Chapter 5: The Man Bound by Iron
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[Severence's POV]
From the shadows of the skyline, Severence watched.
Stark Tower loomed over the city, a monument to human ambition. Its gleaming glass reflected the neon glow of New York's restless streets, standing as a testament to the arrogance and genius of one man.
A man whose fate was already bending the course of this world.
Tony Stark.
A billionaire, a genius, a fool. He had everything—wealth, power, intelligence—yet none of it would shield him from what was to come. His own creations would turn against him, driving a blade into the illusion of control he had built around himself.
Fate had marked him.
Severence could see the chains of causality, the weight of impending suffering winding tightly around Stark's existence. It was the kind of fate Severence had seen before—a moment of cruel suffering, one that would shatter the man completely… or forge something greater.
He narrowed his eyes.
Would Stark survive his trial? Would he become something more?
Severence had seen countless individuals shaped by suffering. Some rose, reforged into something stronger. Others shattered, their potential consumed by despair.
His duty had never been to save. It was to sever the fates that should not be. But not all suffering needed to be erased.
This was the delicate balance he walked.
If he severed the suffering that shaped Tony Stark, would it save him?
Or would it destroy him in another way?
The fate of this world was not yet set in stone. And so, he would wait.
He would observe.
And when the moment arrived—he would decide.
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[Tony Stark's POV]
A golden liquid swirled in the crystal glass as Tony leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window of his penthouse. The city stretched below, alive with movement, pulsing with energy.
Stark Tower hummed softly, a fortress of steel and innovation, its systems more advanced than anything the world had seen. And yet…
Tony couldn't shake the feeling.
A subtle, insistent weight pressing against the back of his mind.
Something wasn't right.
He wasn't a man prone to paranoia. He didn't believe in ghosts or gut feelings—he believed in science, data, and facts. But something felt off tonight, and he had long learned to trust his instincts.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony called out, his voice casual.
"Yes, sir?"
"Run a full security sweep. Tower perimeter, airspace, all connected surveillance feeds—give me the full picture."
A brief pause. Then, J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Scan complete. No anomalies detected."
Tony frowned, setting his glass down.
That should have reassured him. It didn't.
He turned, pacing toward his workbench, running his hand through his hair. Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was nothing.
Or maybe… someone was watching.
And if they were, they were damn good at staying hidden.
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[Severence's POV]
Across the skyline, Severence remained motionless.
Even without direct awareness, Tony had noticed.
Not fully. Not consciously. But his instincts had sharpened. The most important figures of fate always had a sense—an inexplicable pull when they were being observed by something beyond them.
That, more than anything, proved that Stark was a true pivot of fate.
Severence exhaled slowly.
This world had its own flow. Its own rules. Its own gods.
And yet… it was not his omniverse.
That was the one certainty Severence had felt upon arrival. He had drifted through many realities before, but this was different.
The laws of causality here were not his own.
That, however, did not change his purpose.
He would wait. Watch. Decide.
Because soon, Tony Stark would face the moment that defined him.
And when that moment came—
Severence would be there.
Would he sever Tony Stark's suffering?
Or allow it to shape him into the legend this world needed?
For now, he would remain unseen.
But soon, fate itself would be forced to acknowledge him.