Time Anchor

As a genius who could build a cold-fusion Arc Reactor with his bare hands, Tony's scientific instincts went on maximum alert the moment his fingers touched the glowing white mass on the table.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., scan it across every frequency. Analyze it down to the molecular level, reverse-engineer its underlying quantum logic, and keep taking it apart until there's nothing left to take apart."

His voice was tight, his words coming in a rapid-fire burst.

"On it, boss." F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s synthesized voice rang through the Sanctum. Seconds later, an analysis report appeared in Tony's vision.

The instant Tony finished reading it, every hair on his back stood up. Its stability was four times that of the original Pym Particles, approaching the theoretical limit.

Its purity was 99.97 percent. Hank Pym had spent his life unable to break through the 90 percent barrier.

As for energy efficiency, the scaling power it could release per unit of volume surpassed the original by three orders of magnitude. Its operating life was conservatively estimated at seven times as long.

Tony's lips trembled. He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, but his voice still shook.

"You... you reverse-engineered the Pym Particles? And even improved them?"

He jerked his head up and stared at Russell, disbelief and sheer horror filling his eyes.

Tony Stark had spent years tinkering with Pym Technologies. He had F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s staggering computing power and the world's finest laboratories behind him.

Yet the underlying quantum logic of Pym Particles had always been a maze shrouded in fog. He had reached its edges and hit countless dead ends, but never touched its true core.

And the result? In the time Russell had held them captive, he had not only replicated the particles but upgraded them for good measure.

"He isn't just someone