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Language:
English
Series:
Part 25 of Inktober 2025
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Published:
2025-10-25
Words:
500
Chapters:
1/1
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9
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23
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25. Inferno

Summary:

Steve, almighty One in charge of Hell, encounters a strange mortal

Notes:

rough 500 words yay

Work Text:

The king in Hell sits upon his throne all of the never-ending day, lording over the underworld in his terrible majesty. A mighty creature is he, wreathed in fire and smoke and crowned by shadow. All before him tremble in fear and awe. He is unknowable and terrible and even his name is secret.

Except maybe nobody ever tried. Except one:

 

It’s a hot day in Hell, the skies the typical inferno, and Steve is once again reviewing the souls passing through. He only deals with the ones with complaints, a dull task because they’re always the same. “I should be in heaven, please-” and that sort of thing. Steve shifts in his seat again as he waves the next one forward.

“Anthony Stark,” announced the attending demon.

“But I prefer Tony.

Steve held up a hand to forestall the aborted actions of the others. “Very well Tony. Tell me your grievance.” Something intrigued him about this man.

“Well, I was walking to my appointment to have my nails painted with molten lava when we went past one of the rack areas and I couldn’t help but notice how inefficient the design was. So, I made a better one last night.” He held up a scroll.

Steve took it and opened it. He stared at the plans in his clawed hands for a long moment. Around him, the attending demons waited tensely. Steve let out a long breath, “Someone give this man an apartment. I want another plan tomorrow.”

The man took care to bow before being led away and Steve felt a sense of simultaneous gratefulness and confusion at the gesture.

 

The next day, Steve had just settled into his throne when the doors to the room opened to reveal the man from the previous day. Cradled in his hands was a scroll and he bowed as he offered it up for inspection. It depicted an ingenious system for precision application of boiling oil. “Perfect,” murmured Steve, “another for tomorrow and I might even spare you the lava the day after.”

 

It went from there. Tony would enter the throne room early every morning with a new design and Steve would smile as he took it. The blueprints were flawless each time and it was always something new. An acid compound. Weapons. A comfier throne. A cooktop that could shock and burn the evil souls simultaneously. One night Steve turns to Tony as they lie in bed together and asks, “What did you do to end up here?”

“You don’t know?”

Steve smoothed Tony’s hair away from his eyes, “I figured you’d tell me when you wanted. It didn’t feel relevant.”

Tony smiled, “Oh, I was one of the worst. I was the very best of people… until night fell.”

“Serial killer?”

“Vigilante superhero.”

 

They’re married after that, though how long it’s been, no one can say. Their wedding night where sparks litter the sky instead of stars is the first time Steve has let time pass for millennia.

 

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