[Horizon Island]
Tony was busy as usual.
The hum of reactors. The rhythmic pulse of energy cycling through containment coils. Sparks of blue light snapped across the surface of a half-finished weapon sitting on Tony's main workstation. He stood at the center of it all, focused, sleeves rolled up, hands moving through the holographic controls.
The weapon was nearly complete, built from the excess energy harvested from the shattered remains of the Tesseract. Its core glowed faintly, the same color as the Space Stone. Tony's plan was simple: create weapons capable of isolating enemies' powers in pocket dimensions and then shooting out pure space energy blasts capable of breaking down anything to their atomic level and isolating those atoms into hundreds and thousands of mini dimensions. In short, disintegration blasts. Simple in theory. Insanely difficult to create.
Well, Tony thought of using the Space Gem directly, but it might attract unwanted attention from other Gem holders. And he'd very much like to face Apocalypse for now, instead of facing multiple people or mutants with Infinity Gems at the same time.
So, for now, he decided to create a couple of weapons and then upgrade his suit.
Then an emergency alert sound cut through the air.
"Priority report, Tony," said Elena. "Tag: Crimson Protocol."
Tony frowned. "Crimson Protocol? Really? There's something that my bio-nanites can't heal? Pull it up."
The holograms around him shifted instantly, the weapon schematics replaced by lines of real-time data. The Stark Medical Network's global readouts came online. He scanned the feed. Moscow. Population centers flashing red. Thousands infected in under an hour.
"What the hell…" Tony muttered. "Talk to me, Elena."
"A new contagion has been detected," the AI replied. "Origin unknown. No match in any of our databases. The Stark medical nanites are containing symptoms but cannot identify or neutralize the pathogen. It mutates faster than they can adapt."
Tony pulled up a magnified render of the virus structure. The hologram spun in midair. The strain looked almost alive in a conscious way—shifting, folding, rebuilding itself like it was learning.
"It's evolving like an unrestrained AI," Tony said, narrowing his eyes. "Except it's biological. Adaptive patterning, reactive countermeasures… this isn't natural."
Elena replied. "Infection clusters are forming across three districts. Transmission rate doubling every forty minutes. Mortality currently at twenty percent and rising."
Tony took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes for a moment. "No random mutation does that. Somebody made this."
He zoomed in again on the molecular strands. Each time the nanite interface tried to attack, the structure changed, its genetic code rewriting itself instantly to resist. He could almost feel the intelligence behind it.
"Elena, cross-reference the pathogen's energy signature with global mutant biofields. Anything match?"
A pause. Then a quiet beep.
"Result found. Trace signature corresponds to a Class-Omega mutant energy field. Historical records we've recovered from the tomb associate it with one known entity: code name 'Plague'… one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen."
Tony exhaled through his nose, eyes narrowing. "Of course it is."
He shut down the holographic render. "Prep a satellite uplink. I need visuals on Moscow, full spectrum. Infrared, bio-thermal, cosmic radiation, energy fluctuations... anything. If this 'Plague' is out there, I want to see this fucker. Even if Apocalypse tried to hide their presence, there have to be some kind of fluctuations. Find it."
Elena's voice came through again. "Coordinates locked. Surveillance network online in twenty seconds."
Tony stepped toward the viewport of his lab, the ocean stretching endlessly below Horizon Island. His reflection glared back at him from the glass, pale blue light from the Space Stone weapon reflecting off his armor bracers.
"So it begins," he said quietly. "War's already here."
The holograms flashed again as Elena projected the first satellite image.
A dark shape was standing in the center of Red Square. The air was thick with smoke. Bodies in quarantine suits lay motionless around her. The readings spiked with every breath she took, like the plague was alive through her veins.
Tony stared at the figure. Her eyes burned with sickly green light before she vanished in the thin air, leaving behind more smoke and plague.
"Plague," he whispered. "Apocalypse just made his first move."
[Stark Tower] [Command Room]
The holographic table in the center of the command room came to life, projecting Tony's image in full scale.
The Ultimates were gathered around the projection table. Natasha sat at the head of the table. Yelena leaned against the wall. Sue stood beside Johnny and Ben. Wanda and Polaris stood toward the back. Ghost and Janet were sitting.
"All right, team," Tony began with a serious expression. "We've got a situation. Codename: Plague. One of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen has surfaced in Moscow. She's spreading a bio-organic contagion that mutates faster than anything we've seen. Bio-nanites can't contain it. That means we're dealing with something far beyond standard mutation or viral engineering."
He continued. "Listen up, because this part's important. Plague is only one of the Horsemen. That means there are at least three more out there. Maybe more. I don't know if they're active yet, but assume they are. Apocalypse doesn't play games. Every move he makes has purpose, and this..." he pointed to the flickering hologram of Moscow, now showing quarantined zones burning under containment protocols, "...is his opening act."
Ben grunted. "So he's testing the waters."
"Exactly," Tony said. "He's weak right now, recovering, but he's not sitting still. He's sending his Horsemen to soften the world. Plague is meant to scare people, cause chaos, and weaken defenses. The next ones? They'll hit harder."
Natasha's voice cut through. "He'll come after us next."
"Yup," Tony said. "He'll go after the strongest first. Heroes, leaders, anyone who can resist him. If we're distracted or divided, he wins before the real fight even begins."
Wanda's eyes glowed faintly red. "He'll use our fears against us."
"Right," Tony said. "That's why we stay sharp. If any of you encounter unknown mutants, ones not in our database, do not engage in direct confrontation. I repeat, do not engage. We don't know what their abilities are or what kind of power he's given them. Call for backup. Contain, don't attack."
Yelena raised an eyebrow. "You're telling us to run?"
"I'm telling you to live long enough to fight the real battle," Tony replied. "Apocalypse wants us reactive. We stay strategic. If you sense anything off—anything—you report it. And I mean anything. If you get a gut feeling that something's wrong, or if you lose track of time like you can't remember something you were doing a moment ago, even a single minute, call Wanda immediately. You could be under psychic influence. Apocalypse and his followers can mess with your perception, memories, even emotions."
Ghost leaned forward. "So if something feels off, assume we're compromised."
"Exactly," Tony said. "I'm running a global surveillance algorithm to detect abnormal energy fluctuations. Elena and Hermes are monitoring it around the clock. If something happens, we'll see it. But I need everyone to be alert. This isn't a villain-of-the-week situation. This is the start of something big."
Sue sighed. "So, another world-ending war, huh?"
Tony's gaze hardened. "Yeah. Apocalypse started the war. But we're going to end it."
His holographic projection turned toward Wanda.
"Wanda," he said. "I need to be clear about your role in all this. You're our trump card. Whatever Apocalypse is planning, whatever powers he's throwing at us, you're the one variable he can't predict. Your reality manipulation is what tips the scales. But that's why we have to be careful. Starting now, do not use it unless it's life or death. If Apocalypse senses what you can do, he'll find a way to counter it. And if that happens, we lose our biggest advantage."
"Will do," Wanda replied with a nod.
He turned to Polaris. "Lorna, you and Natasha will head to Westchester. Talk to Charles Xavier. Let him know everything. If anyone can track these Horsemen, it's him. Cerebro might be able to locate their energy signatures, but tell him to be careful since Apocalypse could reverse counter him and might take control over him. If that happens, simply destroy the cerebro and use the nanites to heal him."
Polaris nodded. "Understood."
Tony continued. "Before that, Nat, stop by SHIELD. I need you to talk to my father. Tell him to activate the new super agent initiative. Now's the time to deploy them. We'll need every enhanced operative ready before this thing spreads."
Natasha gave a short nod. "Consider it done."
Tony looked around the table, taking in each face one by one. "The rest of you stay on standby. Meanwhile, I'll focus on developing a cure for whatever this plague is, and finishing the new weapons system. Haaa..." He sighed. "Well, you know the drill. Don't die. Good luck. And, Sue, I'll be needing your help here."
Sue stood up, "I'm on my way."
"Tony out."
The hologram flickered and vanished, leaving the Ultimates in heavy silence.
He whispered to himself, "Time to work."
...
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