The red light from the Convergence Core bathed everything in a ghostly glow. The air itself cracked with unstable energy. A constant hum vibrated beneath their feet, like the world itself was shivering.
Tony Stark struggled to sit up, clutching his fractured ribs. His damaged faceplate flickered, revealing one bloodshot eye staring in disbelief.
Beside him, the Stark sister stood—shoulders squared, eyes glowing faintly with arc reactor light inherited from her father's forbidden tech. Her breathing was sharp, steady. Focused.
In front of them, the corrupted Tony—his future self, twisted by regret and rewritten purpose—stood frozen.
But not because of them.
Because of what was coming through the portal.
The energy spiraled outward, swirling like a galaxy devouring itself. From its center emerged a hand—long, skeletal, with metal-plated fingers that ended in blades of cracked quantum crystal. The hand clutched the edge of reality itself and pulled.
Then came the voice—not in words, but in a thousand broken thoughts whispered all at once, echoing inside their minds:
"I was unmade… but now I remember."
A shadow emerged. Its body was a writhing mix of broken armor, torn cloaks, glowing veins, and fragments of shattered timelines embedded like scars. Faces flickered across its chest—Steve, Natasha, Loki, even Thanos—trapped in repeating expressions of horror.
The corrupted Tony gasped, backing away.
"That… that's not supposed to be here."
The Stark sister turned to him.
"You built The Core. What is that thing?"
He shook his head slowly, fear actually showing in his once-iron features.
"That's not a thing. That's every mistake we erased… given form."
The creature stepped out completely, dragging with it a sword forged from the spine of a collapsed timeline. Each footstep echoed like thunder, cracking the very foundation of The Core.
The Stark sister narrowed her eyes, calculating.
"If this is a convergence of broken timelines… that thing might be the rupture."
Suddenly, the monster's gaze snapped to her.
It tilted its head.
And then it spoke, but only to her:
"Daughter of sparks. Flame of the fallen. You are the final piece."
In a blink, it lunged.
Tony jumped in front of her, suit flaring. A blast of arc energy launched from his palm—only to be swatted away like dust.
The blow hit him full-force, slamming him into a collapsing wall of floating debris.
Blood sprayed the air.
"Tony!" she screamed.
But before she could reach him, the corrupted Tony grabbed her arm.
"You don't understand. You're not here to stop this."
She shoved him back, fury boiling in her veins.
"Then why am I here?!"
He whispered one word:
"To awaken."
Suddenly—her arc reactor pulsed uncontrollably. Blue veins of energy streaked up her arms. She dropped to her knees, clutching her head as memories that weren't hers began to flood in.
Images of a hidden vault in Stark Tower.
A hidden lab… and a bio-cloned embryo.
Her.
She was never born. She was built.
The corrupted Tony knelt beside her, holding her face.
"I tried to protect you from this truth. But Oblivion saw your existence and remembered the divergence. You are the spark that split the timelines. You are the reason the Endgame was broken."
Tears streamed down her face.
She wasn't a sister.
She wasn't even real.
And yet, the world was unraveling around her—because of her.
From behind, the creature raised its sword of timebone.
It aimed for her back.
She turned too slow.
But then—
BOOM!
A shield—Captain America's shield—ricocheted from the side, hitting the creature and sending it staggering. The sound was unmistakable.
They all turned.
And out of the collapsing light stepped…
Steve Rogers.
Not the old one.
Not the one who stayed in the past.
But the one from the fractured multiverse.
Wielding not just one shield—but two.
And behind him emerged…
Loki, Strange, and Peter Parker—suit torn, blood on his lip, eyes filled with fury.
"We came back for her." Peter said. "We came back for family."
The Stark sister rose, surrounded by the heroes of broken timelines.
Behind them, Oblivion began to scream.
Reality twisted.
And then—
The Core began to collapse.
Just before the collapse, the Stark sister looked at corrupted Tony one last time.
"Tell me how to stop it."
He smiled… and bled from his mouth.
"You don't stop it. You become it."
The ground gave way.
The Core shattered.
And they all fell into the void.