She is Superior

The car hummed softly as Pepper sat in the backseat, staring out the window, her mind miles away from the present moment.

She'd just come from a meeting—a meeting that seemed so insignificant now in the grand scheme of everything.

The Civil War was tearing the world apart, and Toni... Toni was lying in a coma for the last three months, her body filled with Extremis, fighting to stay alive.

Pepper could barely breathe when she thought about it, the weight of it all suffocating her.

She felt like a different person now—stronger in some ways, weaker in others.

The fear gnawed at her every day.

Fear that Toni might never wake up.

Fear that she might lose her.

Please, Toni. Please wake up today.

The driver turned a corner, and Pepper snapped out of her thoughts.

She didn’t realize how tightly her grip had tightened around the briefcase in her hands until she felt the sharp sting in her fingers.

But the pain didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered except Toni.

The car stopped in front of the secret hospital base. Pepper didn’t waste any time. She stepped out quickly, already lost in thought again, heading inside.

She had to see Toni.

Had to hold onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, today would be the day she saw Toni’s eyes flicker open, that cheeky smirk of hers lighting up the room.

Maybe she’d even joke about how Pepper’s eyes were red and swollen from crying.

But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

It wasn’t supposed to feel this heavy.

The door to Tony’s room creaked open, and Pepper stood frozen for a moment, her eyes scanning the room. Her heart dropped.

No.

Toni wasn’t in bed.

The sheets were tangled, the space around her empty, and for a moment, it felt like the world stopped spinning.

Pepper dropped the briefcase, her body moving in an instinctive panic as she rushed to the bathroom door—empty.

She ran to the nearby hallway, then back to the room, frantic, her breath quickening. Where is she? Where’s Toni?

“Helen?” Her voice cracked as she turned to the door. “Helen, where is she?”

The panic was setting in, and it felt like she was suffocating.

Had someone moved her? Did the surgery fail? Was Tony—no. She couldn’t let herself think it. She just couldn’t.

She spun around, her eyes catching something on the television across the room. Her breath caught.

There, on the screen, was Toni. Or… someone who looked like her. Same sharp suit. Same red sunglasses. Same unmistakable confidence. But the calm, collected version of Toni staring back at her wasn't the same.

It was colder, calculated.

Predatory in a way Toni never looked like.

Pepper’s breath hitched, but before she could process it further, the person on the screen stood, facing the camera. “Did you know you’re here to see Toni Stark?” The voice was the same, but the tone... it wasn’t her.

Pepper felt her stomach drop. This wasn’t Tony. This was... someone else.

Pepper was stuck in that hallway for however long watching the imposter speak, and act as if she were Toni Stark and it was revealed that the imposter wasn't Toni Stark but in a gut-wrenching way.

"Toni Stark is dead.”

Pepper’s vision blurred, and her chest felt like it was caving in. Her pulse thudded in her ears, and for a brief moment, she thought she might crumble under the weight of it all. No. No, no, no. Tony can’t be dead. She’s not dead. She can't be.

Vaguely she heard the person on the screen walk away, their last words lingering in the air: "Call me Superior."

A chill ran through Pepper’s spine. Superior? 

Pepper turned, her legs shaky, and ran out of the room, her mind spinning. She needed answers. She had to find out where Toni was, and what had happened to her.

Her phone was in her hand before she even realized it, dialling Happy’s number, her fingers trembling so much it almost felt like she might drop it.

Happy Hogan sat in the living room of May and Peter’s apartment, the TV flickering in front of him. His mind was nowhere near the picture-perfect image of family life the Parker home often projected. He was staring at the same screen everyone else was—except, unlike Peter, he knew the truth.

He had known Toni Stark since she was a stubborn, angry 19-year-old, determined to carve her way in a world that had tried to break her down. She was the same, even now—she just hid it better. But this... this was different. Watching her on TV, saying she was dead, even though he knew she wasn’t… He let out a long sigh, rubbing his eyes.

Peter, sitting next to him, was sniffling—trying to hold it together but failing. Happy could tell the kid was hurting. Hell, they all were.

“Hey, what’s wrong, kid?” Happy asked, his voice gruff. He didn’t have the patience for it today, but he was also the closest thing Peter had to family, and sometimes that’s all the kid needed.

Peter sniffed again, then glanced at Happy. “Do you think... Is she the same person?”

Happy frowned, trying to focus. "What do you mean?"

Peter pointed at the screen, at the woman who was not Toni but wore her face and her attitude like a second skin. "She looks like her, but..." His voice cracked slightly. "Is she still... her?"

Happy paused, his thoughts racing back to the moments when he first met Tony. The fire she had, the intelligence, the drive to change the world—and the chaos that followed.

But Toni Stark always had this other side, a darker side.

She was the “Merchant of Death.” 

“Kid, let me tell you something,” Happy said, his voice softer now. “No one knows Toni like I do. And I’ll tell you this: that’s her. That’s Toni just a version of her that people rarely see,”

Peter blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah. She always had that side of her,” Happy continued, his gaze locked on the TV. “Before the world knew her as the IronQueen, as the ‘Merchant of Death’... she was... well, she was always that way. .”

Happy looked at Peter, his face a little more serious now. “But Toni? She’s not dead. She can’t be.”

Peter’s face softened, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. “So... if she’s not dead, what’s going on?”

Before Happy could answer, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Pepper.

Peter, though still deeply confused, stood up from the couch as Happy answered Pepper's call.

The tension in the room was palpable. He had seen Toni fight before.

But he wasn’t sure if the woman on TV, the one who said “Toni Stark is dead,” was her—or something worse.

"Come on, kid," Happy said, his voice gruff as he hung up the phone. "We need answers."

Peter wiped his nose with the back of his hand and nodded, following Happy out the door, his thoughts consumed by everything that had just happened. He knew that he had to do something to help Miss Stark, even if he didn’t understand everything yet.

The elevator ride up to the tower was excruciatingly silent. Peter’s thoughts kept drifting back to the woman on the screen, the “Superior” version of Miss Stark that had given him chills.

As the doors to the elevator slid open, they were greeted with the sight of Toni Stark—or what was left of her—standing at the centre of the room, surrounded by holographic screens.

The images of Loki’s eyes and the faces of Thor, Doctor Strange, and the rest of the team flickered around her.

Peter couldn’t help himself. He rushed forward and hugged her tight as if trying to anchor himself to the world again.

Superior looked down at him, her smirk faltering slightly as Peter buried his face into her chest. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man?"

Peter’s grip tightened, his sobs escaping before he could stop them. "It’s my fault... It’s all my fault you’re gone," he whispered through his tears.

Superior stood there for a moment, her arms stiff by her side. Then, she placed a hand gently on his head, forcing him to look at her.

"Did you send me to Siberia?" she asked her tone firm but not unkind. "Did you make me put on that suit? Did you tell Rogers to kill me?"

Peter’s face crumbled as he shook his head. "No..."

"Then stop blaming yourself," she said, her voice softening. "You are not at fault."

Peter pulled away slightly, his face red from crying, but he wasn’t ready to let go. “But... you died.”

Superior sighed and gently pushed him back, surprising everyone in the room. "We all die in the end," she said with a smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But we need to talk about something more important."

Happy stepped forward, his gaze shifting between Peter and Superior. The tension in the room was thick, but his mind was focused on one thing.

“Merchant of Death, huh?” Happy muttered, glancing at Superior with a raised brow. "Heard you got a new name change."

Superior gave a nonchalant shrug, the wicked smile still curling her lips. “We all need to change to adapt now and then.”

Happy smiled, but it was tinged with sadness as he met her eyes. “We just need you to stop getting yourself killed, kid. I can't handle another 'death' on my watch."

Superior’s smile faded slightly. She gave Happy a tight, almost apologetic look. "Noted," she said, before walking toward the holographic screens and gesturing for everyone to sit down.

“Now that we're all here, let’s talk about the alien invasion that’s coming.”