Marvel Vignettes: Iron Man
It's not a terrible imitation, Tony Stark mused. Certainly better than most of the cheap knock offs of his armor he'd seen in the past. Well, cheap by his standards anyway. The specs on the bot lit up the heads up display on the inside of his helmet, and Tony analyzed the dizzying array of numbers almost as fast as J.A.R.V.I.S could spit them out. The arc reactor tech set into the center of its chest plate had the basics right, and it generated sufficient power, but it was wasteful. And if there was anything Tony prided himself on, it was the efficiency of his tech. The reactor that powered his heart was not only one third of the size, but was also generating about five times as much power. But that was just a rough estimate. As it happened, his rough estimates were usually significantly better than the extensive calculations of the average weapons engineer.
But what bothered him most about the olive green robot was its size. The twenty foot tall machine towered over him. He could see the vague outlines of his suit hidden among the extravagance of artillery and general bulk. He shook his head. Ego could have been his middle name, but he didn't need big fancy guns to satisfy it. It seemed to him that when faced with an enemy they couldn't defeat, the villain decided that going bigger was always better. Bigger was not always better. In fact, it was rarely better. Well, except in the case of the Hulk. For him Tony would make an exception. To top it all off, the many tentacled white hydra symbol plastered across its chest plate was nothing short of an eye sore.
Tony could easily stand there picking the thing's specs apart all day, but as it so happens there wasn't much time for that when it was charging down the center of Manhattan riddling the streets with gunfire, and had brought five of its friends along for the ride. He sighed. Six to one wasn't what Tony would call good odds, but add a super soldier and Norse god to the mix, however, and things were looking up.
A bullet pinged off his helmet, bringing him back to reality.
"Three o' clock, soldier!" shouted Captain America. Tony looked in the direction of the warning. Shit. The jet repulsors on the soles of his boots flared to life, propelling him skyward just as a rocket projectile decimated the pavement where he had just been standing moments before. Head in the game, Tony, head in the game. He made a hairpin turn, stretched out his palm, and a repulsor beam shot out with a high pitched whine. The hydra bot was forced to take an earth shattering step backwards, and at that moment a red, white, and blue shield spiraled upward and embedded itself in the circuitry of the robot's neck. Sparks flew, and the bot fell, creating a shockwave that rumbled through Times Square. Captain America clambered over the motionless husk, tearing his shield from the ruined metal in an impressive show of strength. One down, five to go.
"Why is it that you mortals insist on using machines to fight your battles? Such cowardice!" The Asgardian flew past Tony like a bullet, and with a battle cry he surged forward toward the nearest hydra weapon. Tony expected him to throw Mjolnir in his usual fashion, but Thor surprised him. Hammer held straight ahead of him, Thor flew straight at the bot, and without losing a bit of momentum punched straight through its chest plate and out its back as if it were made of tissue paper. Jesus.
"JARVIS, take a note. Remind me never to get on Thor's bad side."
"Noted, Sir," JARVIS acknowledged. Tony was well aware that JARVIS knew the statement had been rhetorical, but Tony appreciated that the artificial intelligence humored him whenever it could.
Captain America, lifted his shield to protect his face as bullets shuddered against it, ricocheting across the robot's outer shell. The reflected barrage didn't so much as put a dent in the machine's metal.
"The steel is too hard, Iron Man!" Rogers shouted.
"It's a vibranium alloy, Cap. Similar to your shield," he automatically corrected. "Angle it this way!" Rogers obediently turned the shield to face him. Analyzing the angle on his HUD, Tony altered his trajectory and fired off a sustained repulsor blast that collided with the shield. Captain America bent slightly under the force of the beam, but knew what to do. He turned the shield, reflecting a magnified blast that he used to effectively sever the robot's legs from its torso. That's three.
"Incoming, Sir," Jarvis warned. A flash of red lit up his vision, indicating the direction of the threat. Tony veered, but not quickly enough. A metal hand swatted him from the sky, sending him careening into the pavement. It cratered beneath the impact of his armor.
"Ugh," he groaned as he placed a gauntleted hand to his head. "Damage report."A schematic of his body lit up before his eyes, highlighting his head and back in yellow.
"Minor bruising to vertebrae T9 and T10. Mild concussion. No organ damage. 64% power remaining," JARVIS informed.
"Good to know," he responded as he staggered to his feet to see another bot fall from a devastating blow courtesy of Mjolnir. Four.
Thor descended, his blonde locks falling in disarray about his broad shoulders. "Are you injured, brother?" Tony waved him off.
"Nothing a glass of scotch and a nap wouldn't fix," he responded. Tony was almost sure Thor didn't know what scotch was, but apparently his answer was satisfactory, since with a spin of his hammer he was airborne once more.
The hydra bot that had attacked him shifted his arm as an impressive looking Gatling cannon clicked into place. Tony dove to the side as it fired, the armor enhancing the speed and strength of his muscles. Enough of this. He planted himself in front of his assailant. "Power to chest repulsor, now." The arc reactor in his chest glowed brighter, the shrill pitch of the repulsor gathering strength was like music to Tony's ears. "Fire."
The unibeam exploded from his chest in a brilliant display of light, nearly knocking Tony off his feet. The robot's head tumbled from its shoulders and landed at Tony's feet. He watched with satisfaction as the red glow of its eyes dimmed to blackness.
"Like I said, bigger is not always better," he mocked it. A bolt of lightning a few yards off spelled the death of the sixth and final robot.
"Nicely done, soldier," said Steve Rogers as he observed Tony's handiwork, walking over with shoulders back and head held high. A little dirty, some cuts and bruises here and there, but otherwise the old man looked no worse for wear. He didn't even want to get started on Thor, who landed softly beside them. Not a single golden hair was out of place. It must be nice to be a god. His head throbbed. Where was that scotch when he needed it?
"Vanquished. Another victory for the Avengers and the innocents of Midgard." He couldn't help but smile ever so slightly beneath his faceplate at Thor's ridiculous manner of speaking.
"Shall we get back to headquarters, Tony?" Captain America asked. Tony took in the chaos of metal and debris that surrounded him. Now his back eagerly joined his head in the throbbing. His comrades eyed him expectantly. You know what? To hell with the drink.
"How would you guysfeel about getting some shawarma?"