After all that insanity, Luke finally returned to his own universe feeling strangely satisfied.
Not because of the cosmic war.
Not because of the manifestations.
And definitely not because he became one himself.
No.
He felt satisfied because he finally got his revenge.
Humanity had thrown him into another universe as a broke homeless nobody and called it "character development."
So Luke decided to return the favor.
If Humanity wanted a peaceful ordinary life so badly, then Luke was absolutely going to give him the full protagonist experience.
The suffering included.
By the time Luke finished "helping," Humanity was no longer living peacefully on some quiet Earth.
Instead, he was struggling to pay rent, getting dragged into ridiculous coincidences daily, accidentally attracting dangerous women, getting caught in misunderstandings constantly, and somehow encountering disasters every few weeks for absolutely no reason.
Basically—
A protagonist's life.
Luke still remembered Humanity's horrified face after realizing what was happening.
"You can't do this to me!" Humanity shouted at the time.
Luke only smiled calmly in response.
"Oh no," he replied. "This is for your character development."
And after saying that, he left while Humanity screamed behind him.
Of course, Luke did not keep it going forever.
At the end of the day it was mostly revenge and a joke stretched out for a while. Humanity was never actually helpless either. Even after giving away most of his authority, he was still an absurdly powerful existence compared to nearly everything in the omniverse.
If Humanity genuinely wanted to escape that kind of life, he easily could have.
But strangely—
He never did.
Sometimes he complained dramatically about his situation, but Luke noticed Humanity secretly enjoyed parts of it too. The chaos, the unpredictability, the relationships, the stupid daily problems humans dealt with—
Those things fascinated him far more than cosmic politics ever did.
Which honestly made sense.
After existing for billions of years as an almost omnipotent cosmic being, even something as simple as arguing with a landlord or struggling to cook food properly probably felt refreshing.
And whenever things became too ridiculous, Humanity could still solve everything instantly if he wanted.
He just usually chose not to.
***
As Luke arrived back at his house, he immediately noticed Tony Stark sitting casually on the couch.
The triangular nanotech reactor on Tony's chest glowed faintly while streams of metallic particles moved slowly beneath his shirt, parts of the armor shifting lazily across his body like it was partially active.
"My friend Luke," Tony said while standing up with a grin. "They told me you disappeared. Seems I'm lucky you came back."
Luke smiled lightly and started walking toward him.
Tony looked completely relaxed.
"Honestly," Tony continued, "I was beginning to think you finally got yourself killed somewhere."
Luke stopped directly in front of him.
Then suddenly—
His hand pierced straight through Tony's chest.
The nanotech reactor shattered apart instantly while Luke's arm burst out through the other side carrying a still-beating heart in his hand.
Tony's eyes widened in shock.
"Do you really fucking think I'm blind enough not to notice some piece of shit wearing my friend's face?" Luke asked coldly.
The body immediately began changing.
Skin shifted color.
Facial structure distorted violently.
Within seconds the appearance of Tony Stark disappeared completely, revealing the green-skinned reptilian features of a Skrull underneath.
Luke ripped his arm back out before casually throwing the alien aside.
The Skrull crashed into the wall hard while blood spread across the floor. A few seconds later the corpse began breaking down rapidly.
Luke clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Fucking Skrulls."
His expression darkened slightly afterward.
Across countless universes and timelines, Skrulls always ended up becoming the same problem eventually.
A species built entirely around infiltration and replacement.
They abducted people, copied appearances, scanned memories, replaced leaders, and quietly destabilized civilizations from the inside until entire planets belonged to them before anyone realized what happened.
And the worst part was how perfect the impersonation became.
Not just appearance.
Behavior.
Memories.
Sometimes even close friends failed to notice the difference.
Luke always found that ability disgusting.
Because it meant anyone around you could suddenly stop being themselves without warning.
He slowly looked around the house again.
"It seems Fury became way too complacent," Luke muttered. "If even Tony got replaced, then this situation is already a mess."
Now he had another problem.
Finding where the real Tony Stark was being kept before the Skrulls decided they no longer needed him alive.
Inside a Skrull prison, Tony Stark sat inside a metal cell with iron bars while staring at the prison walls in annoyance.
The whole situation still irritated him.
One moment he had been inside his house casually working on dimensional travel calculations like usual, trying to improve the stability issues between universe transitions.
Then suddenly Pepper came from behind and knocked him unconscious.
And somehow that led to him waking up inside this prison cell.
"Fuck…" Tony muttered while rubbing the back of his head again.
Then a voice suddenly came from another nearby cell.
"Tony… is that you?"
Tony froze slightly after hearing it.
"Pepper?" he asked while moving closer to the bars. "What the hell are you doing here?"
There was silence for a moment before she answered.
"You imprisoned me here."
Now Tony looked completely confused.
"…What?"
His brain immediately started trying to process the situation.
Wait.
If someone disguised themselves as him and kidnapped Pepper.
Then who the hell kidnapped him afterward?
And more importantly, how was any of this even possible in the first place?
Tony was still trying to understand the situation when Luke suddenly appeared beside him sitting casually inside the cell like he owned the place.
"How many times do I need to tell you not to fall for dumb tricks?" Luke asked while looking at him flatly. "You almost got replaced by an alien."
Tony immediately relaxed after seeing him appear.
"Well…" he admitted while scratching his head awkwardly, "I didn't know."
Then his usual smirk returned again.
"But honestly, problems seem naturally attracted to me. Maybe it's because I'm too handsome and intelligent."
Luke stared at him silently for several seconds after hearing that.
*****
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