Chapter 242 242: Iron Lad

Upper East Side, New York. 5:20 AM.

Levi's clone stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, a golden point of light condensed at his fingertips.

The layout in The Boys universe was complete. It was time to leave.

He closed his eyes, his perception spreading outward.

All of New York's life signals surfaced in his mind.

Among them was a faint fluctuation—in the bedroom, within Starlight.

A new life. Tiny. Less than a week old. The X-gene and his Law power were already intertwining within that embryo.

Starlight hadn't told him. She thought she'd hidden it well.

He glanced back at the bedroom door. Light leaked through the crack. Inside, Starlight lay curled under the covers, one hand resting on her abdomen.

Levi didn't go in.

He understood why she hadn't said anything—she didn't want to bind him with a child, didn't want personal feelings to interfere with the bigger picture.

And she was right. The war across the multiverse mattered more than any individual emotion.

Levi raised his hand, leaving behind a rune in the air. It sank into the void—it would automatically activate if Starlight or the child faced mortal danger.

That was all he could do.

The clone stepped into the rift, golden light swallowing his figure.

The living room fell silent again. Three seconds later, the bedroom door opened.

Starlight walked barefoot to the window. Faint impressions marked the carpet.

Her hand rested on her abdomen. Mist drifted over the Hudson River, and the silver shield atop the Bureau building still glowed in the distance.

Her phone buzzed.

Maeve: You awake? Want me to come over?

Starlight: No. I'm fine.

She took a deep breath and turned toward the bathroom. In the mirror, her eyes were red—but dry.

Crying wouldn't change anything.

…

Meteor Base, meditation chamber.

A spatial rift opened. The clone stepped out in a burst of golden light.

The chamber was small—five meters across, its walls lined with black energy-absorbing material.

At the center sat the original body, cross-legged. Eleven Laws flowed across his surface.

The original opened his eyes and extended his right hand.

The clone dissolved into a stream of golden light, pouring into his palm.

Memories surged in like a flood. Three months in The Boys universe—every detail vivid.

Homelander's madness. Vought's corruption. The essence of Compound V. The formation of the Law of Alchemy. The cruelty of equivalent exchange.

And Starlight—her silhouette by the window.

Levi closed his eyes, sealing those memories away. This wasn't the time for personal matters.

The fusion continued. The Law of Alchemy was stripped from the clone's memories and woven into his existing ten Laws.

A golden current found its place within the network—between reality distortion and matter manipulation.

It filled the final gap.

Before, Levi could destroy, twist, and reconstruct—but he couldn't truly create.

He could turn stone into gold, but that was merely molecular rearrangement.

The Law of Alchemy gave him a breakthrough—through sacrifice and exchange, he could create things that shouldn't exist.

Like superpowers.

Levi stood. Golden patterns flickered beneath his skin, intertwining with the silver-white of spatial law, the deep violet of power law, the teal of time law.

He could feel the flow within him—thirty percent smoother than before.

Mid-stage Cosmic Overlord. His foundation was completely stabilized.

The clone had also brought back a trace of faith power.

Faint—originating from ordinary people in The Boys universe who believed in the new order.

That belief crossed dimensions, condensing into a fist-sized golden sphere within Levi.

It had little combat value—but it could serve as a coordinate.

An anchor point was established.

Levi pushed open the chamber door. Wanda stood in the corridor.

She wore a dark red dress, her hair loose, faint Chaos Magic sigils visible on her forehead.

She stared at him for a few seconds.

"What did you leave behind in that universe?"

"A new governance system. A few people capable of standing on their own."

Levi's voice was calm.

"And a promise—if that universe faces a crisis it can't resist, I'll return."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Wanda didn't press further.

She could sense that something deep in Levi's memories had been deliberately buried—but she chose not to pry.

"Loki came three times," she said.

"He said it's urgent. The moment you woke, you were to go to the Time Variance Authority."

"Did he say what it was about?"

"No. But he looked… bad."

Levi frowned.

Loki was now the God of Stories, overseeing the narrative flow of countless timelines.

Very few things could make him look like that.

"I'll go now."

Levi raised his hand. A golden rift opened. On the other side lay the TVA's circular hall, orange-gold timelines weaving into a vast network.

…

Time Variance Authority – Temporal Loom Observation Chamber

Levi stepped through the rift. Loki stood before a massive holographic projection, his back turned.

Countless timelines filled the display.

But something was different.

Large sections had turned gray-black—like rot spreading through fabric.

"You're finally here," Loki said, his voice heavy.

"Look at this."

Levi stepped beside him.

This wasn't simple severance or disappearance—it was deeper.

The fibers of time itself were decaying, corroded from within.

Levi activated his mental law to sense it—and immediately felt something familiar.

The power of the Void.

"Not just him." Loki enlarged the projection. At the center of the gray-black regions appeared a symbol—a distorted clock, its hands spinning backward.

"The Council of Kangs. They've found a way to harness Void energy and are devouring timelines on a massive scale. In the past 72 hours, 317 branch timelines have been erased—affecting over 4,000 universes."

Levi narrowed his eyes.

He already knew of the Council of Kangs—a coalition of countless Kang variants, each seeking to conquer the multiverse.

But they had always fought among themselves.

Now, someone had unified them.

"Who's leading the Council?"

"Unknown." Loki shook his head.

"The Temporal Loom can only track a codename—Immortus. His spacetime coordinates are shielded. I can't see him directly, only his influence."

"Then why call me here?"

Loki turned.

"Because their next target is Earth-616—your home universe."

Levi's Law Domain flared open. Twelve Laws coursed across his body.

The temperature in the chamber plummeted. The Temporal Loom shrieked with alarms.

"Confirmed?"

"Confirmed." Loki pointed to a thick golden timeline.

"Three hours ago, the Avengers compound detected a temporal anomaly. A ship from the future crashed onto their lawn. On board was a teenager calling himself Nathaniel Richards."

Levi's pupils contracted.

That name—

Too familiar.

"Iron Lad," Levi said slowly.

"A young version of Kang. In some timelines, he's a hero—trying to prevent himself from becoming the Conqueror. But that's only one possibility. In others… he's no different."

"Exactly." Loki switched the projection to surveillance footage.

A teenage boy crawled out of a smoking wreck.

He wore a purple-blue high-tech suit, a glowing energy core on his chest. Beneath the helmet—a youthful yet resolute face.

War Machine, Falcon, and Wanda surrounded him, weapons raised.

The boy lifted his hands and removed his helmet.

"My name is Nathaniel Richards," he said. His voice was young—but carried exhaustion beyond his years.

"I come from the 31st century. I traveled back to stop a catastrophe. In my timeline, someone destroyed the entire multiverse—killed every version of Kang, including me."

Loki froze the image on the boy's face.

Clean features. Eyes filled with despair.

"He's telling the truth," Loki said.

"I verified his origin. Earth-6311, August 14th, 3025. That timeline was completely erased seven days after he left—nothing remains."

Levi stared at the screen.

At that age, Kang shouldn't yet be a conqueror. Just a brilliant young scientist trying to save the future.

But Levi didn't gamble.

He'd seen too many people twisted by fate.

"What does he want?"

"Help." Loki resumed the footage. The boy was speaking to War Machine.

"He claims the only way to stop the catastrophe is to gather all versions of himself across the multiverse—to form an opposing force to the Council of Kangs. He calls it…"

"The Young Avengers."

Levi's frown deepened.

It sounded like a trap.

Kang variants never truly cooperated—their nature was domination.

Uniting them would only create something worse.

"What do you think?" Loki asked.

After a pause, Loki added, "If we do nothing, the main universe will be invaded within 72 hours.

But if we trust him… the risk is just as great.

He might genuinely want to save everything. Or this could be another Kang's scheme."

Levi closed his eyes, activating the Law of Time.

Countless possible futures flashed through his mind.

In some, the Avengers compound lay in ruins. In others, Earth was swallowed by temporal storms. In yet others, the boy sat upon a throne of time, overlooking countless worlds.

All of them blurred—obscured.

"Someone's interfering with the timelines," Levi said, opening his eyes.

"Immortus—or whoever leads the Council—is stronger than I expected. Even the Law of Time can't fully perceive the future."

"What do we do?" Loki asked.

Levi looked at the boy on the screen.

Nathaniel removed a glove, revealing a deep scar on his wrist—one that had nearly cut to the bone—explaining something to the Avengers.

That scar wasn't ordinary.

Levi could tell—it was left by Void corruption.

"Don't alert them yet," Levi said.

"Let him stay at the Avengers compound. Provide basic assistance—but don't trust him completely. I'll meet him myself—but not now."

"Why not now?"

"Because I need to confirm something first."

Levi turned to Loki.

"How many members are there in the Council of Kangs?"

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