After taking a brutal beating from Ultron, the Watcher actually chose to run!
In the Eternal Space, Tony's voice was filled with worry.
"This is bad—really bad! Who can stop Ultron now? For all we know, he might break out of his cartoon universe and storm straight into our live-action one!"
Homelander gave a cold snort.
"Tony Stark! With a disaster like this, shouldn't you take responsibility by dying for your mistakes? You're practically the public enemy of all humanity across the multiverse!"
The absurdly large "hat" Homelander threw at him left Tony momentarily stunned.
He sneered.
"Save it. Nobody here is buying your act, Homelander. Keep talking nonsense all you want, and I'll just answer you with—yeah, I'm an idiot!"
Erik, however, was starting to get ideas.
"Dealing with an enemy like that… I might actually be the right man for the job."
He was thinking back to a future video he'd seen of himself—those so-called Sentinel robots had all become his toys. But he still didn't know whether the Infinity Stones could resist a mutant's powers.
Tony shot him a sideways glance.
"Erik, if you team up with Charles, maybe you'd have a shot at hurting Ultron. But on your own? You'd die an ugly death."
Natasha's brows knitted tight.
"With Ultron this powerful, who could possibly stop him?"
Right then, a new question popped up in the holographic display:
[The Watcher will assemble the Guardians of the Multiverse to face Ultron. Among the following, who was not chosen?]
[A: Iron Man, Tony Stark
B: Thor Odinson
C: Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange
D: Gamora]
Tony smirked.
"So this is the Watcher's big plan? Just… assemble a team?"
Homelander took the opportunity to sneer again.
"Guardians of the Multiverse? Pathetic. Wasn't this the same guy who kept preaching about never interfering? Hypocrite. It's just like your so-called Multiverse Defenders—disgustingly fake."
Tony rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to waste time arguing with an attention-seeking man-child. That would mean lowering himself to the same level—and he had standards.
Erik asked curiously,
"Who's this Gamora in option D?"
"Thanos' adopted daughter," Tony explained simply. "But she eventually turns against him."
Looking over the four choices, D seemed like the odd one out. The first three were all Avengers, while Gamora was an outsider. It practically screamed "pick me" as the correct answer—too obvious.
'This must be a misdirect,' Tony thought. 'In a battle this important, I'd definitely be chosen. Same with Stephen. So it's either B or D.'
And if Thor had turned into the big, lazy oaf he suspected… that settled it.
He'd choose B.
The countdown began.
Players moved faster this time. Tony thought he was first to hit the buzzer—until he saw Natasha had beaten him to it… and she picked A.
Tony stared at her in shock.
"Are you kidding me? Everyone knows the Avengers only came together in the first place because of my money! I'm the core member! How could they leave me out?"
"Tony," Natasha said with a shrug, "don't you think you've been really unlucky in these… cartoon worlds? My guess is, even if the Watcher wanted to invite you, you'd already be dead."
That actually made sense to both Erik and Homelander, so they also chose A. Only Bruce Banner quietly picked D.
Before the answer was revealed, Tony snorted.
"Just watch—you'll regret this. Especially you, Natasha. Say goodbye to four points—"
But before he could finish, the timer hit zero.
[Congratulations to Natasha Romanoff for answering correctly—4 points awarded!]
[Congratulations to Homelander and Erik Lensherr for answering correctly—1 point each! Tony Stark and Bruce Banner answered incorrectly—1 point deducted each!]
Tony froze, his jaw dropping.
"...What the hell? No way! Why would he leave me out?!"
He could hardly accept it—replaced by that musclebound fool Thor, that smug Stephen, and… some alien woman.
'Damn Watcher—not just blind, but an idiot.'
Homelander chuckled.
"Cheer up, Stark. Maybe, like Natasha said, it's not that he didn't want to choose you… you were just already dead."
Tony shot him a glare filled with promises of maximum sentencing once the game was over.
The footage then rolled, showing the correct answer.
But the person on screen wasn't the Watcher or any of the four options. It was Peggy Carter—wearing a Union Jack battle suit, a matching shield on her back, looking every bit like a British version of Captain America.
"Carter? Is she wearing matching couple's outfits with Steve?" Natasha said in surprise. The screen also showed a version of herself—likely from another universe.
"I remember this mission," Natasha murmured. "Back in my world, it was Steve's first. But here, Carter took his place!"
Tony sighed.
"Yeah, I've been to that universe. Peggy got the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve. No Captain America—only Captain Carter."
It had been during the mission to rescue pietro, after he lost a round of the quiz and was sent to Carter's world. Tony's team had even met her in person.
Now, watching the Watcher appear and whisk Captain Carter away, Tony couldn't help but think—
'What about me? You didn't seriously forget the Iron Man of that universe… did you?'
_____
T/N:
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