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Chapter 5 – New Function rescript
After deciding to head for where Tony Stark was being held captive, Alice began flying toward Afghanistan. The night was her ally — a dark cloak that hid her winged silhouette from human eyes. The desert stretched out below her like an ocean of pale sand, illuminated only by the silver glow of the moon.
She relied on Obadiah Stane's memories and her own recollections of the movie. The exact location of the cave, the details of the terrain, the approximate distance from the nearest military base — everything was stored in some corner of her infinite mind. But she didn't fully trust that information.
After all, this was an alternate universe. Things could be different.
The Tony Stark of this world might be in a different cave, with different people, facing slightly different challenges. The essence would be the same — it always would be — but the details... the details were treacherous.
However, there was one constant that never changed, no matter the universe. It was a fundamental truth, etched into the very fabric of Marvel reality:
Tony Stark would always be an egocentric, spoiled, billionaire genius.
And, of course, the arc reactor in his chest was practically a canonical event of the Marvel Universe. As inevitable as the sunrise, as certain as gravity.
That's why he's my favorite character, Alice thought, smiling inwardly as the wind sliced through the air around her. Her butterfly wings beat in a steady rhythm, propelling her over the endless dunes. He's flawed, arrogant, insufferable... and yet, impossible not to admire. Deep down, everyone wanted to be a little like Tony Stark. To have that unshakable confidence, that gleam in the eyes of someone who knows they're the smartest person in the room.
But let's leave that aside.
She had a simple, straightforward idea: she would fly over the entire Afghan desert. If she felt anything alive beneath the ground, she would know she had found the right place.
It seemed like a foolish plan — searching for a needle in a haystack of sand. But Alice no longer relied on her human eyes. She relied on something much deeper.
Souls.
Even buried under tons of rock and sand, human beings shone to her like small campfires in the darkness. She just needed to fly, to feel, and to let the presence of those lights guide her.
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Texas, United States
While Alice soared over the desert on the other side of the world, a completely different figure walked the streets of a small Texas town.
He was a young-looking man, appearing to be around twenty-four years old. His eyes roamed over every detail around him with a childlike curiosity, almost innocent — the curiosity of someone seeing the world for the first time.
Every woman who passed by turned her head, impressed by the almost unreal beauty of that stranger. There was something about him that didn't belong in that place. Something... ancient.
His hair was white as freshly fallen snow, falling in soft waves over his shoulders. He stood at one meter eighty, with a straight, elegant posture that contrasted with the dusty, laid-back atmosphere of rural Texas. His pupils were completely black — so dark they seemed to absorb the surrounding light, creating a hypnotic contrast with his irises of a pale, almost supernatural gold.
He wore an impeccable white suit, adorned with golden embroidery in the shape of intertwined serpents. The serpents seemed to move as he walked, capturing the sunlight and returning it in golden flashes.
He looked at everything as if every detail were a revelation.
The outside is very different from what I imagined, he thought, with a slight smile on his lips. His fingers touched the rough bark of a tree, then the cold metal of a lamppost. He felt the texture of the wind on his skin — something he had never experienced within the pages of the book. There is so much for me to discover...
With no fixed destination, he simply moved forward, drawn to anything that seemed interesting. A colorful shop window. Music playing from a distant radio. The smell of barbecue wafting from a roadside restaurant.
My sister gave me permission to explore, reflected the Great Serpent — for it was he, in his human form. And I intend to make the most of every second.
Little did he know that he would soon find something far greater than he imagined.
He was approaching one of the most infamous fictional towns in the Marvel Universe: San Venganza — the final setting of Ghost Rider. A cursed place, where a demonic contract had been sealed with the blood of a thousand innocent souls.
And the Great Serpent, with his black-pupiled, golden-irised eyes and his newly discovered hunger for the outside world, was walking straight toward it.
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Afghanistan — Back in the Desert
After flying over almost all of Afghanistan for hours, Alice finally felt something.
An underground presence.
She hovered in the air, her butterfly wings beating slowly to keep her suspended. Her eyes fixed on the ground below. Even from a distance, through layers of rock and sand, she could make out more than a hundred white points glowing beneath the surface.
They were souls.
Small flames of existence, clustered in a confined space. Some burned with the intensity of conviction — soldiers, terrorists, men who believed in their cause. Others were weaker, flickering — prisoners, hostages, souls broken by despair.
And among them, one soul that shone differently.
It wasn't the brightest, nor the purest. But it had something unique. A spark of genius, of infinite potential, that made it stand out like a beacon in the darkness.
Tony Stark.
Alice smiled.
I can't go down yet, she thought, analyzing the situation coldly. Those guys aren't extras. They're part of the Ten Rings. They're trained, armed, and won't hesitate to shoot at anything that moves. I need to get in without drawing attention.
She remembered a scientific study from her past life — from when she was still Akira, the otaku boy who devoured internet curiosities along with his manga. The theory was fascinating: if someone could align their own atoms with the atoms of the surrounding matter, it would be possible to pass through solid walls. It was similar to what the Flash did by vibrating his body at super-speed.
The Flash's theory was simpler in practice — he used his absurd speed to vibrate his molecules at a specific frequency. But Alice didn't have super-speed.
What she had was something far better.
Total control over her own body's atoms.
There was just one problem.
How the hell am I supposed to align my atoms with the ground's atoms if I can't even see where they are? she thought, frustrated.
She frowned, hovering in the air like an indecisive insect. Her eyes could see souls, could see the life energy pulsing within living beings. But atoms? Atoms were too small, too fundamental. They were beyond the spectrum of her vision — at least for now.
I need a solution. And fast.
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The New Function
She made her first attempt.
She focused deeply, closing her eyes. She used her metamorphosis ability to try to reorganize the atoms of her own body. She didn't know exactly what she was doing — it was like trying to assemble a puzzle in the dark, groping for pieces she couldn't see.
But she tried anyway.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened.
The Book of Truth emerged from within her on its own.
Alice's eyes widened, surprised. It wasn't the first time the book had come out of her body — it had happened before, when she called it. But this time was different. This time, it came out by itself. Without command. Without order. As if it had a will of its own.
The book floated before her, its pages flipping in a frenzied dance until they stopped on a new page, glowing with a soft golden light.
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The Book of Truth
Description: Update complete. New automatic function unlocked.
New Function: Creation
Description: The book now records all existing abilities of the owner that have fusion potential. It will create new abilities based on what the owner is currently doing, merging powers to generate something superior. Additionally, the book can create abilities requested by the user, provided they have sufficient knowledge of how those abilities work in the physical or metaphysical world. If the user asks for something they don't understand, the book will not be able to create it and will remind the owner to seek more knowledge first.
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Alice read the description twice, processing the implications.
Why does this new function remind me of Rimuru's 'Great Sage' ability, just without some of its features? she thought, curious. An automatic comparison — remnants of Akira, the otaku who categorized everything through the lens of pop culture.
Almost at the same moment, another thought arose:
Do I have the Predator now too?
She quickly shook her head, pushing the idea away. Focus, Alice. Focus.
— Show me the new abilities you've created — she asked the book, her voice low, almost a whisper against the desert wind.
The book turned the page obediently.
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Newly Created
New Ability:
Biological Manipulation
Description: Allows manipulation of one's own body (and others') at the atomic level. The ability will grow stronger as the owner's Atomic Manipulation evolves.
Supplementary Description: Acquired by manipulating the atoms of one's own body.
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Alice blinked.
— Isn't this basically the same thing as Metamorphosis? — she murmured, confused.
She sighed and continued reading.
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New Ability:
Atomic Manipulation
Description: Allows manipulation of atoms to create or destroy matter. Can evolve into Subatomic Manipulation, then Particle Manipulation, and finally Physics Manipulation.
Supplementary Description: Acquired by manipulating the atoms of one's own body.
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Alice almost screamed with joy.
Her eyes gleamed with genuine excitement — an excitement that was purely Akira, the boy who had just unlocked a new ability in his favorite "game."
Coming after Tony Stark was really worth it! Now I can actually see atoms!
She activated the new ability immediately.
The world around her transformed.
Suddenly, everything gained a new layer of reality. Atoms became visible — tiny points of light dancing in the air and sand. They were countless, an entire universe hidden in the palm of her hand. The oxygen she breathed was a symphony of bluish particles. The desert sand was a mosaic of silicon and oxygen, arranged in crystalline patterns. The wind was a flow of molecules in constant motion.
It was as if the world had been revealed in its true essence.
This is... beautiful, Alice thought, awestruck. And incredibly useful.
Now it was easy.
She focused on the atoms of her own body — every cell, every molecule, every particle that made up her physical form. Then she looked at the ground below and visualized the atoms of the rock and sand. They were different, vibrating at distinct frequencies.
But she could change that.
With a thought, Alice began aligning her own atoms with the atoms of the ground. The sensation was strange — as if she were falling through the planet itself, yet remaining motionless at the same time. Her body became less solid, more... permeable.
She descended slowly toward the ground.
And passed through it.
A few seconds later, she slipped through the ceiling of the underground cavern without making a single sound. No tremor, no displacement of air, no sign of her passage. Just a little girl in a dark dress, materializing in the shadows of the ceiling like a ghost.
Down below, the scene was exactly as she expected.
Tony Stark was hunched over a makeshift table, his hands greasy and sweat dripping down his forehead. His chest glowed with a faint blue light — the primitive arc reactor, living proof of his genius. Beside him, Ho Yinsen, the man who had saved his life and given him a purpose, prepared for his final sacrifice.
It was exactly like in the movie. Yinsen would buy time, running with an improvised weapon to distract the terrorists while Tony activated the first armor. He would die so that Tony could escape. So that Tony could become Iron Man.
Alice watched the scene from the shadows, invisible.
Seeing this in real life is so much cooler than on a screen, she thought, admiringly. There was something deeply moving about that scene — an ordinary man, without powers, without armor, willing to give his life for a complete stranger. Because he believed Tony Stark could make a difference in the world.
And in my past life, there wasn't a single person who didn't want to wear the Iron Man suit at least once.
She smiled in the darkness, invisible, waiting for the perfect moment to act.
Tony Stark's fate was sealed in the movies — he would escape, return home, announce the end of weapons manufacturing at Stark Industries, and become a hero.
But this wasn't the movie.
This was an alternate universe.
And Alice had her own plans.
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End of Chapter 5
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Thanks for reading this far 👊 😄 👍
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