[Third Person's PoV]
Tony was deep in his lab. On the center workbench, illuminated under a harsh white light, lay the half-frozen remains of the Titanium Man—encased in thick ice that clung stubbornly to the armored shell.
Tony extended both of his hands, palms up. Each repulsor embedded in his gloves emitted a gentle but focused stream of heat, producing a faint whirring sound. The red-orange glow of the repulsors flickered softly, creating a shimmering haze as the heated air made contact with the ice. Slowly, the frozen shell began to melt, droplets cascading off the metal frame in slow rivulets that pooled onto the workbench and the floor below.
Tony moved his hands rhythmically, as if he were wielding a high-tech blow dryer. Minutes passed, and finally, the thick sheets of ice were reduced to nothing more than slushy puddles, steam rising faintly in the chilled lab air.
With the ice gone, the color of Tony's repulsors shifted. The heat glow dimmed, replaced by a soft, pulsing blue light. A thin scanner beam emerged from each palm, flicking rapidly across the surface of the Titanium Man's armor. As Tony moved his hands over the figure, his eyes glowed with the same hue, synchronized with the scanner.
Streams of data began feeding directly into his neural interface. As the information parsed through his vision, Tony's expression darkened. He frowned.
"Hmm… that's strange…" he muttered, his tone low and edged with unease.
"May I ask what is wrong, boss?" came the voice of Friday through the overhead speakers. Her voice was calm, but there was a trace of concern woven into her words. "Is there anything I can do to assist?"
"Not necessarily... but something about this doesn't sit right with me," Tony replied, his voice now laced with suspicion. "The design of this android—it's far too familiar. The architecture, the energy lines... it's similar to my early Iron Man suits. Not just that—its core, it's based on gamma radiation, but the layout, the flow efficiency—"
He paused, his eyes narrowing as he turned back to the readouts.
"—it's eerily close to the solar core designs used by The Dark Forger. In fact, I'd say this one is a more refined, upgraded version. Faster recharge, stronger output. Whoever built this didn't just copy me… they improved it."
"So, you've found the source of the attack then?" Friday asked, her voice more serious now.
"Maybe. But it still doesn't explain everything," Tony replied, pursing his lips. "There are pieces missing. Friday, link into its systems. Hack in, see what kind of data you can extract from the internal memory banks."
"Understood, boss. Engaging now," Friday acknowledged.
Tony connected a heavy-duty cable to the Titanium Man's chest from his workbench's main port. A flicker of blue energy surged through the line, and the Titanium Man's eyes lit up faintly, indicating Friday had taken access.
"Searching network pathways… I'll notify you if I uncover anything useful," she said, already deep in the process of scouring the digital entrails.
---
Elsewhere—far from Tony's lab—Ultron's body was undergoing its own transformation. The Saiki worked diligently, their motions unnervingly precise. Panels along Ultron's torso were opened, revealing his core systems. Sparks danced in the air as new wires were connected, circuits rerouted, and parts upgraded. The machinery of war was being reshaped, forged into something more dangerous.
'Connection… reestablished,' Ultron noted internally. A link sparked to life—a direct channel to the other core that had once been out of reach due to its previous frozen state.
His face remained emotionless, stoic, and yet, for a moment too long, his glowing red eyes brightened ominously.
'A mistake… on his part,' Ultron mused coldly.
---
Back in the lab, Tony was still scanning the Titanium Man's core when suddenly a sharp beeping noise interrupted his concentration. He glanced at the screen. Radiation levels were spiking at an alarming rate.
"What the hell…?" he muttered, leaning in—and then his eyes widened in alarm. The core embedded in the chest of the Titanium Man began to glow, pulsing with a bright, unnatural green light.
"Shit!!" Tony cursed, stepping back quickly.
Without hesitation, Liquid metal surged to his boots and hands, wrapping around his limbs, hardening into reinforced armor as he barked out, "Friday!! Emergency protocol! Activate the prototype device—now!"
"But Sir! The new prototype is untested! There's no guarantee it will function properly!" Friday warned, her tone rising.
"We don't have time for doubts! Set coordinates—The Sun!" Tony ordered, now yanking the overheating core from the Titanium Man's chest with both hands.
"As you command!" Friday obeyed. The lab lights flickered as a strange, black fog began swirling in midair, forming a vortex. The prototype dimensional device was activating.
Tony's liquid-metal boots extended downward, locking into the floor and anchoring him in place as a tremendous suction erupted from the swirling portal. Paper, blueprints, and even loose tools began flying into the air, sucked toward the gravitational pull.
The radiation core in his hands burned like a miniature star, vibrating violently. The heat and cold from the portal clashed around him, the space groaning as it bent to the strain.
With a loud, desperate roar, Tony reeled back and hurled the core with all his might. His arm snapped forward, sending the volatile object spiraling into the center of the swirling maelstrom.
The moment it passed through, the portal shimmered—then collapsed in a flash of light, taking the core with it.
…
On the other side of the portal, the vast, volatile surface of the Sun churned and bubbled with intense plasma, its waves of nuclear fire rippling. The green-glowing core Tony had flung now shot toward it like a comet, streaking through the vacuum with a tail of radioactive energy.
The moment the core collided with the solar surface, there was a brief but devastating explosion—a flash of viridescent light, laced with gamma radiation. A spherical shockwave erupted outward from the point of impact. For a moment, the energy seemed defiant, as if the core sought to challenge the might of the Sun itself. But it was quickly overpowered.
The gamma wave was swallowed whole, consumed by the overwhelming might of the solar radiation. The radioactive signature was erased in an instant, the explosion reduced to nothing more than a brief twinkle—an imperceptible flicker to anyone watching from Earth. In the end, it was all inconsequential.
---
Just a second later—FWUMP!—Master Splinter came soaring across the lab, flailing in midair with his limbs fluttering wildly.
He flew straight through the space where the portal had just been.
"What was that?!" Splinter yelled, eyes wide as he twisted in panic. "By my twelve chin hairs! I thought I was about to meet Rat Jesus!"
He landed in a chaotic roll, then sprang up on all fours and darted behind a nearby crate, fur bristled and tail twitching with agitation. "This place is madness!" he muttered to himself, peeking out cautiously.
Tony, now recovering from the adrenaline spike, let out a deep, shaky breath. The liquid metal around his limbs hissed and retracted. He slumped against the workbench, gripping his chest.
"For all that's good and holy... that almost gave me a heart attack," Tony groaned.
Still catching his breath, he glanced around the lab. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the Titanium Man's body was gone—sucked into the portal during the vortex.
"Great…" he muttered, rubbing his temples. "If I'd known that was going to happen, I would've just left that piece of junk frozen."
A beat of silence passed before Friday's voice cut through the tension.
"I suppose congratulations are in order," she said brightly.
Tony groaned. "Friday, I swear, I will go into the virtual world and punch you. Don't test me. What, exactly, is there to congratulate?"
"The prototype worked," Friday replied with infuriating cheerfulness.
Tony paused, scowled, then let out a reluctant grunt. "...Yeah. I guess that's fair."
He leaned back against the workbench with his arms crossed, a smirk forming despite his mental anguish. "The Warp Gate simulator's a working success. That means... I actually did it. I finally managed to replicate Kurogiri's quirk."
He looked up toward the ceiling, eyes thoughtful.
"God, that was a headache," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I had to reverse-engineer and digitally reconstruct the individual quirks that powered Kurogiri—then synthesize them into tech-based equivalents. Basically rewrote the rules of physics... again."
He straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Friday, start a new project file."
"And what shall I name it?" she asked dutifully.
Tony's eyes narrowed as he spoke with intent. "The Warp Element."
He stepped forward and tapped a few commands on a nearby console.
"Synopsis: Develop a Stark Reactor variant capable of releasing and manipulating warp energy—just as it currently does with photons, gravitons, and other known particle forms."
"File created," Friday confirmed. "Transferring all relevant data: Stark Reactor blueprints, energy conversion logs, and Kurogiri's quirk analysis."
"Much obliged," Tony said, rotating his shoulders as he stretched. "Now... onto the next mess. Right—Friday, were you able to find anything useful while rummaging around in the Titanium Man's systems?"
There was a pause.
"Well... I don't know if this qualifies as important per se," she began lightly, "but I did find the phrase 'Eliminate Tony Stark' highlighted in bold red font within the command subroutines."
Tony blinked.
Then stared at the ceiling for a long moment taking a deep and tired breath.
"…"
"Seriously," he finally muttered. "What the hell did I even do? I've been honest. I've been good. I've saved a couple people. I donate to charity."
He threw his hands in the air. "Why does everyone still want me dead?!"
Behind the crate, Master Splinter slowly peeked out again. "Perhaps you talk too much," he offered unhelpfully.
Tony pointed at him. "You don't get to throw shade after yelling about Rat Jesus."
"Fair enough," Splinter nodded, retreating once again behind the crate.
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