"Did you guys take a wrong turn or something?"
"Thanos isn't important at all. Analyzing him is meaningless."
Iron Man directly voiced his objection, backing it up with clear and confident logic."We don't need to bother with Thanos. We just need to analyze the four options given. Pick the strongest one. That's it. Simple."
Rhodes and Coulson exchanged glances and shrugged.
Iron Man's logic was blunt and simplistic, but under such bizarre circumstances, it wasn't a bad approach.
"Tony, for once you're actually making sense."Rhodes patted Iron Man on the shoulder.
"So let's look at the options: Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor. Out of the four, who's the strongest?"
Coulson followed Iron Man's line of thinking and began analyzing.
"We know Captain America is already dead, but since he's listed as an option, let's assume he's alive."
"If it's Captain America, he's the only super-soldier America has. His body is at the peak of human physical potential."
As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson was very familiar with Captain America's data, so it came out naturally.
"Peak human potential still makes him human, doesn't it? Against a giant, a god, or a guy in a metal suit, he doesn't even register."Iron Man scoffed, clearly unimpressed.
"Captain America's off the list, then. That leaves three. Tony—no offense—I think you're out too."Rhodes said seriously to Iron Man.
As both a close friend of Iron Man and the military liaison to Stark Industries, Rhodes knew exactly how powerful the Iron Man suit was.
To put it bluntly, it was just a flying battle suit. That's all.
As for the Hulk, Rhodes didn't know all the details, but he had some idea.
Rumor had it that he was a monster accidentally created by General Ross—invulnerable, impossibly strong.
General Ross had led several operations to capture him, but every time, the military got utterly wrecked by the Hulk.
With something like that, Rhodes didn't believe the Iron Man armor could handle it.
And Thor?
A literal god from mythology!
Definitely not someone who could be outclassed by a tin suit.
"So the answer seems obvious—unless one of you thinks Hulk is stronger than Thor."Coulson summarized from the side.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had been monitoring the Hulk for years in secret.
Coulson actually knew even more about the Hulk than Rhodes, so he agreed with the assessment.
"Wrong. Completely, utterly wrong!"
Just as Coulson thought they'd reached a consensus, Iron Man shot it down without mercy.
"Giant, god, whatever—doesn't matter. The strongest one is me, Tony Stark!"
Iron Man puffed up with pride."Even if it's the overlord of the universe, I'll just make a better suit and crush him! So…"
Before Coulson or Rhodes could cut in, Iron Man turned toward the glowing screen and declared:"I choose C. Iron Man!"
"Tony…"Rhodes called out, trying to stop him.
This bizarre quiz system felt too unpredictable to take lightly.
But before Rhodes could even finish, Iron Man had already answered.
Both Rhodes and Coulson tensed up, eyes scanning the surroundings to see if anything strange would happen.
[Correct Answer!]
That familiar robotic voice rang out.
Rhodes:"…"Coulson:"…"
Both of them looked like they'd just stepped on a rake.
Are you kidding me? It was actually that egomaniac Iron Man?
He acted like a clown and got it right, while they'd carefully analyzed everything… and were completely wrong.
"You see that?"Iron Man lifted his chin, beaming with pride."I, Iron Man, am the best!"
"Tony… this isn't some prank you staged, is it?"Rhodes asked in disbelief.
[Congratulations to Tony Stark for receiving: 1 AllSpark Fragment.]
[Reward has been issued. Please check and confirm.]
That robotic voice sounded again.
Right then, Iron Man felt his right hand sink slightly—he could feel something materializing in it.
At the same time, a flood of information suddenly entered Iron Man's mind.
It contained detailed data on the AllSpark fragment: usage, functions, binding protocols, everything.
Iron Man sifted through the data in his mind, then looked at the metallic fragment that had appeared in his hand, dazed.
"It's real. It's really real, Rhodes!"Iron Man turned to Rhodes, visibly shaken.
With the reward in hand, Iron Man finally confirmed the system was legit.
Teleportation, brainwave information uploads—this was way beyond the capabilities of modern tech.
"So this is the AllSpark fragment?"
Rhodes and Coulson moved closer, staring curiously at the little fragment in Iron Man's hand.
No matter how they looked at it, it just seemed like a piece of ordinary metal alloy. Nothing special.
"What does this thing even do? And what's an 'AllSpark' anyway?"Rhodes muttered, speculating aloud.
"Rhodes, give me your phone."Iron Man said suddenly.
"What for?"Rhodes instinctively stepped back.
Whenever Iron Man made a weird request, it usually led to something chaotic.
"If you don't, you're gonna regret it. I promise."Iron Man said with a mysterious grin.
Rhodes eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then reluctantly handed over his phone.
Iron Man took the AllSpark fragment, and following the mental instructions he'd just received, issued a command to it using only his thoughts.
Shhh!A beam of light shot from the AllSpark, landing on Rhodes' phone.
The phone suddenly started vibrating violently, like it was having a seizure.
Rhodes and Coulson both jumped in shock.
But what happened next stunned them even more.
They watched as the phone split apart, reassembled, and transformed in a series of precise and complex movements—until it became a tiny Transformer!
A mini Decepticon, no less.
Iron Man, Coulson, and Rhodes were all completely dumbfounded.
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(End of Chapter)