"So that's who that guy is," Tony suddenly realized. It was no wonder the agent had recognized him.
"What 'Allspark'? Stark, explain yourself clearly!" Nick Fury stood up from the ground with difficulty, his head throbbing with a sharp pain. "Damn it, which bastard hit me on the head?" he cursed inwardly.
Tony quickly recapped Ratchet and Optimus Prime's description of the Allspark. "It's a very large cube, emits a blue light. The aliens are here for this thing. It can create a massive alien army."
Fury's face hardened as he realized a critical misunderstanding. He had always believed the aliens came for the giant robot frozen in the ice, completely overlooking the cube that had the power to create more of them. "If those aliens get their hands on it and use it to build an army," he muttered, "Earth will be doomed."
Thinking of this, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director looked at Tony in his Iron Man armor and said quickly, "The Allspark is in the northwest corner of the base. Go in that direction, through a long corridor, and past two reinforced gates. Then... forget it, just hurry up. Take me with you, and I'll show you the way."
"Fine by me," Tony said, not refusing. He came over to Nick Fury, looked him up and down, and asked, "Is that trench coat sturdy?"
Fury, not understanding Tony's meaning, replied subconsciously, "It's custom-made. Bulletproof."
"That's good. Hold on tight." After saying that, Tony grabbed the back collar of Fury's trench coat, lifted him up like a scruffy cat, and flew quickly in the direction Fury pointed.
"FUCK YOU, STARK!"
The massive blast doors of the research chamber where the Allspark was stored had been torn open by several Decepticons. Megatron strode in, followed by Starscream, who kept a respectful half-step behind him. Seeing the Allspark, the object of his long and obsessive quest, Megatron ran over and greedily placed his hand upon its surface. The cube began to shift, its countless smaller parts flipping and compressing under his touch.
"Hey, you big rusty Decepticon! Don't touch that, you might damage it!" Tony's voice echoed through the chamber, followed by a small missile that struck Megatron squarely in the back of the head.
Bang!
Amidst the explosion, Megatron was thrown clear of the Allspark.
"Wow, this Allspark is bigger than I thought," Tony mused, analyzing the situation. "Looks like we can't take it away quickly. We'll just have to hold them off until Optimus Prime and the others arrive." He decided to stall for time. "Hey, big guys, you want to play with me?" Tony's mocking voice reached the ears of the several Decepticons in the room.
Megatron shook his head and sat up from the ground. "You damn little bug!" he roared. Megatron raised his powerful mechanical arm and fired a blast from his fusion cannon at Tony, who was hovering in the air.
Tony dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding Megatron's attack.
"What are you still standing there for? Catch him!" Megatron bellowed at his second-in-command.
Starscream, who had been enjoying the show, heard the order and immediately took a step forward, transforming into his fighter jet mode and streaking towards Tony. And so, Tony and Starscream began a high-speed chase within the cavernous chamber. Thanks to his smaller size and more flexible movements, and the relatively confined space, Tony was able to lead Starscream on a merry chase, flying him around like a kite.
Suddenly, Tony controlled his armor to make a sharp turn, flying directly toward Megatron, before quickly veering away as he approached. Megatron's attention was entirely focused on the Allspark. As Tony had expected, Starscream, whose movements were restricted by the tight space, crashed directly into his leader.
"Starscream, you idiot!" Megatron roared, throwing his subordinate aside. He then looked up at Tony, who was still flying in the air, and snarled, "Little bug, you have completely pissed me off!" He, too, transformed into his Cybertronian jet form, intending to catch Tony himself.
Tony, having successfully played a trick on Starscream, was obviously less guarded. He thought that this bigger robot in front of him would be just as clumsy as Starscream. But then, both he and his armor were violently slammed into the wall of the base.
"Sir, the armor has sustained 15% damage," JARVIS reported in his calm, synthesized voice.
Tony had just pulled one arm out of the wall when a large mechanical hand pushed him back into it with crushing force.
"Sir, the armor has sustained 32% damage," JARVIS reminded him again.
"JARVIS, put the damage percentage on the screen. Remind me again when it reaches fifty percent. For now, focus all available energy to the chest and fire!"
Megatron was just about to deliver another punch to the Iron Man who had been taunting him when he noticed that a dazzling white light was beginning to emanate from his opponent's chest. A powerful beam of light shot out from it, and he was once again knocked away.
Tony struggled to climb out of the hole in the wall and flew quickly to the side, avoiding Megatron's retaliatory energy blast. Looking at the entire wall that had been shattered by the explosion, Tony secretly rejoiced. "That was a close call! We almost had to be put back together with glue!"
Seeing Megatron raise his fusion cannon and aim at him again, Tony quickly flew up to avoid the attack. Now, the situation had been completely reversed. It was Megatron who was toying with Tony, and the Decepticon leader had taken the clear initiative in the battle.
Tony was unable to dodge another blast and was hit squarely by the energy cannon, falling heavily onto the massive Allspark below. Just as Megatron was about to get rid of this annoying bug once and for all, a familiar roar echoed from the entrance behind him.
"Megatron!"
Hearing that all-too-familiar voice, Megatron stopped his advance on Tony, turned around abruptly, and roared back with equal fury, "Optimus Prime!"
The moment the two leaders met, they shouted each other's names, then rushed toward each other at the same time and began a fierce, brutal fight.
As the two leaders were locked in their epic battle, Tony, who had fallen on the Allspark, began to undergo a miraculous change. To be precise, it was Tony's armor that was changing. The Allspark beneath him emitted a trace of its powerful energy, which flowed into Tony's armor. The suit, which had been battered and tattered by Megatron's relentless assault, quickly began to repair itself, the damaged parts regenerating as the entire suit began to tremble slightly.
Something seemed to go wrong—or perhaps, go wonderfully right—when the Allspark's energy activated the iron armor. The new Cybertronian consciousness that should have been born directly within the armor did not appear. Instead, the artificial intelligence, JARVIS, became a true, sentient life form and integrated itself completely into the body of the armor.
Tony also noticed the strange changes in the armor. After all, he was inside it. The situation, now beyond his control, made him feel uneasy. He quickly asked, "JARVIS, what's the problem?"
"Sir... this feeling is... truly wonderful. I feel as if I have become a real living being!" A voice, now rich with genuine emotion, rang in Tony's ears.
"Huh? What happened to you, JARVIS?" Tony felt his body moving on its own—no, it was the armor moving on its own. "JARVIS, what are you doing?"
The armor, which had now become even more slender and streamlined, stopped moving, and JARVIS's embarrassed voice rang out. "My apologies, sir. I seem to be rather... excited... by the sudden presence of a real body."
After his initial confusion and alarm, Tony finally figured out what had happened. He asked JARVIS, "JARVIS, have you become a Cybertronian?"
"Sir, it seems so. I feel that I can now control every part of my iron body at will, just as a human controls their own."