The video continued to play.
On screen, mechanical arms were dismantling Tony Stark's damaged armor piece by piece.
When the camera moved into the laboratory, Pepper entered from outside and froze as she saw the armor covered in bullet holes.
Pepper asked in shock, "Oh my God, Tony—what happened?"
Tony tried to brush it off. "Nothing. I was just testing the armor's performance. You know, bulletproof systems—"
"Tony…"
"…Alright, alright, it's nothing."
Seeing Pepper's serious expression, Tony raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. I went to the Middle East and secretly shut down the weapons Obadiah Stane sold through Stark Industries!"
"Pepper, ever since I escaped that cave, I think I finally understand what my responsibility is."
Tony's narration continued over the video:
[Maybe Steve was right—I used to care only about myself.
But now… I finally know why God let me survive that day.]
The scene changed.
Endless waves of Chitauri swarmed out of the wormhole above New York.
On the streets below, the Avengers were already overwhelmed facing the never-ending army.
A voice crackled through Tony's headset—the sound of a nuclear missile being launched.
Tony flew straight toward it without hesitation, grabbed the missile, and rushed into the wormhole.
On the ground, Steve shouted into the comms, "Stark, you know you might not make it back!"
"That's right!"
Tony didn't slow down. Missile in hand, he fired into the wormhole.
The camera shifted to Sokovia—falling from the sky.
Tony dove down at full speed, forcing the armor to keep up. Ignoring the danger to his own life, he used the power of the Arc Reactor to blast the core device.
Inside a massive alien battleship—
"Tony, you know this is a one-way trip," Doctor Strange said calmly.
"And if I have to choose between you, the kid, and the Time Stone…" Strange added, "…I will sacrifice both of you without hesitation."
Tony nodded lightly. "Wow. That's… cold."
"But compared to letting the battlefield fall onto Earth, I'd rather take down that Titan before he gets close."
"At least fewer people would die."
The scene cut again. Tony used every trick, every weapon, every piece of technology he had to fight Thanos—yet he barely left a scratch.
Thanos shattered Tony's nano-blade, then stabbed him in the abdomen with the broken piece.
Grabbing Tony's head, Thanos said, "Tony Stark… I respect you.
To show that respect, if you agree—I will use the Infinity Stones to kill you."
Everyone watching in the theater was shocked.
Even Steve looked solemn, glancing at Tony. "I… apologize for what I said earlier—"
Before he could finish, Tony muttered, "So I die to this purple potato clown in the future? Damn, that dagger in the stomach looks painful…"
Steve stopped speaking as Tony kept staring intently at the screen—clearly unwilling to miss a single detail.
After a pause, Steve silently retracted his attempted apology.
After all, the Tony Stark who was accused of being selfish was the future Tony—one without a spoiler system.
That had nothing to do with the current Tony.
Not far away, Wanda watched quietly.
Even though she still resented Tony Stark…
She couldn't deny her opinion of him had changed—just a little.
The video shifted to Tony's final scenes.
[You can destroy my house, take away my tricks and toys…
But you can't change the fact that I am Iron Man.]
The footage flashed through Tony's life.
At the press conference—
He put down the cue cards, paused, and declared, "I am Iron Man."
On the battlefield—
Armor gleaming, descending from the sky, he shouted, "I am Iron Man!"
In a snowy Tennessee warehouse—
Facing a kid holding a potato gun, Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I'm Iron Man."
And finally—
On the ruined battlefield…
The energy of the nano-gauntlet crawled up his arm, burning him alive from the inside.
But he looked at Thanos with absolute resolve.
"I am… Iron Man."
Snap.
Thanos and his entire army turned to ash.
The screen darkened.
The heroes gathered around Tony's fading body, their faces filled with grief.
Then came the rhythmic sound of hammering metal.
[I am Iron Man.
Perhaps… that is my destiny.]
The theater fell into silence.
After a long moment, Tony was the first to speak.
"Wow. Why do all of you look like someone died?"
"Kidding—these clips are amazing! If it weren't me, I'd stand up and applaud."
Steve patted his shoulder.
"Tony—"
But Thor cut him off. "Stark, you are right. I must honor you. In Asgard, your deeds would be worthy of Valhalla!"
Tony waved it off. "I don't want Valhalla—I'm not done living!"
"And besides, this is just the original timeline. A future that only happens if we don't have the spoiler system."
"But now we know everything in advance—so the future will definitely change."
Tony folded his arms proudly.
"You know me. I'm Tony Stark. If I know the future ahead of time, how could I possibly lose?"
He pointed at the screen.
"So instead of looking gloomy…
You all should remember every detail about my and Steve's future."
"That's what really matters."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 40+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.