I wasn't an Avenger. I wasn't a genius and I sure as hell wasn't Tony Stark.
But apparently, I was stuck playing him.
The morning after my little Magical Teleport Back to Malibu stunt, I sat on the edge of the bed staring at the arc reactor's glow through my shirt like it was mocking me.
[GOOD MORNING, MR. STARK.]
"Yeah, yeah, good morning to you too, Alexa Deluxe," I muttered.
I'd been pacing the mansion for an hour. Kitchen, living room, lab, back to the kitchen. It was like wandering through the world's most expensive escape room with no exit. The more I walked, the more it sank in: I was trapped in this life.
And it wasn't just the arc reactor, or the fact that J.A.R.V.I.S. apparently had me on billionaire house arrest. It was… the calendar.
Pepper showed up at 9:00 sharp. She didn't knock, didn't hesitate, just waltzed in with a clipboard and the kind of efficiency that could run an army.
"Tony," she said briskly, "the press conference is today. You'll be addressing the weapons division shutdown, answering limited questions, and—"
"Wait, wait, wait," I said, waving my hands. "Weapons division shutdown?"
She gave me a look. "You did announce it, remember?"
I froze. Oh. Oh, crap, this was that scene.
The Iron Man 1 scene.
The "I've just been rescued and am now shocking the board of directors" scene.
Which meant… this was still pre–Iron Monger fight.
My stomach knotted. "Uh… remind me again how we're… uh… doing this?"
Pepper narrowed her eyes. "Like you've done every other press conference."
Cool. Great, no pressure. Just fake being one of the most charismatic, quick-witted, scientifically brilliant men in the MCU… in front of cameras.
---
The press conference room was a sea of flashing lights and journalists jostling for position. I stepped up to the podium, my palms sweating.
"Uh… good morning," I said, my voice wobbling slightly. A few reporters chuckled like it was a joke. Maybe Tony did always sound like he was winging it.
I did my best to remember the lines from the movie. "I… never got to say goodbye to my father. There's a lot I've done that I regret…"
The crowd leaned in. My brain scrambled, mixing my own thoughts with what little I remembered from the film. I stumbled through the announcement about shutting down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing, trying not to sound like a fraud.
When I finished, the room erupted in shouts, questions, chaos. Pepper was already pulling me toward the exit.
---
Back in the safety of the mansion, I dropped into a chair and buried my face in my hands. "I can't do this. I don't know how to be Tony Stark."
[SYSTEM ALERT: NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED.]
I sat up. "Wait, what?"
The blue interface shimmered into view.
[SKILL PACKAGE: TECHNICAL GENIUS]
[Description: Access to the complete scientific knowledge and engineering expertise of Anthony Edward Stark, including all designs, inventions, and technical problem-solving ability up to current timeline.]
The words blurred for a moment as a sudden pressure built in my head, like someone had just plugged in a hard drive directly to my brain.
And then it hit.
Equations, blueprints, schematics for arc reactors, repulsor tech, micro-servos, energy redistribution matrices. I could see them in my mind like neon blueprints hovering in the air.
I looked down at my hands and they didn't just look like Stark's anymore... they felt like they'd been building suits and reactors for decades.
"Oh… oh wow," I whispered.
---
I wandered into the lab without thinking. My eyes scanned the Mark I suit, instantly identifying structural weaknesses, heat distribution issues, and design flaws that I knew how to fix. My brain was firing in directions it never had before.
"This is… insane," I murmured. "It's like having Wikipedia, MIT, and NASA in my skull."
And for the first time since waking up in this nightmare, my sarcasm dialed down.
Because now… I actually could be Tony Stark.
At least the genius part.
Didn't mean I wanted to fight aliens, or take on mad scientists, or go toe-to-toe with a purple cosmic warlord. But… maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't die immediately if it came to that.
---
The system chimed again.
[NEW OBJECTIVE: MAINTAIN TIMELINE INTEGRITY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.]
I stared at it. "Right. No pressure. Just keep the MCU from imploding."
I rubbed my temples.
"Okay, Becker… or Stark… or whatever you are now… guess we're doing this."
---
To be continued...