And for the record, the Jack Black one.
I can hear quiet talking from the other side of the building coming through the headphones built into the helmet. If not for the advanced microphones in the suit, I wouldn’t be able to hear anything. My closed eyes are still bathed in the purple glow of the new HUD, and before I can finish psyching myself up, duty calls.
“Little Arc!” Tony shouts. On his que, I fly into the air, attract the magnets in Captain America’s shield to my own arm, and land atop a truck. The roof bends slightly with my landing, but it isn’t that obvious. The anxiety boiling in my chest is completely invisible to everyone as the steely gaze of the faceplate merely stares at the star spangled man. “Nice job, kid.”
“Thanks, Mr. Stark. Landing was a bit harsh, gotta bump up the power to the interinertialary locking mechanisms,” I say with a false-confidence that I hope to god the voice filter hides. Captain America and Iron Man continue to argue like little kids, and I just tune them out. I hear small footsteps on the shield and attempt to shake off whatever’s on it, but it’s too late. I get kicked away from it, and somehow while I’m tumbling the shield ends up back in Cap’s hands.
“Stay back, Ironheart! Use your repulsors at a distance,” Tony advises, and I do so. Suddenly, I’m thrown to the side as under me, a man who I do not know the name of grows to a giant.
“Holy shit! Alright, little dude’s big.” I fly up and pull War Machine free of what’s-his-face’s grasp. At first he doesn’t budge, but with both of our jets it’s just enough to yank him free. “You guys ever see that really old movie? Gulliver’s Travels?”
“The Jack Black or Ted Danson one?” Black Widow asks.
“Not my point. And for the record, the Jack Black one.” I grab a downed power line and begin to wrap it around the giant’s feet. He stumbles and falls, pulling me down with him. By the time I regain my senses, Barnes and Falcon are on their way into a terminal. The suit kicks into the air and I fly harmlessly through the window in front of them. Falcon lifts into the air and flies straight towards me. I can tell that he’s surprised when I do as well and push against him just as much. Our thrust cancels out, and we float in the air. “Shit, That’s stronger than I thought it’d be. What powers i-”
I’m caught by surprise by Barnes sucker punching me in the face. Once I’m unbalanced, Falcon pushes me forward and I tumble towards the ground. I stand up and blast Barnes in the arm which knocks him back. Some sort of drone grabs me by the leg and drags me out against the concrete. As it so happens, everyone on the outside is starting to charge at each other. I join Iron Man and War Machine flying towards the others. Maximoff begins to throw cars at me, and I expertly dodge them. I fire at her and swoop over the building. I thread the needle in between pillars under a bridge to lose her, and land next to Captain America.
“Look kid, there’s a lot going on that you don’t understand,” he says.
“Mr. Stark said you’d say that.”
“Did Stark tell you anything else?”
“That you’re wrong, and that makes you dangerous. But you’re right. You wanna fight for the little guy.”
“That I do, kiddo. Why not come with me? You can still help people.”
“With all due respect, Captain, I can help a hell of a lot more people on the right side of the law.” He’s not expecting me to punctuate that sentence with a repulsor blast, so I take advantage of that to get him down. He takes advantage of my surprise too, and deflects the repulsor back to me. It knocks me back and I feel something crack. In fact, multiple somethings. My body gives up, and I pass out in my armor.
My eyes groggily come open. My faceplate’s off, and Mr. Stark is shaking me awake. “Kid, kid. Guess who.”
“Oh, hey… That was fucking wild.”
“Yeah it was. You’re done.”
“What…? I’m fine,” I lie. “I can get back out there!”
“Nope. You’re going to the hotel. Do you want me to call your mom?”
“No sir!” I quickly say. With lots of effort, I get up and begin to fly back to the hotel very slowly. My arms hurt like hell, and I end up passing out in the air. At some point I wake up with my armor standing over me as I’m tucked into bed, but I quickly fall asleep again.