"What the—!?"
Tony and Yinsen's hearts skipped a beat from the sheer shock of the unexpected arrival.
Tony, who hadn't slept in two days racing against his deadline, nearly blacked out from the scare.
Beneath their stunned stares, Daniel deftly climbed out of the pit, dusted himself off, and casually slung a pixelated pickaxe over his shoulder.
[Item: Diamond Pickaxe]
[Effect: Greatly boosts mining speed; rapidly harvests or breaks most ores and stones.]
[Comment: If Andy Dufresne had this, he'd have skipped 27 years of tunneling.]
"Who are you!?"
Tony snapped back first, glaring at the intruder with caution.
Daniel smirked. "You gotta be Tony Stark. I'm here to bust you out."
"Sent by the military?"
"Nope, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Here's my badge."
Tony glanced at the card:
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Senior Agent Daniel.
"?"
"Er, wrong card."
Daniel swiped it back and fished out a thick wad of business cards from his pocket.
Department of Defense, CIA, NYPD, IRS...
Tony: ...
"Here it is."
Daniel handed over the right one.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Senior Agent Daniel.
Tony stared at the absurdly lengthy name, figuring it was some writer's filler.
He shot Daniel a doubtful look. "How many from your Strategic Homeland... outfit?"
Daniel beamed assuredly. "Solo mission."
"???"
Tony's expression soured completely.
This dude can't be for real, right?
Daniel ignored Tony's vibe, his eyes locked on the rough-hewn steel suit.
[Mark I Armor (Bound to Tony Stark)]
[Description: A makeshift powered exosuit Tony forged in the cave from scraps. Demands massive power to operate.]
"Nice gear!"
Daniel's eyes sparkled.
No guy could resist power armor—and he wasn't immune; it was peak dude fantasy!
Too bad it was locked to Tony, a core story NPC. Otherwise, he'd test for loot drops.
Daniel sighed inwardly.
He'd verified: game NPCs had no revive option.
Dead meant gone forever, quests tanked.
Better not touch key plot figures.
But next run? Worth a shot, he mused.
Tony shivered under Daniel's predatory stare. Before he could react, chaos erupted outside!
Tony's face twisted. He whipped toward the corner monitor.
Terrorists had sniffed them out and were charging in.
"They're here! Move it!"
Tony blew past Daniel, yelling at Yinsen.
Moments later, militants swarmed the cave entrance, pounding the iron door and shouting in their tongue.
"Boom—!"
As they pried it open, Tony and Yinsen's rigged explosive blew, scorching bodies amid smoke and rubble.
No time to relax—thicker footsteps thundered closer!
"Shit!"
Tony panicked; they'd come way too quick.
"Yinsen, fire up the reactor now!"
"The suit's not fully tested..."
"No choice! Do it!"
Tony knew booting the Iron Suit raw was suicide, but delay meant no fight at all!
Yinsen clenched his jaw, followed Tony's orders, and kicked off the reactor. The screen's progress bar crawled.
Outside, shouts and boots neared.
"Out of time!"
Yinsen inhaled sharply, snatched a rifle off a corpse, eyes steely. "I'll buy you time!"
He bolted out.
"Yinsen! Get back! Follow the plan!"
Tony bellowed, but Yinsen was gone.
Crunch, crunch...
In this dramatic standoff, an absurd noise cut through.
Daniel, somehow with a bag of seeds, was casually snacking, savoring the heroic sendoff.
"Solid cutscene, but kinda trope-y," Daniel remarked, flicking a shell.
From his endless game plots, this Yinsen NPC screamed "doomed sacrifice."
Hold up—this arc rang bells.
Daniel squinted at Tony.
Scrap-cave power armor? Total protagonist hack.
Plus the buddy-sacrifice bit.
Protagonist perks, obviously?
"System, you better not say this stache guy is the hero and I'm just scenery."
[No worries, host. No fixed protagonist here. System stays hands-off. Your choices decide: lead, sidekick, or extra.]
"Cool."
Daniel relaxed.
No thanks to being a snoozing cameraman.
Tony seethed watching Daniel munch away.
Life-or-death, and this clown spectates!?
Then hope flickered: agent's gotta fight, right?
Tony yelled desperately: "Hey, Agent dude! Stop Yinsen! He'll get himself killed!"
Yinsen vs. terrorists? Toast.
Daniel snorted. "Pfft, who're you bossing? S.H.I.E.L.D. rep here—can't just obey randos, face loss."
[NPC Tony Stark: New Quest Unlocked]
[Quest: Save Yinsen]
[Objective: Yinsen lives]
[Rewards: 1000 EXP, Tony Favor +20, Random Rare Item x1]
"But hey, good Samaritan style—as a hero, I can't let that slide. Got this!"
Daniel's smirk flipped to noble grit.
The flip stunned Tony speechless.
Integrity?
Daniel figured: Players? Please.