Chapter 167: Chapter 168: Tony Snaps: I am Iron Man!
"What? Egghead, you know that radiant woman?" Tony Stark couldn't help but ask, "Is it true?"
"Fury, tell us who that incredibly powerful woman is!" Stephen Strange urged eagerly.
"Her name is Carol Danvers, an old friend." Nick Fury saw the shocked expressions on everyone's faces and felt a sense of pride, though his poker face showed nothing but calmness. "As you all know, our first enemy in the future is Loki, leading an alien army to invade Earth. But in fact, aliens have been to Earth long before, and it was Carol Danvers who defeated their fleet."
"Who is she with?" Steve Rogers asked, "Who are her teammates?"
"She has no teammates, she's on her own." Nick Fury said.
"What? She single-handedly repelled an alien fleet?" Everyone was astonished to hear this, and Tony Stark couldn't help but say, "She's actually that powerful?"
"Indeed, she flew into space and single-handedly destroyed a dozens-of-meters-long spacecraft, scaring the alien fleet away." Phil Coulson added.
"What? She destroyed a dozens-of-meters-long alien spacecraft with her bare hands?" Bruce Banner was amazed, "That's just too ferocious."
"Scaring off the alien fleet is even more difficult than defeating them." Thor, acknowledging her strength, admitted, "This woman is stronger than me."
"Where is she now?" Stephen Strange asked, "Fury, with someone so powerful, don't you want to introduce her to us?"
"I'm afraid not." Nick Fury said, "Her home is too far away."
"I have a car." Stephen Strange said, "A very nice car."
"I believe your car is nice, and I believe it performs well, but I'm afraid you won't be able to find Carol." Nick Fury said, "She doesn't live on Earth; she calls the cosmos her home."
"Her home is in the cosmos?"
"Yes, she travels in space, protecting other vulnerable planets."
"Can you contact her?"
"I can." Nick Fury said, "She left me a communicator when she left, but she said that I can only contact her in case of emergencies."
"While I don't know how she defines 'emergency,' isn't Thanos an 'emergency'?" Clint Barton said, "When Thanos arrives, should we call her back?"
"If needed, I will." Nick Fury said, "The future me did the same."
Amid the heated discussion about Carol Danvers, the video continued playing, showing Thanos using the Power Stone to send the incredibly powerful woman flying. Both Stephen Strange and Tony Stark saw this scene.
Stephen Strange, also an incredibly powerful individual, stood there and did not participate in the battle against Thanos. The camera couldn't capture what he was doing, but he extended his left hand, showing Tony Stark a gesture of "one."
This gesture was cryptic, and no one knew whether Tony Stark understood it or not, but he took action.
At this moment, Thanos had just reinstalled the Power Stone, which he used to knock Captain Marvel away. Tony Stark rushed over, grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet with both hands, and tried to take it off. But Thanos easily knocked him away with a few moves.
Now, there was no one to "disturb" Thanos anymore.
"I am inevitable." Thanos said a pretentious line, joining his left thumb and index finger together, and snapped his fingers with a "snap."
After snapping, Thanos was stunned because nothing happened!
He quickly turned his hand over and saw that the Gauntlet was empty, not a single gem was there!
He looked back and saw the sparkling and colorful light on Tony Stark's right hand. The six gems were slowly converging on the back of his hand.
At this moment, both he and the people in the answering space understood that when Tony Stark approached the Infinity Gauntlet earlier, he wasn't trying to snatch the Gauntlet; he was stealthily stealing the gems!
Moreover, he succeeded!
When all the gems "flowed" onto his right hand, colorful lightning began to flicker, and Tony Stark's right arm armor was immediately covered in scars.
Even Thanos couldn't easily put on the Gauntlet, not to mention that Tony Stark was just a mortal.
But Tony Stark was by no means an ordinary mortal; "I am Iron Man," and his greatness was enough to make most humans look up to him.
No matter what, Tony Stark withstood the power of the Infinity Gauntlet and successfully wore it!
"I am Iron Man." Tony Stark looked at Thanos and said these words, enunciating each one, just as he had announced his identity to the world at the press conference.
Snap!
Tony Stark snapped his fingers.
Then, a very eerie scene, equally shocking, appeared. All of Thanos' soldiers on the battlefield turned into dust one after another.
The Avengers, who had been fighting hard, stopped their combat and watched this spectacular scene, witnessing enemy after enemy turning into ashes before their eyes.
They knew they had won!
Thanos also watched this scene.
His expression was remarkably calm.
He gave up the fight.
Sitting on the ground, ashes started to appear on his body.
Thanos, the mighty being who dominated the universe, the super enemy that made the Avengers bow their heads, had turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind, not even a single bone fragment.
"So snapping your fingers can turn people to ashes!" Seeing this scene, the Avengers finally understood why the snap was so significant. It truly was an incredibly powerful move.
"No wonder Thanos wanted to collect the stones. After gathering them all, he could use such a powerful technique," Natasha Romanoff said. "A snap of his fingers and people turn to ashes. Before this, I couldn't believe such a thing would happen."
"Thanos is already incredibly powerful, and he has a large army. Couldn't he just come to Earth and massacre us?" Clint Barton was puzzled. "Why bother collecting the stones?"
"Probably for the sake of convenience," Thor said. "Based on Thanos' past actions, he would decimate half the life on a planet. Though humans on Earth are weak, there are too many of them to kill one by one. With the full Infinity Gauntlet, it's much simpler – just a snap of his fingers."
"So why does he want to decimate half the life on planets?" Nick Fury asked, "What's his goal behind such a massive slaughter?"
"I'm not sure about that," Thor shook his head. "He's just a madman, and his thinking is beyond my comprehension."
"Remember that one of the rewards in the answer space was the 'God-level Thievery,' which allows you to steal small items within the field of vision?" Clint Barton suddenly said, "At the time, I didn't think much of it, but now, it seems that this reward was given to help us steal the stones."
"Right, this ability is perfect for stealing the stones. Obviously, that snap requires all six stones to work. As long as we steal one, Thanos can't use his ultimate move," Steve Rogers lamented, "Unfortunately, we didn't answer that question correctly and didn't get that power."
"So, these rewards in the answer space aren't just random; they are designed to be helpful for future events?" Bruce Banner said solemnly. "In that case, we can deduce some future facts based on the rewards."
"It seems so," Nick Fury said. "The answer space previously gave Thor a weapon repair card, and we saw that his hammer was shattered in the future, crushed bare-handed by his sister."
"Then we should really study these rewards." Steve Rogers said.
"Don't you think Tony's 'I am Iron Man' was cool? Much cooler than Thanos' 'I am inevitable'." Sam Wilson said, "I remember that Tony's 'Iron Man career' started with that sentence."
"Yes, from 'I am Iron Man' to 'I am Iron Man,' the legendary life of Tony Stark has come to an end," James Rhodes said, "We will always remember what he has done."
"Tony..."
"Come on, everyone, let's not make the atmosphere so melancholic," Tony Stark interrupted James Rhodes, who was about to speak. "I'm standing here perfectly fine, not like I'm really dead. Stop discussing me; watch the video, watch the video!"
In the video, Tony Stark sat weakly on the ground. His right half looked as if it had been electrocuted and burned; it was all charred. Although he was known as "comparable to gods in a mortal's body," he was, after all, not a real god, and his body couldn't withstand the consequences of snapping his fingers.
Clang!
A set of armor descended from the sky, landing in front of Tony Stark. The faceplate opened, revealing Tony Stark's good friend, James Rhodes. He reached out to cradle Tony Stark's head, not saying a word, tears already streaming down his face.
"Mr. Stark?" Spider-Man, Peter Parker, also approached Tony Stark with a choked voice. "Mr. Stark, can you hear me? I'm Peter."
Tony Stark leaned there, eyes wide open, but lifeless.
He just sat there, silent.
"We won, Mr. Stark." Peter Parker, with tears streaming down his face, held onto Tony Stark. "We won, Mr. Stark. You did it. I'm so sorry." Peter Parker was already getting a bit incoherent.
Pepper Potts, also known as "Rescue," walked over and pulled the crying Peter Parker to the side. She knelt down in front of Tony Stark.
Her beloved woman came to his side, and Tony Stark showed some reaction. He turned his head to look at Pepper Potts and struggled to speak, "Hey, Pepper." He reached out his hand and held Pepper Potts' hand on his chest.
"Friday?" Pepper Potts called out.
"Life signs critical," Friday responded.
Seeing Pepper Potts showing so much concern, Tony Stark smiled, though half of his face was covered in darkness. Yet, that smile was filled with happiness.
"Tony, look at me. We will be okay," Pepper Potts also smiled, her eyes filled with tears. She whispered, "You can rest now."
But Tony Stark did not respond. The reactor on his chest dimmed, and the hand holding Pepper Potts' hand fell weakly to the ground.
He lay there, with his eyes open, but he could no longer see anyone or hear any sound.
He finally could rest.
Pepper Potts bent down and gently kissed his cheek, burying her head on his shoulder, starting to sob.
The video ended with Pepper Potts' crying.
"Tony, we won't let this future happen, we won't!" Steve Rogers looked at Tony Stark and said solemnly. Despite the rifts and differences between him and Tony Stark due to Bucky, he would never allow Tony Stark to die like this.
"I won't either, Cap. I don't want to die yet," Tony Stark smiled and then looked at Peter Parker, "Kid, it seems like we have a good relationship in the future. You cried so much for me."
"You… you shouldn't die," suddenly being "called out," Peter Parker was still a bit nervous. "You're a hero, a real hero."
"I don't mean to nitpick, but that sounds like you're saying everyone else, except for Tony, is a fake hero," Stephen Strange interjected playfully.
"Oh, Mr. Strange, that's not what I meant. Although you didn't die, you are all heroes, real heroes," Peter Parker hurriedly explained.
"Speaking of Strange, there's one thing I must ask," Scott Lang walked over and said, "What did that gesture you made to Tony mean before he stole the stones? The one you used in the video? This gesture doesn't seem to imply stealing the stones at all."
"Yeah, Stephen, what did that gesture mean?" Tony Stark turned around to look at Stephen Strange. "I can see you clearly with your fingers, which means we were not far apart. You couldn't just tell me? Well, maybe you were afraid Thanos might hear it, but you could have sent me a message! Don't sorcerers use phones?"
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