Tony blasted a doombot directly into its chest cavity and chuckled. What was this? It wasn't even hard. He had fought actual super villains that, you know, were difficult to defeat. Not that he was complaining, it took a lot of drinks to forget all the shit that went down when Thor's insane brother with daddy issues decided to take his tantrum to earth. The Hulk roared behind him and he turned to see a wave of doombots approach. Now this might be interesting. They were no competition when only a couple of them were running around causing mischief, but the sheer amount in this wave might be a bit of a challenge.
"You have several on your left, Stark," Black Widow's voice rang clear into his helmet. He turned to see them all lined up, as if they wanted a blaster to the face.
"JARVIS, reroute 90% power to front right blaster," he tensed his muscles against the impending backlash of the blast. A ball of power thrust itself from the suit and through the stomachs of the doombots, straight through as if they were paper and not the strengthened metal that they were. The blast continued to hurtle until it hit the support beam of a billboard. The beam gave a deep groan as it started to give way towards a bunch of onlookers that had congregated during the fight.
"Shit. Cap, there are civilians left? You on that?"
"Sorry, dealing with civilians in a storefront on the east side, Hawk?"
"Can't make it in time, on a rooftop-" an explosion from one of Clint's arrows cut off the rest of his reply.
Tony sighed and moved to rescue the civilians when a doombot grabbed onto his ankle and threw him to the ground. Tony cursed and sent a blast through his face, turning to race towards the falling billboard but being stopped mid air by a metal hand crushing into his thigh, bending the metal armor into his muscle.
When did these doombots get strong?
Tony felt something rustle his hair forward and send shivers down his spine. It felt as if someone was gently blowing on his skin, but in a way that reminded him of a full body scan. Just a ring going around his entire body, then running his length. Tony arched his back in the way that a cat might when stretching into the sun, but shook it off and returned to the doombot slowly crushing his suit. The hint of something green could be seen shimmering out of the corner of his mask, however Tony was preoccupied with sending his foot through the doombot's face and pushing off the lifeless body, then turning towards the civilians… but they were gone.
Instead stood a figure that made a trickle of fear run through him, although no one would ever get him to admit it. Leather armor, green cape cascading down his back, and gold glinting in the sun. Loki stood with his one arm outstretched, towards the support beam that was now completely encased in ice. He waved as if making the infinity sign with an elegantly fanned hand, and a crescent burst from his hand. It wasn't completely visible, more like when you look along a hot road and you think you see water, but it ends up being a mirage. As the wave hit the doombots they made a noise that no one, not even robots should make. It was an electric scream as if something was making their insides fry, high pitched and robotic but somehow the most human thing he had ever seen them do. They all stood for a moment after the wave had passed through them, and then sparks burst from them and they fell to the floor.
All too late Tony realized that the wave was much too close for him to even think about flying out of its path when it passed through his suit. The electronic screen in front of his eyes slightly wavered, but other than that his suit seemed fine.
"JARVIS! Are systems all intact?"
"We were offline for but a fraction of a moment, sir."
Tony grunted and took off, landing mere seconds later in front of the insane god. He opened his mask and quirked an eyebrow.
"You savin' lives there, Reindeer Games?" he extended his ankle, making sure that the doombot hadn't actually impaired his suit in any way. "Where did all the citizens go?"
Loki made a face of disgust. "The repulsive midgardians fled when they felt themselves in danger," Tony might not have noticed what Loki was holding if he hadn't moved his shoulder back slightly, making the bundle visible.
"Did you save a baby? That seems a little super hero of you. Was the mom screaming 'my baby!' as the billboard fell dramatically towards her and you just couldn't help yourself?"
"What is going on over there? All the doombots were hit by a wave of something and are inactive. Stark, respond."
"It didn't look like something of this world... Unless Doom has been working really hard."
"Maybe Doom has been playing with somebody out of his league?"
"Stark, did you recognize the tech? Stark, respond!"
"JARVIS, mute them." He muttered and refocused on Loki.
Loki made a guttural sound and sneered. "I would not put too much doubt in the notion that your kind has started to mate with vegetation. Have you no sense of preservation for your species? The mother of this infant left it without any regret, only her safety in mind and not that of her own child," he looked down at the bundle and back at Tony. "This infant is too young to even know that he has gotten a second chance," he walked over to Tony and extended the bundle to him. He accepted it and looked up.
"Aren't you supposed to be in Jail?" he asked. "Asgardian justice or something like that?"
Loki rolled his eyes and made teleport out. "Asgardian justice was served, St-"
"MAN OF IRON! WHY DO YOU NOT RESPOND TO THE CAPTAIN'S REQUEST?" boomed Thor, becoming louder as the god became closer. Loki's eyes widened mid-teleport and he flinched as he vanished, a look of panic as he met Tony's gaze… Then he was gone. He had to admit that this time's teleportation was not up to Loki's usual caliber. Much more lurchy... and blue.
"MAN OF IRON! I HAVE FOUND YOU," smiled Thor slapping him on the back.
Tony grimaced, as even with his suit on Thor was freaking strong. "JARVIS, revoke mute," he turned and flashed a winning smile at Thor."Thor! Buddy! Sorry, when Loki did that wave thing JARVIS went offline till now."
"That explains it, son of Stark. Come, let us rejoice in our victory! This battle took no lives, but was valiant all the same." Thor's face dropped as if he suddenly processed what Tony had said. "Loki? Loki was here?"
"Only for a moment. Saved an abandoned baby and talked about second chances. Anyhoo, we better go tell Captain Freedom that all is well."
Tony blasted off towards Cap before he had to answer anymore of Thor's questions. If there is one thing that no one can handle, it's sad Thor.
