"Warning: Engine overheat imminent," Jarvis alerted. "If pursuit continues, catastrophic failure of the thruster assembly is guaranteed."
Tony slammed his fist against the console (or rather, just made a frustrated motion inside the suit).
"Fine," he grumbled, cutting the throttle. "Let him go."
The Iron Man suit slowed, hovering in the cold air. Below, the clouds were a grey blanket, hiding the city. Above, Lucas Chen was already gone, a speck of defiance vanishing into the sun.
Tony had lost the race. But worse, he had lost his confidence.
"Mark 2 is obsolete," Tony declared, turning back toward Malibu (or New York, depending on the timeline variance). "It's good for impressing flight attendants and dodging SAM sites. But against a Super? It's a tin can."
He ran the simulation in his head. If Lucas decided to fight...
"One punch," Tony realized. "At Mach 2, with that mass and density? One punch would crumple the chest plate like aluminum foil. The Arc Reactor would be crushed. I'd be dead before I hit the ground."
And that was just the physical threat.
Tony thought about the psychological profile he had built of Lucas.
"Transmigrator," Tony muttered. "Player Character Syndrome."
This was the part that terrified him.
To Lucas, this world was a "Movie Universe." The people—Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, even Tony himself—were just characters. NPCs.
"When you play Grand Theft Auto," Tony reasoned, "do you feel bad about running over a pedestrian? No. They're just pixels. Data."
"If Lucas decides he's bored... or if he decides to 'speedrun' the villain arc... who stops him?"
Hulk? Maybe. But Hulk was a rage monster. Unpredictable.
Thor? A wildcard.
"I need a contingency," Tony decided. "A big one."
"Jarvis," Tony said, his voice cold and focused. "Open a new file."
"Designation, Sir?"
"Project: Hulkbuster."
"Wait, no," Tony corrected himself. "Make it broader. Project: Titan."
"Parameters?"
"Heavy assault armor," Tony listed, his mind racing. "Modular design. Capable of engaging Class 5 entities. I need hydraulic strength amplification to match the Hulk. I need energy shielding to tank a hit from Mjolnir. And I need... something specifically for our flying friend."
"Targeting systems capable of tracking Mach 5 objects," Tony continued. "And weaponry that can bypass a bio-electric field. Sonic cannons? Plasma cutters? Maybe Kryptonite if we can find it... or whatever his weakness is."
"Sir," Jarvis interjected. "The material requirements for such a suit would be astronomical. Gold-Titanium alloy will not suffice."
"Find me the hardest metal on Earth," Tony ordered. "Vibranium. Adamantium. I don't care if I have to buy a small African nation to get it. Just get it."
"Also," Tony added, glancing at the energy readout. "The Arc Reactor is draining too fast. 30 minutes of high-intensity flight and I'm at 40%? That's pathetic. If I'm fighting a god, I can't need a recharge break."
"We need a new core. New element. Higher output."
"Creating a new element is theoretically impossible with current technology, Sir."
"Theoretical implies a lack of trying," Tony snapped. "We'll solve it. We have to."
"Designation for the new file, Sir?"
Tony looked at the sky where Lucas had disappeared.
"Call it... The Anti-Freak Armor."
"Very well, Sir. 'Anti-Freak Armor' file created."
Meanwhile, in the Stratosphere.
Lucas Chen slowed down, floating on his back. He had dusted Iron Man. It felt good.
But the anxiety was still there.
"Tony Stark is Iron Man," Lucas thought. "Without the cave. Without Yinsen. Without the trauma."
"Does he still learn the lesson?" Lucas wondered. "Does he shut down the weapons division? Or is he just a billionaire with a really cool toy?"
"If he doesn't shut down Stark Weapons... then Obadiah Stane doesn't try to kill him. Which means Iron Monger doesn't happen."
"But if Stane doesn't betray him... then Stane is still running the company. And selling weapons to terrorists."
"My diary," Lucas realized, "didn't just change the timeline. It broke the character arc."
He looked at his hands.
"I need to be careful. If Tony goes dark... or if he decides I'm the threat... Civil War might happen a lot sooner than 2016."
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