"Will he be okay?" Pepper asked.
M.A.R.V.E.L.'s voice was quiet. "Master Stark is currently operating at 347% beyond his previous maximum output. His cellular structure is rewriting itself continuously. He's becoming something unprecedented."
"Will he survive it?" Pepper's voice shook.
"Unknown. His species has no precedent. No baseline to compare. He's in uncharted territory."
Jean Grey stood beside Pepper. Her Phoenix senses could feel the cosmic-level energy Tony was channeling.
"He's burning himself out." Jean whispered. "Using power like this has a cost. I know. I've paid it."
"Can't you help him?" Pepper turned to her. "The Phoenix Force?"
"I'm barely holding on to it myself. If I let it loose completely, I might not come back." Jean's voice was pained. "I'm sorry. I can't."
Strange continued the severance ritual. More dimensional anchors falling away. Apocalypse's power supply being cut one tether at a time.
"Sixty-three anchors severed. Sixty-four remaining. He's getting weaker. But so is Tony. This is becoming a race to see who falls first."
Back in the battle, Tony and Apocalypse clashed with reality-breaking force. Each impact shook the foundations of Cairo. Buildings that had survived the initial conquest now crumbled.
Tony's quantum duplicates were everywhere. Attacking. Defending. Casting spells. All working in perfect synchronization.
But maintaining this many simultaneous states was draining him. His consciousness was being split across hundreds of versions. Each one taking a piece of his focus.
'Can't keep this up forever. Need to end this soon. While I'm still me. Before I lose myself in the quantum field.'
Apocalypse seemed to sense this. He stopped trying to defend. Just attacked. Pure offense. Trading blow for blow.
"If we both fall, I win!" He laughed. "Because I can regenerate given time! You cannot!"
Tony realized he was right, he currently has not been able to regenerate in power like that but he had identified that such potential does exist in his current self. This was a war of attrition Apocalypse would win. Unless...
'The plan. Focus on the plan. The teams are still executing. I just need to hold out until full convergence.'
Captain America's voice came through the telepathic network. "Tony, resonators at maximum! Whatever you're planning, do it now!"
Spider-Man's voice followed. "Energy array completely charged! We can't hold this much longer! It's going to overload!"
Doctor Strange's calm tone cut through. "Final dimensional anchors severing in thirty seconds. He'll be completely isolated in normal space."
Cyclops added: "Telepathic network stable. Predictive algorithms at peak efficiency. We can see his moves before he makes them."
'Thirty seconds. Just thirty more seconds of this hell. Then victory. Or death. Either way, it ends.'
Tony pushed harder. His duplicates attacked with renewed fury. Magic and technology combined. Physical force and quantum manipulation layered together.
Apocalypse was being pushed back. Step by step. The continuous assault was overwhelming even his defenses.
"You fight well." Apocalypse admitted. "Better than anyone in five millennia. But it's not enough."
He released one final massive attack. Reality itself cracked around him. The fabric of space-time screamed.
Tony's duplicates all collapsed back into one. The attack was too big. Too powerful. Affected too much space for quantum uncertainty to dodge.
The blast hit him full force.
BOOM!
Tony was blown backward. Crashed into the ground. His armor shattered completely. Nanites scattered like rain. His body exposed. Broken.
Blood poured from dozens of wounds. His left arm was gone below the elbow. His ribs were crushed. One lung collapsed. His healing factor screamed trying to keep him alive.
'Not enough. Can't win this. Too damaged. Too weak.'
Apocalypse walked toward him slowly. Victory assured. "You fought magnificently. But in the end, experience trumps potential. Age trumps youth. And I am eternal."
He raised his hand. Energy gathered. The killing blow.
Tony couldn't move. Could barely breathe. His vision was fading. Blood loss too severe.
His body was already healing but not as fast as he would like.
'I couldn't...'
Then Doctor Strange's voice cut through the telepathic network. Clear. Triumphant.
"Final dimensional anchor severed! He's trapped! Now!"
Everything happened at once.
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