===== INFINITY CHAMBER ======
The communication chamber hummed to life.
Tony stood inside a crystalline sphere that pulsed with blue quantum energy. This was his bridge between worlds—a specially designed room that existed outside the Infinity Chamber's time dilation field. Here, minutes passed normally while the rest of his dimension moved fifty times faster.
M.A.R.V.E.L's holographic form materialized beside him, her golden avatar flickering with concern.
"Connection established, Master Stark. Routing through secure Stark Industries satellite network. Encryption protocols active."
Tony took a breath. Twenty years for him. Five months for them.
'How do I even begin to explain this?'
He couldn't. Not yet. Not until he understood what had happened to his body.
"Connect me to Nick Fury. Priority Alpha-One. His personal line only."
[Connecting...]
The holographic display showed a rotating S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia for exactly three seconds before Nick Fury's face filled the screen. The man looked older. More tired. His single eye widened in something that might have been shock before his expression hardened into that familiar mask of controlled fury.
"Stark."
That one word carried twenty different emotions. Relief. Anger. Disbelief. Hope.
"You son of a—" Fury stopped himself, jaw clenching. "Five months, Tony. Five goddamn months with no word, no signal, nothing. Do you have any idea what's been happening out here?"
Tony met his gaze steadily. "I had an accident with an experiment. Things got... complicated."
"Complicated." Fury's voice was flat. "Complicated. The world is burning, Stark. Apocalypse has Four Horsemen now. We lost Magneto. We lost Storm. Colossus and Wolverine are corrupted. The X-Men are scattered. Half the Avengers are barely standing. And you're telling me things got complicated?"
Each word hit like a physical blow.
Tony's hands clenched at his sides. "I know you're angry—"
"Angry?" Fury leaned forward, his face filling the screen. "I'm way past angry, Stark. I'm at the point where I'm just glad you're still breathing. Because we need you. Yesterday. Hell, we needed you five months ago."
"I'm down for the moment," Tony said carefully. "I need to make some preparations. But I promise you, Nick—I'm coming back. And when I do, I'm bringing Apocalypse down."
Fury studied him through the screen. That single eye seemed to pierce through the hologram, reading things Tony wasn't saying.
"What happened to you?"
"I told you. Accident. Experiment gone wrong." Tony kept his voice steady. "But I'm working on it. Just need a little more time."
"How much time?"
"Not long. Days, maybe." With the time dilation, he could accomplish weeks of work in hours. "I just need you to do one thing for me."
"What?"
"Don't announce my return. Not yet. Let everyone think I'm still missing."
Fury's expression darkened. "You want to play dead while people are dying out here?"
"I want to make sure that when I show up, I can actually make a difference." Tony's voice hardened. "You said it yourself—Apocalypse has Four Horsemen now. He's got Celestial technology. I show up half-ready, I'm just another casualty. I show up prepared? I end this war."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Fury nodded slowly. "Fine. You get your time. But Stark? If you're not back in seventy-two hours, I'm sending everything we've got to find you. And then I'm going to kill you myself for making me worry."
Despite everything, Tony almost smiled. "Fair enough."
"One more thing." Fury's voice softened slightly. "It's good to know you're alive. You might have to check up on Pepper...she needs it."
Tony's chest tightened somewhat and he sighed.
'Pepper...'
"I'll make this right, Nick. I promise."
"You better." Fury reached forward. "Fury out."
The connection cut.
Tony stood alone in the communication chamber, the weight of those five months—twenty years—pressing down on him. Apocalypse. Four Horsemen. The world falling apart while he'd been trapped in dimensional limbo.
He turned to M.A.R.V.E.L. "Take me back to the main lab. We need to finish those scans."
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