Chapter Text
Tony was bent low over a work bench, a deep crease between his eyebrows. He had been working on the newest iteration of his power dampeners for hours and still, they didn’t quite function to his satisfaction.
When his screwdriver slipped on the overdrive coil for the third time, Tony sighed and leant back in his chair, closing his eyes. Between his own problems and the new Avengers team that required more babysitting than usual, he hadn’t gotten as much sleep as he probably should have, he thought blearily. No wonder his work wasn’t up to scratch.
A high humming sound interrupted his musings. Tony opened his eyes to see a faint glow emanating from the right corner of his workshop. Frowning, he got up and walked towards the source of light.
When Tony saw what was making the sound and lighting up his workshop in all the colours of the rainbow, he rolled his eyes.
The wand of Watoomb. Of course. Doom’s ‘present’, the magical artefact he had given Tony when they had first met after Doom started claiming he had reformed. What could possibly go wrong with the present from a known supervillain?
Tony carefully inched closer. “Friday? Analyse this for me, please.”
Friday’s avatar flickered to life next to him. “Ohh, it’s pretty!”
“Really? That’s all you have to say about this?” Tony smiled. He had grown quite fond of his AI.
“Well, you’re not gonna like this, Tony, but the energies are mystical.”
“I’d never have guessed,” Tony commented dryly. He was almost close enough to touch the wand now. Which he of course wasn’t going to do, because he wasn’t an idiot. “Anything else?”
“There’s an energy fluc-”
Tony felt all air pressed from his lungs as the whole world around him seemed to erupt into vivid colours. He tried to activate his armour, but he was already away from his lab, hurled back and forth, everything around him spinning out of focus as he raced down what looked like a tunnel made of rainbows. It seemed to go on forever, but it was probably just a few seconds, and Tony felt he was going to be sick as he saw the ground race towards him. He braced his arms at the last moment.
The impact was rough. Tony tumbled to the ground, trying to protect his head. He rolled down what seemed to be a grassy slope and ended up on his back, gasping, staring at an annoyingly blue sky with a cheerful sun in it. Well, this day was just getting better and better.
“Who are you?”
Tony squinted up at a silhouette outlined against the bright sky. He couldn’t make out much, but the voice seemed kind of familiar. At least the fact that whoever was behind that voice hadn’t tried to kill him yet was somewhat reassuring.
“Oh.” The voice sounded surprised as Tony slowly sat up, shielding his eyes. A man wearing ridiculous long robes that looked like Strange’s was standing in front of him, but he had long, flowing hair, unlike Stephen, and also, the voice was wrong. A huge glowing orb seemed to hang in front of the man’s… crotch. Really. What had he gotten himself into this time.
Finally upright, Tony squinted some more and managed to make out the man’s face. Strong cheekbones, a stylish goatee and brilliantly blue eyes. The man’s lips curled into a smile as Tony took in a sharp breath.
Even though the man was clearly older, his hair white at the temples, there was no doubt that it was another him. But another him who looked like he had attended a costume party as a very overdressed sorcerer, something Tony would of course never do. Something was seriously off here.
“Well, I’ve met other versions of me before, but I have realized they tend not to have chosen the magical arts as their area of expertise, hence you come as a bit of a surprise.” The man… the other Tony sounded amused.
Tony held up his hands in protest. “Do I look like a sorcerer to you?”
The other him frowned, considering. “I called upon the wand of Watoomb to get hold of a powerful sorcerer. I’ve never seen a dimension where its owner isn’t Sorcerer Supreme or at least something similar.”
Tony shook his head. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but you’re definitely not looking for me. I’d never dress as ridiculously as you or pretty much any magician I know. I got this wand-thingy from –”
There was a flash of purple lightning to Tony’s left as Doom appeared beside him, dressed impeccably and looking damningly handsome, as usual of late. He looked alarmed. Tony groaned. Of course.
Before he could intervene, Doom raised his hand. A golden sphere appeared around the other Tony, who looked momentarily taken aback. Doom’s jaw was clenched – apparently he thought this other Tony was an enemy.
“Doom, I think he’s not –”
Before Tony got any further – it really seemed to be the kind of day where he got interrupted all the time – the him in the sphere raised a hand, nonchalantly waved it and smiled candidly as the sphere burst into a thousand tiny golden fragments.
“Hello, Victor. You should know that attacking a Sorcerer Supreme is never a wise idea. Unless, of course, you happen to be the Sorcerer Supreme of your dimension?”
It was almost satisfactory to see the way Doom was gaping at the other him, clearly out of his depth. Then he drew his eyebrows together and looked positively murderous. His hands were still raised, ready to strike any second. “Who are you and how do you dare address me by my first name?”
Tony sighed. “Doom, calm down. That guy is obviously this dimension’s Sorcerer Supreme, much as I hate to admit a Tony Stark could be a magician. If he wanted us dead, we’d probably be dead by now.”
Doom’s eyebrows were raised as he shot Tony a look. “That’s your reason for assuming that man isn’t evil, and not the fact that he’s, as you just said, another Tony Stark?”
Tony laughed, and even to his own ears it sounded a little bitter. “Nope, being Tony Stark certainly isn’t proof of not being a complete jerk. But also, how are you even here? Just happened to be talking a nice sunny Sunday walk through the dimensions?”
Doom wrinkled his ridiculously well-shaped nose. “Of course not. I was alerted to the wand becoming active and tracked it.”
Tony grit his teeth. “What you mean to say is, I have been stalking you with the help of the ‘present’ I gave you, like the supervillain I still clearly am.”
Both Doom and Tony turned around as the other Tony clucked. He was staring at them with some fascination. “Well, well, I see quite a lot of things are different where you come from… Allow me to formally introduce myself: Anthony Stark, Sorcerer Supreme of this quaint dimension, as you have rightly guessed. If you’ll excuse me for a moment…”
He snapped his fingers and a little silvery bot appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Tony stared. This… looked more like technology than magic, or some weird kind of fusion he would never have dreamed of and didn’t really want to have anything to do with.
Doom, however, had clearly dreamed of it. He moved closer, looking interested. “A nanobot with magical circuits?”
Anthony quickly looked up at him and nodded, then he talked into the bot. “There’s something I want to show you. Yes, you’ll want so see it, drop by, you know the coordinates.”
Tony shot Doom a look, who seemed equally as confused as he was. He cleared his throat. “So, may I ask what we are all doing here? I am feeling a bit in over my head with all that magic mumbo-jumbo.”
Anthony inclined his head. “Of course. I called upon the owner of the wand in your dimension because something seems to be wrong with the magic pathways between the planes of existence of late. The usual ways of communication don’t work. I don’t know what the problem is, but magic… seems to malfunction. I’ve been trying to get a hold of sorcerers from other dimensions in various ways, to try and make sense of what is happening together.”
Tony heard Doom’s sharp intake of breath. “Magic seems to malfunction?”
Anthony nodded, a sombre look in his eyes. “Yes. Has it not reached your dimension yet?”
Doom shook his head. “No.”
Tony pensively put a hand to his chin. “Actually, Strange said something of the sort…”
Anthony looked up sharply. “Stephen Strange?”
“Yes, him, our Sorcerer Supreme, do you know Strange in your world?”
Anthony laughed bitterly. His voice sounded odd when he answered. “You could say that. Figures that he’d be Sorcerer Supreme where you come from…”
There was an eruption of light in the middle of their circle. Tony shielded his eyes as Doom cast some sort of barrier between the two of them and whoever appeared. Then he made a sound of surprise as he made out who was standing there.
It was, clearly, another Doom, albeit one wearing a full-body armour. This Doom’s armour was golden – even more obnoxious than his Doom’s, Tony though, but who was he to talk.
Before Tony had time to decide whether this Doom was a danger to them all, Anthony had walked up to him and intertwined their hands. The other Doom raised his free hand to his face to take off the mask – a face almost as handsome as his Doom’s appeared (Tony thought that he should probably stop thinking of him as ‘his Doom’).
And then Anthony leant in and kissed that other Doom tenderly. Other-Doom’s lashes fluttered shut and he raised a hand to gently cup Anthony’s cheek. Then he carded it through Anthony’s long hair. A pleased little sound escaped the other Tony’s mouth.
Doom dropped his barrier. Tony felt as if someone had plunged him into ice water. His brain didn’t really want to compute what he was seeing. Another him… smooching another Doom. And he had thought that that evil alternate version of himself locked in endless battle with Reed and murdering people left and right was as weird as it could get.
He was aware that he was gaping. The kiss seemed to go on forever. With a massive effort, Tony drew his eyes away from the sight in front of him to look at hi- at Doom.
There was a strange expression on Doom’s face, one Tony had never seen there before. It looked almost like longing. Tony frowned and filed that look away, for consideration later.
Finally, the two men in front of them parted and turned towards them, both looking smug. When other-Doom finally took in who the members of their audience were, he wrinkled his forehead.
He pointed a finger at Tony’s Doom. “Are you a good or an evil version of me?” This Doom’s voice was different from the one Tony knew. It was less aloof, less arrogant, somehow more… normal.
His Doom looked indignant while Tony laughed. It sounded slightly hysterical to his own ears.
“Well, I might ask you the same thing. Are you on his side?” Doom pointed at Anthony.
Anthony smiled at Other-Doom, and it was a terribly soft, fond smile. “Victor wasn’t always on my side. But he changed, and now… Now we protect this world, always together.”
Tony shuddered. “Excuse me while I go throw up.”
Victor laughed, and Tony was seriously creeped out, because he had never heard Doom laugh. Scratch that, he had heard villain-Doom behind the mask laugh some maniacal laughs, the ones that are usually accompanied by sentences like “ohooo, I’m taking over the world and there’s nothing you can do about it”. But this wasn’t that kind of laugh – it was a happy laugh, the laugh of a man who felt comfortable with who he was. And who he was with.
“Anthony, I mean, Anthony from the other dimension, you are just like a younger version of my Anthony. It’s quite endearing.”
All Tony managed in response to that was a mute shake of his head. His Doom sniffed disdainfully.
After a moment of awkward silence, Anthony clapped his hands once. “… Well, gentlemen, I believe we are done here for the moment. I gather that you are in fact not the sorcerers I was hoping to get in touch with, so we might as well get you back to your own dimension.”
Tony’s Doom clacked his tongue. “Not so fast. You said magic was malfunctioning. I need all the details.”
Anthony narrowed his eyes, and Tony wondered whether he was as much of an open book as that other version of him. As much as he evidently liked snogging ‘Victor’, he clearly didn’t trust Doom. Well, Tony couldn’t blame him, as he didn’t trust Doom either.
“From your conversation with my other self, I gather your loyalties are… questionable?”
Doom bristled with barely restrained anger at that remark. “Doom has turned over a new leaf. How dare you question his loyalties.”
Victor put a hand on Anthony’s shoulder, signaling him to step down. “I’ll have a word with my other self, if you don’t mind.”
Anthony squeezed the hand on his shoulder quickly and smiled, then Victor walked over to Doom. There was a flicker of energy in the air, and then Tony saw the two Dooms talk, but couldn’t make out anything anymore. Damn magic.
“Can I talk to you for a second, Tony?” Anthony’s eyes looked all hopeful, making him look a lot younger than he probably was, and Tony wondered whether he had the same annoying puppy look when he wanted something. He sighed.
“Sure. But don’t tell me what the two of you are up to in the bedroom. Seriously, don’t. I’ll need a brain bleach after this anyway.”
Anthony smiled a knowing smile, and it should have been terribly condescending, but somehow, it wasn’t. “You know, I didn’t exactly trust him at first. And we come from very different places, something that can become a problem even now. But still… I am happy with him, happier than I ever thought I could be, and he is happy with me. Maybe you should give your Victor a chance to really reform.”
Tony was horrified. “Are you suggesting I hook up with Doom?!”
Anthony shook his head. “Don’t be silly. All I am suggesting is giving him a chance to prove that he changed. Victor always said – he always said that someone, that me believing in him was what made all the difference. That it gave him the strength to become someone better.”
Tony shuddered a little. “Point taken. Can we now please stop talking about you hooking up with a supervillain? I knew I made bad life choices, but I think yours might top mine, you know.”
Anthony grinned. “Well, you should reconsider some of yours, because believe me, sex with magic involved is great, and I gather there aren’t that many ways for you to experience it.”
Tony gasped in outrage. “You didn’t just –“
Before he could finish, a deep voice cut in, the one so similar and yet so different to Doom’s. “Two Anthony Starks. Of course one couldn’t leave them alone without all this tension erupting.”
Doom and Victor stepped towards them. Victor looked cheerful (why did he always look cheerful, it was disturbing), the expression on Doom’s face was thoughtful and somewhat unreadable.
Anthony wrinkled his nose. “Well, you’re one to talk.” Victor gave him a peck on the cheek, and Anthony chuckled. He actually chuckled. Tony thought he might yet be sick – the interdimensional travel he had managed to deal with, but this was too much. No one deserved this.
“Are you ready to go back, Stark?”
Doom seemed to consider his face closely. Tony tried to make as neutral an expression as possible. “Yes, of course. Are you? Did you get the information you wanted?”
“We have made… arrangements, yes.”
They stood there in silence while Anthony started casting what looked like an intricate net of coordinates into the air. Behind him, Victor was doing something similar. “We’ll send you both back to where you came from, so, your earth, but not the same place, yes?”
Tony nodded. They fell silent again.
Then he heard Doom take a deep breath. “Do you want me to stop tracking you?”
He turned to look at Doom disbelievingly. “What?”
Doom rolled his eyes. “I said, do you want me to stop tracking you?”
Tony almost laughed out loud. “Yes, of course I do, you maniac! You can’t simply track me without my consent! It’s creepy!”
Doom closed his eyes for a moment, turning his perfect profile towards Tony instead of looking at him. “Do you promise me you’ll contact me when you’re in trouble?”
Tony snorted. “Doom, I’ve been handling my own trouble for my whole life. Granted, not always well, but I don’t need you to suddenly start babysitting me.”
“The situation is different now. Because of me, you are involved in matters of magic. Take today. Those situations aren’t ones you can necessarily handle well by yourself.” Doom looked at him intensely now, his eyes boring into Tony’s.
Tony was at a loss for words. It was actually… kind of sweet that Doom should worry like that. Not that he would actually contact him, of course. He had Stephen for that, if need be. But he didn’t need to tell Doom that.
He swallowed once. “Okay, I will contact you. Happy now?”
A look of relief passed over Doom’s face. He nodded shortly and faced Anthony and Victor again, who were evidently done with their preparations.
“Tony, are you ready?” Anthony asked. “And I take it you’ll travel by your own power, Victor?”
Doom and Tony nodded simultaneously, and then the world spun around Tony for the second time that day, bright colours almost blinding him. When he landed ruggedly on the floor of his lab, he breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Oh my God, Tony, what happened?”
Friday sounded panicked. Tony laughed weakly.
“You won’t believe it, Friday…”