Tony let out a short laugh.
"Okay. I'll admit it. That line is so me."
The missile dropped, STARK INDUSTRIES stamped on its side like a signature no one could ignore.
On-screen Tony went flying.
Real Tony didn't move.
"…That," he said slowly, "is exactly the kind of irony I deserve. And it happened exactly like that."
He went quiet, stunned by how precise the footage was.
Yinsen watched in silence, attentive.
The cave appeared.
Dark. Familiar.
"What did you do to me?"
Tony clenched his jaw.
"I remember saying that," he murmured. "With less dramatics…"
Yinsen's recorded voice answered, calm and steady.
"What did I do? I saved your life."
Real Yinsen lowered his gaze.
"I don't remember sounding that convincing," he said with a gentle smile.
Eric leaned forward.
"You were."
The montage continued.
"That is your legacy, Stark… Is that how you want to be remembered?"
Tony swallowed.
"That's exactly what Yinsen told me when I woke up."
The scene shifted.
Tony holding Yinsen.
"Thank you for saving me."
Yinsen closed his eyes for a second.
"So my gut feeling was right," he said quietly. "If you hadn't shown up… I would've died in there."
It was starting to click, as impossible as it was.
He didn't understand what this was, not really, but watching everyone's reactions made one thing clear: they'd seen impossible before.
Still, the idea of the future playing on a screen felt unreal.
Tony looked at him.
"I'm glad you didn't die."
"Use it. Don't waste your life."
A different kind of silence filled the Quinjet.
Tony took a deep breath.
"The writer is definitely cruel."
Eric nodded, proud.
"Best redemption arc. Easy."
Pepper appeared.
"I shouldn't be alive unless there was a reason…"
Tony sank back into his seat.
"Okay," he said. "Yeah. I definitely needed to hear myself say that."
The armor appeared for the first time.
Real Tony leaned toward the screen like a kid.
"There she is," he said. "Look at that curve… that balance…" He grinned. "I'm a damn genius even when I'm suffering."
Even though the Mark III already existed in his world now, it still hit him, hard, that he'd been destined to become Iron Man even before any of this.
"I AM IRON MAN."
Clint clicked his tongue.
"Always straight to the point."
"Always honest," Tony corrected.
Then the mansion.
Nick Fury's silhouette filled the screen.
"…the Avengers Initiative."
Tony went still.
"So it's real."
Eric lifted a hand.
"Spoiler: you don't hate the idea."
Tony huffed.
"I told him I'd show up when the threat was actually critical."
Howard Stark appeared.
Tony stopped joking instantly.
"This is the key to the future… my greatest creation. Is you."
Tony shut his eyes.
"Damn you, old man," he muttered, nostalgia rough in his throat. "Even dead, you still win arguments."
And somewhere beneath that, unspoken, was gratitude. For the clue. For the element. For the way Howard still managed to push him forward.
Then—
New York.
Aliens. Chaos. A team moving as one.
Tony sat up sharply.
"Wait," he said. "Is that… an alien invasion?"
Eric smiled with fake innocence.
"A small one. Neighborhood-level."
"That's why the Avengers Initiative matters," Clint added.
He'd looked the same way the first time he'd seen it.
Then came the missile.
Tony carrying it into the sky.
"Am I…" Tony swallowed, breath catching, "carrying a nuclear missile into space?"
Clint shrugged.
"With style."
The fall.
The quiet.
Tony exhaled.
"That was…" he searched for the word, "…stupid. Heroic. Extremely me."
The last scene.
Tony with Pepper.
"Gods, aliens… I'm just a man in a can."
Tony smiled.
"Okay. That part's accurate."
"The reason I don't lose my mind is because you live with me now… and I love it."
Tony blinked.
"Am I… with Pepper?"
Eric couldn't stop himself.
"Looks like it."
Tony turned his head slowly and smiled.
"Hate to admit it, but… I like this future."
Yinsen smiled wide.
"Then it was all worth it."
The screen went dark.
Silence.
Tony leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"So… the uploader's still anonymous?"
He looked at Eric and Barton.
They both nodded.
"That bastard hides well."
Then Tony's gaze sharpened as he looked straight at Eric.
"One thing," he said. "Why aren't you in the video? If you're part of the Initiative, you should be there."
Eric was ready for that one. He shrugged, casual.
"Maybe I join later. Maybe I don't. Who knows."
It was a clean lie. He'd figure it out later. Worst case, he'd claim he was never meant to eat the fruit. Worst case after that… he'd have to reveal himself.
A prophet?
In this world, that barely made the top ten weirdest job titles.
And at the top of the list sat the Multiverse.
A whole headache with extra curse words.
So Eric wasn't worried.
He just wanted to live hard, protect his people, and keep this universe from getting eaten alive by bigger monsters.
Yinsen placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony was still watching Eric like he was a puzzle with teeth.
"Now you know you're not alone," Yinsen said. "Not even in the future."
Tony breathed in, then smiled.
"Yeah. For once… I actually have something to protect."
He sat up a little straighter.
"Alright," he said. "Then I'd better live up to the spoiler."
Clint slid the tablet away.
"Welcome to the club."
Eric sank back, satisfied.
"Five stars," he murmured. "Would rewatch."
Tony rolled his eyes.
The Quinjet kept cutting through the night.
Tony stayed quiet for a long time, staring at the dim reflection of his improvised reactor on the metal fuselage.
Then he snapped his fingers.
"The video."
Eric looked up.
"Which one? I've got favorites."
Tony shook his head.
"Mine against Thor. The armor. The reactor. The design." He looked at Eric, serious. "It wasn't a coincidence."
Clint raised a brow.
"Oh no. Here comes the genius existential crisis."
"Shut up, Legolas," Tony said without looking at him. "I'm being serious."
He turned back to Eric.
"I hadn't built any of that yet. And still… there it was. Perfect. Functional. Like I'd already lived it."
A beat.
"I'm starting to wonder if I'm making choices… or if I'm just following a particularly expensive script."
The silence thickened.
Eric didn't joke this time.
"Seeing your future doesn't erase your present."
Tony frowned.
"That sounds nice, but it doesn't answer—"
"It does," Eric cut in softly. "Because if the future were unchangeable, you wouldn't be questioning anything. The fact you want to change it… already changes it."
Tony held his stare.
"And if I try to avoid everything and it still happens?"
Eric smiled, head tilting slightly.
"Then it means you chose it. Not because someone pushed you… but because it still made sense to you."
He shrugged.
"Destiny isn't a cage. It's an offer."
Tony let out a low laugh.
"You know," he said, "I needed to hear that."
He leaned back, breathing a little easier.
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