Chapter Six: Super Adaptoid
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a Training Simulation was Playing As Tony Tried to Convince Steve to Change With The Times.
"You Can Run but you Can't Fly!" Iron Man Said, Chasing Cap in the Simulation, Of Course in his Suit, "I Don't have to!" Cap Chanted Back.
"Really?" Iron Man Asked, the Fighting Simulation Continued as the Two Holographic Versions Of them Fought, Until Eventually Cap's was Anatomized.
"Give Up?" Iron Man Asked, "Do you?" Cap Retorted.
Shadow Sighed From Where She was Watching the two, She Was also Very Tired, Not getting Much Sleep the Night Before Due to Hulk and Hawkeye Fighting again.
"We Don't actually need to see You're Scattered atoms, To Prove My Point." Tony Stated, Cap only Gave Him a Blank Stare, "The Point Being your Video Game has some Nice Graphics? Sure." Cap Replied.
Shadow Huffed, She was Stuck in here watching them Argue when Tony Called her in here to Boast about his Ego Once Again, And She Hadn't had her Morning Coffee Yet.
"Flattery Won't Get you un–Atomized." Tony Stated, "You want to Survive, You got to Change With the Times."
"Spend a Few Decades In ice, Then We can talk about Survival." Cap Told Him, Shadow Winced, That Would Be a Toll on Tony's Ego.
"Sir, I would believe you would Call that, a Burn." Jarvis Quipped, "Point To Jarvis, Master of the Obvious." Tony Replied to The AI before Turning his Attention back to Cap.
"I've already Designed New Armor for you Cap, Plus an Upgrade to the Shield." Tony Said, "Don't Worry I kept the Color Scheme."
Shadow Sighed When Would Tony Ever Learn that Cap Would Never go for this, Good Old Fashioned Guts was his Thing.
"Tony, Armor Would Slow me Down, and my Shield is Like an Extension of my Arm." Cap Said, "If you Change it in Any way..."
"Just Say it." Tony Interrupted, "Say Tony, I'm afraid of New Tech."
Shadow Had now Turned Her Attention towards the Coffee Pot with Brewing Coffee, She Still hadn't Had a Single Cup Yet.
"Admitting you have a Problem is always the First Step." Tony Continued On Until Cap Decided to Try at being Sarcastic.
"Gosh, Mr. big Brain, Your Modern Tech is so Gol–Darn Confusing." Cap Said, Shadow Snorted at the Stupid Look on Tony's Face.
Cap Grabbed the Coffee Pot Shadow was Watching Earlier, "How Does this Contraption turn water into Coffee." Cap Said, "Is it Coal Power, Or is it a Miracle."
Shadow Hummed Gaining Their Attention, "Hmm Sarcasm Must be a Modern Invention, Cause when you Do it, it just Sounds Wrong." She Stated Shrugging her Shoulders.
Cap then walked to the Big Red Button That Launched the Avengjet into The Sky, "Say, if it hit this, will the Whole Building Launch into the Sky?" Cap Sarcastically Asked.
Shadow Leaned forward hoping those Two Would Just Stop so She Could Have One Cup of Coffee, She was Exhausted.
"Uh the Avenjet? Yes." Tony Responded Shutting the Protective Case Over it, "I know, I read The Manual. I Don't have a Problem with Technology." Cap Said, "but no Machine Can Replace human intuition, Or Just Plain Guts."
"You're Saying I Don't Have Guts?" Tony Retorted, Until Jarvis Interrupted the Argument.
"Sir, There's a Broadcast I suggest you Watch." The AI Said, Shadow Hopped Off the Counter, Her New Interest Found in this, "On Your New–Fangled Picture Box." Cap Teased, Shadow Elbowed him in the Side, "Enough." She Said.
Hammer Showed up on the Screen, "You Call them avengers? I call them loose Cannons." Hammer Said, Showing Some Weird Images Of the Avengers as He Spoke.
Shadow Growled, She Really Hated Hammer, Especially Since the last time the Prick Tried to Seduce her in front of Tony, It Didn't Work, He Got Kicked in the Nuts by Shadow.
"Hammer Tech Offers Better, Safer High–Tech Protection from Evil, Without the Unbearable Ego of Tony, The Phony, Stark." Hammer Said, "Avengers I challenge you. Come On Down and See For Yourself that I can Do a Better Job at Hero–ing Then you Can."
"I'm Justin Hammer, and I Approve telling the Avengers to Stuff it for a Safer America." Hammer Finished as the Broadcast Ended.
"Someone Doesn't Like You." Cap Said After a Moment Of Silence, "a Lot Of People Don't Like Me." Tony Replied, "None Of them as annoying as Hammer."
"Jarvis, Get me Coordinates and Call the Gang." Tony Told the AI, "Hammer is a Wannabe, Smart–Ish." He Told Cap.
"He's a Weapon Tech guy, Like Me." Tony Said, "Except he's Got No Kill, Talent, Or Tact."
"Since When Do you Have Tact?" Hawkeye Muttered from the Seat in the Avenjet, "So Why are we Taking his Bait?" Cap Asked.
"Because on the Off Chance Hammer Really Did build Something Dangerous, We Don't wanna Guy Like Hammer running Around With an Atomic Bomb in his Pocket." Tony Explained, Shadow Smirked at Tony.
"And He Called You Out on TV." She Said, Fixing Her belt Which held a Few Tech Suped Knives in them.
"That Too." Tony Replied With a Smile.
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Soon they arrived at Where Hammer Wanted them to Meet at, walking Out She Could Already See his Condescending Smile On his Big Stupid Face.
"Welcome! i see you accepted my invitation." Hammer Greeted Them, "Mango Tea?" He Offered.
"No Thanks Hammer, We Both Know Your Mango Tea id Disgusting." Shadow Said, She Crossed her arms Standing Next to Tony.
"Hammer, What ever Sad Little Game your Playing, Let's Get it Over With so I can Get back to Something more Meaningful." Tony Said, "Like Anything."
"I just wanted to run my Little Experiment." Hammer Said, Shadow Shook her Head, Hammer was Looking at her With a Dirty Look.
"The Avengers against One Of my Humble inventions." Hammer Added, Shadow Felt that Feeling in the Pit Of her Stomach like Something really bad was About to Happen to all Of them, But Mostly Targeted at Her and Tony.
"Seriously, What Could Possibly..." Both Tony and Shadow Were Caught Off Guard by Hammer's Robot Who Knocked them Both Off Their Feet a Few Feet Away.
Shadow's One White Wing She had Developed just a few Days Ago Stung With the Impact of Landing on Tony's Metal Chest.
Hulk Growled at Hammer.
"Huh?" Tony Mumbled Confused, Shadow Only Glared up at it, The Wind Knocked Out Of Her.
"Meet the Super–Adaptoid, Superhero Of the Future." Hammer Said, "it's Time to Put your Metal Where your mouth is, Iron Man." Hammer Said.
"Wow! you invented a Sucker Punch Machine." Tony Sarcastically Said, "Congrats!"
Shadow Ingnored his Sarcastic Tone, She wanted to get up off of Tony's Metal Chest, She Sat herself up against a Rock.
"Oh it's More than that." Hammer Said, "Go on Take a Whack at him, Both Of you." Hammer Said.
Another Failed attempt and Iron Man getting Punched again, Causing Shadows Wing To Hit the Rock Behind her Causing Both Of them to Groan Out in Pain.
the Rest were about to Help them When Hawkeye Stopped them, Somehow thinking that both Shadow and Tony Getting Punched was Funny.
"Guys, Come On! Came all the way Out here, Let's at least Enjoy the Show for a Few Seconds." Hawkeye Said, "Maybe Stark and Shadow Will get Punched Again."
Shadow Used The Wind Of her Wings to Throw a Rock at his Head, "Shut Up." She Said as Tony Sarcastically Directed his next Comment towards Hawkeye.
"Thanks For the Support, Hawkeye, You're the best." Tony Said, "Hammer's Toy Robot Packs a wallop, Barely."
Shadow Finally Got Up, "Are you Kidding Me Tony, That Thing Almost Broke My Jaw." Shadow Retorted.
"Oh, Look, it's Scanning us For Weaknesses. That is Adorable." Tony Cockily Said, Lightly Pushing Shadow Behind him as to Protect her.
"Don't get Cocky...Cockier, It's Learning." Cap Told him, "Then Let's Take it To School." Tony Retorted, "I Give Him a F. Whoa."
Shadow Flew Up Towards it Hitting The Bot Five Consecutive times With her Boot, "F–Minus." She Said.
"In Asgard, we do not have a Grading System Such as this." Thor Said, "But I will Play along."
"I give it a G!" Thor Shouted hitting the Bot with his Hammer.
"Make that an H." Hulk Said, Smashing the Bot as Well, Tony Stared down at the Now Totally Broken Robot.
"Next Time, School's Out, Then Bam, Got it?" tony Said, Shadow Snorted at the Joke Tony Made as Thor Laughed Heartily.
"Ah–Ha! I See what you did there!" Thor Chanted Loudly.
"You Ruined my Only Model! it'll take Forever to Build Another one!" Hammer Cried Out as Hulk took the Mango Iced tea From Hammer's Hand Smashing it.
"Next time you Make Something to attack us with...Don't." Hulk Told him as Hammer Gulped From the Intensity Of Hulk.
"Can't Blame a Guy for Trying." Hammer Replied, Shadow Shoved Him away Flying Back Towards Tony, "Actually We Can." She Said.
"Stay Out Of the Weapon game Before you hurt Someone." Tony Told Hammer, "It's Never that Easy." Cap Muttered to Himself.
"I'm Going to Sue! That'll Teach you!" Hammer Yelled Out as The Team Started to Leave.
"Lawyer Up, Blue Boy! because I'm Gonna Sue you all!" Hammer Yelled at Cap Snatching the Adaptoids Severed head Out Of His Hands.
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"a Super Adaptoid that Can't Adapt." Hawkeye Said in a Joking Tone, "Hammer Should've Called it Stupor–Adoptoid."
"Oh, Why So Blue, Big Green?" Hawkeye Prompted Seeing Hulk A Bit Sad, Shadow Smirked at Hawkeye.
"He Barely Got to Smash Anything besides Hammer's Junkbot." Shadow Said Simply, Preening the Feathers of her White Angelic Wings.
"Left a 10 gallon jar of Peanut Butter for this Stupid Mission." Hulk Grumpily Said, "Better Still be there." he Warned.
Thor Looked away Guilty.
Shadow Tuned into Cap and Tony.
"What did you Scan Of the Adaptoid during the Battle?" Cap asked Tony Who Looked at Him Confused.
"I Scanned it Getting Crushed to Bits. Why?" Tony Replied, "I'd Just Like to See the Data That's all." Cap Told Him.
"You Said it was Scanning Us?" Cap asked, Just Wanting to Confirm, But Tony Refused to Listen.
"There's Nothing to See." Tony Said, "Nada. Zip. Zero." Tony was Adament on There being nothing to see, "Hammer Came at us With his Cheesy Robot. we Tore it apart." Tony Simply Said.
"That Cheesy Robot Started to Adapt to your Fighting Style and Was about to use Shadow's Feathers Against Her." Cap Argued With Tony. "And Don't You think it's Strange he Would Spend Billions on a Robot Only to Have it Destroyed?" Cap Prompted.
Shadow Didn't Wanna Involve Herself in this Pointless Argument so She Picked another Burned Feather Out.
"Oh Hammer is a Complete Idiot." Tony Replied.
Shadow Groaned, Usually A Fight Didn't end that Easily With the Avengers, Tony was Just Being Stubborn, "Really. he's Just a Geek With Armor Envy." Tony Continued.
"Data, Please." Cap Said Holding his Hand Out, Shadow Almost Snorted at Tony's Expression.
"Not my idea Of a Good Time, But Knock yourself Out." Tony Replied Tossing him the Data Card.
once Cap Put it in the Stark Tablet a Bunch Of Complicated Math Equations and Expressions Popped up Confusing Him.
"If any of the Math Looks Complicated, That's because it is." Tony Said With a Smirk on his Face, Shadow Elbowed Tony in his Metal Covered Side, "Shut up." She Whispered Hushed at him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the Tower Cap Still Tried to Figure it out, "I Can do this." He Coached Himself But Sighed in the End.
Both Shadow And Falcon Walked in, Shadow Finally Having a Cup of Coffee in her Hand, She was Content.
a Little Lever Popped up from the Tablet as Cap finally Took Notice Of Two, "If You just say I Meant to Do that, It Pretty Much Covers Everything." Falcon Said With a Smile.
Shadow Hummed along Agreeing With Falcon's sentence, She Sipped on the Hot Beverage.
"Thanks." Cap Replied Focusing on the Data Collected, "I Don't wanna overstep, But if you ever need help with any of the Tech, Just ask." Falcon Offered.
"Probably Sort of Challenging, For Someone Of Your Age." Falcon Said, Cap Shook his head.
"Sam, I'm barely Older then you." Cap Told Him, "I Slept Through a lot, but I woke up to a World Of Marvels."
"I really think this Stuff is the Tops." Cap Concluded, Shadow wasn't even Listening anymore, More Happy to have Her Beverage in her Hands Floating up With her Wings, Little Chirps Escaped her Mouth, a Side Effect of the Angel Wings She was given.
"Cool, But Just So you Know, Nobody says the Tops anymore." Falcon Informed Cap Who Sheepishly Smiled.
"What are you Looking for anyways?" Falcon Asked, "Hammer Played into One Of Stark's blind Spots." Cap Started Out Saying, "He Threw a Machine at Tony."
"And Tony Thinks He's The Master Of all Machines. Right there." Cap Claimed Finding Something, Falcon Looked Closer Almost Gasping at What he saw.
"Whoa Those are Undifferentiated Micro–Clusters." Falcon Claimed. "Tiny Machines..."
"That Can be Repurposed in Response for a New Programming, Right?" Cap Finished For him.
Falcon Gave a Confused Look as Cap Held Up a Magazine Cover of Futura That also had Tony's Face Plattered on it.
"Futura. Never miss an Issue." Cap Explained.
"Tony Thought the Adaptoid was Scanning Us For Weaknesses." Cap Concluded, "But it was Doing more. better Cal him." Falcon Finished but Got Blasted With an Unknown Repulser Blast.
Shadow Groaned, "Serisously? him again?" She Groaned Flying Down to where Tony Appeared in his Suit along with the Rest of the Avengers.
"Gentlemen and Woman, You Left So Soon. Our Little Test wasn't Over. See first Super–Adaptoid Learns, Then he Adapts. Capisce." Hammer Said Through the Speakers of the Robot.
"He Hit me with a Repulser Blast Similar to yours." Falcon Told Tony. "What is this?" Falcon Asked.
"Don't Quote me on this, But I have No idea." Tony Said, Shadow Face Palmed at his Answer.
"Soil Your Armor Yet, Stark?" Hammer asked Rhetorically.
"Hammers Machine wasn't Scanning us for Weaknesses." Cap Said, "It was Learning."
"I got it, Cap!" Tony Chanted Before Jumping into action.
"When was the Last time you Tasted Uni–Beam, Stark?" Hammer Taunted, "Taste This." Tony Said but got unibeamed before he could do anything.
"Stuff it, Stark." Hammer Said.
"Iron Man!" Shadow Shouted from her Spot, "No one Unibeams Me!" He Shouted before Attacking Again, "That Won't Work." Cap Groaned.
Tony was Blasted back Again with a Scream, "You Should Listen to your Team." Hammer Taunted Tony Once Again.
"You Still Don't Get it." Cap Said, Throwing some Bombs across the Robot's Legs Exploding them.
"Smooth, I'll have to Remember That one." Hammer Said, before He Taunted them Some More and Flew Off Tony Chasing after Him.
"This is Gonna Be a Long Day." Shadow Groaned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time Skip ~~~~~~~~~~
After Cap Totally Kicked Hammer's Butt, They had all Come Home Especially Exhausted.
but She had a Very Irrational Fear, She had been Having Very Gorey and Traumatizing Nightmares Lately Every Night.
She Fell Limp onto the Couch Wincing at the Recent Injury She had Gotten on her Ankle Which Happened when Hammer Stomped his Foot on it With his Robot.
She had Twisted it According to Jarvis, and Needed about Two Weeks of Rest.
"Your Exhausted Huh?" Tony Asked her Out of his Suit and into his Original Short Sleeved Short and Sweats, Shadow Nodded, Fluttering her Wings Out as a Response.
"That Adaptoid Really Took it Out Of me, Especially Since I Never Finished my Cup of Coffee." She Said in a Joking matter but That Didn't Change the fact She Knew She was Gonna Have Nightmares again.
But this was the Life of an Avenger