InsaneJournal

Morgan had slipped out of Stark Industries early Sunday morning. It was agonizing to feel like she was useless. Sure, she had helped her mom and even looked over some of Cisco’s setup, but it wasn’t enough. She knew deep down that she should probably stay put, that it would only cause her loved ones more stress if she entered the maze, but not being able to reach Markus had been the last straw.

She wandered the maze alone for hours, her suit lighting her way in the dark. Morgan began to think she would be just as useless in the maze as she had been at Homebase. Hadn’t Uncle James said that he was going to find her? She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, what if something had happened to him during his search? Just as she tried to push all of those thoughts out of her mind, she finally stumbled across someone she knew.

If it wasn’t so fucking dark, her Aunt Wanda would have been able to see the visible relief wash over her face, as her helmet retracted back into her suit. Rushing over to the other woman, she embraced her, and the two of them began searching the maze together.

Morgan’s reprieve from solitude only lasted for a few hours, before she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. “...Dad?” She cried out, turning away from Wanda just long enough to look around. “Wanda...did you hear that?”

When she whipped back around to ask her again, her Aunt was no longer behind her. All that was there was a row of corn that she swore hadn’t been there before. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the chill running down her spine. “She’s okay. She’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just the maze playing tricks.”

”Morgan…”

There it was again. Tony was nearby, and the joy she felt upon hearing his voice in person was overwhelming.

She began running toward him, using her commlink to try and reach him. “Oh, thank fucking god. I think I see you. Turn around…”

“Dad? Daddy…” She stopped just short of her father. “Are you-”

The blow to her face was white-hot. Her vision blurred, and she went flying backward leveling some of the corn in her wake. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have remembered that he hadn’t had his suit.

“You’re not him,” she groaned- frantically forcing her suit’s helmet to fall over her pounding head. She should have known from the moment she saw him. He hadn’t turned to greet her. He hadn’t pulled her in for a hug. He hadn’t uttered a single word. She should have known, but Morgan had so desperately needed it to be her father that logical thinking went right out the window.

She barely got to her feet before the imposter’s hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground. “Guess again, sweetheart.”

Her stomach churned, and she willed her body to cooperate. Thrusting her feet into his chest, she flipped backward, out of his clutches, and pulled her hand back to send a blast of energy straight for his head.

The repulsor’s beam made contact, but he had planted his feet firmly onto the ground, almost as if he anticipated her attack.

“Tsk. Tsk. Going to kill me now? And after you worked so hard to bring me back? You wiped out half of the fucking population all over again. You single-handedly destroyed everything we worked for. How does that feel, sweetheart,” he growled- moving toward her, effortlessly avoiding every blast she sent his way. “You’re a selfish child, you’re worse than him, at least he was trying to better the world. You though?” He asked, right before landing another blow to the side of her head. “You’re pathetic.”

“So, I’ll ask you one more time. How does it feel to know that you brought your Daddy back, and now he gets to be the one to take you down? You don’t deserve to wear the suit.”

“NO,” She cried out, warm tears streaming down her face. “This isn’t real. I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it.”

Morgan was flying through the air again, but this time she could feel the breeze on her skin. Somehow her suit had disappeared. All that was left were the gloves on her hands, and without the iron to break her fall, the pain was excruciating and it was reflected in her screams. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.”

“Real enough for ya, kid?”

Scrambling, she crawled as fast as she could into the corn stalks. Not real. Not real. Not real, she kept trying to remind herself- despite being able to hear his footsteps behind her. The pain in her head was so awful she feared she may pass out, but she couldn’t afford to do that. She had to get away. She had to find somewhere to gather her bearings. Groaning quietly once more, she managed to find her feet again- and ran.

Once she thought she had put enough distance between herself and the Iron Man doppelganger, she crouched down in the maze. “You can do this. You. Can. Fucking. Do. This.” With a deep breath, she sent several holograms of herself running in all directions.

This went on for hours. Morgan finding somewhere to hide, and trying to divert his attention away with holograms. It took about five of those hours, of silently crying, before she realized her iron suit hadn’t disappeared, but she was still too shaken to attempt to fight him again. The maze was her worst nightmare come to life, and the psychological toll it was taking on her, was far worse than any of the pain her body was experiencing.

Silently she prayed that someone real would find her, but until then she would try her best to avoid another encounter at all costs.