Tony absorbed that information. Unlimited power. Undeveloped abilities. A completely new species that he couldn't predict or control.
'I wanted to evolve. I got my wish. Congratulations, Stark. You've officially become something that shouldn't exist.'
He walked over to one of the testing chambers, pressing his hand against the reinforced glass. The material was designed to withstand a bomb explosion. Under his palm, it cracked slightly.
Tony pulled his hand back immediately. "I didn't even try to break that."
[Your physical strength is inconsistent because you haven't learned to regulate it. Sometimes you're as strong as a normal human. Sometimes you could destroy a 50 story building with one casual punch. The difference is your mental state, your emotional control, factors we haven't identified yet.]
"So I'm a walking disaster waiting to happen."
[You're an infant learning to walk, Master Stark. You will stumble. You will make mistakes. But you will also grow stronger, more controlled, more capable with time and practice.]
Tony turned back to the holographic displays, his engineer's mind already working through the problem. "If I'm a new species, I need to document it. Name it. Understand it."
He pulled up a blank taxonomic classification chart, the kind biologists used to categorize life forms. His fingers moved through the holographic interface, filling in information.
Kingdom: Animalia (barely)
Phylum: Chordata (technically)
Class: ...
Tony stopped. What the hell was he supposed to call this?
"Homo," he muttered. "The genus for humans. Homo sapiens—wise man. Homo habilis—handy man. Homo erectus—upright man."
His fingers hovered over the input field.
What did you call something that had transcended human limits? Something that existed at the intersection of matter and energy? Something designed to stand against gods and cosmic threats?
'Supreme. Above all others. The next step beyond humanity.'
Tony typed: **Homo Supreme**
The classification appeared on the screen, and something about seeing it written out made it real. He wasn't Tony Stark, enhanced human. He was Tony Stark, first and only member of a completely new species.
"Homo Supreme," he said aloud, testing how it sounded. "The supreme evolution of humanity. A species designed for infinity."
[An appropriate designation, Master Stark. Though I should note that you are currently a species of one. The only Homo Supreme in existence.]
"Yeah." Tony stared at the classification. "Which means I have no idea what I'm capable of. No roadmap. No guidance. Just... potential."
He clenched his fists, feeling that coiled energy beneath his skin. Quantum uncertainty churning through every cell. Power he couldn't measure, couldn't predict, couldn't fully control.
Fury said Earth needed him. Apocalypse was building a weapon to wipe out humanity. The Four Horsemen were destroying everything in their path. People were dying.
And Tony Stark had just become something unprecedented. Something powerful. Something dangerous.
Something that could save the world or destroy it, depending on whether he learned to control what he'd become.
========
"M.A.R.V.E.L," he said quietly. "Pull up everything we know about species development, evolutionary biology, and genetic adaptation. If I'm going to be Homo Supreme, I need to understand what that means."
[Acknowledged. But Master Stark, may I suggest a more immediate concern?]
"What?"
[You said you needed to return to Earth to face Apocalypse. But you're currently in an infant state of development for your species. Your abilities are unpredictable. Your power levels fluctuate wildly. If you attempt to engage in combat before understanding your new physiology, you could cause catastrophic damage—to yourself and everyone around you.]
Tony knew she was right. The thought of going into battle without knowing his own capabilities went against every tactical instinct he had. But people were dying. The world was burning. He couldn't afford to spend months or years learning to be Homo Supreme.
"So we accelerate the process," he said. "Force my development. Give me the tools to control this power before I have to use it."
[That could be incredibly dangerous, sir. Forcing premature development in any species can cause permanent damage or developmental disorders.]
"I know. But we don't have a choice." Tony's eyes hardened with determination. "How long until we can build a suit that acts as a control interface? Something that can regulate my power output, compensate for my lack of control, and channel my abilities in predictable ways?"
M.A.R.V.E.L ran calculations, her holographic form flickering as she processed millions of variables.
[With the time dilation? Twelve hours of external time. Approximately twenty-five days of work for us.]
"Then let's get started. Design parameters: the suit needs to be more than armor. It needs to be a neural interface, a power regulator, and a developmental framework all in one. Something that helps me learn to be Homo Supreme while protecting everyone around me from my mistakes."
Tony pulled up his old Infinity Armor designs—the theoretical suit he'd been planning before everything went wrong. Now those plans needed to evolve alongside him.
"We're not just building armor, M.A.R.V.E.L. We're building a training system for a species that's never existed before. A way to turn unlimited potential into controlled reality."
[Understood. What shall we call this project?]
Tony looked at his reflection in one of the polished metal surfaces. Human face. Inhuman biology. The first and only member of a species designed to stand against gods.
"My plans for an Infinity Armor can finally begin," he said. "Project: Infinity Reborn. Because I'm not just coming back from the dead. I'm coming back as something the universe has never seen."
[Initiating Project: Infinity Reborn. Preliminary designs uploading now.]
The laboratory hummed to life around him, holographic blueprints flowering in the air like digital flowers. Schematics for neural interfaces. Power regulators. Quantum stabilizers. Everything he'd need to control a body that existed at the edge of cosmic law.
Tony Stark—Homo Supreme, species of one, infant god in a human shell—got to work.
Apocalypse wanted to remake the world? Wanted to prove that only the strong deserved to survive? Wanted to force humanity to evolve or die?
Fine.
Let him try.
'I'm back.'
And this time, he was bringing the power of infinity itself. Even if he was still learning how to use it.
Even if he was essentially a cosmic toddler taking his first steps.
Even if he had no idea what Homo Supreme was truly capable of.
Because one thing Tony Stark knew for certain: whether he was human, enhanced, or an entirely new species—he was still Tony Stark. Still brilliant. Still determined. Still willing to sacrifice everything to protect the world.
And now? Now he had the power to actually do it.
He just had to learn to walk before he could run.
Or in this case, learn to control quantum uncertainty before he tried to punch a god in the face.
Tony smiled grimly at his reflection, watching as quantum energy sparked briefly across his skin—uncontrolled, unpredictable, utterly terrifying in its potential.
"Apocalypse," he said softly to the empty lab. "I hope you enjoyed your time as Earth's biggest threat. Because your reign just ended."
"You're about to face the first Homo Supreme. And I'm going to show you what real evolution looks like."
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