MARVEL/DC: DOCTOR IN THE MULTIVERSE

But he still lacked the final connecting piece.

Unless Lynn possessed some ability that allowed him to alter his physical form.

Bruce mentally reviewed every known power set capable of achieving such a feat.

Shapeshifting.

Biological adaptation.

Symbiote assimilation.

Genetic reconstruction.

Advanced illusion techniques.

Even certain forms of magic.

His gaze settled on Lynn's face.

Refined.

Gentle.

Scholarly.

Completely different from the towering masked giant who had torn apart Kryptonian war machines with his bare hands.

But was that difference truly impossible to overcome?

Bruce didn't voice his suspicions.

Not because there wasn't enough evidence.

But because he had already reached a preliminary conclusion.

If Lynn truly was the masked man, then he had already grown powerful enough that direct confrontation would be meaningless.

An impulsive accusation would accomplish nothing except push both sides into hostility.

That would be the worst possible outcome.

A better approach was patience.

Continue observing.

Continue gathering evidence.

Continue maintaining the appearance of cooperation.

Only when every link in the chain was complete would he make a decision.

"Was your clinic damaged during the invasion?" Bruce asked, changing the subject.

"No."

Lynn shook his head.

"The clinic is in New York, not Metropolis."

"That's good."

Bruce rose from his seat.

"I'll contact you if I need anything."

"You're welcome anytime."

Lynn smiled.

"But please schedule an appointment beforehand."

Bruce gave a slight nod before turning and heading toward the exit.

Fury stood as well.

At the doorway, he paused.

"Lynn."

"Hm?"

"The masked man opened a portal when he left."

Fury studied him carefully.

"Golden sparks. Circular structure. It looked exactly like the sling ring portals used by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj."

"Oh?"

Lynn raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any connection with Kamar-Taj?"

"No."

His answer came instantly.

"None at all."

Fury stared at him for two full seconds.

Then he turned and left.

The medical pod's reinforced door slid shut.

Lynn remained standing inside, coffee cup in hand, watching the two men depart through the armored glass.

Fury walked with long, hurried strides.

The reconstruction of Metropolis, Kryptonian technology recovery, civilian casualties, international fallout, and countless political headaches were waiting for him.

Bruce moved much more slowly.

Every few steps, he glanced back toward the medical pod.

Toward Lynn.

Toward the man he increasingly suspected was hiding something far larger than anyone imagined.

Lynn casually raised his coffee cup and nodded through the glass.

Bruce silently looked away.

Moments later, he vanished into the ruins.

Lynn drained the last of his coffee.

He placed the empty cup into the sink.

Then he pulled out his phone and checked the time.

It was time to return to New York.

...

Stark Tower.

Underground Laboratory.

Three days after the Battle of Metropolis.

Tony Stark had not slept for seventy-two hours.

The holographic display suspended above the laboratory projected a frozen image.

The masked man.

The exact moment he burst through the World Engine from within.

Black-clad.

White mask.

Floating amid a storm of collapsing alien machinery.

The setting sun reflected off the mask, creating an almost inhuman glow.

"JARVIS."

Tony rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

"Play it again."

"Sir, this is the one hundred and forty-seventh replay within the last seventy-two hours."

"Play it."

The footage restarted.

The World Engine collapsed.

Massive structural components exploded outward.

Thousands of tons of Kryptonian alloy scattered across the battlefield.

The masked man remained suspended in the center of the destruction.

Unmoving.

Tony's eyes narrowed.

"JARVIS. Analyze the debris acceleration, fragmentation pattern, and impact propagation. Estimate the force output."

"Sir, that analysis has already been completed."

JARVIS replied immediately.

"You issued identical requests during the thirty-eighth and sixty-seventh reviews."

"The conclusion remains unchanged."

"Data overflow."

Tony's jaw tightened.

"Then increase the model limits."

"I already have."

JARVIS answered calmly.

"The model parameters have been expanded to the highest values permitted by contemporary theoretical physics."

"The result remains unchanged."

"Data overflow."

Tony leaned back heavily.

His hands covered his face.

Overflow.

For three straight days, that single phrase had haunted him.

Data overflow.

Translated into plain language, it meant something horrifying.

The punch that destroyed the World Engine exceeded what modern physics could properly model.

Tony Stark was a genius.

One of the greatest minds on Earth.

He could solve engineering problems that would take teams of scientists decades.

His Iron Man armor had fought gods.

Alien armies.

Nuclear missiles.

Yet against an opponent classified as "data overflow," every suit he possessed suddenly felt insignificant.

Like paper.

Like toys.

The feeling of helplessness gnawed at him.

He hated it.

Tony abruptly stood.

He walked toward a nearby workbench.

Blueprints and components were scattered everywhere.

This was the project that had consumed him for the past three days.

A project born from fear.

Fear of inadequate firepower.

He picked up a marker and wrote the official designation across the blueprint.

ANTI-GOD PROTOCOL

The first design principle was straightforward.

Vibranium.

The strongest material currently available on Earth.

Or at least the strongest material Tony could realistically acquire.

He had already initiated discreet black-market inquiries.

Unfortunately, Wakandan vibranium was among the rarest resources on the planet.

The second design principle involved a kinetic-energy dispersion network.

A defensive system designed to redirect and diffuse incoming force throughout the armor frame.

Theoretically, it could reduce catastrophic impact damage.

Theoretically.

Tony understood the flaw immediately.

The masked man's strength was simply too absurd.

Every defensive system had a threshold.

Every shield had a breaking point.

Once incoming force exceeded that limit, the result would be the same.

Failure.

Complete failure.

He needed better materials.

Better technology.

Better power sources.

Better everything.

He needed—

"JARVIS."

"Yes, sir?"

"Send Lynn a message."

"What should the message contain?"

"Ask if he's available this afternoon."

Tony paused.

"I'm going over for tea."

"Sir, this is the fifth contact attempt this week."

"The previous response from Dr. Lynn was: 'Busy. Another day.'"

"Ask again."

Tony tossed the marker onto the table.

He knew exactly why he kept returning to Lynn.

It wasn't the tea.

It was never the tea.

Lynn possessed an absurd breadth of knowledge.

Every conversation felt like opening a door into an entirely new field of science.

The Extremis incident remained unforgettable.

Three minutes.

A napkin.

One equation.

An equation that had solved a problem that had stumped some of the world's brightest minds.

Even now, remembering it sent chills down Tony's spine.

Lynn's intellect was at least comparable to his own.

Possibly superior.

If he could discuss the energy-dispersion issue with Lynn...

Perhaps he might find a solution.

"Message sent, sir."

"Good."

...

Gotham City.

The Batcave.

Bruce Wayne sat before the Batcomputer.

The screen was not displaying footage of the masked man.

He had already analyzed that footage enough.

Three viewings were sufficient.

Unlike Tony Stark, Bruce didn't require constant repetition.

His memory retained every detail.

Instead, he was working on something else.

A contingency plan.

Not armor.

Not weapons.

A strategy.

The monitor displayed a massive tactical flowchart.

ALPHA-ZERO CONTINGENCY PLAN

Alpha-Zero.

The codename Bruce had assigned to the masked man.

The purpose of the plan was not how to defeat Alpha-Zero.

Bruce understood better than anyone that such a plan was currently impossible.

Instead, the objective was far simpler.

If Alpha-Zero ever became hostile...

How could Earth buy time?

Time to evacuate civilians.

Time to relocate governments.

Time to survive.

Slow him down.

Not defeat him.

Slow him down.

Bruce was a realist.

He never built plans around fantasies.

Several potential measures were listed.

Kryptonite.

Applicable only if Alpha-Zero possessed Kryptonian biology.

Mystic sealing methods.

Requiring cooperation from Kamar-Taj.

High-level telepathic intervention.

Requiring someone on the level of Professor Charles Xavier.

And finally...

The most dangerous option.

Harnessing the power of the Dark Dimension.

Bruce assigned success probabilities to every scenario.

The highest estimate:

33%.

The lowest:

2%.

Bruce stared at those numbers for a long time.

Then his attention shifted to another folder resting beside the contingency plan.

A simple label appeared on the screen.

Tag: "L."

Visit /ShiroTL for more chapters.