'More chaotic.'
Tony didn't like the sound of that. He had worked with the Infinity Stones before. They were dangerous. But they followed rules. This energy felt wild.
The pod around him began to shake. Cracks appeared in the glass.
'Dang it! It's going out of control!'
"M.A.R.V.E.L., we need countermeasures," Tony said. "Now."
Tony said this while wracking his brains on what to do.
He had maybe rushed it with his next evolution, he didn't take his step by step approach like he did when he started.
You could say the battle of New York raised his sense of urgency.
"Working on it, sir."
But Tony could hear worry in the AI's voice. M.A.R.V.E.L. was 'scared' too.
The energy inside Tony's body grew stronger. It felt like fire in his veins. Like electricity in his bones. He tried to control it, but it wouldn't listen.
Then the pain hit.
Tony screamed.
The sound echoed through the chamber. The glass pod cracked more. Energy leaked out in rainbow colors. It swirled around Tony like a tornado.
'What's happening to me?' Tony thought.
The quantum energy surged through his body. It pulled at him. Twisted him. The world around him began to change.
The Infinity Chamber faded away. The blue lights dimmed. Everything became colors and movement.
Tony felt himself being yanked. Not physically. Something deeper. His very existence was being pulled somewhere else.
Cosmic colors swirled around him. Reds and blues and golds. They moved like living things. They whispered secrets Tony couldn't understand.
His Infinity Suit flickered and quickly surrounded him. The metal became see-through. Then solid again. Then gone.
'But I can still feel it around me, what is this?'
'I'm losing contact with reality,' Tony realized in shock.
He could feel himself getting farther away. The Infinity Chamber was pulling him into a space between realities. A place that shouldn't exist.
Faint echoes reached him. They sounded like the Infinity Stones. Power. Space. Time. Reality. Mind. Soul. But distorted. Like hearing music underwater.
Tony tried to reach for his controls. His hands passed through them. He tried to call M.A.R.V.E.L. No sound came out.
He was alone in the void.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, the battle in Cairo took a terrible turn.
Apocalypse stood in the ruins of an ancient temple. His massive form cast shadows across broken stones. He watched the X-Men fight his followers. They were strong. Brave. But not strong enough.
His ancient eyes studied each mutant. Logan slashed with his claws. Jean Grey lifted rubble with her mind. Kurt teleported in blue smoke.
But one caught his attention.
Storm.
She flew above the battlefield. Lightning danced around her body. Rain fell where she pointed. The wind obeyed her commands.
'She is worthy,' Apocalypse thought.
He had been looking for a new Horseman. Death and War and Pestilence served him well. But he needed Famine. Someone who could drain the life from his enemies.
Storm would be perfect.
Apocalypse waited for his moment. Storm was fighting three of his followers at once. Lightning struck them down. But the effort tired her.
She landed on a broken wall to rest. That was when he struck.
Apocalypse moved faster than his size suggested. He appeared behind Storm like a shadow. His hand touched her shoulder.
"Do not resist," he said. His voice was like grinding stone.
Storm spun around. Her eyes went wide. "No!"
Lightning shot from her hands. Apocalypse absorbed it without flinching.
"You will serve me," he said.
Strange energy flowed from his fingers. It wasn't mutant power. It was something else. Something alien. A catalyst he had found in the depths of space.
The energy wrapped around Storm like chains. It seeped into her skin. Into her bones. Into her very soul.
Storm screamed.
Her white costume began to change. Black lines spread across the fabric. Her cape became tattered. Her eyes turned dark.
The transformation was happening. Storm, the weather goddess, was becoming Famine.
The alien catalyst rewrote her powers. Instead of controlling weather, she would control life itself. She could drain energy from plants. From animals. From people.
From entire cities.
"Rise, my Horseman," Apocalypse said.
Storm stood up slowly. When she looked at him, her eyes were empty. Cold.
"I serve," she said.
Her voice was her own, but different. Hollow.
Back in the quantum void, Tony felt something change. A ripple in reality. Something bad was happening on Earth.
But he couldn't help. He couldn't even move.
The cosmic colors spun faster around him. They were pulling him deeper into the space between worlds.
'I have to get back,' Tony thought. 'The others need me.'
But the void had him now. And it didn't want to let go.
On Earth, Storm raised her hand. The power of Famine flowed through her. Grass began to wither. Trees turned brown. The very air seemed to grow thin.
Apocalypse smiled.
The real battle was just beginning.
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