The team touched down in Buenos Aires, and wasted no time in getting there bearings. Rhodey, like Wilson, had suited up on the plane and used his War Machine armor to search for Iron Man. Ever since Tony had been lost in the dessert five years ago, Rhodey had made sure his friend had a tracking device on him at all times. Even if it meant sneaking into the armory and planting one on every single piece of armor Tony had.
The War Machine armor stood big and tall over the rest of team, as if its very step could crush an entire city. It's shoulder mounted a canon, and its face plate was passive and unfeeling. It reminded Finn of his old Stormtrooper helmet.
"See anything yet?" Nick asked.
Rhodey just shook his head, "No. The software needs some time to warm up, but we'll find him. I know we will."
Buenos Aires, to Finn at least, looked just like New York. Large buildings that reached towards the skies, and foliage that stood its ground. It was beautiful, but Finn had learned that on this planet, not everything was as cut and dry as he would like to believe.
"Eyes sharp team," Fury said. "Iron Man could be-"
"Right here," came a mechanized voice. Iron Man, the droid being that Finn had become acquainted with just a few days ago, landed in front of them.
"Tony," Rhodey said. He flipped his face plate up. "Listen, I need you all to come with me. It's not safe."
"Yeah," Iron Man raised his repulsor ray, "For you." And blasted a blue beam into Rhodey's chest. War Machine went flying backwards, and Finn and the rest leapt to the side as to not get crushed.
"War Machine," Sam said. "Are you alright?"
Finn reached into his jacket and pulled out his light saber. Was now the time?
"Cage, T'challa, form a perimeter," Fury said. "Finn, Wilson, I-"
"No." Rhodey rose from the dirt, and shook the pain from his bones. "No one's going to lay a hand on Stark." His face plate folded over his face, and Colonel Rhodes became War Machine. "If anyone's going to kick his ass…it's gonna be me."
And with the speed of a comet, War Machine blasted from the ground, and straight into Iron Man's frame. The two tumbled into the dirt.
"Let go War Machine!" Tony screamed. "You're not gonna stop me. No one is!"
"Listen Tony," Rhodey said as he wrapped his arms around Iron Man's waist, "Whenever you do stupid crap, I kick your ass and get you to snap out of it. That's kind of the nature of our relationship. If you can't even remember that, then you're definitely being controlled, which means the gloves are off." War Machine charged his canons and lifted Iron Man into the sky. "Sorry Tony, but you'll thank me when this is over."
The two armored behemoths flew up into the air, past clouds, and birds, and whatever else was unfortunate enough to get in their way. The rest of the team could only look on as the rose up.
"I can follow them," Sam said, "I'm just as fast and Rhodes could use the back up."
"No," Fury said. "We need to phan out and try and discover what Iron Man was doing here. Let those two battle it out in the skies. Trust me, Rhodes can handle Stark…it's kind of his job."
Finn placed the lightsaber back into his jacket, for some reason, he felt relieved that the fight had been taken to the skies. He wished he had his blaster, or his tonfa sticks…or something that he knew. A weapon he could control, not this lightsaber that he knew nothing of. Every time he so much as grasped that thing, he felt as so something were trying to enter him, and he was too afraid to allow it inside. Was this how all Jedi felt?
"I've got something," T'challa said. "My scanners are picking up an energy signature coming from the south."
"Can you pinpoint it?" Nick asked.
"I already have, follow me."
Rhodey knew Tony Stark. He knew the guy was a brilliant engineer. He had the imagination of a child, and the hands of an architect. Whatever Tony imagined he could build. But there was one thing Tony wasn't…and that was a fighter.
"Tony," Rhodey said as the two rocketed through the clouds, "You really need to come to your senses, and if beating you up is the only way to do it, then fine."
"You really think you can take me, Rhodes?" Tony asked. "You forget, I build that armor your wearing and I can take it apart just as easily."
Iron Man broke away from Rhodey's grip, and flew off to the east.
"Oh no," Rhodey said, "I didn't say you could go just yet!" War Machine rocketed off towards Iron Man. "You're right Tony, you did build this armor, but you forget, I helped to fine tune it for combat."
The air around them both whipped and waned as they dodged and weaved. Rhodey aimed his canon towards the Iron Man's joints, the weakest parts of any armor, and fired. Despite Tony's brilliance, combat was not his strongest point. His battle strategy always consisted of throwing repulsor rays, or tackling. Something that did not work all of the time. War Machine's fire hit the back of Iron Man's left ankle.
"Damn it," Iron Man screamed. He turned and unleashed a flurry of blue, and red blaster fire. "Well, how about a lesson in aerodynamics then?" Tony yelled, "Due to the War Machine's heavy artillery, it makes its maneuverability limited."
Rhodey bobbed to the left, narrowly missing Iron Man's shots, and then bolted into the sky. He was right, all of that extra bulk really slowed him down, but the fight wasn't over yet. Mechanically, Stark's Mark-1 armor was perfect. Perfect fire power. Perfect adaptability. Perfect proportion control. But there were still weaknesses that Stark did not see, he always allowed his arrogance to guide him.
Rhodey fired once more at the joints. The knees, the wrists, the elbows, all in rapid succession. Rhodey was the better marksman, and the better strategist when it came to field combat. Each shot landed exactly where Rhodey wanted it too.
"What now, Rhodes?" Tony asked. "You think firing those shots will do anything? My armor has a perfect defense."
"True," Rhodey said, "But every armor has weak points, and I just found your Tone."
"What?" Tony asked.
Iron Man tried to swerve, but his armor had frozen up on him. His sensors were jammed in three places, making speed and maneuverability impossible. "What the hell did you do?"
"Your armor flies based off of how fluid your joints move. In other words, without wrists, and knees you can't steer."
And Rhodey was right, the Invincible Iron Man was now flying helplessly in the air, unable to move.
"And," Rhodey said, "There's one thing that all this extra bulk gives me over your armor." Rhodey reached the highest point in the sky and set his sights on Iron Man.
"Oh, and what's that?"
In an instant, Rhodey dove from the sky, and straight into Tony's chest, pinning them both, armor to armor, and plummeting them straight into the ground. "It makes it so that when we hit the ground, I won't be as badly injured."