"Th-This is my phone?"
Rodhes rubbed his eyes hard and stared at the little robot on the ground in disbelief, wondering if he was seeing things.
"Could this be some kind of magical item?"
Coulson was equally shocked and fell into deep thought.
Turning a phone into a robot—this was far beyond the explanation of science. Clearly, it belonged in the realm of the supernatural.
"Master, any orders? Should I take them out?"
The Mini-Decepticon crawled over to Iron Man's feet, lifting its uniquely shaped little head and shouting up at him.
At the same time, several miniature cannons on its body pointed at Rodhes and Coulson.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on both their foreheads. They had no doubt that if Iron Man gave the order, this robot would absolutely open fire.
Small in size, heavy in killing intent.
"See that? Don't ever mess with me again."
Iron Man couldn't help but laugh seeing such a tiny thing threatening two top-tier figures. "I've got the world's strongest bodyguard."
"So you do want me to take them out?" The Mini-Decepticon got excited. "Command confirmed!"
"Stop! Stahp!"
Iron Man jumped in shock and quickly yelled to stop the Mini-Decepticon, breaking into a cold sweat himself. The robot's bloodlust was just way over the top.
"Revert to standby mode!"Iron Man commanded the robot with a serious expression.
"Command confirmed!" responded the Mini-Decepticon, then began another round of splitting and recombining, reverting back into a phone.
Iron Man grabbed it back into his hand.
"Tony, this little thing is amazing. Any chance I can bring it back to S.H.I.E.L.D.?"Coulson couldn't help but ask.
"That's my phone. Time you handed it back, don't you think?"Rodhes chimed in righteously.
A robot with independent thought was without question a priceless treasure in both Rodhes and Coulson's eyes—extremely valuable for research.
Not to mention, it had transformed from a phone into a robot.
"Don't even think about it!"Iron Man firmly rejected the two "scheming" individuals.
Rodhes and Coulson clearly knew Iron Man's temperament and said nothing more, though their eager intentions weren't going anywhere.
"Gentlemen, what do you think about this quiz question?"
Rodhes looked gravely at Iron Man and Coulson.
Having just witnessed the miraculous power of the AllSpark fragment, none of them dared to underestimate or question this mysterious quiz system anymore.
"We don't know who did all this, what method they used, or what their intentions are. The information is too limited," said Coulson, his tone serious. "All we can analyze right now is the question itself."
After Coulson said that, the three of them began recalling the question and answer choices in their minds.
"It's obvious that the question is trying to tell us something,"Iron Man said slowly.
[Answer submission complete. Now playing answer explanation.]
That familiar synthetic voice rang out, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.
All eyes turned to the holographic screen, where a new video had begun to play.
First to appear was an alien with a head shaped like a purple yam, standing in a field of rubble. He wore armor, and on his left hand was a metal gauntlet.
His entire presence radiated overwhelming dominance. Even through a screen, they could all feel the oppressive aura. One glance told you he was no pushover.
"That's the galactic overlord Thanos?"Iron Man muttered nonchalantly, even snarking, "Damn, he's ugly—looks like a giant purple sweet potato."
Whoosh!
Just then, a figure flashed into frame, descending from the sky and landing in front of Thanos with immense force, clad in a blazing red suit of ultra-sleek armor.
No doubt—it was Iron Man.
"Cool! That suit is insanely cool!"Iron Man's eyes lit up instantly.
He instantly forgot about Thanos, his full attention locked onto the armor on-screen.
The suit had a more aesthetic design, was clearly more compact, and its seamless joins suggested it wasn't based on a traditional metal framework.
Could it be… made from some kind of new material?
"That version of me looks older, and that armor is way more advanced than anything I've developed. I haven't even designed something like that yet… Could it be… that's me in the future?"
"Is this footage from the future?"
Suddenly, a flash of realization shot through Iron Man's mind—a bold and shocking thought surfaced.
It even startled himself.
"The future?"
Coulson and Rodhes also felt like they'd caught onto something. "Could that battle described in the question be a war that happens in the future?"
The three of them froze for a moment.
Then, each of their faces took on a solemn expression.
It sounded insane, but strangely believable.
After all—
It froze time, handed out AllSpark fragments, and made such a huge show of it all. If this whole thing was just a joke with a fake question, that would be even more absurd than predicting the future.
And that's saying something.
"If you throw another satellite at me, I'm gonna lose it!"
The footage continued, showing Iron Man talking to Thanos in a tone dripping with cool arrogance.
Coulson and Rodhes were speechless. Iron Man's flair for dramatic posing was clearly a deep-rooted instinct—he couldn't help himself, even in front of the galactic overlord.
"Tony Stark!"
But to everyone's surprise, Thanos actually recognized him—calling him by name.
"You know who I am?" the Iron Man in the footage asked in shock.
"Yes. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge,"Thanos replied seriously.
"My only curse is you!"
As Iron Man spoke, multiple small missiles launched from the back of his armor, aimed directly at Thanos.
The barrage struck, but didn't faze Thanos at all.
Then, Iron Man dove into close-quarters combat. He leapt into the air and landed a heavy double kick right into Thanos.
The leg sections of his armor morphed into massive "iron plates" and smashed into Thanos with thunderous force.
After landing the kick, Iron Man flipped backward gracefully, and his arms formed into two giant "iron pillars" which he used to slam into Thanos again.
He actually knocked Thanos flying.
(End of Chapter)