Iron Man vs. Optimus Prime

## Description

*When you think of a battle between hi-tech team leaders, these two would usually come to mind. Who wins, the Golden Avenger or the Convoy Autobot?*

## Interlude

Hiro: Technology runs our lives these days. Smartphones, tablets and computers – we really can’t seem to function without them. In a very short amount of time, technology has exploded in the market and now, many people cannot imagine a life without it anymore.

**MBStarscream: So it's a good thing it's still around, otherwise these two wouldn't have used *their* own technology to put shitloads of villains in their place and lead their own team of heroes while they're at it.**

Hiro: Tony Stark, the Iron Man.

**MBStarscream: And Optimus Prime, the awe-inspiring leader of the Autobots team.**

Hiro: I'm Hiro Hamada.

**MBStarscream: I'm MBStarscream.**

Hiro: And it's our job to examine both warriors' strength, abilities, weapons, and weaknesses to see who would win in a fight.

## Iron Man

Hiro: Howard and Maria Stark were billionaire weapon manufacturers who wanted to have a child. They tried to make one themselves, but due to problems Maria was facing the baby was doomed to die. To save the child, Howard desperately used his immense wealth to search across the world for a cure to the child's illness. In his travels he ended up saving an alien known as Rigellian Recorder 451. Recorder saw potential in Earth's future but also feared it would be crushed by other, more advanced races.

**MBStarscream: To give Earth a fighting chance and thank Howard for his troubles, Recorder offered to genetically engineer the unborn baby for Howard and Maria to give him the intellectual power needed to bring the world to a new age of technology. Howard graciously accepted, and Arno Stark was born after a five month procedure. Unfortunately, Arno's health quickly degenerated to the point where he'd need medical help to survive for the rest of his life. Because his condition was so poor, Howard and Maria just decided to adopt the young Anthony Edward Stark.**

Hiro: Tony grew up a rich man's childhood, without a care in the world and the greatest education. Tony's relationship with his father was rather strained, as he was abused and even forced to have his first alcoholic drink. Howard also forced into Tony his philosophies of war and how people have to clean up their own messes. At the age of 6, Tony began boarding school. Academics came easy to Tony, and he blitzed his way through school. When he was 15, he joined an MIT undergraduate program. By the time he was 17, Tony had already graduated with 3 PhDs under his belt. Life seemed peachy for young Tony, until the day tragedy struck.

**MBStarscream: Howard and Maria were killed in a car crash orchestrated by one of Stark Industries' rivals, leaving Tony the heir of their fortune and company. Under his guidance, Stark Industries thrived. Tony lived for war, and loved his job of manufacturing weapons. He also lived a life of reckless partying and debauchery until the day he was in Pakistan demonstrating the power of his weapons. One managed to blow up in his face, leaving a piece of shrapnel piercing his chest and sinking towards his heart.**

 Hiro: While unconscious, Tony captured by the Ten Rings terrorist group in Pakistan. Held at gunpoint, the group forced the billionaire to engineer bombs for them and receive treatment for the shrapnel or be left to die. Being as clever as he is, Tony instead built a chest plate that would stop the shrapnel from killing him, then he built a mech suit around it. With his suit, he escaped the camp and dedicated his life to heroism. After returning from Pakistan, Tony spent his days fighting crime and eventually forming superhero groups like the Avengers.

**MBStarscream: And he isn't a founding member of that group for nothing. Quite apart from the powers granted him by the suit, Tony Stark is far more than a mechanical engineering prodigy who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with honors at the age of 17.**

Hiro: With an intelligence classified as super-genius, Tony is easily one of the smartest people on Earth. Furthermore, this extends to his remarkable ingenuity dealing with difficult situations such as foes and deathtraps where he is capable of using his available tools, like his suit, in unorthodox and effective ways, for example when he built the first Iron Man Armor in captivity. He has also been able to hack technology from the Kree, a race centuries more advanced than humans.

**MBStarscream: Tony's genius allows him to act as a futurist, a person capable of intuiting the future based on current trends, to the point of foreshadowing that a situation like the superhuman Civil War was going to happen years before it did. This ability also extends to a much smaller scale, with Tony being capable of predicting with accuracy the way an interaction with a given individual will go down even before talking with them, a faculty that makes it really hard for human interactions to surprise him, and causes him to sometimes finish other people's sentences.**

Hiro: Stark can use his superior intellect to the levels of dividing his consciousness with the help of Stark Datashades and perfectly operate three portions of his consciousness at the same time, being able to move, fight, talk and process information in three different bodies at the same time. Tony has been mentioned by Reed Richards to be the world's best multitasker.

**MBStarscream: He is also an excellent engineer and mechanic capable of fixing almost any, if not all machinery, and is extremely well-respected in the business world, able to command people's attentions when he speaks on economic matters by virtue of the fact that he is savvy enough to have, over the years, built up several multi-million dollar companies from virtually nothing.**

Hiro: He is known for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as his impeccable business ethics. He also strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses, and in one case, immediately fired an employee who made profitable but illegal sales to Doctor Doom. He states that if he wanted to, he could give away his entire fortune and build it up again within a week. Stark most notably turned his father's munitions firm into a multi-national corporation that covered virtually all contemporary scientific industry when barely in his early twenties.

**MBStarscream: Tony is a brilliant tactician capable of quickly formulating battle strategies and new plans if the situation changes, like being able to elaborate different complex plans in order to defeat different enemies in difficult situations, and emerge victorious, even going as far as to simultaneously put Reed Richards in check on five different boards playing chess, a game he didn't learn until later in his life, leaving Richards totally astonished.**

Hiro: And being taught by the likes of Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther, and Shang-Chi, Tony is quite a physically formidable combatant on his own when the situation demands it. He has managed to fight Hammer Industries guards, defeat five Skrull soldiers in single-handed combat, Stark Industries security guards, numerous Voldi gladiators, handle his own against Madame Hydra, and bare-handedly confront several ninjas. He even held his own against War Machine, a Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Combat Pilot, during their armored brawl, despite himself being drunk at the time, and ultimately losing the fight.

**MBStarscream: He was also able to battle Thor almost to a standstill for a time while using the Mark VI armor, though only because Mjolnir enhanced the armor to over 400% capacity and Thor was holding back. Stark further refined his hand-to-hand combat skills and became highly skilled in martial arts, being able to take down the guards at Aldrich Killian's Mansion with ease using a homemade arsenal, and defeat the Extremis Soldiers as well as hold his own reasonably well against Aldrich Killian on the *Norco*.**

Hiro: However, Stark's combat skills are still outclassed by world-class fighters such as the Winter Soldier, who overpowered and knocked out an unarmored Stark rather quickly and even managed to beat him while Stark was wearing his Mark XLVI armor, despite Stark managing to take him down briefly, it was only due to Stark using repulsors to enhance his speed and pin him down before he could react rather than dominating him in a direct hand-to-hand fight Captain America also pummeled Stark after growing angered easily despite Stark managing to use his repulsors to enhance his speed to once again gain the upper hand to the point that Stark was forced to use the assistance of F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s combat analysis in order to hold his own against and overwhelm Captain America, which was also aided by his use of his armor's repulsors, and even then Rogers still defeated him.

**MBStarscream: There's also Thanos, as although Stark managed to land some hits upon catching him off-guard, once Thanos engaged Stark in melee combat, Stark was easily pummeled by the Mad Titan and even armed with a nano-tech knife of his Mark L Armor, Thanos easily disarmed and grievously stabbed him with it and Stark only survived due to Doctor Strange bargaining for Stark's life with the Time Gem.**

Hiro: Tony knows how to handle firearms, mainly the ones he has produced, and apart from English, Tony can speak different languages fluently, including Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, French, Russian, and Korean. He also might know multiple Middle Eastern languages, at one point noting that Urdu wasn't his strong suit in particular.

**MBStarscream: Now onto the stuff that makes him Iron Man. Using the same technology as his repulsors, Tony made an implant in his chest that prevents the shrapnel from reaching his heart. It has some defensive properties, however, and can discharge electricity to attack enemies when unarmored.**

Hiro: Due to his affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony is implanted with a device that blocks out the strongest of telepaths, and to stand up to the gods of his universe, Tony has constructed many mech suits of armor that aid him in combat. Their hulls are generally made of a gold-titanium alloy and the suit adds 5 inches to his height.

**MBStarscream: He's capable of lifting up to 100 tons when wearing his armor and can achieve higher levels of strength when powered by a sufficiently more powerful source. When She-Hulk got into a major frenzy, Tony was able to put her down in a single punch! #OnePunchTony!**

Hiro: Even when not traveling for extended distances, the armor enables the wearer to move and react at very high speeds, shown for example when he was able to outmaneuver Spider-Man and the Human Torch. The armor can typically reach speeds in excess of Mach 10, however Iron Man has been recently depicted as able to reach orbital escape velocities and up to speeds that can outrun black holes. Use of the jet boots provide enough power to lift a load of about 500 tons. Most recent suits are even able of reaching warp speed.

**MBStarscream: Most of his armor are powered by a combination of solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source. Current models after Iron Man Armor Model 37 use a set of five Repulsor Tech generators to be powered. The armor is also able to absorb and convert nearby or far away energy sources, such as heat, solar, electrical, magnetic, geo-thermal or kinetic energy or energy from the planet itself into electricity, or even drain energy directly into the batteries for recharge.**

Hiro: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation, biological, chemical, corrosive, kinetic, and electrical attacks as well. It can also generate magnetic fields to pull or push metal objects at will, and the armor Tony has to negate the effects of magnetism on it. This skill is used often to be immune to the powers of Magneto. This skill can be triggered when the armor picks next wave magnetism.

**MBStarscream: The armor has an internal on board computer operating system that aids Stark in providing strategies, background information on opponents, surroundings, the status of the suit, and prevents a lock on from targeting systems. Known sensors include radar/lidar, night vision, and physiological/medical scanners that allow Stark to take and monitor the vitals of other people, including heart and brain scans. These scans also provide Stark with real-time personal physiological data. They are also capable of an all-environmental scan for atmospheric content or life forms--including astral energy projections.**

Hiro: When required, armor systems including strength amplification, durability amplification, and repulsor intensity can be greatly increased, by bypassing safety circuits and limiters. However, there is a chance that this can result in a complete system failure of the armor. An example of this mode is when Iron Man easily lifted a 16,000 ton Nuclear Reactor, and flew into the sky and threw it into the sea. It seems that he utilized this resource on the Hulk once, as the armor ends up completely inert. The range of the Override can be controlled as only reaching his very limit and staying at it for a long time will cause a system failure. This range goes from a safe 800% to 3200%, up to a very dangerous 5000%.

**MBStarscream: The armor has evolved from a bulky iron suit to a highly complex matrix of molecularly-aligned fully crystallized ultra high carbon iron/steel hybrid alloy enhanced by magnetic fields over layers of other ultra hyper alloys like titanium alloy and or tungsten/vanadium alloys reinforced with carbon nano-tubes creating a shell that is pliable, yet capable of amazingly high resilience and protection.**

Hiro: His armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment. It can withstand high caliber bullets with ease. He can also withstand rockets, missiles, torpedoes, high powered lasers, and such, taking little to no damage. Future armor were fully resistant against electricity, fire, heavy impacts, energy blasts, take zero Kelvin and up to the Suns temperatures, even some of Thor's attacks.

**MBStarscream: The suit can withstand almost unlimited kinetic and thermal impact, as well as most forms of radiation thanks to its refractory coating. The armor can survive anything short of a nuclear explosion at ground zero. The suit automatically protects its wearer when he enters an intrinsically hostile environment, such as outer space or deep sea. The armor even has specialized circuitry that guards against telepathic attacks. Tony is very confident in his suit's defensive abilities, as shown when he was caught in a nuclear explosion, he was only thinking about women and completely forgot about what was happening around him.**

Hiro: The armor also has energy shielding that can protect the user from harm. It is capable of reflecting attacks and staying mobile. At 2% power, the shield is strong enough to withstand a nuclear explosion. It is even capable of protecting its user at the point blank of a nuclear explosion caused by a material even more radioactive than Uranium, Phlogistone. The suit's shielding can resist a force blast from the Spectral Mandarin Ring, a beam of energy so powerful it can destroy the bonds between atoms and molecules, and magic.

**MBStarscream: The armor's primary energy weapon is none other than the Repulsor Ray. A particle beam weapon, standard equipment in the palm gauntlets; can repel physical and energy-based attacks, traveling as a single stream or as a wide-field dispersal. Beams possess penetrative strength ranging from effortlessly punching through 2 inches of steel to blasting a hole through a mountain.**

Hiro: Power output can be adjust for larger beam or an omnidirectional, full-form repulsor blast. Power output can be adjusted to fire beams generating 2 gigawatts to the beams in the high petawatt region, as seen with the Mark 27 with assistance from outside sources. The latest version, the Mark IVa, was introduced with the Iron Man Armor Model 42, featuring a red color.

**MBStarscream: The Unibeam is a powerful searchlight, capable of projecting beams in virtually every light spectrum. Also used as a powerful weapon that can destroy anything in its path, it fires a boosted form of the Monobeam with some energy backing it up. But that's not all! There's also the Tri-beam, Multi-beam, Pentabeam, and the Omnibeam, which can generate heats at 25,232 degrees Fahrenheit, extremely powerful lights causing irreversible blindness in the enemy, and emit ultrasonic attacks capable of stunning even superhumanly durable foes and even causing disintegration!**

Hiro: The armor also comes with lasers, pulse bolts, smart missiles, a laser sword, a plasma discharge, telepathic microscopic tasers, a telepathy inhibitor, a pulse barrage, and a program called Hyper-velocity, which allows Tony to think and move at a much faster time frame than everyone else, allowing for quicker attacks. It can also create an electrical bubble if Tony is going fast enough.

**MBStarscream: But we're only just gettin' *started.* Tony's got a suit specifically built to combat the Hulk called, what else, the Hulkbuster. It is powered by hydraulic presses and outer casing that fits over most other suits. On top of having all of the average suit's powers, the armor gains a big upgrade in strength and durability.**

Hiro: The suit's strength is increased to be able to lift 175 tons without any help and to evenly trade blows with the Hulk, who can hold a 150,000,000,000 ton mountain range on his back for an extended period of time, and the Hulkbuster can even take hits directly from the Hulk with little damage. And to better locate his green giant friend, the armor has the ability to detect gamma rays he emits.

**MBStarscream: Like all other armors, the Hulkbuster has flight capabilities, although given the size, it is presumably much slower than Tony's other suits. It also has the ability to shoot repulsor beams strong enough to hold down Hulk, if only for a while, and using an independent propulsion system, each section can fly to the user from a drop pod hovering around the combat zone and automatically assemble into the Hulkbuster Armor. Despite being composed of individual parts, the XLIV is still able to sustain quite a few blows from Hulk.**

Hiro: It also has a grappling hook used to hold Hulk down long enough to use repulsor beams, can use it's fist like a jackhammer, a chemical spray outfitted in its wrist, and small missiles which Tony used to increase damage to Hulk after dropping him into the building under construction. And on the off chance that the Hulkbuster *is* damaged, the Veronica hovering above the armor will respond to the authorized user's command by sending spare parts to replace the ones that were damaged. For instance, when the Hulk drove a pole into the Hulkbuster's left arm and severely damaged it, upon the command of Stark, Veronica releases several armor parts that would form an alternate left arm for the armor to battle the Hulk.

**MBStarscream: The Bleeding Edge was developed so Tony and Iron Man would become one and the same. Built in separate pieces, he stored the armor inside his bones, allowing him to suit up at will without the need for a suitcase. The entire suit is composed of nanomachines rather than metal, making it one of Tony's most versatile suits.**

Hiro: The nanomachines can change their atomic structure at will, allowing them to be any substance Iron Man wishes. Due to its changing abilities, Bleeding Edge can disguise itself as clothing, other armors, or even other people. By changing into a non-metal, Bleeding Edge can negate magnetic manipulation from the likes of Magneto.

**MBStarscream: By changing the formation of the nanomachines, Tony can create just about any weapon he can imagine from the armor. With this power, Bleeding Edge has formed cannons, massive guns, its iconic laser blade, and even a boxing glove. The nanomachines can replicate themselves and can restructure their formation at will. The combination of these factors easily allows Bleeding Edge to regenerate by simply replacing damaged nanomachines. Bleeding Edge's repulsors also have visual sensors on them, giving Tony a 360° view of his surroundings.**

Hiro: But his most advanced suit is the Endo-Sym. Based off of the biology of symbiotes like Venom and Carnage, it is a liquid smart metal suit that hardens on contact to skin. The two share a psychic link that Iron Man uses to control the suit.

**MBStarscream: Because it lacks electronics, Tony is bonded to the suit in a psionic way. Because of this connection, Tony is the only one who can control the suit. Tony can call Endo-Sym to form itself around enemies and... harden, but not follow their commands. Because they wouldn't be able to move the suit, victims are immobilized by the Endo-Sym.**

Hiro: Endo-Sym can shape itself in any way Tony likes, allowing him to do various things like reveal his face by pulling back the metal or shaping weapons on its body. When extra power is needed, Endo-Sym can bulk up to a Hulkbuster-like physique to enhance its strength. When fighting other mech armors, Endo-Sym can create tendrils that bypass the metal plates of the armors and go straight for its artificial intelligence. The tendrils then expand outward, destroying the A.I. and tearing apart the armor from the inside. And whenever some of Endo-Sym is destroyed or blasted away, it can simply liquidize and reform to repair itself.

**MBStarscream: Endo-Sym's repulsor blasts are so powerful they can bypass the power of energy absorption and harm individuals who possess that ability. Endo-Sym can absorb the energy from sources much more efficiently than most armors, being able to directly absorb a lightning bolt from Storm or even an electromagnetic pulse. But being based off of a symbiote has its drawbacks, because Endo-Sym also inherits their vulnerability to flames and loud sounds, and will destabilize in contact with them. To prevent this from happening, the Endo-Sym is constantly covered by an energy shield that blocks fire and sound out.**

Hiro: For covert operations, Tony has created an Iron Man Armor that is specifically designed for stealth. With it, he is nigh undetectable by any means whatsoever, allowing him to sneak into wherever he is needed. The stealth armor can bend light around it to become invisible and can form holograms around itself, allowing it to look like just about anyone or anything Tony desires.

**MBStarscream: The holograms aren't limited to the armor, however, allowing it to generate illusions to distract foes. All of the suit's weaponry emits no noise when firing, and are weakened to a non-lethal status in this armor, cutting the repulsor rays down to a tenth of an average suit's power and using weapons like tasers over missiles.**

Hiro: And last but not least, Tony's latest suit, Model-Prime. It was built when an MIT student reverse-engineered some of his earlier suits. To stay ahead, Tony built Model-Prime with completely new technology, technological scales that composed the suit. The scales built to mimic the abilities of several of his past suits, acting as an all-in-one tool to replace the need for specialized armor.

**MBStarscream: Model-Prime is composed of hexagonal scales that can shift and change at will. It** c**an alter its physique to fit any need, including compacting into a watch or bulking out into a Hulkbuster-esque armor for increased strength.**

Hiro: By altering the structure of its scales, Model-Prime can change to any color Tony desires, and by changing its color to that of it's surroundings, the armor can look completely invisible. Whether or not Tony himself is invisible or just the armor depends on the need.

**MBStarscream: Model-Prime can hide itself from beings who can detect energy, and due to shielding around its scales, people like Vision who can phase through matter cannot phase through Model-Prime. Model-Prime's repulsor blasts can harm intangible objects or people, and if Tony is ever critically injured or fights a battle he would likely die in, Model-Prime explodes and a wrist jet flies away with Tony to safety.**

Hiro: But sadly, Tony is just an athletic human with decent martial art skills without his armor. He can be killed with any conventional weapon when outside the suit, and he is a total drunk. He even occasionally pilots a suit while intoxicated, lowering his efficiency. He can be easily pressed into excessively drinking in the right circumstances.

**MBStarscream: And while Tony is utterly brilliant, he tends to rush head first into battle and pushes his suits way past their limits, which often ends in disaster. But be it problems of his own design, or those of outside forces, Iron Man has taken on countless adversaries and triumphed, so don't scoff at this Avenger. Hell, any Avenger in fact.**

*A red and gold device slaps into the palm of Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet, bracing the fingers open; and a red and gold Avenger makes a fast and hard entrance.*

*Iron Man: You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna lose it.*

*Thanos: Stark.*

*Iron Man: You know me?*

*Thanos: I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge.*

*Iron Man: My only curse is* you.

## Optimus Prime

Hiro: Many millions of years ago, on the planet Cybertron, life existed, but not life as we know it today. Intelligent robots that could think and feel inhabited the cities. They were called Autobots and Decepticons, but the brutal Decepticons were driven by a single goal: total domination.

**MBStarscream: They set out to destroy the peace-loving Autobots, and a war between good and evil raged across Cybertron, devastating all in its path and draining the planet’s once-rich sources of energy. On the verge of extinction, the Autobots battled valiantly to survive, and while they had many capable warriors, such as the mighty Ironhide or the energetic Bumblebee, few could match the dedication to their cause possessed by their selfless leader, Optimus Prime.**

Hiro: Once known as a low-level dock worker from the city of Iacon named Orion Pax, Optimus was rebuilt into the chosen leader of the Autobots and bravely led his comrades against the growing might of his nemesis: the Decepticon overlord, Megatron. However, millions of years spent in a seemingly never-ending conflict took a toll on Cybertron, reducing it to a husk of its former self.

**MBStarscream:**  **In search of a means to repair their damaged world, he and several Autobots embarked on an interplanetary expedition to scavenge for sources of energy. However, they were hounded by a Decepticon strike force led by Megatron upon their departure; the ensuing skirmish resulted in both sides crash landing on prehistoric Earth, rendering them in stasis until their reawakening in the modern day.**

Hiro: With their conflict now spilling over to yet another planet, the Autobots devoted themselves to fighting for Earth’s defense in atonement for involving humanity in their struggles while upholding their commitments to healing Cybertron, running in opposition to Megatron’s plans to ravage the Earth of its resources, regardless of who would pay the price in the process.

**MBStarscream: Armed with not only with the power, arsenal, skills and badassery needed to do battle against any threat but a strong and unwavering moral compass dedicated towards doing what he believes to be the right thing, Optimus has made it his mission to continue fighting for the freedom he believed all sentient beings should have, even if it meant constantly putting his life on the line to do so.**

Hiro: As a native Cybertronian, Optimus possesses the various natural abilities and capabilities of all inhabitants of the planet. Cybertronians are sentient mechanical being which bestows upon them extraordinary strength and durability that far surpasses most organic life forms. Optimus, however, is widely regarded as one of the more powerful representatives of Cybertron, thus his strength and durability far exceed even the most average Cybertronians.

**MBStarscream: It is estimated that this mini Gipsy Danger can lift weights in excess of over 100 tons and is highly resistant to any form of damage. Like all members of his race, Optimus is also extraordinarily long lived, having been in activation for *hundreds* of years.**

Hiro: Theoretically, all Cybertronians are practically immortal, given that they have access to sufficient energy that maintains their life functions and barring any accidents or suffering from catastrophic or irreparable damage to their mechanical bodies. In fact, Cybertronians--

**MBStarscream: Ugh, Hiro, you're really not doing me any favors right now.**

Hiro: What are you talking about, Starscream? I'm only--

**MBStarscream: This is like the fourth shot I've taken, and my taste buds aren't impressed at all.**

Hiro: You've--You've been taking shots every time I've said Cybertronians?!

**MBStarscream: Damn it, you've made it five now! Seriously, I'm about to spit all over the place here!**

Hiro: Ahem. Um... they can sustain surprising levels of damage, even the near total destruction of their bodies, and can be effectively be restored to full function as long as some critical circuitry and components are not destroyed. Optimus is extremely intelligent and is considered as a great inspirational and charismatic leader. He is also one of Cybertron's finest military commanders and is an expert in strategy and tactics.

**MBStarscream: Optimus’ main transformation in almost every Transformers continuity is a Freightliner Cab-over-engine Class 8 semi-truck, which serves as his main form of disguise when not in active combat. Such a vehicle fits his physique quite well; according to the US Department of Transportation, those within the Class 8 group can carry weights exceeding 33,000 lbs - this includes the vehicle’s own weight and those of its passengers and cargo.**

Hiro: While transformed, Optimus can reach speeds up to 175 mph and is still as immensely durable as his normal form. He is more than willing to ram into his foes or swing his trailer as a melee attack and can traverse through large bodies of water thanks to thrusters and other adaptations. Transformations between his truck and robot forms are a matter of mere seconds, allowing Prime to switch his tactics on the fly and adapt to the current situation at hand.

**MBStarscream: In** **his robot form, Optimus is technically split up into three modules which he is mentally linked to. You see, the Optimus Module is his actual body and the most important one out of the three; while damage to any of them is felt either way, the survival of the other two is highly dependant on the Optimus Module’s own whereas it can function without them. The Prime Module takes the form of a small remote-controlled vehicle called Roller that he can use to scout out distant locations. Lastly, the Combat Deck hidden inside his vehicle form’s trailer contains emergency supplies, weapons and an antenna that boosts his communications with other Autobots.**

Hiro: Optimus' main weapon of choice during battle is his trusty laser rifle, the Ion Blaster. It can fire blasts of plasma deadly enough to incapacitate Decepticons and destroy large stone boulders in a few quick shots. This weapon is also immensely versatile, as it can switch between multiple firing configurations; these include fully-automatic fire akin to a sub-machine gun, powerful single shots akin to a revolver and even miniaturized bolts of Energon that explode like grenades.

**MBStarscream: When not in use,** t**he blaster is hidden in his body, ready to be called at any time. Despite this being his primary firearm, Optimus’ combat training has allowed him to wield other ranged weapon types, ranging from shotguns to machine guns, sniper rifles, EMP grenades, rocket launchers and mounted weapon emplacements. On the battlefield, he can store the images of most weapons he comes across in his memory, which he can then switch to and from for any situation he finds himself in.**

 Hiro: While his various gaming appearances show that his firearms do have limited ammo, this is less of a problem in other G1 media where such an issue is rarely brought up, likely due to his trailer often having a backup supply on hand for emergencies. Optimus has extensive training with hand-to-hand combat and all sorts of melee weapon types, ranging from warhammers to swords, gauntlets and maces, and has no qualms using the environment if he absolutely has to for makeshift weapons. However, the one armament that can even be remotely considered to be his signature weapon is his trusted Energon Axe, a blade made of pure Energon which can be reconfigured into other weapon types.

**MBStarscream: And as his name implies, Optimus holds the rank of Prime, designating him as the leader of the Autobots. This position is derived from Primus himself as attributed by the original 13 Transformers he had created. To serve as physical proof of their status, each Prime was entrusted with the Matrix of Leadership, a talisman which contains a portion of Primus’ spark.**

Hiro: This trinket grants its user the wisdom and experience of the Primes, as well as a built-in counter to any source of evil, regardless of however strong it may be. Optimus keeps the Matrix on his chassis at all times, and while it does allow him to harness its powers in combat, he often holds back in the event he can cause unwanted collateral damage. He was notably separated from it during the events of the Transformers movie, whereupon he passed it on to Hot Rod before dying, but he reclaimed it in short fashion after being resurrected when the newly-dubbed Rodimus Prime was infected by the Hate Plague.

**MBStarscream:** **In most instances similar to these, the Matrix cannot be taken away by force nor can it be destroyed by any conventional means, as it is usually passed on to another Autobot worthy of being called a Prime in the event the bearer is compromised in some fashion. At its core, the Matrix can increase the strength of its bearer to immense levels, allowing them to take on almost any threat they face single-handedly, up to and including universal-level threats such as the planet-eating Unicron. It also connects them to the Cybertronian afterlife, allowing them to commune with previous Primes or even resurrect fallen Transformers.**

 Hiro: In an even more absurd take on its abilities, the Matrix also grants the bearer the knowledge of almost any form of technology to ever exist as well as the ability to remotely control them. It has also acted as a healing factor of sorts by repairing grievous amounts of damage sustained by its bearer and has even been responsible for straight up resurrecting Optimus at one point in the Japanese continuity.

**MBStarscream: Time and again, Optimus has proven that he is the original and best choice in fighting the Decepticons and their machinations. Even when the Transformers' war found its way to earth, Optimus continues to demonstrate his leadership skills and physicality that has made him the Autobots' champion; being able to not only uproot trees when punching the ground, he also has the strength to tip over ocean liners weighing several hundred tons.**

 Hiro: Optimus has even dented the chestplate of Sixshot, a Deception whose frame was built from the core of a collapsed star, half a trillion times denser than the toughest materials in the world. Strength, however, is not all that Optimus Prime has to offer; his speed is such that he can fly over 125,000 mph. Though Optimus is indeed a formidable opponent, he is also one bound by honor, refusing to engage in underhanded trickery even to gain an edge in a fight, something that has cost him his life before, in this continuity and in countless others of the Transformers mythos.

**MBStarscream: That said, while his code of conduct has served as his downfall several times, it also acts as part of his moral fiber that spurs the Autobots to continue their endless battle against the Decepticons, fighting for the freedom of their kind and all sentient beings across the galaxy.**

*Megatron: Is the future of our race not worth a single.* Human. Life?

*Optimus Prime: You'll never stop at one!! I'll take you ALL on!!*

## Fatal Fiction

*Mario flips a coin.*

Hiro: Well, Iron Man has territory on his side against Optimus Prime, but only one tech defender of humanity will stand victorious.

**MBStarscream: You mean, "One shall stand. One shall fall." Ugh, childhood, where have ya been?**

*Avengers Compound*

"Alright, J.A.R.V.I.S., let’s finish this thing up."

Tony Stark, the famous genius billionaire playboy philanthropist of the Avengers, was hard at work in one of his laboratories, deep inside the new Avengers compound. Dozens of computer screens, some holographic, were set up around his workbench, on which lay a large metal robot; all but the machine’s head were complete, and a slot lay open in its face ready to have an energy source input into it. Tony himself pulled a pair of goggles up onto his forehead and pushed away from the table on a swivel chair, grabbing a handful of blueberries as he prepared the final step in assembling his Ultron body.

"Are you certain you don’t want Doctor Banner present for this step?" asked J.A.R.V.I.S.. Tony answered his computer system with, "Nah; he’s too tired to be of any use this late. No ceremonial value either; once Threepio’s finished, it’ll take a few hours to charge. Oh, and before I start, save my progress."

"Your technical joke is understood and appreciated, sir." said J.A.R.V.I.S..

Tony pulled the goggles back over his eyes, and picked up a glowing microchip from the table with a pair of fine forceps. He turned around and was just about to implant the chip inside the body’s head, but just before he could get a good start, a siren started blaring in the lab. Red lights flashed on and off, and Tony quickly hid the microchip inside a desk drawer before standing up and punching codes into his watch. "Sir, there’s an impending intrusion. Estimated arrival tim--"

"Be quiet and reroute all available power to the Alpha Combo." Tony interrupted. "If something set off the alarms before it even arrived, our usual security won’t do anything, so we may as well not waste--"

It was Tony's turn to be cut off when the large concrete wall outside of the lab burst open, and a large transport rolled through the rubble. The floodlights in the hanger illuminated off the truck’s paintjob, blue with blazing red flames, as it drove itself over in front of the glass windows looking into the workshop.

"...may as well not waste good power and money. On record, that wall had nothing to do with me, that was all Stephen King’s fault!" Tony finished.

Tony hit his watch again, then casually strolled outside into the hanger while the truck’s components began to shift around. Raising an eyebrow, Tony watchesdas the truck in front of him slowly stood upright, transforming and realigning itself into a humanoid form, towering over the human genius. At the end, a head emerged on the shoulder area, and a mask plating slid in front of its mouth as two eyes glowed a fierce blue. **Optimus Prime** looked down at Tony, who, while certainly impressed, decided to eat a few more berries instead of making a comment.

"Tony Stark." Optimus spoke. "You are to cease all action on the Ultron Project, and turn the Power Chip over to me. What you are doing is noble, but far too dangerous to be activated." But unfortunately, there were many people who wouldn't back down that easily, and Tony was one of them. "Yeah, um, no thanks. Try and see this from my shoes, if you know what shoes are, but I’ve spent about a year developing this Magnum Opus, designed to save the world, and you really didn’t think a talking truck was going to talk me out of it at the last second, did you?"

Optimus decided to push harder. "I am Optimus Prime, and I am here with the United States Military Group NEST." the Autobot declared. "They are in negotiations with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers as we speak, if you would prefer to settle this over paper."

"Oh great, now Steve's going to find out." Tony said to himself. "Okay, listen, if you were going to be so peaceful and diplomatic about it, why... uh, you know?" He gestured to the mess Optimus made smashing through the wall, but the Transformer is not distracted by the sarcasm. "It would have taken too long. If you inserted that Power Chip into an artificial intelligence, humanity would--"

"And you’re not artificial?" was the question Tony interrupted Optimus to ask. "Then I’m guessing, thanks to “humanity”, that you’re an alien, so I’m going reassert my position with a traditional human phrase: 1V1 me, faggot."

Optimus was flabbergasted for a second, but moved forward and lifted an arm up to forcefully move Tony aside. In defense, Tony raised his hand, and his watch covered his wrist to form a red iron gauntlet. A repulsor in his hand fired, and a large burst of energy forced Optimus back. As the Autobot stumbled, pieces of a red and gold armor flew out from different locations in the hanger, attaching themselves onto Tony as he walked forward. Once fully armored up, Tony, or should I say **Iron Man**, flew a short distance into the air, looking down at Optimus. "You have auto-insurance?" he questioned.

"Yet another mistake, Tony Stark." Optimus said as his optics narrowed.

**FIGHT!**

Tony then flew straight at Optimus Prime and fired some repulsor blasts, yet Optimus took them with ease as he charged at Tony as well. The convoy Autobot attempted to hit the Armored Avenger with the Energon Ax, but Iron Man easily dodged it as he flew behind Optimus and fired smart missiles that hit Optimus’s back. Optimus’s healing factor then mended his back wound.

"The artificial body metallic structure have regenerative cell coding." J.A.R.V.I.S. reported. "What about his armor?" Tony asked. Optimus pulled out his Ion Blaster and opened fire at Iron Man. Tony avoided the ion shots and fired back with more repulsor beams. The repulsor beams however weren’t currently doing much against Optimus’s armor. "Fire all you want, for my armor is made from the strongest metal in the universe." Optimus said confidently.

"Really? well my African friend’s mountain mine says otherwise." Was Tony's reply.

Iron Man then shapeshifted his gauntlet into a forearm cannon to fire a charge repulsor ray that destroyed Optimus’s Ion Blaster. Orion Pax then turned his forearm into the Barrage Cannon and fired a laser shot that knocked Iron Man to the ground. Optimus then repeatedly fired laser charged mini warheads at Iron Man, who quickly made an energy barrier to block the attack. Optimus then jumped towards the Avenger and pinned him down on the ground with his big arm. "I was hoping your demonstration of your intelligence would put up more effort." he said as he held his opponent down.

Then Tony hit Optimus’ arm with a pulse bolt that electric shock the autobot, causing him to stutter. When Optimus maintained sight, Iron Man reconfigured his gloves into rocket-driven battering rams, punching Optimus further back. Optimus shook it off quickly, reached forward and tore Iron Man's helmet off, revealing Tony's surprised expression before the suit recovered automatically and re-formed his head protection. The Autobot leader made use of the fractional delay and punched back hard, sending Iron Man sliding meters away.

Staring intently, Optimus raised his foot to stomp down on Tony's back. Using his thrusters, Iron Man quickly glided out of the way of the crushing foot, firing more beams at his opponent. "Do they have bibles where you’re from? Y’know, David and Goliath?" he asked while he was doing this. An unimpressed Optimus sternly replied with, "You will surrender *now!*"

"Signs point to "no"."

Optimus swung but Tony did a barrel roll around the fist and put his hands above his head; using his palms, he quickly thrusted downwards, shoving Optimus’ arm into the ground and throwing the Transformer off balance. Quickly rocketing himself up to Optimus’ chest, Tony placed both his palms against his opponent and let loose a large burst of energy, sending Optimus flying through the air. The Autobot crashed down on the ground, but picked himself up as he rolled backwards. Touching down on the ground, Iron Man activated two compartments of miniature missiles hidden in his shoulders; they flew out, two-dozen in all, and whizzed through the air before locking onto Optimus and bombarding him.

As the bombs exploded around Optimus, Iron Man turned his back on his enemy and slowly walked away. However, behind him, a barely injured Transformer suddenly charged out of the explosion. In slow motion, he ran towards the Avenger, crossing the hanger in just a few strides; Iron Man only barely turned around to notice before Optimus scooped him up in his hand and ran him through a thick concrete wall.

The momentum carried the two fighters into the field outside, where Optimus smashed Iron Man down into the ground to try and pin him down. Iron Man activated the thrusters on his legs to try and escape, but couldn't generate enough force; Optimus lifted him into the air and rotated his upper body 360 degrees, swinging Iron Man and throwing him away; inadvertently assisted by his own propulsion, Iron Man rocketed into the ground, creating a trench as he slid through the field. Optimus transforms one of his arms into a three-barreled cannon and fired a series of blue energy blasts at Tony, each hitting him and knocking him back.

A dazed Tony looked up to see Optimus marching over towards him; the Autobot pointed his weapon point-blank at Tony’s face to threaten him once more. However, Iron Man suddenly fired a Unibeam from his chest plate, striking Optimus in his waistline before the Last Prime could so much as blink in surprise. As his alien foe doubled over, Iron Man got to his feet and clapped his hands against Optimus’ arm, and a series of sparks went off. Optimus steps back slightly injured, and noticed his cannon run out of power due to the EMP blast.

Iron Man flew into the air and aimed one of his largest wrist missiles at Optimus, but before he could launch it, the Cybertronian backhanded him towards the wall of the compound. Embedded in the wall, Tony watched helplessly though his visor as Optimus ran up and Sparta-kicked him through the wall; the entire side of the hanger collapsed as Optimus leaped back in after his opponent.

Tony stood up and looked Optimus right in the eye. "Alright, big guy. Let's see you pick on someone your *own* size. J.A.R.V.I.S.? Hulkbuster please."

"Right away, sir."

A roaring noise came from the sky as a larger, more bulky version of Tony's suit appeared.

It was the Hulkbuster.

Iron Man hopped into the suit where it all formed around him.

"There is certainly more to you than meets the eye, Tony Stark." Optimus admitted. "That's a nice thing to say before you get flattened to a pancake." Tony responded before the two combatants charged. They both grappled like sumo wrestlers until Optimus gave a nice headbutt to the Hulkbuster's face. Both fighters tanked each other's blows, but Optimus began to flinch as the Hulkbuster began to overshadow him. The Hulkbuster gained the upper hand and slammed the supreme commander of the Autobots on the ground.

Phase Two?

Hit him till he could hardly breathe.

As he held down his foe, his fist connected with Optimus' face over and over and over.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep!"

He used Jeff the Killer's catchphrase over and over again as he hit Optimus harder and harder until the Cybertronian caught his fist and threw him off. It wasn't enough to get him off his feet, but it was enough for him to lumber backwards. Optimus tried punching the Hulkbuster, but the giant countered the blows and pummeled the Autobot. Optimus caught one of the Hulkbuster's punches and started laying his own beat down on the huge armor before kicking Tony so hard that the Man of Iron started flying back and out of the compound again, crashing through the field again.

As Optimus ran outside to meet his human enemy, Tony shot more repulsor beams to hold Optimus back, but nothing would stop him; the last of the Primes simply held both fists up like a boxer while charging like a bull. Seeing how ineffective his repulsor beams were, Tony resorted to flying toward the sprinting Autobot and tackling him like a rugby player. The two mechanical behemoths fought and wrestled on the floor, landing hammer-like blows until the Hulkbuster easily lifted Optimus over its head and threw him away like trash.

"OK, that's enough with the Hulkbustin'. Maybe something not as big might give Optimus Mic Prime a better chance here somewhat." Tony said. "Mind getting me a nice Endo-Sym, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

As Optimus pushed himself up while groaning, he looked up to see multiple liquidy-metallic substances rushing towards Tony. They entered the Hulkbuster armour, and underneath it gathered around the man of metal. The Hulkbuster then opened up to reveal Tony now clad in a silver-blue version of his first armor.

Now standing at his full 15ft height, Optimus stared Tony down like he never had before. "Let it be known that you have lost any hope for mercy." he growled before the final round began.

Optimus came right at Tony with his Energon wrist swords, which Tony evaded the first strike. Iron Man then mad large energy blades and both combatants have a mid-flight sword clashing contest. Optimus was getting the upper hand of the clash until they broke off, forcing them back from one another as they landed on the solid ground. Tony then formed a Proton Cannon (Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite) and charged it up, only for Optimus to grab his throat and slam him into the ground.

The Autobot stomped on the Iron Avenger, then smashed him with both fists until a Unibeam to the face forced him to back off. Iron Man then tackled Optimus away as his larger adversary desperately pummeled his back in an attempt to free himself from the Avenger's grip. Another Unibeam caught Optimus in the stomach, sending him to the ground again.

Before Optimus could recover, Tony grabbed the huge robot by the chest, lifted his 4 ton rival with ease and tossed his aside. Optimus angrily got to his feet and punched Tony in the gut, then started assaulting him with blow after blow after blow to the head, his merciless thrashing accelerating with both speed and ferocity with each strike.

He then kicked the Avenger high into the sky before jumping straight for him to sucker punch Iron Man, knocking him towards the ground. Iron Man got up with his armor suit heavily damaged as Optimus took a few steps back. Iron Man stood tall, looking straight at Optimus. Neither Avenger or Autobot moved an inch until Optimus fired his Matrix’s chest beam at Tony, only for Iron Man to counter with his Unibeam. The energy beam battle was getting intense.

"Override to 5000%." Tony ordered. "Taste badassium!"

Iron Man unleashed obscured energy in the Unibeam which then overpowered Optimus’ Matrix beam and started blasting straight through Optimus’ chest as it annihilated the Matrix of Leadership and the spark of Orion Pax. The Unibeam left a big hole in Optimus’ body as it fells backwards onto the ground, dead.

"Note to self: Next buster armor, design it to confound living metals."

Tony then took off as J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, "Noted, sir."

**FATALITY!**

## Results

**MBStarscream: And there goes the warranty.**

Hiro: Both combatants have incredible technologies, but Tony's was far superior and more prepared for anything. Sure, Optimus may be able to handle leagues of separate Iron Man suits, but facing the Iron Avenger himself is a different prospective.

**MBStarscream: Optimus may have numerous years of military experience leading the Autobots, but Tony’s vast intellect outweighed that any day. Plus, while both are able to face challenges where they’re in over their heads, Iron Man is way farther on a cosmic scale.**

Hiro: Not only did Iron Man's speed enable him to out maneuver Optimus’s bulk, but Tony is certainly strong enough to counter the Autobot's berserk strength. Plus, Iron Man's crystallized hyper alloys and nano-machine recognition have allowed him to hold his ground against the likes of even the Sentry, who is basically Marvel’s answer to Superman.

**MBStarscream: Hell, his weaponry is way better than anything Optimus possesses. Sure Optimus' Cybertronian armor, healing factor and dense body may also take insane blows, but they could only last for so long.**

Hiro: Even with the Matrix of Leadership' immense power, it still wouldn’t be a problem for Tony since he can trade blow with the Hulk, which is far more impressive than Optimus’s feat of facing Galvatron. Even if this was settled without the Hulkbuster, Endo-Sym or any other scenario, there’s no say the results would be any different.

**MBStarscream:** **I guess you can say Iron Man was more “Primed” for this fight.**

Hiro: Iron Man wins.

## Advantages

### Iron Man (Winner)

* Superior technology
* Faster
* More durable
* Better weaponry
* Strong enough to counter Optimus
* Intellect outclassed Optimus' military experience
* Able to fight far stronger beings like Hulk, Sentry, Thanos, Thor, etc