Tony smiled in thought.
'He always underestimates opponents who use intelligence over strength. Always. It's his defining characteristic. His blind spot. The thing that's gotten him defeated again and again across different storylines.'
Tony opened his eyes and looked at the fabrication process. The echo cores were taking shape slowly. Crystalline structures forming atom by atom.
'And there's something else. Something even more important.'
He stood and walked to another holographic display. This one showed detailed scans of the Ascension Device from the data collected during the Horsemen liberation missions.
'Every time I freed a Horseman, M.A.R.V.E.L. was collecting data. Mapping energy signatures. Analyzing Celestial technology patterns. Understanding how Apocalypse's corruption works at the fundamental level.'
Tony's fingers moved through the holographic interface. Pulling up specific readings. Cross-referencing frequencies. Building a complete picture.
'The Ascension Device isn't just a weapon. It's a network node. It connects to Apocalypse himself. Feeds him power from the corrupted mutants. Acts as an anchor point for his dimensional energy sources.'
His smile widened.
'Which means it's also a vulnerability. If I can reverse the energy flow, turn the device against him, I can drain his power at the worst possible moment.'
Tony pulled up another set of files. Tactical deployment plans. Seemingly random mission assignments. Things that looked unconnected but formed a perfect trap when viewed together.
'The evacuation team places quantum resonators. The sabotage team rewires power conduits. The containment team maps dimensional anchors. The telepathic network creates a distributed AI system.'
He gestured and all four mission profiles appeared side by side.
'Separately, they're just desperate measures. Together, they form the infrastructure I need to turn the Ascension Device into a weapon against its creator.'
Tony's internal monologue continued as he refined the plan.
'Apocalypse will focus entirely on me during the fight. His ego demands it. He'll want to prove his superiority personally. Crush me in front of the whole world as an example.'
He clenched his fists.
'And while he's doing that, while every sensor and every bit of his attention is on our fight, the trap closes around him. The pieces move into position. The energy flows reverse. And by the time he realizes what's happening, it'll be too late.'
Hours passed in the chamber. Outside, minutes ticked by. The time dilation gave Tony the luxury of thinking through every detail.
He ran simulations. Tested variables. Looked for failure points. Adjusted the plan accordingly.
The echo cores continued their slow formation. Blue and yellow light pulsed in rhythm with the quantum fields generating them.
Tony thought about his team. The heroes who would execute their missions without knowing how everything connected.
'I hate keeping them in the dark. But it's necessary. Apocalypse has telepathic capabilities. If any of them know the full plan, he might read it from their minds. Better they operate with incomplete information.'
He pulled up personnel files. Studied each hero's capabilities.
'Steve and Peggy are perfect for the evacuation mission. Their moral character means they'll execute it with absolute dedication. They won't cut corners or skimp on thoroughness. Which means every quantum resonator will be placed exactly where I need it.'
Tony moved to the next file.
'The Young Avengers for sabotage makes sense tactically. They're young and eager to prove themselves. They'll go all out making noise and causing visible destruction. Apocalypse will dismiss them as children playing at war. He won't look deeper at what they're actually accomplishing with those rewired conduits.'
Another file.
'Strange and Jean on the Ascension Device. Strange has the magical knowledge to map dimensional anchors. Jean has the raw power to maintain containment fields while he works. Together they're the only team that can handle that particular mission.'
The final file.
'Cyclops running the telepathic network. He's a natural tactical coordinator. Disciplined. Focused. He'll maintain the network with perfect precision. And he won't realize it's actually a distributed processing system until M.A.R.V.E.L. activates that function during the battle.'
Tony closed the files and returned to watching the echo cores form.
'Twenty-four hours until dawn. Twenty-four hours until I face a god in single combat. Twenty-four hours to finalize every detail.'
He pulled up another display. This one showed his armor's hidden systems. The ones he'd never revealed to anyone.
Enhanced quantum phasing. Dimensional manipulation protocols. Energy absorption matrices. All of it integrated so deeply into the Mark Infinity Supreme that even detailed scans wouldn't reveal their presence.
'I've been preparing for this since I became Homo Supreme. Since I realized what I could become. Every upgrade to my armor. Every enhancement to my body. Every technique I learned from the Ancient One. All of it building toward this moment.'
Tony's expression hardened.
'Apocalypse thinks this is about strength. About proving whose evolution is superior. He's going to come at me with five thousand years of combat experience and god-tier power. He's going to break my armor. Hurt my body. Push me to the absolute limit.'
He looked down at his hands. Quantum energy flickered between his fingers.
'And I'm going to let him. I'm going to take that beating. Endure it. Make him think he's winning. Because every second he spends focused on crushing me is another second the real plan executes without his knowledge.'
The echo cores reached fifty percent completion. Their light grew brighter. More stable.
Tony sat back down and closed his eyes again. His mind was racing but his body needed rest. Tomorrow would be the most difficult fight of his life.
'I can't tell them the truth. Can't explain that I have knowledge from another life. That I've read stories about Apocalypse and know his weaknesses. They wouldn't understand. Couldn't understand.'
He thought about his previous life. About being a Marvel fan on Earth. Reading comics. Analyzing storylines. Understanding characters on a level that people inside the universe never could.
'That's my real superpower. Not the Homo Supreme abilities. Not the advanced technology. But the meta-knowledge that lets me see patterns others miss. Predict behaviors based on narrative structure rather than just logic.'
Tony smiled slightly.
'Apocalypse is a character. And characters have defining traits. Consistent patterns. His pattern is arrogance. Underestimation. The belief that five thousand years of experience makes him infallible.'
He opened his eyes and looked at the echo cores again. Seventy percent complete now.
'That belief is what I'm exploiting. He'll see my challenge as an insect's futile defiance. He'll accept because his ego demands it. He'll fight me personally because proving his superiority matters more to him than tactics.'
Tony stood and began checking his armor's systems. Running diagnostics. Testing every function.
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