NARRATION – THE WATCHER
Every story begins with a choice. One small decision becomes a path. A path becomes a pattern. A pattern becomes a universe.
Some stories give us gods. Others, monsters.
And some… something in between.
In one universe, Loki rewrote his fate and became the God of Stories. In another, a young girl screamed and punched open the multiverse.
And in this one? It starts a little earlier.
Not with Tony Stark.
But with his son.
STARK TOWER – MANHATTAN, EVENING
The city roared below, full of noise, lights, and life.
But on the 49th floor of Stark Tower, inside a sealed-off sub-lab, all was quiet except for the soft hum of energy.
Fourteen-year-old Nolan Stark stood over his custom workbench. A soldering tool in one hand. A tablet in the other. Grease on his jaw. Sweat in his hair. Eyes locked in focus.
Floating above a magnetic base was a mini arc reactor prototype, glowing faintly.
It was smaller than the one from Stark Industries' classified files.
Smaller than the one Tony had built in a cave.
But Nolan had something to prove.
"If I power this before he even notices it's missing… maybe this time he'll do more than pat me on the head and ask if the coffee machine works."
NOLAN (to himself):
"Stabilizers holding… coil output at 38%… come on…"
This wasn't a school project.
This was the moment.
The one that might finally make Tony Stark look at him like he mattered.
FLASHBACK – AGE 5
The first time Nolan took apart a toaster, he rebuilt it into a voice amplifier—and accidentally blasted AC/DC down the hallway.
Pepper screamed.
Tony laughed.
He got grounded for a week.
But the next day, a signed copy of Basic Circuits by Hank Pym showed up on his desk.
FLASHBACK – AGE 10
At ten, Nolan worked in silence.
He built an EMP device the size of a baseball, using parts from an old drone and an empty soda can. Just for fun.
Then one night, when the security AI glitched and locked down the upper floors, Nolan tossed the ball, disabled the grid, and unlocked three levels before anyone noticed.
J.A.R.V.I.S. figured it out.
So did Tony.
No punishment.
No praise.
Just upgraded security.
And a new lab pass the next day.
BACK TO THE LAB – PRESENT
Now, the energy core above him spun faster, glowing blue.
NOLAN:
"Don't explode. Please. I brushed my teeth today."
But then—
Magnetic field: unstable.
Warning signs flashed.
Power spiked.
NOLAN:
"Wait—no, no, stop—!"
BOOM.
The arc reactor exploded in a white-blue flash.
Nolan was thrown across the room, slamming into metal.
His head cracked hard.
Everything went black.
THE VISION
It wasn't a dream.
He saw Tony. Joking. Bleeding. Building in a cave.
Yinsen. The first suit. The pain. The change.
Pepper. Tears. Fire. Strength.
Ultron. Vision. The hammer. The fall of Sokovia.
Thanos. The Snap.
The end.
And a little girl.
"I love you three thousand."
THE LAB – MOMENTS LATER
Nolan's eyes shot open. Pain throbbed through his skull.
Smoke filled the lab. The arc reactor was fried.
NOLAN (groaning):
"Okay… maybe test from a distance next time…"
The doors hissed open.
PEPPER (off-screen):
"Nolan?!"
She burst in, heels clacking like gunfire.
She knelt beside him, checking his pulse with practiced hands.
PEPPER:
"You better not be bleeding to death. Because if you are, I'm telling your dad. And worse—Happy."
NOLAN:
"Pepper… I saw it."
PEPPER:
"Saw what?"
NOLAN:
"The future. I think something bad's coming."
NARRATION – THE WATCHER
And just like that, everything changed.
The boy who only wanted to impress his father… now knew he had to save him.
Four months remain. Until the cave. Until the beginning of Iron Man.
But this time, someone else is already building.
That vision came with something else. A spark. A gift. A power not born of this world… or any single timeline.
I've watched Titans rise and Celestials fall.
But even I do not know who gave him that power.
Whoever it was… they did not choose lightly.
Because stories?
Stories are about to change.