man when I was nine." I raised my brows at that.
"Really?" The guy grew a lighthearted smile. He stared back at the gravestone.
"My aunt took me to the Stark Expo in 2009 that was held in Queens. I got saved by Iron Man that day. I've been a huge fan since." He continued to stare at the gravestone. My eyes narrowed slightly at him.
I remember when that happened. I wasn't there since I was in my senior year of MIT at that time. The Stark Expo was interrupted by an attack. That all happened years before the Avengers. Hell it was before Thor showed up, before Steve was found in the ice, and before I got my powers.
Still, every fiber of my being is telling me I know this guy. He mentioned an aunt and lives in Queens. Who do I know that ha…oh my god. A small smirk formed on my face. I know who he is, just when he has his mask on.
"I remember that day. I wasn't there personally. I was too busy at MIT. You know, after Tony passed away and Steve retired. The public began questioning who would be the next Captain America and the next Iron Man." I started to say. The guy turned back to me. He had a curious look in his eyes.
"Steve hand picked Sam to be the next Captain America and now he is. Nobody has stepped up to take Tony's spot." The guy now fully turned his body to me.
"A lot of people were expecting you to take his spot. It made the most sense. Voltess and Iron Man were a duo in the Avengers." I shook my head.
"I can't take that mantle but in reality I don't think anyone can fill the shoes Tony left. The world thinks they need another Iron Man but I don't think they need that. This world has other amazing heroes that will step up to protect it. Like Spiderman." I smirked and looked at the guy. His body immediately tensed up.
"So this is how you look under the mask huh?" Spiderman's jaw dropped and he began to stutter.
"U-uh. Um…how'd you..?" He trailed off completely shocked.
I chuckled, "I may not recognize your face but I recognize your voice. That and you mentioned you had an aunt and lived in Queens. I've known Spiderman since 2016. So, what do I call you outside the suit? I can't call you Spiderman." Spiderman gave a sigh and had his lips in a firm line.
"Peter Parker." He said just above a whisper but I was able to hear him.
I held my hand out, "Nice to meet you Peter Parker. Melody Wayne." Peter looked at my hand before making eye contact. I gave him a reassuring smile and he returned it with a small smile.
He grabbed my hand in a handshake, "Nice to meet you too." He stopped shaking my hand.
"Huh, could you do me a favor and not tell anybody about who I am behind the mask?" Peter asked and folded his arms.
"Don't worry, I won't. I'm pretty good at keeping secret identities to myself." I gave a wink to Peter and he let out a light laugh.
"The whole world knows you're Voltess." He countered.
"This world does but a different world doesn't. By the way, I wanted to thank you for helping Dick last week. He wouldn't tell me everything you two talked about but he said you gave him a wake up call that he needed." I thanked Peter.
Peter nodded, "He seemed lost. I've been there before. I just gave him some advice I wish I knew back then." Peter answered honestly.
I gave a small smile and turned to look back at Tony's gravestone, "We all get lost sometimes." I stated with a sadness to my tone.
Peter gave me a solemn look and gazed at Tony's grave, "I miss him too…a lot. I never really had a male role model in my life after my dad died. Mr. Stark was the closest thing I had to a father." Peter said softly.
My smile grew slightly and an empty laugh escaped from me, "Tony always had a habit of adopting people into his life. He took you in as a surrogate son he never had, and he took me in as a surrogate sister. We were both part of the family Tony created and surrounded himself with." Peter grew a sad smile on his face and gave a light laugh.
"Yeah…he really did."
A moment of silence fell between Peter and I. The silence was interrupted from the sound of my phone vibrating. Peter glanced at me as I pulled my phone from my pocket. It was a text from Bruce.
'America's here.'
I locked my phone and put it back in my pocket, "I gotta get going. My way back home is here." I announced.
Peter gave a brief nod, "It was nice seeing you again, Mel. I've missed our occasional run-ins throughout New York stopping crime." I gave a chuckle.
"Yeah, me too. Do me a favor and keep the streets of New York safe while I'm gone." Peter chuckled and nodded.
"You can count on that."
I placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "Take care of yourself. Alright, Pete?" I followed up softly.
Peter's eyes widened slightly before giving a grin. He surprised me by suddenly embracing me into a hug. I had my arms hanging in the air and I looked down at Peter in shock.
"You're like the older sister I never had, Mel." I heard Peter murmur under his breath. A soft smile replaced my shocked expression. I returned the hug and patted his back before pulling away.
"I'll try to visit more often. Who knows the next time I'm here I might have another person for everyone to meet." Peter's grin was back.
"You're going to make a really good mom, Mel. I can't wait to meet the little guy or girl." I gave a wave goodbye and turned around as I walked away. I could feel Peter's gaze on my back as I left.
I approached the lake house cabin where I could see everyone waiting just in front of the porch. Pepper, Morgan, and Happy stood side by side next to America. Bruce had both of our bags with Dick next to him with his own bag.
"You ready?" Bruce asked me. I nodded and stopped just next to him and Dick. I looked at America but I didn't see Wong anywhere.
"How'd you get here, America? I don't see Wong. Can you make your own portals now?" I questioned her.
America opened her mouth but another voice beat her to it, "Not exactly." A grin formed on my face as I turned around. Dr. Stephen Strange stood there with a small smirk on his face.
"Well, look who decided to take a break from the multiverse and say hi. Kind of a last minute entrance there." I teased him. Stephen's smirk grew and he gave a chuckle.
"You know me. I enjoy making a spectacle of things." I rolled my eyes at the comment.
"Wong managed to get a hold of me and told me you and your family were visiting. I was able to get away for a little bit to see you off. I actually had a conversation with Bruce here before you arrived." I raised a brow and looked at Bruce.
"Really? How'd that go?" I questioned.
Bruce smiled, "Fine." My expression turned blank from the one word answer.
"Okay, you guys ready?" America asked us. We gave a nod and she reeled back her arm. She punched the air and a star-shaped portal opened up. It revealed the penthouse just ahead. Dick walked through the portal first. Bruce was behind him and stopped before entering. He turned to me. I took a step forward but was stopped.
"Aunt Mel?" I looked down to see Morgan had walked up. I kneeled down to her level.
"What's up, squirt?" Morgan gave a sad look and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"I'm going to miss you." I hugged her back before pulling her back at arms length.
"I'll miss you too, squirt. Tell you what, I'll make a point to come visit you on every birthday. How's that sound?" A small smile replaced the frown on the six year old's face.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Cross your heart?" I grinned and a light laugh escaped me.
I crossed my finger over my chest, "Cross my heart." Morgan grinned and embraced me one more time.
I hugged her tight, "I love you, squirt." I whispered.
"I love you, 3000." She replied back.
I pulled back and ruffled her hair with my hand as I stood back up. Pepper approached from behind Morgan. She placed her hands on the shoulders of her daughter.
Pepper gave me a smile, "Don't get into too much trouble." She teased. I rolled my eyes and headed for the portal again.
"Bruce," Bruce turned to Pepper, "Take care of her." Bruce gave a reassuring smile.
"I will." He said and both of us stepped through the portal. It closed behind us as we did. I looked over my shoulder to see the towering buildings of Gotham in the distance.
"Welcome home madam, Master Grayson, Master Wayne." I turned back around to see Alfred. He gave us warm welcoming smile.
"It's good to be back home, Alfred. You should have come. We all missed you. Mel's world was incredible." Bruce commented. He glanced at me as he said it. We smiled at each other.
"I shall have to go with you next time then." The butler stated.
"Here Alfred, this is for you." Dick dug in his pack and grabbed out a golf head cover with the Voltess symbol on it. Right, forgot about all the souvenirs he brought with him. He got some for practically everybody we know…I'm never gonna hear the end of it from Arthur.
"Why thank you Master Grayson. What does this symbol mean?" Alfred asked as he took the head cover.
"It's the symbol for Voltess in mom's world." Alfred suddenly froze and stared at Dick wide eyed. The old man's eyes glanced up to me and I gave him a smile.
"You missed a lot. We'll catch you up." I told him. Alfred gave a heartfelt smile. He glanced back at the deep purple golf head cover with the golden 'V' and lightning bolt going through it.
"Here I thought Voltess didn't have a symbol. I'll have to make a note to start engraving it on your disks from here on out." I rolled my eyes.
"You don't have to. I'm not as literal with my symbol as some people here." I teased and gave a sideways glance to Bruce. The said man rolled his eyes back at me with a slight frown on his face.
Alfred smirk, "I insist, madam, it'll be a good change of pace for me. Heavens only know we need something to balance out all of the black and bat symbolism." Bruce took a deep breath before letting out a huff.
"I take it back, Alfred. I haven't missed you." Bruce muttered and walked by the butler. Alfred and I shared a grin and chuckled. It felt good to be back home.
Elsewhere…
EARTH 838
A man typed away at the digital keypad on the thin screen. His dark brown hair is currently unkempt and bags were visible below his brown eyes. He removed one hand from the screen to scratch his skin under his itchy grown out beard.
"Come on…where is it?" He muttered out loud. He searched through the files of the computer. He tapped on a file and the man smirked seeing the surveillance video recordings file. He tapped on it to open and was immediately met with a secure password requirement.
The man swore just under his breath. His brows furrowed as he thought about what could possibly be the password. He leaned back in the chair and looked around the desk in front of him. His eyes suddenly fell on a family photo that stood on the desk.
The photo was of a man, woman, and two children. One being a little boy and the other a little girl. The man had brown hair and a full beard while the woman had long blonde hair. The children looked like exact copies of them. The man's eyes lingered on the woman's photo.
The man leaned forward and typed in his guess for the password. He pressed the enter key and the file unlocked. The man let out a scoff.
"Could you be any more obvious, Richards?" The man muttered and began to open the videos from Ultron's database.
The man sat back and watched the footage from that day. The day the rest of his friends were killed for trying to defend their universe. All he knew was that an entity from Earth 616 called the Scarlet Witch walked in and destroyed all of Ultron's bots. Then she killed all of the members of the Illuminati except for Mordo.
He was saddened hearing of their deaths but that's not why he's searching for the footage. Scarlet Witch only came to their universe because she was seeking out a powerful individual.
The man's eyes landed on the teenage girl stuck in the fish tank-like jail cell. He paused the footage and zoomed in. She's the answer.
The light suddenly turned on in the office. The man squinted his eyes at the sudden light.
"Tony?" A woman's voice said out loud with confusion to her tone.
The facial features of Tony Stark were now clearly seen. He looked up at the red headed scientist.
"Christine, long time. How's it been?" The woman's shock was quickly replaced with a frown.
"What are you doing in Reed's old office? Nobody's supposed to be in here until Mordo elects new Illuminati members." Tony frowned at the woman and stood up.
"I have my own objective. I'm just here to get answers and I'll be gone." Christine sighed and gave the man a sympathetic look.
"You know Mordo tried looking for you after what happened. You and Stephen helped create the Illuminati to begin with. He wanted your help again." Tony shook his head. His frown deepened as he did.
"You know why I can't come back." He lifted his arms up, "I hate being here in this building to begin with. There are so many memories inside these walls. Memories with her." Tony's face cracked as his eyes watered.
"Then why are you here?" Christine asked, confused. Tony grabbed the paused image and threw it on the bigger screen. Christine frowned seeing America Chavez on the frozen image.
Tony pointed to her, "This girl has natural born powers that allow her to jump from one universe to the next. Richards and the others wanted to bring her in because they feared an incursion happening to our universe. It's been two months since she and the other Stephen left." Tony moved his hands in the motion of an 'X'.
"Nothing has happened and I have a theory that it has to do with her powers being a natural occurrence. Not made by dark magic like with the Darkhold." Tony walked around the desk and stumbled. He caught himself and held his hand up to stop Christine trying to help him.
"I've been thinking the same thing. Why are you looking into this, Tony?" Christine asked hesitantly.
Tony pointed at America, "This girl is the answer I've been searching for. She's gone here on Earth 838 but I know for a fact she's alive on Earth 616. I know this because there is a recording of when Stephen Strange from Earth 616 was being interrogated." Tony's lip quivered as he let his hand fall to his side.
"He said her name. Melody Moser is alive where he's from." Tony's voice sounded broken as he said his best friend's name.