Tony, he was a living being, a mechanical life-form. If you dared do anything to him, you'd be finished.
"Okay, okay, but he's got some pretty big limitations, doesn't he? There are a lot of places a car can't go. He'd only be useful in open spaces or on the street," Tony pointed out.
Rimuru grinned, stepped back twice, and cleared his throat. Then, like a magician reciting a spell, he called out:
"Jazz-show yourself, baby!"
For an instant, the air seemed to freeze.
First came the low rumble of gears meshing deep within the car, followed by the hiss of hydraulic systems venting. Metal panels slid, flipped, and rearranged themselves, while fine yet forceful scraping sounds rang out from the joints. The hum of the engine blended with a rhythmic electronic tune, as though the steel behemoth came with its own entrance BGM.
Before Tony and Pepper's wide eyes, every part of the sports car came to life. The hood folded down to form a chest, the doors spread into arms, and the wheels folded in and reassembled into legs and feet. With one final, resounding clang, a silver-and-white robot some five meters tall stood in the middle of the room. He smoothly rotated his wrists, his optical lenses flashed brightly, and he even struck an entrance pose, one knee slightly bent and one hand touching the ground.
Gears turned, hydraulics hissed, metal scraped, and the engine mixed into the sound. To the BGM Jazz had deliberately created, he stood up and put on one hell of a show for the two dumbstruck onlookers.
Jazz rose to his feet, his body gleaming coldly under the lights. He bent down and brought his face close to the two dumbstruck humans. A voice with an unmistakably teasing tone came from his speaker.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jazz. Hope I didn't scare you. But the boss said the first lesson for a bodyguard is to make a strong impression, right?"
What the fuck?!
The two of them had been given quite a fright. What normal person's car could stand up and twist around like that?
"Well? Well? Sister Pepper, the bodyguard I got you looks pretty good, doesn't he?"
Rimuru was beside himself with pride, paying no attention to the two people who had already frozen in place.
"Oh my god! Where did you find this... car robot?"
Pepper was both shocked and curious. This was an entirely different concept from the little demonstration earlier. As CEO of Stark Industries, she knew perfectly well that current technology shouldn't be capable of producing something like this. At the very least, Stark Industries couldn't do it. That made the implications of its appearance a matter worth considering.
Tony, standing beside her, was even more shocked. As a genius in artificial intelligence and mechanics, he understood even better just how advanced the robot before him was. The smooth transformation, the nimble movements, and the highly humanlike behavior all showed just how far ahead the robot was.
"You disappeared for two weeks. Did you go back to your universe and find a super robot like this?"
"I told you, he's not a robot. He's a mechanical life-form. He can think, and he's alive."
Only now did Tony understand just what a mechanical life-form meant. "A mechanical life-form? Is this thing silicon-based life?"
"Uh, probably not?"
"Then..."
"Oh, why ask so many questions? Just ask him yourself. Jazz, introduce yourself to them."
After learning about Jazz's origins and the story of the Autobots, the two of them more or less understood, though it seemed they didn't quite understand everything.
"Sister Pepper, he'll be your bodyguard from now on. Try to take him with you wherever you go. He can protect you. You don't want to be kidnapped out of nowhere like Tony, do you?"
Tony: ?
Once Tony learned that Jazz hadn't been made in Rimuru's universe, he breathed a sigh of relief. Suppressing the urge to take Jazz apart, he began showing Rimuru his new armor.
Unlike in the original timeline, Tony's armor had now progressed to the point where even the Mark VIII had a prototype.
After Tony thoroughly rubbed it in his face, Rimuru got worked up. He had brought Jazz here, but he hadn't made him. The armor in front of him, however, really was Tony's creation, which gave Tony plenty of room to show off.
Rimuru left Tony's villa cursing. It was just armor, wasn't it? He'd make some too, and he had to make something impressive. Gillvalis was just about taken care of anyway. He'd use the technology for making Galactron to build armor and show Tony what an insurmountable peak looked like.
Nick Fury had also received word that Rimuru, who had disappeared for two weeks, was back and had somehow gotten a car to give Pepper.
Looking at the preliminary report he'd been sent, Nick Fury pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache. The scans showed that the car seemed unusual. Would anything given by someone like Rimuru be ordinary?
"Forget it. As long as he doesn't cause a major disturbance, leave him alone. Interfering wouldn't do any good anyway. Focus on observation."
Nick gave the order helplessly.
Rimuru returned to the manor and began making his new armor. No matter how anyone looked at it, there was a whole group of them against Tony alone. The advantage was his!
Rimuru returned to the underground laboratory in his manor, cheeks puffed out in anger. The holographic screen still showed the record of a call with Tony wearing a smug expression that practically said, "Come on, praise me." He switched off the screen, planted his hands on his hips, and announced to the empty lab, "It's just armor, isn't it? I'll make it! I have to! And I'll make it both cool and powerful. Next time we meet, I'm going to grind Tony Stark's smug face against his reactor!"
He mentally connected to Gillvalis's core, which had almost finished digesting and restructuring. "Database, retrieve the basic structural units for the Galactron series, the energy transmission and amplification modules, and the formulas for synthesizing composite armor materials. And get those flashy but practical magic-tech hybrids ready too."
"Command confirmed. Relevant data retrieved. Recommendation: make adaptive adjustments and integrate the data based on the material laws and forms of your current universe, sir." Gillvalis's cold but efficient voice sounded in Rimuru's mind.
If the logic worked, then he'd do it!
The laboratory's automated equipment started up at full speed. The material synthesizer, enhanced by Rimuru's magicules, hummed as technology trees from different universes were grafted together under Great Sage's guidance, merging and growing. The core used Gillvalis's highly purified energy crystal technology, while the drive system drew on the energy transmission properties of Transformers' Sparks and harmonized them with magicules. The armor was layered with a dragon-scale composite and an anti-magic rune matrix.
"The appearance has to be cool!" Rimuru held his chin as he made revision after revision to the holographic design. "It needs the majesty of a dragon, the sharpness of a mecha, and a little mystical elegance too. For the colors, the main body should be gold and white, with red energy flowing through it. Add some curves to the shoulders and joints-yes, that looks cool!"
While Rimuru was absorbed in designing his armor, Pepper found herself caught in a minor social commotion because of her new bodyguard, Jazz.
In the garage of Tony's villa, Jazz sat quietly in his Pontiac form, though his radio receiver was actively scanning various frequencies.
Pepper was preparing to attend an executive meeting at Stark Industries headquarters. As she walked toward her Audi out of habit, Jazz flashed his headlights. A voice with an electronic mix, trying hard to sound friendly, came from his speakers. "Ms. Potts, according to Mr. Rimuru's instructions and my core protocols, it is my duty to serve as your escort vehicle. May I be of service? I promise a smooth drive, and I have several built-in driving music playlists suited to the tastes of Earth's humans."
Pepper paused, then smiled. "Of course, Jazz. Thank you." She opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat, and Jazz thoughtfully adjusted the interior to make it more comfortable.
On the way to the company, Jazz proved his worth as an elite Cybertronian scout. Not only did he avoid every congested stretch of road, he also precisely dodged the probes set up by S.H.I.E.L.D. The entire trip was so smooth that Pepper didn't even feel her coffee spill.
"Wow, this is much smoother and more efficient than JARVIS's routes and Tony's driving," Pepper said with genuine admiration.
"It's my pleasure, ma'am." Cheerful blues music played from Jazz's speakers.
However, when Pepper brought Jazz into the underground garage of the Stark Industries building, trouble arrived.
A newly hired, exceptionally conscientious security chief stopped the "car," which had not been fully registered and had an unusual internal energy signature.
"Ms. Potts, our security scan shows that there's something unusual about your car. According to regulations, we need to conduct a more detailed inspection," the security chief said, nervous but insistent. Several guards behind him also gathered around. Without a doubt, they were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in disguise, and there might also have been people from Hydra among them.
Pepper was about to explain when Jazz's broadcast sounded, this time on a public frequency, in a dramatically solemn announcer's voice. "Gentlemen, there's no need to be alarmed. I am Ms. Potts's legally authorized vehicle and security equipment, code name: Jazz. All my actions fall within Stark Industries' security protocols and the framework of relevant Earth laws. Would you like to see my electronic authorization documents?"
A string of electronic documents scrolled across Jazz's onboard screen, bearing Stark Industries logos and vague endorsements from S.H.I.E.L.D. There was even a lazy voice authentication from Tony Stark: "Yeah, I approved that noisy car that transforms. Don't give Pepper any trouble. Get back to work."
The security chief and his men stared in amazement. The data looked airtight, and there was even a voice recording from the boss. They naturally knew it was bullshit, but they had no reasonable excuse to keep stopping them. In the end, they had no choice but to let them through.
"Jazz, did you fake Tony's voice?" Pepper asked quietly in the elevator.
"Voiceprint simulation and contextual logic synthesis, ma'am. A necessary procedure under my protection protocols. I'm sure Mr. Stark wouldn't mind this level of assistance." Jazz sounded quite innocent.
Pepper pressed a hand to her forehead, both amused and helpless. She had a feeling that, with Jazz around, her daily life would probably be filled with many more "surprises" like this.