Ultimate Iron Man

[Starfire – Research Deck | Day 6 in Solar Orbit | 2:17 AM Ship Time]

Inside the lab chamber, soft blue lights glowed from the containment fields. Monitors flickering with real-time biometrics, wave-form graphs, and molecular simulations. Tubes of plasma and radiation-exposed samples floated in magnetic suspension.

At the center of it all, Tony stood still, face pale, eyes locked on the data.

His hands worked with surgical precision. A vial of irradiated plasma in one, a drop of his own blood in the other. He injected it slowly into the sample dish, then slid it into the analysis scanner.

He didn't blink or breathe as the scanner spun and beeped. Tony leaned in closer. 

The cell clusters were merging without any rejection or inflammation. The reaction stayed stable for five seconds. Then, the dish cracked. The lights flickered, and the sample began to boil away into nothing.

"Dammit," he whispered. "That was close."

He reached for another vial, knuckles white, temples slick with sweat. The sharp, stabbing pain behind his right eye hadn't stopped in hours. It was like something inside his skull was expanding, pulsing with heat, trying to crack him open from the inside.

The Mind Stone.

He was using the stone's power to amp up the process. The spectrum of the samples he collected wasn't perfect. He needs something more powerful and raw. But the space was vast, and to search for something like that was like searching for a needle in an empty void.

He was running out of time. 

He had hardly eaten or rested because he couldn't afford to. 

He needed a breakthrough. The radiation had to bind, fuse, and transform him before his body gave in to the pressure of an Infinity Stone. 

Behind him, the door opened quietly.

Susan stepped into the lab, dressed in a loose white lab shirt over black leggings, her hair tied up in a messy bun. She had been off duty for the last few hours, resting, unlike him. 

Pausing in the doorway, she took in the familiar smell of chemicals, coffee, and something faintly metallic. She watched him for a long moment, but he didn't turn around. 

Taking a few steps closer, she said, "You haven't slept in two days."

Still no answer.

She walked up beside him, gaze flicking over the display.

Onscreen: another failed reaction. Another destroyed blood sample. Another dead end.

She looked at him. Really looked. The hollow under his eyes. The tension in his jaw. The tremor in his hand when he thought no one was watching.

And the fear he was barely containing.

"You're not just here to study cosmic radiation," she said quietly. "Are you?"

Tony finally looked over at her.

His eyes were bloodshot.

"Of course I am," he replied, voice flat. "It's the greatest unexplored energy spectrum in the system."

"Try again."

She held his gaze.

Tony exhaled through his nose and turned away, walking to another panel. His hands moved automatically, queuing the next round of tests.

"This radiation," he said, "it's not like anything we've cataloged. It's reactive, adaptive. It recognizes organic matter. It bends to it. For a second, I had it. A real symbiosis."

"And then it tore itself apart," Susan said.

Tony didn't reply.

She stepped closer. "From what I can see. You're pushing like you're on a clock."

He didn't move.

Her eyes fell on the blue vial on the table. "Don't tell me that you are planning on injecting that in your body?"

Silence.

Susan's tone lowered. "Tony... what's wrong? Talk to me."

Tony sighed. He took a deep breath. One hand rested on the table, and the other rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hermes. Activate soundproof barrier," He ordered.

"Affirmative," Hermes replied. Instantly, a faint invisible barrier appeared over the room, and the door locked. 

"Alright. Take a seat," He pointed at the stool beside him.

Susan sat slowly, not taking her eyes off Tony. 

Tony didn't look at her when he started speaking. 

"I didn't want to drag anyone into this. Not unless I had to. But I guess that moment's here."

He touched a small panel beside the console. A holographic model of his own head appeared. Layers peeled back: skin, muscle, bone, neural pathways. At the core, a glowing shard was embedded deep in the center of his brainstem. 

Susan's breath caught. "What is that?"

"It's called the Mind Stone," he said. "One of six Infinity Stones."

"Infinity Stones?" She raised an eyebrow.

"There are six of them," he said. "Infinity Stones. Each one controls something fundamental to the universe. Space, Time, Reality, Power, Soul... and the one in me: Mind."

Susan didn't interrupt. She just listened.

"They're... ancient. Forces that existed before the universe as we know it even formed. When the balance of reality starts to shift, when something big is coming, they show up. In different ways. Different forms."

He tapped the hologram. The glowing shard inside the model's brain pulsed slowly.

"This one showed up in me. I was a kid. No one noticed. Not even me. At first, it just felt like... clarity. Like I could see the world differently than everyone else. And it made sense. Equations. Patterns. Inventions. Everything came naturally."

He looked down at his hand, flexed it once.

"But it never stopped growing. Over the years, it became part of my mind. Woven into my brain tissue. Like a root system wrapped around every neuron. You can't remove it. If you try, I die instantly. I've checked."

Susan's voice was soft. "And it's killing you."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Slowly. At first, it gave more than it took. But now..."

He pulled up a scan. It showed microscopic cracks forming along his spine and skull. Nerve tissue burning under pressure.

"My body's breaking down. I used the Super Soldier Serum to delay the damage. Bought myself time. But that time's running out. Even with all my upgrades. My healing nanites are struggling. Every hour, the stone pulses. Every pulse eats at my limits. I've maybe got a month left before things go critical."

Susan stared at the image. Then she closed her eyes for a second. Processing. Then looked back at him. "That's why you brought us here. You wanted to hit two birds with one stone. Do cosmic radiation research and use that research to fix yourself."

Tony nodded again. "Cosmic radiation like this... It's pure. It changes everything it touches. There is a unique cosmic storm out there that might save me. If I can find the right signature, if I can trigger the right reaction... I might evolve past the point where the Mind Stone kills me."

"Evolve?" she asked. "Is that why you told me to study radiation's effect on human biology?"

"Yeah. I'm desperate here, Sue. If I fail to find that storm, I won't have a choice but to take certain risks. And you are the only one with enough knowledge to find a way to eliminate the side effects. I'm sorry for not revealing the whole truth because secrets like this can hurt lots of people and might hurt you or anyone who knows about its location. There are many entities out there who are looking for the stones, and if they find out that one is in my head, guess what would happen?" Tony asked as he looked into her eyes.

Susan sat quietly, staring at the glowing hologram of Tony's brain. Her mouth was slightly open, but no words came out for a long moment. The weight of everything he'd just said hung in the air, thick and heavy.

Finally, she spoke, her voice low and a little shaky.

"This is… this is a lot, Tony."

He nodded once, not pushing her.

"I mean… Infinity Stones? Ancient forces? Entities looking for them?" She shook her head slowly, as if trying to make it all settle in her brain. "How is this real? How can something like that even exist?"

Tony leaned against the table, tired eyes locked on the image. "I've asked myself the same thing every day since I first learned what it was. Physics breaks down around these things. Logic doesn't work the way it's supposed to. You've seen how our readings out here behave, particles moving through time, responding to thoughts. That's just the edge of it."

Susan stared at the hologram, then at him. "And these… entities? You're saying there are others out there who know about this? Who want this? And how do you know?"

Tony nodded. "The Stone showed me things. Some of these threats are ancient. Not alien in the way we think. They are from outside. Beyond the edges of our galaxy. Some call them cosmic beings. Others, gods, Titans, and Celestials. The things we thought were myths are real. And they want the Stones."

"To harness such power... If they get their hands on them, then?!" Sue's eyes widened at the thought.

"Yup," he said. "One Stone alone can change the fate of a planet. All six together? They could end a galaxy, universe, rewrite time, even wipe out reality and start over."

Susan looked stunned. "That's insane."

"I know," Tony said quietly. "And now one of those things is buried in my skull."

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to stay calm. "So… if they find out where it is…"

"They'll come," Tony finished for her. "And they won't ask politely."

Susan stood and started pacing slowly, one hand on her temple.

"So all this, building Starfire, gathering us, flying up here, it's not just about the science. You're trying to survive long enough to stop what's coming."

"Exactly. But I can't do this alone. I need help. I've seen the coming threats, destruction of the world, parallel worlds, different timelines, the multiverse with countless variants of us... All in all, a change is coming, and we aren't ready. Not by a long shot. That's why I'll survive this. I'll evolve and create a team of superheroes with power and skills. Together we'll face the coming threats. And before you say anything," Tony turned to the computer and pulled up the image of the Celestial Island.

Sue's eyes widened as she leaned forward.

The giant dead body of a celestial.

"Is that...?!" She stuttered. 

"Proof. Sometimes words aren't enough. So, here's a proof. The dead body of a celestial that I'm harvesting on Earth. That thing didn't even get to mature completely," He said.

"Damn it! Tony. This is like... Haa..." Sue sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment. 

Tony waited for her reaction.

"So, this brain thing. I'm the first one to know? What about Natasha and the others? Your dad?" She asked.

"You are the first one to know," He replied.

"This is too much for me to process in such a short time. Right now, tell me what I need to do. I'll help. But after this is over. I need to know everything. If you want my help, I want the truth. If they are really coming as you said, then we have to be ready. And unless I know what I'm walking into, I won't be able to help."

"So, just like that? No yelling about hiding the truth or anything around that part? A punch?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe later. Right now, let's search for this cosmic storm."

Just then...

The warning signal activated. Hermes' voice came from the comms...

[Unidentified spacecraft detected]

[Activating weapon and defense systems]

"The fuck?!" Tony stood up. "Show me the live footage."

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