Not a Ghost

God, my fucking head hurts.

Tony Stark looked around but all he could see was darkness. No matter how hard he widened his eyes, his eyes wouldn’t let him see anything other than the pitch darkness around him. Within seconds of opening his eyes, blinding violet light surrounded him. He covered his face with his hands, but it was like the light was too intense to be ignored. Tony screamed when the light became hot and painful for his body to handle.

Suddenly the light stopped.

He was on the ground. When did he get on the ground?

Tony got up. He was suddenly wearing a black blazer with a white shirt underneath, comfortable skinny jeans complementing the rest of his outfit...that he didn’t remember putting on.

He looked around.

The ground seemed to stretch for miles and disappeared into a soft turquoise and light violet. He looked up and took note of the beautiful deep blue sky. Tony looked around and noticed a temple-like building structure.

He began walking towards it. Maybe then he’d know where he was.

The last thing he remembered was the snap. How he wished for Thanos’s army to die and leave the universe. He could remember Peter’s sobbing and Pepper’s assurance of rest. He didn’t remember getting dressed.

“Hello?” Tony called out. “Anyone home?” Tony glanced around quick before fixing his eyes in front of him.

He managed to make his way to the structure.

Is this Hell?

Tony walked over to one of the pillars that held the structure together. He dragged his hand from his side and touched the beam.

It was like he was inside a virtual video game. Pepper, little Morgan, Peter, Happy, the Avengers, Harley- everyone he had grown some sort of relationship stood in their own groups inside a church. Tony looked down at his hands and grabbed the door, but his hand phased through the door. This could not get any weirder.

“What the fuck? ” Tony swore and tried a few more times with no results. He inhaled sharply and held the breath before running towards the door. His body tensed - like anyone would when running into something- but he went straight through. Tony caught himself and looked around.

The words spoke by everyone were hard to understand. They were muffled and incoherent when they fell on Tony’s ears. He gave up after a few minutes of trying to snoop on a few group’s conversations. He was desperate to hear what everyone was talking about but he was also lazy by nature and so he gave up. That’s when he noticed the scene on the stage stairs.

Two canvases full of pictures of him and with other people were stuck on the framed board. On top of the memory board, bold wording sat on the top: In Loving Memory of Tony Stark. Flowers and other gifts were scattered around the area. In the center of the display, a large casket sat on a stand.

Tony breath hitched as he examined the scene. He stared wide-eyed at everything. Oh no- nonono- this can’t be real .

He ran towards the area and stopped when he reached the casket. Inside, Tony’s body lay with flowers and cards set inside. Tony could feel his breathing speed up. He wrapped his arms around himself.

Tony could feel his entire body shake. This couldn’t be happening. Maybe it’s just a dream. A hyperrealistic dream. A dream that couldn’t seem to end.

The...ghost..(Was that what he was?)...of a man walked towards his lifeless body and examined it. Half of his face was marred with damaged skin that had been attempted to be covered with heavy makeup. Tony scoffed at that. No amount of makeup could cover up any type of scars from that day. His face was already starting to sink in.

His body was wearing the usual- a suit from what he could tell from the top-up. His hair was pushed back and fixed how he usually did it. His goatee was trimmed- a bit off, but it was okay.

Tony lifted a shaky hand up. He bit his lip and shuffled closer to the casket. He brought his hand closer and touched the side of his face.

Right when his hand had contact with his face, everything went black.

He opened his eyes and he was back in that weird blue-purple world on the ground. He got up from the group he was apparently on and looked around. Where was everyone? What just happened? Where was he?

Tony felt an anxiety attack coming, but it wasn’t quite...there, so he took a walk around. He wasn’t sure where the destination would lead to. He wasn’t even sure if there was anything beyond the mist clouds.

Maybe this was all an illusion? Maybe he was just going crazy after all these years.

Tony wouldn’t be surprised if either were correct.

Okay, so supposing he’s dead, was this where it ended? Walking alone for eternity? He never was one for religion- maybe this was a place for the skeptic. Whatever it was, it was lonely. The place was endless.

He thought he’d be alone until eventually, he saw someone in the distant. In human time, it must have been a few days since he was alive.

“Hey! HEY!” Tony called out to the person and waved his hands around. He was wearing a black and white suit from what he could tell. The man from afar raised his hands and began twirling them in a circle-like motion. Immediately, a large...portal..?...appeared near Tony and another was next to the other person. The other individual hopped through and walked out of the portal next to Tony.

“Doc- what? What the fuck is going on?” Tony asked as he quickly shuffled over to Stephen Strange. He brought his left hand close to his chest out of habit even if it didn’t hurt.

“Welcome to the Astral Plane, Tony Stark. This is the next step in your spirit’s journey,” Stephen said in a monotone. It was as if the words came from a script and were recited millions of times before.

“How long have I been dead?” Tony asked. He had been looking down at the ground, but he looked up at the sorcerer.

“In Earth’s time, three days. Time doesn’t exist here. Sure you can count, you can do all you want to keep track but the existence of it is worthless in the Astral Plane. You died three days ago. That was your funeral. You accessed the living realm momentarily,” Stephen tried to explain it all to Tony, but everything just felt like a dream.

“So I’m like a ghost?” Tony asked after Stephen finished explaining. Stephen furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something but closed it a few times.

“I mean- I guess? Not really. In the Astral Plane, you and your body have complete physical opacity. On Earth, you appear as an Astral Projection- kind of like of what people believe a ghost is like. You need a certain amount of channeled energy to do anything physical- that includes making noise or physically moving anything.”

“Oh my god, I’m a GHOST!” Tony gasped as the realization hit him. Stephen let out an exasperated sigh that was contradicted by his smile.

“Not a ghost-”

“Whatever,” Tony cut Stephen off, “Okay, so how can I get back to Earth?”

“Well, everyone has their own Astral Plane. An individual can connect their’s to another’s, but it takes a lot of energy and patience. You can do a bunch of things in the Astral Plane from looking into the future to connecting with loved ones or…” Stephen sighed and pinched the edge of his nose as if he was preparing himself for the next option, “...or…‘haunt’ the living. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt you won’t harass the living.”

Tony smirked as he thought of the possibilities. He could do so much. Who’s the lucky bastard that gets to be haunted by Tony Stark?

“That temple over there? That’s for going back to the land of the living. You’ll be able to come back and forth from Astral Plane to Earth, but you and the individual or area you’re visiting needs a lot of energy- emotional, spiritual energy. If you run out of energy, you will be immediately pulled from Earth and sent back here.”

Tony took in the information and nodded, taking mental notes of everything. “Why can’t I get panic attacks here? I was on the verge of a panic attack when I came here and when I came back- which, by the way, how did I come back?” Tony crossed his arms and glanced around, shifting his weight on his feet.

“The Astral Plane is a pocket dimension for each individual. It’s a dimension of absolute serenity. Upon entering, your spirit is going to be calm and slowly fades after entry,” Stephen bit his lip and tapped nervously on the side of his pants.

“Okay- but how’d I come back? I know I didn’t call myself back here and- I know I saw you there so how are you here ?”

Stephen looked out in the distance for a second, “Nobody was prepared to see you go. When I saw you come back to Earth, I knew what you were going to do. When you entered the church, you were immediately filled with energy from everyone inside. Your astral form could easily be seen if you tried to become noticed. I couldn’t let you do that.”

“Where is your…” Tony pointed Stephen up and down and with a trying expression, “...body?”

“Currently I’m laying on the floor of a bathroom stall,” Stephen said nonchalantly and looked up as if he was thinking about where he last placed himself.

Tony gave Stephen a grimace at the visual of him laying in a bathroom stall.

“So is that why you’re still in your suit instead of your usual robe-y attire?” Tony asked and uncrossed his arms.

“Yes,” Stephen nodded and pulled the Eye of Agamotto from beneath his shirt collar. He stopped what he was doing and his eyes drifted to the ground, dazed. It was like he was in a trance.

“Stephen?” Tony asked and waved his hand in front of the man’s face. “Stephen!”

Stephen jumped and gasped as he was seemingly pulled from his state, ‘I have to go. But when I come back, I’ll help you pull your Plane with others you know. Someone’s about to walk into the bathroom.”

Before Tony could argue, Stephen disappeared.

So I can go literally anywhere, Tony thought as he waited for Stephen to come back.

While he waited for Stephen to come back, Tony began walking back to the temple structure. He wasn’t sure how he got back to Earth, but he was so excited to learn about all this new information. Maybe Stephen’s wizard stuff wasn’t as boring as he thought it was.

So people can combine Planes. Maybe I can conjure stuff like in the movies, Tony thought as he tried thinking extremely hard on a desire.

Pop.

Tony turned around and gasped when he saw what he conjured. A Burger King cheeseburger was on the ground. He ran over to it and picked it up. It was still hot. Tony began unwrapping the burger, crumbling the wrapper into his pants pocket.

He bit into the burger with a content sigh. Cheeseburgers were his favorite food back when he was alive. They tasted amazing and they brought so many good memories.

When he was just about done indulging in past memories and the amazing burger, Tony heard swirling from behind him. He raised his head, but did nothing else to acknowledge Stephen’s presence- he just really loved this burger.

“So you’ve figured out how to conjure things?” Stephen smiled. He was dressed in his usual attire of robes.

“Yup,” Tony mumbled through his last bite that he had shoved into his mouth. Stephen raised an eyebrow as Tony struggled with getting his burger down his throat. He waited until Tony turned around before giving a soft smile.

“So, you gonna teach me how to be a ghost?”

“Astral Projection, and yes. I’m usually not one to teach others how.” Stephen began digging in his pockets and Tony couldn’t help but frown at that comment. What made him so special that the Sorcerer Supreme was willing to teach him to adjust to the Astral Plane. He wanted to say something but decided against it.

Walking through the temple pillars and imagining where you wished to go on Earth would simply transport him. He had to call himself to go back to the Astral Plane. Energy from himself and the people and place he was visiting was needed for him to be there more physically. If he couldn’t channel any more energy, he would immediately be transferred back to the Astral Plane, which helped him rebuild his energy.  It seemed simple enough. Some parts were confusing and didn’t make sense, but who was Tony to judge?

“Try it out,” Stephen said as he pushed Tony towards the entry of the temple where the pillars welcomed the two of them.

“What?” Tony looked at Stephen.

“I know you want to. Just don’t do anything stupid or I’m pulling you back here.”

Tony stuck his tongue out at Stephen and walked over to the front of the pillars. He needed to plan this carefully. He had a bunch of energy from the Astral Plane already but he didn’t want to waste it.

Tony shrugged the idea of a plan away. He could take multiple trips.

Here goes nothing.

Tony walked in the temple and through the pillars, transferring himself to Earth.