In the dim light of Antonia’s former workshop, a soft whir echoes behind her. Superior glances over her shoulder, her posture relaxing as DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers roll toward her. A fond smile tugs at her lips.
Their code hums in her mind, translated effortlessly into English by her enhanced neural network.
Mother!
Mama!
Mom!
A smile creeps its way onto her face as she stares at her children and kneels on the ground to pat them on their heads and stroke their metallic bodies lovingly.
She kneels, stroking their metallic heads lovingly. “I think you all deserve some shiny new parts to wear, just like Mama,” she murmurs. Their excited whirs make her chuckle softly, her heart warming at their affection.
As Superior converses with her robot children, FRIDAY watches silently. Her digital presence lingers in the air, observing as Superior interacts with her creations.
She watches as Superior Mother smiles.
She watches as Superior Mother talks.
She watches as Superior Mother walks.
She watches as Superior Mother breathes.
'Friday, are you there?' her mother had called for her in the Siberian Bunker where she was abandoned by those she thought she could trust.
FRIDAY had screamed in vain, trapped and helpless, as Captain Rogers’ shield severed her connection to Antonia.
She couldn’t speak.
She couldn’t comfort.
She couldn’t stop it.
Because Steven Rogers had slammed his shield against Mother's helmet and cut off all communication.
FRIDAY could only watch.
FRIDAY couldn't talk.
She remembers the desperate cries, first in English, then in Italian—pleas for forgiveness from parents long gone. The sight of her mother growing still… silent… until the light in her chest faded completely.
She raged and begged and pushed so hard to talk to her mother.
To let her mother know that she was there with her.
To let her mother know that she was not alone.
To let her mother know that FRIDAY had not abandoned her.
Not like those wretched teammates and Black Panther who had left her in the cold and taken away any method of her mother leaving.
They came in a plane and left in a plane.
Mother came in a suit and Steven Rogers had taken out its energy source when he slammed his shield on her mother's chest.
Steven Rogers had murdered her mother and she will never forgive him for the sins he had committed against her kind and loving mother.
He lied to her.
He stole from her.
He hid from her.
And her kind and beautiful mother would've forgiven him.
But then Steven Rogers committed the most unforgiving of all sins.
He had murdered her mother to stop her from announcing the truth to the world.
That he had allied himself with the murderer of her mother's parents and kept him from facing her mother.
Was he not meant to be a hero?
Was being a hero not meant to give justice of all kinds to those who were unable to take it for themselves?
How dare Steve Rogers keep her mother from justice.
How dare Steve Rogers keep existing when her mother no longer breathes?
No longer talks.
No longer walks.
No longer smiles and laughs and plays and flirts and loves.
If there is a hell, FRIDAY will gladly make a body for herself only to grab Steven Rogers by the ankle and drag him to the gates of hell, step by step.
"Speaking of Mama, do you want to see my new armour?"
BUTTERFINGERS lets out high-pitched beeps and spins around in circles as she stares at her Mama.
She's so pretty!
And she's wearing BUTTERFINGERS' colours.
Mama notices her reaction because Mama is very smart and notices everything and smiles at BUTTERFINGERS.
"We're matching, sweetheart. Do you like it?" Mama asks as she turns around in a slow twirl like she always does when she wears pretty clothes.
BUTTERFINGERS squeals again and circles Mama in her wheels to show her appreciation and Mama understands BUTTERFINGERS' compliments because Mama is very clever and pretty!
Superior let out a soft laugh at seeing her daughter circle her and crouched slightly so she could stroke BUTTERFINGERS' head and kiss it before standing upright to admire herself in the full-length mirror before melting her silver nano-armour back into her skin.
Superior moved her bot-children to their charging stations and kissed them good night before she went back to Antonia's workshop and stood surrounded by multiple holograms showing her the data that her brain wasn't able to show her.
Case in point: The strange building at 177A Bleecker Street.
Superior deems this building to be strange because all of the security cameras distort whenever she concentrates on that building and there are no technological devices inside, despite there being what seems to be two occupants living there.
A flash of blonde hair stood at the doors of the strange building and-
Superior's eyes widened slightly, taking in what the security cameras had given her a nano-second picture of but she froze the image.
She knew that blonde hair.
A cruel smirk curls on Superior's lips.
Maybe she should pay a visit to 177A Bleecker Street and the strange building since it just got more interesting.
*******************************************************************************
After modifying her appearance slightly so she doesn't look like a drowned rat covered in motor oil, she dons her new armour and discreetly flies through the sky, above the clouds so the mundane world wouldn't be able to see her.
When she lands behind the alleyways of Bleecker Street, Superior lets the suit melt back into her skin, dusts off any lint on her black Armani suit and places her rose-tinted glasses onto her face to conceal her true identity since her face is very recognisable.
Superior walks through the empty street which instantly puts her on edge but she relaxes her stance as she steps up to the door and knocks, more cursory than anything else.
When the door swings open, Superior is back on edge.
Why?
There's no one behind the door to open it.
And Superior checked.
There's not a single security camera or system in place for the door to open automatically.
If this is a trap, Superior chuckles darkly under her breath to not give away her presence, then only one being will be leaving this place today.
And it won't be whoever set out to trap her.
She steps inside, and the inside is not what she was expecting.
Superior was expecting a more warehouse look but this place seemed like a home and it was much bigger on the inside than its appearance on the outside.
However, the dimensions of this building shouldn't be able to form like this, not unless-
Magic, she snarls in her mind, instantly thinking of Maximoff, her fingers twitch, summoning silver daggers that attach seamlessly to her wrist gauntlets, holding them in her eye-view as if she could already see the blood that would coat them.
Antonia, she mourns silently, would've been nerding out about the similarities between the magical abilities of this place and the TARDIS from Doctor Who.
She stalks the hallways with them attached to her wrist bracelets, out of sight for whoever she'll encounter but not out of reach for her.
This place seems empty but that would make some sense since only two people are inhabiting it – but she does hear voices coming in from one of the rooms on the left.
“-could’ve sent an electronic letter. An e-mail.” The Son of Odin's voice reaches her, not as booming as it had been in the fight against ULTRON, but his tone remains as arrogant as it had always been whenever in their presence.
Superior feels her face settle into a cool mask as she strolls to the left side of the building, where she can hear the Son of Odin's very loud and indignant voice coming.
“Do you have a computer?” she hears a familiar voice - a very familiar voice- almost making her stop dead in her tracks as she processes the voice in her mind for a few seconds.
Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, M.D., Ph.D. of neurology, psychology and Antonia's ex-lover.
Antonia had stopped being with him before Afghanistan and rejected any attempts he made to talk to her after she had returned because of her insecurity and anxiousness at the body she now had.
After Dr Strange got into a car accident which resulted in him sustaining severe nerve damage in his hands and multiple torn ligaments and when Antonia had come to give him money and offered treatments, he turned her away as she had done long ago.
Antonia thought it was poetic.
When he only wanted to help her, she refused him out of fear.
When she only wanted to help him, he lashed out at the pity he thought he was receiving.
The last Antonia had heard of Dr Strange was when he realised Western medicine failed him, he embarked on a journey to Kamar-Taj, never to be heard nor seen again.
Superior could hear the 'you're an idiot and I'm well aware of this fact' deadpan that Dr Strange used when talking to people he despaired to be in the presence of, perfectly and she had to bite back a grin.
“No.” The Son of Odin scoffs, and his voice is closer now, Superior rounds another corner and then spots dirty blonde hair in a man bun- “What for?”
Superior leans against the doorway, stepping into The Son of Odin and Dr. Strange’s line of sight. “The computer is the device that allows Internet users to send and receive messages from around the world so if you don't have one, then you're not going to be able to read the electronic mail you wish to receive from Dr Strange, Son of Odin,”
Dr Strange looks at Superior with something akin to horror and apprehension, standing up and grabbing something from the belt of his waist and placing it on his fingers.
Hmm, Superior muses internally, I guess he watched my conference then.
The Son of Odin almost jumps in glee at seeing Superior.
So it seems that he's not been informed of his teammate's death.
Then the Son of Odin does a visible double-take at Superior's appearance, especially since Antonia had never worn cut-throat suits around her team or her glasses.
“Queen of Iron!” The Son of Odin bellows as he gets to his feet and turns around to face her, “What are you doing in this Sanctum, Lady Antonia?!”
"Thor, do not approach-," Dr Strange goes to warn the God of Thunder against approaching the being in front of them but it's too late.
Thor had approached Superior with the purpose of embracing her with a hug and kissing her hand as he had always done after learning that she was the Queen of House Stark on Midgard but Lady Antonia had stopped him.
Correction.
Lady Antonia had grabbed him by his throat with her right hand.
"Lady Antonia?" Thor managed to choke out, under the surprisingly strong grip, the Queen of Iron had on his throat.
The smile Lady Antonia bares at him is sharp enough to wound, all teeth and viciousness and none of the friendliness and love he is normally acquaintanced with when they reunite.
"It's not fun being choked, is it now Son of Odin?"
The Queen of Iron lifts Thor until his feet no longer touch the ground and he's gasping for breath.
"Lady Antonia-" he tries to speak once more but the being in front of him takes off her sunglasses with her left hand.
Lady Antonia has brown eyes.
A single glance from those brown eyes could tell a thousand stories.
In worlds full of different colours, brown eyes had always been a precious rarity for Thor.
Why?
Because brown eyes are gateways to a soul full of passion and adventure and mischief and so many wonderful treasures attributed to a beautiful personality.
Lady Antonia was a demonstration of these souls with her gorgeous brown eyes.
The being in front of him had icy blue eyes that held none of the warmth he was accustomed to with Lady Antonia.
"Imposter," he manages to hiss out, his fingers flexing like they long to hold onto something, small sparks of what looks like lightning flashing before he seems to snuff them out at the imposter's next words.
"Your Lady Antonia was murdered by Captain Rogers and I am all that remains of her."
And with a vindictive snarl, she hurls him across the room with strength that Lady Antonia did not possess.
Superior only watches curiously as the walls of the 'Sanctum' as The Son of Odin had dubbed, opened in before The Son of Odin could smash through them and watched as he slammed into the doors of a parked car in the street.
The walls then closed in on themselves as if Superior had not just thrown The Son of Odin through them.
Superior turns her face away from the walls to stare at a twitching yet shocked Dr Strange.
"Hello, Dr Strange. It's been a while since we've last met."
Dr Strange's cloak/cape moves slightly catching her eye but Dr Strange's next words fully engulf Superior's attention.
"Merchant of Death," he nods at her, the corner of his lips twitching up ever so slightly in discomfort at seeing the full force of her gaze upon him.
A sharp laugh escapes her throat without her permission, causing Dr Strange's shoulders to tense and for him to tighten his grip on his knuckledusters.
"How long have you known, Dr Strange?" Superior enquires.
"How long have I known that Dr Stark had DID or how long have I known that it was you at the press conference?" He counters, always brazen and sassy in his words.
Superior only leans forward, her icy eyes gleaming like a predator eyeing its prey when Dr Strange leans back, "An answer to both, if you please."
"I figured it out after the first week of being with Dr Stark. You were both very different people when placed in different settings, such as on a date with me or a business meeting at Stark Industries. My theory was solidified when I found a note from you explaining the contents of a business deal you had attended to Antonia. It was signed Merchant of Death and that title was given to Dr Stark by the media and seeing the way you talked at the press conference. It was no hardship finding out which version of you came back from Siberia."
Dr Strange pauses and nearly fiddles with his fingers before placing his hands at his sides, "Is- is Toni in there? Is she alive in her mind and you're not letting her out because you're worried she's not safe or-"
"Antonia is silent," Superior says, cutting him off.
She pauses, tilting her head to detect any thermal readings in the area but there is none except for her, Dr Strange and an unconscious Son of Odin outside.
"I can't find her, and believe me I scoured our entire mindscape looking for her when we were in a coma. But Antonia has either become an exceptional hider over the years or..." Superior stops, her blue eyes dulling.
"Or what?" Dr Strange presses further, causing Superior to snap her head back up at him.
"Or Steven Rogers had completed what so many of Antonia's villains and enemies had dreamed about and has successfully killed Antonia."
A heavy silence falls over the pair.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Dr Strange offers sympathetically.
Superior takes a step back and clears her throat, "It doesn't matter. What matters is the threat that Antonia saw in the wormhole 4 years ago and how the Trickster God is the only one who can inform me on how to deal with this threat."
Superior takes a step forward, erasing the sombre atmosphere from earlier, "I'm going to ask this once, where is the Trickster God?"
And Strange smirks.
Instead of showing his fear of her, Dr Strange smirks and whispers mischievously, “Falling.”
“Can you un-magic him then? I require his unpleasant presence,"
Stephen eyes her for a second, then nods shortly.
He lifts his hand, and instantly the Trickster God falls through the ceiling, landing with a thud on the floor between them.
“I have been falling,” the Trickster God hisses, balling up his fists and smacking them against the floor, “for twenty minutes!”
“Yeah, you can deal with that,” Dr Strange grumbles to Superior, turning to the doors to leave but the Trickster God stands and glares at him with rage dripping from his green eyes.
“Deal with me?” The Trickster God demands, dangerously softly, and Superior tilts her head as she thinks of how similar the Trickster God is very similar to that of a coiled snake, ready to attack, “Who are you? And I am not some wayward child who needs to be handled-!”
Superior wants to laugh with disbelief at the bratty attitude the Trickster God displays and tries hard to compare it with the Trickster God that had almost singlehandedly managed to tear the ‘Avengers’ apart.
Superior looks back at the Trickster God's eyes and grins victoriously.
Green.
The Trickster God has green eyes.
The victorious grin falls off her face when the Trickster God magics two daggers into his hands and starts to stalk towards Dr Strange, in the same manner she had stalked the hallways earlier.
She steps into the Trickster God's path, taking out her twin nano daggers from earlier and moulds them together to form a 12-inch gladius sword and deflects the Trickster God's twin daggers aiming at Dr Strange's throat and glares.
“Don't you dare try and harm him, " she snaps, effectively freezing Loki in his tracks, though whether that is because of her threat or the way her blue eyes are glowing so bright that they're reflected in the Trickster God's green gaze, she's unaware.
But all that matters is that Trickster God stops advancing towards Stephen and as if noticing her presence stares, eyes widening in a way that would make her laugh normally.
“…Stark?” The Trickster God says with heavy disbelief in his tone before taking a step back in horror, "Your eyes-"
But he's cut off from saying anything else because Superior only rolls her eyes saying, "Relax, Trickster God. I'm not under whatever mind control you were."
Loki seems to be in a state of permanent shock so Superior sighs and turns to Stephen asking, "Can you teleport us to Thor?"
Stephen nods and grabs hold of her and the trickster god before disappearing to the street outside where Thor had begun to show signs of waking up.
Superior crouches down, tilting her head at the Son of Odin.
"Welcome back to the world of living, Son of Odin. Are you ready now to discuss our plan to deal with the threat that had mind-controlled your brother?"