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"How will they have time to deal with me, when they're too busy fighting you?"
Tony's eyes widened as Loki lowered his scepter down to the center of his chest. An icy feeling raced through his chest, like he had drank an icy cold glass of water. The coolness spread throughout his entire body, lastly to his head. He felt it latch onto his brain, and he shook his head, trying to get it out, but it was in vain. Loki grinned as Tony's eyes filled with black, then revealed the blue eyes that was shared by the rest of his slaves. Tony stood there with his hands at his side, his face set. He looked like a soldier waiting to be commanded into action. Loki took a moment to savor the moment, taking Tony in. Such a brilliant mind, and such an advanced, destructive suit. All at his disposal. Loki's face abruptly turned lethal as he growled out his command.
"End them."
Tony nodded and held his arms out. Loki watched as another suit came from the wall and constructed itself around Tony's body, and the mask swinging forward over his face, the eye slits in the suit glowing blue. Tony ran out, launching himself off of his landing pad.
Loki smiled again, rubbing the scepter in his hand.
This was going to make one good show.
Steve hit away another one of the Chitauri with his shield. Natasha was further down the street, and Steve was beginning to feel overwhelmed. He had never fought anything like this. Each new member of the Chitauri seemed to be a surprise, each one more terrifying than the last. Steve had figured out how their weapons worked, but it still alarmed him whenever a burst of purple whistled by him.
Steve heard something land behind him and he whirled around, shield ready to swing up and cut across the foe's jaw, but he recognized the red and gold in time.
"Tony!" Steve exclaimed, swinging his arm around to punch another alien away. "What are you doing here?"
The stillness that Steve received in reply puzzled him. Iron Man just stood there, staring at him, not doing anything to fend off the aliens that came in at all sides. Another fact that confused Steve was the fact that none of the Chitauri seemed to launch themselves at him.
Steve's perplexed thoughts were cut off by the advancing enemy. His mind was consumed with the goal of getting rid of as many of the Chitauri foot soldiers as possible, while staying alive himself. Captain America pushed, kicked, punched, and shouldered off alien after alien until there was a break in their forces. He turned to face Tony, who hadn't moved at all.
"Tony, what's wrong?" Steve asked, his chest rising and falling heavily.
In answer, Tony raised both his hands to Steve. He had to squint for a moment in confusion before his mind registered that his palms were lighting up.
"Holy - "
Steve dived to the side in time to dodge the blast. He rolled up, crouched down as an instinct so that he'd be ready to dodge again. "Tony?"
Tony's palms lit up again, and Steve swatted the energy projectile away with his shield. Tony kept the blasts coming, pushing Steve further and further down the street. Car parts and chunks of cement flew all around Steve as he desperately tried to keep up with Tony's attacks. They eventually caught up with him, though, and a blast made contact with his stomach. Steve was knocked off from his feet, causing his chin made harsh contact with the ground. He spat blood and looked up, watching as Tony continued to advance towards him. The Iron Man's mask drew away from Tony's face and contracted back into the suit, revealing Tony's sharp blue eyes.
"Wait a minute…" Steve said, staring at Tony's eyes. They were supposed to be brown. And he had seen that color of irises before…
That's when it hit him.
Tony was now one of them.
"Steve!"
Steve looked behind Tony and saw Natasha running towards him.
"No! Stay back!" Steve yelled, painfully standing back up.
Tony turned around and shot two blasts at Natasha. Steve saw recognition fill Natasha's face as she saw Tony's eyes. She acrobatically dodged the blasts, taking cover behind a car. Tony walked towards the car, lifting his hands another time. Steve was getting ready to throw his shield when he saw a hammer fly through the air and make contact with Tony's chest, propelling him backwards into a taxi cab. Thor recalled his hammer with his hand and walked to Steve's side.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Loki used his scepter to brainwash him like he did Hawkeye." Steve replied, the truth of his words weighing down on his heart.
"What do we do?" Thor asked.
"We try to refresh his memory. Try to get him to remember who he is."
"What if we can't?"
Steve and Thor watched as Tony pulled himself out of the folded-in taxi cab and prepared to get back into battle. Steve knew what Thor meant by his question. He was asking if Steve was prepared to terminate Tony if he became too much of a threat.
"We'll do what we have to," Steve said mechanically.
Thor gave a slight nod.
"Give me back up. I'm going to try to jar his memory."
Thor stayed by the Captain's right shoulder as Steve walked cautiously towards Tony.
"Tony. I don't want to hurt you."
Tony's shoulder missiles revealed themselves threateningly.
"You're not in your right mind. Tony, listen to me. Loki brainwashed you. " he took another step towards him.
"Loki showed me knowledge." Tony replied. His voice sounded off. "He showed me the light."
"No, Tony." Steve shook his head. "Loki is using you to get to us. He knows that we don't want to hurt you."
"Loki's reign on the Earth will be great," Tony said, holding out his hands. "Join us, Captain. You'll know peace. Isn't that what you want?"
Steve grit his teeth. "Yes, of course that's what I want. But look around you, Tony! Do you call this peaceful? Loki did this!"
"Such steps are necessary to gain power."
"See, you wouldn't be saying that if you were yourself." said Steve, shaking his head. "Look inside you, Tony. Find yourself."
"Why would I want to go back to my old ways when this is so much better? So much more peaceful?"
"Because that's who you are. Who we need. Who I - " he stopped himself short, giving Thor a quick, uneasy glance. "We need you back on our team, Tony."
Tony shook his head. "Never."
With that, his missiles contracted back into his suit and he sent out a flurry of blasts from his palms. Steve took cover behind his shield and Thor hit the deck. The attack suddenly stopped, and Steve peeked over his shoulder to see the Black Widow clinging to Tony's back with her legs wrapped around his middle, and her arms holding his neck in a choke hold. Tony tried to throw Natasha off by blasting at random.
"You have to hit his head, Cap! That's how I got Hawkeye out!" Natasha yelled to Steve.
Tony succeeded in throwing Natasha off by jabbing her in the side with his metal-covered elbow. She skidded across the pavement, and her head made painful contact with a pillar.
Steve looked at Thor as the demigod got up from the ground and nodded. Thor began to make a wide circle around to the back of Tony when Steve grabbed his arm.
"Just… not too hard, okay?"
Thor grinned. "Do not worry, Captain, I wont break your precious companion."
Thor strutted off, a grin on his face.
"Wha - He's not my…!" Steve saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and decided that this wasn't the best time to argue about exactly what Tony was to him.
Tony was tracking them both, one hand trained on each of their heads. Once Thor was directly across from Steve, the captain gave him the slightest nod of the head. Thor acknowledged it, and then they both launched into action. They sprinted at Tony, and Tony looked back and forth between them, trying to decide which to target. Steve yelled, and as planned, Tony directed his attention to the super soldier. Just as Thor launched himself to hit Tony, though, he swung back around, hitting Thor with a series of blasts that connected right at his chest. The demigod fell, and Steve found himself for a moment unsure of what to do. He now knew that he had to be the one to hit Tony, and he raised his shield, but at the last minute he hesitated long enough for Tony to punch him and send him flying into the same cab that Thor had sent Tony into earlier. His shield slipped from his grasp and slid down the street. Steve had the wind knocked out of him and he gaped and gasped, trying to get his breath back as Tony strolled towards him.
"Compassion." Tony spat. "It's your weakness."
"It's what made me who I am," Steve grunted, looking up at his ex-teammate.
"It's decided your demise," Tony countered, raising his hand.
Steve felt his hand close around a long, sharp piece of glass from the windshield of the cab. He could take him out. He had a weapon, and a clear shot at Tony's neck. Nobody would blame him. Nobody would hold it against him. Tony was now a hostile force. And a pretty prominent one at that. He was a threat. It would probably be for the best if he took him out before he could do anymore damage.
But Steve could still see a small remainder of Tony in his possessed face. Behind those unnatural blue eyes, that snarky genius was still there. Steve knew it. And how could he live with himself if he terminated Tony when he could still see some of the original Iron Man in him? He would have to trust that someone else would bring Tony back. He would rather die than kill his teammate.
And that was exactly the choice that he was making.
Tony's palms sparked up and Steve closed his eyes. He was ready. If he thought about it, he was around ninety years old. He had lived to be an old man. Maybe he could see Peggy again. He had lived out his dream to serve his country. He had given America everything that he had. He would die with a crystal clear conscious.
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming down his racing heart.
Steve heard the familiar sound of Tony's energy blasts and plunged into darkness.
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