Girl-of-Action: Thanks again to my beta Sam / Aiagia for the help in polishing up these chapters!
Tony watches numbly as he free falls. Logically, he knows what is happening. His persistent efforts to get his last remaining thruster working (life support, thrusters, communication, anything ) back online is a testament to that. Emotionally however, it doesn't quite seem real. He's always thought he'd die from the shrapnel reaching his heart- not from free falling in a battle originally against his own (former?) friends. To make matters worse, his battle suit begins to glow green and deconstruct itself without warning mid-flight. Now, he's free falling without even that.
Distantly, he notices both Vision and that Phantom kid flying toward him, shrugging off ghosts as they go. They're nearly to him, and Tony is nearly to the concrete below. Tony closes his eyes, knowing it will be close- but instead of arms or unforgiving concrete, he lands on something else altogether. His body jerks back up in response to the sudden stop, but whatever he lands on is sticky enough to keep him from being flung off. Just the same, Tony's breath is knocked out of him. It takes several moments to stop shaking and regain his bearings. "Good thinking," a muffled voice compliments someone else. Tony's ears are still ringing from the piercing sound of wind rushing by as he fell.
"Thanks," Another muffled voice responds breathlessly.
Tony groans, forcing himself to move, only to find himself stuck and unable to. Blinking, he realizes what exactly he's on- an unfinished web connected between a lopsided airplane and an overturned truck. Peter. His mind automatically supplies. The kid actually saved me… Well, this is a tad embarrassing. Nonetheless, Tony is grateful. There was still a chance that Vision or Phantom could have reached him in time, but his chances of surviving were not good regardless.
Tony is not entirely sure how Phantom gets him out of that web without even a strand clinging to him, yet here he stands on unsteady legs. Tony nods his thanks to Phantom before regaining his balance and turning to face Spider-Man. The whites of his mask widen in surprise as Tony strides toward him with purpose. Tony motions for the younger to come down from his perch on the overturned truck.
Spider-Man complies, somewhat slower than Tony would expect of the energetic teen. Tony watches the boy with a critical eye and rising alarm. By the way Peter moves, it quickly becomes apparent to Tony how hurt Peter is. As Tony approaches him, he even notices a nasty burn on one of Peter's shoulders. It looks like something melted the suit, and while the suit was in the process of cooling, it merged somewhat with the skin. Tony hisses in sympathy, shaken to the core. "That suit is supposed to be heat resistant! How the hell did this happen?"
"Ah, well-" Peter fumbles for a reply, shifting self-consciously underneath Tony's horrified gaze. Peter's head slightly turns, as if glancing at something or someone behind Tony. Tony glances as well. Vision and Phantom stand there, covering for them. Since Tony knows that the burn is definitely not the work of Vision… He glowers darkly at Phantom, and for a moment sees red . "It doesn't matter," Peter quickly and quietly intervenes. "This is a fight. Injuries happen. It's nothing too serious," he tries to reassure his mentor. "I've had worse."
Tony's back stiffens at the added sentence. "Now that," Tony starts, pointing slightly at Peter and choking up some. "Is a lie," he finishes. "Don't lie to me." He does his best to sound authoritative. Difficult, considering his usual devil-may-care attitude- but it seems to work.
"Y-yeah, sorry," Peter mumbles, shifting restlessly again, both from pain and nervousness.
Tony nods in acceptance of the apology. It is a jerky motion, practically mechanical. And I thought this day couldn't get any worse. God, he's just a kid. What was I thinking? This is the type of shape I expect to see Steve in after an intense fight against Hydra! Not some fifteen-years-old! Has he even had his first kiss yet?
"Mr. Stark?" Peter questions unsurely, hesitantly, snapping Tony out of his inner ranting panic. The older man forces himself to calm down.
"Remember where I told you the ambulances would be located?" he asks Peter urgently.
Peter nods slowly, not liking where this is going. "Uh-huh…"
"I want you to go there and stay there until I come get you. Have yourself looked at while you wait."
Peter recoils, as if slapped. "What?! But Mr. Stark, your suit is gone and there's so many ghosts left! You need all the help you can g-"
"Pe- Spider-Man ," Tony snaps lowly, resisting the urge to shake the boy some. That's a bad idea, especially since Tony doesn't know the extent of Peter's injuries with the Spider-Man suit on. "You've done an amazing job here, more than I expected of you or anyone else, for that matter. You fought ghosts; you looked after your teammates… Heck, you even saved my life! But this-" Tony motions with one hand to the shape Peter is in, using his other hand to run over his short hair in a flustered manner. "You deserve more than this . You deserve to go home to your beautiful Aunt without a bruise on you. You deserve to go to school, and goof off with friends, and kiss pretty girls, and get the job of your dreams. And that- that's what you're going to do. " Tony says the last sentence with a strong sense of finality.
Peter just stands there, stunned by the admittance and not sure how to react. Finally, he says in a reserved tone, "Ok Mr. Stark. I'll go… I'll see you later though, like you said, right?"
"Of course."
"Yeah, ok. Here, you should probably take this…" Spider-man quickly slips something off his wrist and passes it over to him. "...and thanks."
Tony watches blankly as Peter leaves the battlefield. "Thanks?" he mutters, even though Peter can't hear him by now. "You've nothing to thank me for, kid. Absolutely nothing at all." He glances down at the silver wrist band in hand. "Now just what is this...?"
Natasha finds it hard to remember a time she has ever been this… useless. Even as a child, she was a deadly weapon. Now though, surrounded by supernatural entities that could kill her with ease, and not an effective weapon on her, useless sums up her role perfectly. It would seem that Phantom's weakness to electricity is unique only to him. To all the other ghosts she has tried it on, it has been either ineffective or made them even stronger. It has gotten to the point where Vision has gently but firmly pushed her in between him and Wanda, and told her more or less to stay put… As if needing to free her from Phantom's trap earlier wasn't bad enough.
She should know though, once you hit rock bottom… You can always sink further down. It can always get worse. This is shown when somehow, someway, Tony loses his Iron-Man suit mid-air. Vision darts to save him, leaving behind Wanda as Natasha's only protection. Natasha tries to make it easy for the girl. She dodges the fast yet predictable ghosts with ease, and sticks close to the Scarlet Witch. Yet, Natasha can't help but glance toward her plummeting friend. She may not have liked or respected Tony at first, but overtime, that has changed. She finds it hard to imagine the world without the quirky billionaire, without her good friend. The moment she becomes distracted though, is the exact moment she shouldn't have.
Something clamps over her middle, picking her off her feet and shaking her harshly. Natasha curses in Russian, reaching blindly down to whatever is holding her. The ghost is invisible, and Natasha fully realizes that if it weren't for her black catsuit, she'd surely be dead. Her suit is made out of high-tech synthetic fabric, firm yet lightweight, keeping sharp teeth just at bay as whatever-it-is attempts to bite into her. Wanda screams something as Natasha is pulled away from her side by the invisible force, but is mobbed soon after by other ghosts. Natasha punches and kicks uselessly at her abductor, seething in anger. Her anger only worsens when she realises it's not trying to kill her- not really. It is just toying with her. To make matters worse, it has turned her invisible as well, limiting her chances of rescue.
It only takes fifteen seconds for the ghost to drag her to the edge of the abandoned airport. By then Natasha has all but run out of options. The more she struggles, the tighter the maw around her closes. She can feel the sharp teeth digging between her ribs. She's sure a few ribs are broken, as well. She has no choice but to call for help. "This is Black Widow; I'm being invisibly dragged off by a large animalistic ect- ghost to the northern end of the airport, just by the drive through. Requesting backup." She adds darkly under her breath afterward, "If any is even available…"
Nonetheless, she receives a reply a moment later. She should have known better than to think her teammates would leave her high and dry, even with current circumstances. "This is Vision. I'll be there momentarily."
"No need." That reply is not from Natasha. An unfamiliar young woman's voice filters through the supposedly private frequency. The voice goes on confidently. "I have it handled." There is a soft whirring noise of some type of machine coming to life. It is followed by the much louder sound of multiple guns being fired, although it doesn't quite sound like any guns Natasha ever heard. Red flashes at the edge of her eyesight, so bright that for a split second Natasha is sure it is the Scarlet Witch. The ghost holding her captive howls in pain and is flung back by the force of the multiple blows. Fortunately, it doesn't take Natasha along for the ride this time. The moment it howls it and opens its maw slightly, Natasha makes her escape. She rolls out and to a crouch, grunting as she accidently jarrs her already abused ribs. She shakes off the pain with only a slight wince. The agent struggles to her feet and quickly makes her way from the ghost and the newcomer.
Natasha watches from a safe distance as the ghost flickers to visibility. It's some type of canine, blue instead of the usual green, and with red eyes. The newcomer doesn't hold back. Her weapons are fashioned after handguns, but they fire like machine guns without the kick. The ghost doesn't even get a chance to howl this time, reduced within seconds to a blue puddle on the curb. "Let's see you regenerate from that , stinkin' mutt…" Natasha can hear the newcomer mutter as she floats down on… Is that a hoverboard? Natasha muses silently. She knows S.H.I.E.L.D has a few prototypes in stock, but none look as slick and high-tech as the one in front of her. Just who is this lady?
Natasha strides forward, crossing her arms to cover her wounds. "I appreciate the save," the redhead thanks sincerely.
"It's what I do," the young woman assures offhandedly. She is clad in a full body suit that is red and black. Her helmet's full face visor is tinted red and barely allows Natasha to make out a feminine face structure with wide eyes and full lips. Connected to her back is a red backpack. She holsters her blasters and reaches into the backpack, drawing out two objects. "Care to rejoin the party, except this time with a bit more firepower?" The woman asks, and Natasha can practically hear the smirk in her voice.
"Don't mind if I do…" Natasha murmurs. She may not particularly trust this woman, but she did just save Natasha, and Black Widow can't stand being useless. She catches what the woman tosses to her. The first is, unsurprisingly, a blaster. The second is- "A belt?" Natasha arches an eyebrow.
"Next time a ghost tries to abduct you, they'll be in for a bit of a shock, " she promises darkly.
Natasha frowns. "Electricity doesn't affect most of them," she protests. "I've tried."
"The electricity the Specter Deflector generates is different; don't ask me how. I don't know how the science works. What I do know is how to kick ecto-ass, so do you want to stand here chatting about my tech all day, or do you just want to get back to it?" The red clad figure floats down on her hoverboard, extending a hand.
Natasha stares at the offered hand for a brief moment before making up her mind. Snapping the belt around her waist (ignoring for the moment the gut-wrenching pain that causes her injury), she reaches out a hand and clasps the one offered. The woman helps her hop onto her hoverboard. Natasha wraps an arm around the slim waist of the woman in front of her and grips the earlier given blaster in the other hand. She runs a critical eye over the weapon, asking her new companion how it works. The woman shows her how to switch off the safety. "Other than that, it works like a regular pistol I suppose, except there is little to no kick and no need to reload."
"Hm. It'll do." Although truthfully, she is more than impressed. Natasha nods approvingly, tightening her hold over the woman as the hoverboard picks up the pace. "And what should I call you?"
"Call me Red Huntress, or Red for short."