IRON IKARI
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Eva, Iron Man 2, or any of it's characters.
Summary: The origin of how Shinji became Iron Man, and how he gained the knowledge of how to build the advanced armored weapon.
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Mission 2
The Assistant
(Monaco Police Station)
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pepper asked as Shinji was patted down by the police.
"Not really. But I can't let Mr Stark go in there." Shinji replied as the French cops stepped back.
"At least not alone." Tony added with a smirk. "He might try and hurt me again."
Pepper just glared at her boss with an unamused smirk. While she did care what happened to Tony, she was also very much concerned for Shinji.
It had taken some tough negotiating and a lot of persistence, but Tony Stark and his assistant Shinji Ikari were going to be allowed to talk to the man who tried to kill Tony on the racetrack. The man had not only attacked Tony, but in the process, at least a dozen drivers had been injured by the man as he cleared the way for Tony's arrival.
It was rather disturbing how something like that can be overlooked. So many people hurt, all because of him. Tony merely played it off as being too focused on the big guy with the energy whips coming out his arms.
The door opened up and the pair were lead inside the holding room. The room was a basic box shape, well-lit and with security cameras in four corners. The thick concrete walls would prevent anyone from trying to escape. Not that this was an issue for the muscular man who wore shackles on his ankles and manacles on his wrists. Just looking at his tattoo's both men would have thought he was recently escaped from prison. He had his back to them as they entered the room, seated on a bench that could have sat 5 or 6 comfortably.
Shinji made his move towards the man while Tony hung back to listen. Shinji insisted on talking to him, mostly since he had questions that needed answers, and personal feelings would only get in the way of this inquiry.
"Hello, Mr Vanko." Shinji said as he walked over and sat down on the end of the bench, facing Stark. (The guards had told Shinji his name before he entered.)
The Russian man turned towards Shinji and cocked an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm the guy who punched your lights out on the race track." he stated.
As expected, a flash of realization widened Vanko's eyes. This alone told Shinji much about the man he now sat with.
"So... you are the Iron Man."
"Yes. As Mr Stark's technical assistant, I am also required to don the armor when he can't."
"I see. Well then... what can I do for you?"
Shinji pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the bench between them.
"I want to know where you acquired this." Shinji said, pointing at the arc unit.
The man smirked and then laughed.
"I did not 'acquire' it." he said. "I made it."
Stark looked shocked and confused.
"Really. If that's true I guess appearances can be very deceiving." Shinji said.
"Oh? How so?" Vanko asked.
"Well, just to look at you, I would guess you just got out of prison. You've been in more than a few fights in your life. Grew up poor, had it really rough. To be honest, you look more like brawn than brains." Shinji said, pausing for a bit as his body stiffened. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude."
Ivan smiled. This boy had manners, even if his words slipped a bit.
"You mean because I do not look like a trademark scientist." Ivan said.
"No. You don't." Shinji said.
"I admire your honestly, boy."
"Then would you please tell me what this is about?"
Ivan sighed as he looked at the boy. "My father was Anton Vanko. He worked together with Howard Stark to create the arc reactor. Until he was betrayed and sent back to the cruel cold of mother Russia. I am here to avenge him."
At hearing this, Tony Stark looked shocked. He had never heard of this Anton Vanko before. Nor had he any idea that his father was involved. At least his father had never mentioned anyone named Vanko before.
At least he thought his dad never mentioned him.
"Is your employer going to do anything, or is he just going to stand in the shadows and watch?" Vanko asked.
Shinji looked over to Stark, who decided to step into Vanko's line of vision.
"You wanted to kill me. Why?" Tony asked.
"A son's revenge, for the cruel act committed by your father." Vanko said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Stark said.
"Never the less..." he said as he stared into Stark's eyes. "...it seems as if my revenge will be carried out another way." he smiled.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.
"Can't you see it? It's. Killing. Him." he hissed.
Shinji looked up at Tony, right into his eyes... and gasped.
"The reactor!" Shinji gasped.
"The palladium, actually." Tony replied with a sigh. "Being directly in my chest, it's been slowly leaking toxic levels of radiation into me. All my attempts to cure it have failed."
Just then, the guard came in.
"Time's up." he said.
Tony motioned for Shinji to depart as Ivan laughed.
"If you can make God bleed, the world will cease to believe in him." he said in an almost sage-like tone that caught Tony's ear. "I have drawn your blood. Soon the sharks will come, and all I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you." he chuckled.
Tony left the holding room, leaving the Russian man to his fate, even as Shinji dug out his phone. His thoughts, however, were on his boss. He dug out his cellphone and quickly dialed a number.
(Mari here) a voice on the other end said.
"Mari-chan, it's me." Shinji said.
(Shinji-kun!) She cried happily. (I saw what happened on the news. Are you alright?)
"Yes, Mari-chan. I'm fine. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."
(Sure. Anything.)
"Find me everything you can about a Russian man named Anton Vanko. He apparently worked with Howard Stark about three decades ago on the arc reactor. I need to know the particulars of what happened between them. Anything that would explain Anton's son, Ivan, attacking Mr Stark."
Mari took down the information on paper before replying. (Alright, Shinji-kun. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. By the way, you did great out there. Boss!) She said in a playful and, maybe it was Shinji's imagination, sensuous tone.
It actually made him blush at the idea that Mari may have feelings for him like that. There was a part of him that actually hoped she did.
Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, James Rhodes, and Natalia Rushman were waiting outside the police station for the pair.
"So.. how did it go?" Pepper asked.
"Not good." Tony said. "What's the damage on this?"
"Not good." she replied.
Happy got into the driver's seat of the limousine while Rhodes got in next to him. Tony was in the back, with Pepper and Natalia on either side of him. Shinji was sitting on the other side of the limo across from them. In his hand he held the mini arc reactor that Vanko had built.
"Is something wrong, Shinji-san?" Natalia asked, suddenly appearing next to him.
"No, Ms Rushman. Just... thinking." he replied, still staring at the reactor in his hands as his mind flashed back to how all this had started.
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(FLASHBACK, STARK INDUSTRIES, SIX MONTHS AGO)
"Potts!" Tony said through his armor from the roof top.
"Tony!" Pepper said from the ground floor into her blue-tooth.
"This isn't working. We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof." Tony said.
"Well, how are you going to do that?" Pepper asked.
"You're going to do it." he said calmly." When I tell you, go to the central console, open up all the circuits. When I get clear of the roof I'll let you know. You're going to hit the master bypass button. It's gonna fry everything up here."
"Okay. I'm going in now." she said as she made her way into the slightly demolished building.
"Make sure you wait till I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time."
The ten foot armored creature stalked around the smokey rooftop, searching for it's target. It didn't have to wait long, as a red and gold figure suddenly jumped right up and landed on it's back.
"What?" Stane gasped.
"Ha-Ha!" Stark shouted.
"Get Off Me!" Stane shouted as she thrashed around to shake the man.
"This Looks Important!" Tony said as he jammed his hand into his opponents neck and pulled out several wire and circuits.
Out of frustration, Stane gave another massive jerk, and tossed Tony off of him and onto the glass roof that overlooked the reactor itself.
"I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit!" Obadiah shouted after discarding his front chest piece that revealed himself in the armored suit. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony! You'd have made your father proud!"
"It's ready Tony! Get off the roof!" Pepper shouted back to Tony from the inside of the factory.
However, Obadiah starts shooting at Tony with his gatling gun, causing the glass roof to cave in. Tony is caught dangling from the hole opening.
"Tony!" Pepper shouted.
"How ironic, Tony! Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever!" Stane said.
"Pepper!" Stark shouted back.
"And now... I'm gonna kill you with it!" Stane shouted.
A rocket fires from Obadiah's wrist, but goes long and hits the other side of the roof.
"You ripped out my targeting system!" he shouted.
"Time to hit the button!" Stark shouted to Pepper.
"You told me not to!" Pepper shouted back.
"Hold still, you little prick!" Obadiah Stane shouted as he fired off another missile at Tony Stark, this one coming closer.
"Just do it!" Stark shouted.
"You'll die!" Pepper shouted.
Stane fired a rocket at Stark, only to miss and hit the far side of the building.
"PUSH IT!" Stark shouted again.
However, it was right as Pepper fired the arc reactor, that a lone figured suddenly appeared on the roof right between Tony and Stane.
"Huh?" Stane gasped.
"What?" Stark gasped.
(Where?) the Japanese boy gasped.
BOOM!
The arc reactor exploded upwards with immense power right as Tony dove to try and knock the boy out of the line of fire.
Normally, the unleashing of such massive energy would have fried anyone caught in it's path.
Such was not the case of both Tony Stark and Shinji Ikari.
While Obadiah was killed by the brunt of the blast, something unexpected happened to Shinji and Tony. While they were off to the side, a stray beam of energy lashed out and slammed into Stark, blasting him in the back. His Mark I arc reactor was reignited, but the energy continued surging through the armor and body, until it lashed out from Tony and struck Shinji.
It is a scientific fact that information can be transferred from one place to another via electrical signals. Meaning, when the arc reactor's energy surged through Tony and struck Shinji, it interacted with the electrical impulses in Stark's brain, the arc energy copying Stark's neural energy and then transferring his impulses into Shinji's brain.
In effect, Stark's knowledge was copied and pasted into Shinji's brain.
But it didn't stop there. Subsequently, the more electricity surging through the brain areas, the faster and more efficiently the brain functions, even to the point of opening up untapped and unused regions of the brain.
This enabled Shinji to actually make sense of the technical knowledge that he now possessed. But while Stark was protected from the energy surge thanks to his armor, Shinji's plugsuit-covered body continued to be bombarded by the arc reactors energy. This resulted in his latent Angelic DNA being triggered. His cells absorbed the energy and transformed his body in order to compensate for the increased power he was receiving.
(This is why he is 20 years old now)
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It was shortly after Tony Stark's press conference announcement that he was Iron Man, that Stark paid a visit to Shinji who was in recovery in the hospital.
"How is he?" Tony asked as Pepper was sitting outside the hospital room.
"Well, physically he's fine, even if he's now about 20 years old."
"And that's normal because..."
"According to the security cameras on the roof, the boy in question is about 14 years old. We used an age-identification software program you invented."
"Right. I remember that. The FBI paid well for that one." he said.
"But after the explosion, he wasn't 14 anymore. Which is impossible."
"Not really."
"Huh?"
"If a human body is capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy, it could be possible to have that body upgrade itself in order to survive that energy."
Pepper looked at Tony in shock.
"I read it in a comic book."
Pepper sweat dropped as he said that.
"Plus it's the only thing I can think of that would explain his age enhancement." Tony said. "Can I see him?"
"Sure. But... you might want to prepare yourself." she said.
"For what?" he asked.
"Well... he asked for a lot of paper and some pens."
Tony looked at her curiously. "For?"
"This." she said, handing him a sheet of paper from her folder.
Tony stared at the detailed sketch on the paper, looking up at Pepper in shock, before rushing into the room where a 20-year old Japanese man was sitting up in bed sketching on dozens of pieces of paper with the pens he was given. Before Tony could speak, he darted back out into the hallway.
"What was his name?" Tony asked.
"Shinji. Shinji Ikari." Pepper said.
"Thanks." he said and then ducked back inside the room.
"Nice to see you're awake." Tony said, trying to be calm and friendly, even as he tightly gripped the piece of paper in his hand.
"Oh. Hello, sir." Shinji said, looking up for a brief moment before going back to the drawings.
Stark came over to his side and looked at the drawing he was working on, as well as the others that were strewn around the bed.
They were all technical specs and blueprints ... of the Arc Reactor and the Iron Man armor! What's more, there were notations of exactly what materials to use and how to combine them together.
This... is not good. Stark thought as he looked over the sketches and the hastily working young man. "Is... something wrong? You seem... hurried."
"I just... I can't get these formulas and images out of my mind." Shinji said as he continued working on the paper in front of him. "And these are... I've seen these images before, but I've never seen such detail before. I'm seeing numbers and letters... scientific and mathematical formulas that just keep coming one after the other, I... I know what they mean, but... what am I creating?"
Something that could be trouble for everyone, especially him, if they found out what he was creating. Tony thought as he looked at the designs. Some were of his Iron Man armor, but some of the papers had variations to them that were neither ugly or impossible. He's creating new types of armor? This is bad! If the military gets wind of this, they'll force him to create all kinds of weapons for them that... will lead to a global war, or worse... mankind's ultimate destruction. Tony thought as he looked over and found a set of doctors tools.
Scissors, scrapers, tongs, and even a scalpel.
He looked back as a pain shot thought his chest. It wasn't the arc reactor or the shrapnel in his chest. It was guilt and shame over what he was considering.
Damn it! I can't do it. But how can I keep this now brilliant mind from causing untold damage to the world? Tony thought... and then smiled. "Excuse me, Shinji was it?"
"Yes, sir?" Shinji asked.
"Would you be interested in a job?" Stark asked.
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And that was how Shinji Ikari became Tony Stark's technical assistant.
Tony took Shinji to his mansion in Malibu, California, and to his garage where he had developed his armored technology.
It was there that Tony and Shinji exchanged their histories, while JARVIS, the home computer, was listening intently.
Though JARVIS was merely an incredibly advanced A.I., Stark was hoping that the house computer would be able to discern whether or not Shinji was telling the truth about what happened to him.
While Stark revealed his own past to Shinji, from his fathers early career working on the Manhattan Project, to Tony's eventual rise to succeed him as CEO of Stark Enterprises, developing advanced weapons for the US Military, his wild parties and glamorous lifestyle, and leading up to his capture by the Ten Rings terrorist group. It was there that he and Dr Yinsen developed the somewhat crude armored suit that enabled him to escape. But it was there that he also developed his mini arc reactor that powered the suit, as well as saved his life.
Once back in the United States, Stark discontinued his weapons program and perfected his armored suit, which he used to strike back against the Ten Rings after learning that more of his weapons had found their way into their hands. But it was later that he found out that his business partner, Obadiah Stane, had actually set him up to be killed by the Ten Rings. Worse, he had built his own armored suit, which was more powerful than Tony's, in order to sell to the military for billions of dollars.
It was only thanks to Pepper and the exploding arc reactor that Stane was killed along with his Iron Monger suit.
But it was also during this explosion that Shinji appeared on the roof, almost from out of nowhere, and was exposed to the arc reactors energy.
It was because of this, that Stark offered up his own theory as to what happened to Shinji, both physically and intellectually.
Naturally, Shinji was shocked. More from the fact that he actually understood the science behind Stark's explanation, as well as the technical expertise needed to create the armors.
Of course, that was the problem.
Even as Shinji told Stark, and JARVIS, about his life as an Eva pilot, starting from his mother dying, his father abandoning him, his being coerced into piloting Eva, the pains of his various battles, and then up to his being swallowed by the 12th Angel. After which he found himself on the roof of Stark Enterprises, and was blasted by the arc reactors energy.
Despite the bizarre transformation he had endured, Shinji realized what Stark was ultimately leading up to. Namely the fact that he now possessed the knowledge of how to create his Iron Man armor. Because of this, and because Stark had no intention of killing him, Shinji realized that the position of 'technical assistant' was ultimately a means to keep Stark's knowledge from being used against innocent people like they had in Afghanistan.
But also, after finding out that Tokyo-3 didn't exist, that Second Impact didn't happen, Shinji was lost as to what he should do in this world. Though there was a part of him that wanted to go back, neither he nor Stark could conceive a way to cross over dimensions. Even with their combined intellects.
Stark actually considered asking Reed Richards for assistance, but he doubted that the elastic scientist would be able to help in this case. Though parallel dimensions and body transformations might be something Reed would believe, the real issue was availability. Reed had recently been married and enjoyed a much richer, though unwanted, celebrity life than Stark himself.
Plus he and Reed hadn't spoken much since Stark started developing weapons technology for the military.
Though his weapons development had ceased, the pair were still at odds on several issues.
Naturally, this left Shinji even more depressed, at the prospect of never seeing his surrogate family and friends again.
Tony didn't like seeing Shinji, or anyone who worked for him for that matter, upset or depressed, and because he was who he was, one month before the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Tony decided to get Shinji an assistant.
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Shinji Ikari wasn't Tony Stark.
Despite having his intellect, he did not possess the same personality as the playboy inventor. Pepper Potts actually found this to be refreshing, though she did wonder why Shinji kinda kept his distance from her.
It wasn't until Tony explained to her the details of his life, which included Shinji's interactions with a certain hyper-aggressive German redheaded, that Pepper decided to 'filter' the assistant-finding process to a select group of individuals. People she thought that Shinji would be more... comfortable around.
Shinji was in Stark's garage going over a new armor design with JARVIS, when Pepper walked in with someone in tow.
(Are you certain the armor would be able to sustain a depth of 2000 feet?) JARVIS asked.
"If my math is right. And it usually is." Shinji said.
"Shinji? I'd like you to meet someone?" Pepper said.
"I'm a little busy, Ms Potts." Shinji said as he looked up from the work station. "Can it..."
Shinji froze when he caught sight of the young gorgeous woman next to Pepper. He gauged her height to be about the same as him, as well as her age. She was dressed in a short, blue skirt draped over a pair of black stockings and matching pumps. Shamelessly, he thought that it complemented her rather shapely legs, flaring curvy hips, and well-defined posterior. Her thick, red-rimmed glasses framed her dark blue eyes perfectly as he noticed her complexion seemed to be a mixture of Japanese and perhaps Caucasian. She completed the look with a white blouse that made her long-flowing, chocolate-brown locks stand out against the wrinkle free shirt. He again felt a stab of shame go through him when he realized just how endowed the young woman was, given her age.
He vaguely wondered if he didn't get 'something' else from Tony Stark, or if it was just hormones playing with his head.
"..wait?" Shinji finished his thought as he and the young woman locked eyes.
Aware of their little staring contest, Pepper continued.
"Shinji, I'd like to introduce you to Ms. Mari Makinami. She's one of several people who've applied for the assistant's position." Pepper said, the pair keeping eye-contact.
"Mr Stark's assistant? I thought that was your job." Shinji asked, still staring at the young woman. And why did Pepper bring her here?
"Actually, Tony's given me a promotion. I am now the new CEO of Stark Enterprises. So, he needs a new assistant, and so do I. But he thought you could use one as well."
"Me?" he gasped, finally looking at Pepper.
Pepper shrugged. "It's Tony." she said, nonchalantly. "He thought you and Ms Makinami would be... compatible."
He cocked an eyebrow after she said that.
"His words." she explained. "Mari comes highly recommended with a very impressive résumé. As well as a degree in computers and languages."
"Okay." Shinji said nervously as he turned to face the young woman. "Uh... I'm pleased to meet you, Makinami-san. I'm Shinji Ikari." he said, holding out his hand to her.
"I'm... pleased to meet you... Shinji-san." she replied with equal nervousness. "I am Mari Illustrious Makinami." she said, reaching for his hand.
"'Illustrious'?" Pepper asked as their hands met.
ZAP!
A small spark of static electricity leapt between their hands, causing them to break apart. While many people would have thought it nothing but an accident, Pepper couldn't help but notice the small blush on their cheeks as they tried not to look at each other.
Oh boy! Pepper mentally laughed. A little static shock and these two are 'digging on each other'. As Rhodey would say. "Uh, Illustrious?" she asked again.
"My father thought my name could use a bit of... flare." she explained.
"Uh, so... Makinami-san is going to be my assistant?" Shinji asked.
"Well, if you want her." Pepper answered.
Shinji kinda blushed at the way Pepper phrased that.
"Want her? No! I Mean Yes! But, I mean, that is, you mean 'want her' want her or,..." Shinji stuttered, his words causing Mari to blush a little as well.
"Mari's job is to help you with the daily run-of-the-mill things that you need to take care of, but can't since you're Tony's technical assistant. Simple things. Like... keep you on schedule; pick up your dry-cleaning; make sure you're eating right; keep you from partying too much." she said, naming off the things she used to do for Tony.
"I don't party." Shinji stated. "And I can wash my own clothes and feed both of us fine, thank you."
For some reason, that little 'feed both of us' statement made Mari envision a candle lit dinner for both of them.
Pepper noticed the slightly dreamy-eyed expression on Mari's face.
This might work out better than I thought. "Alright then Shinji. I'll leave you to give Mari a tour of this place. Get her settled into a workable routine, etc. I've got another interviewee to attend to." she said as she turned and walked out.
"Uh... yes, Ms Potts." Shinji said as both he and Mari bowed out to the woman.
Once Pepper was gone, an awkward silence fell upon the pair. It was a few minutes after Pepper had gone that Shinji found the courage to speak.
"Uh... would you like to get some lunch?" Shinji asked.
Is he asking me out already? Mari thought.
"I mean I... haven't had lunch yet and... if we're going to be working together we should probably... uh, talk. Right?"
"Uh, yes. That... sounds good." Mari said shyly.
Unbeknownst to them, Pepper was watching them from the stairs.
Oh, god. It's the awkward teenage drama show. She mentally laughed and silently ascended the stairs.
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Since then, both Shinji and Mari had really changed. Shinji was more comfortable having a beautiful female friend/assistant who seemed eager to take care of things for him. Mari had gone from a shy and blushing schoolgirl to a more expressive, and even teasing, assistant/friend who seemed very close to her new boss.
Though 'boss' was not a term that Shinji ever made her use around him, the pair were getting closer day-by-day. While Tony was pleased that Shinji was doing better, even to the point of being more expressive and relaxed around the workshop, he was a little upset that the young man hadn't 'closed the deal' with his new assistant as yet.
And whenever he would bring it up, Pepper would do the proverbial 'grab-the-ear' tactic and pull his mind out of the gutter.
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Authors Notes:
Hope everyone likes this latest update of my rather hastily written story. It has less action, but more drama and a bit of romance in this. It introduces Mari to the story, with her being Shinji's assistant like Shinji is for Stark.
Not much else I can say about this chapter, except I hope everyone enjoys this. It's been a while since I updated, so I hope this makes up for it.
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OMAKE!
"Mari's job is to help you with the daily run-of-the-mill things that you need to take care of, but can't since you're Tony's technical assistant. Keep you on schedule; pick up your dry-cleaning; make sure you're eating right; keep you from partying too much." she said, naming off the things she used to do for Tony. "Tell the girls you sleep with there's no hard feelings." she added.
Shinji glared at the woman in shock. "I Don't Sleep With Girls!"
"You mean you sleep with guys?"
"NO!"
"Then it's girls."
"YES! No! I don't... I've never slept with anyone!"
"I'll be your first!" Mari volunteered.
Shinji and Pepper stared at the girl, who was blushing fiercely at what she just said.
"Well... Tony's already done it several times. So... guess you've got a lot of catching up to do." Pepper smirked.
Shinji frowned. "If I was going to sleep with one girl, it would be the person I was going to marry."
Mari and Pepper looked at each other before looking at Shinji.
"Dibs!" Mari shouted.
"No fair!" Pepper grumbled.
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OMAKE 2!
(The Eva crew in the Iron Man universe, Part 1)
"So, who is this?" Iron Man asked.
"They're friends of mine." Shinji said.
The trio looked at the teenagers. The two boys known as Toji and Kensuke, were just staring up at the trio of armored individuals.
The first was the green and silver armored man they knew as Shinji Ikari. The second was the red and gold armored man named Tony Stark. The third was a black and gray armored man known as James Rhodes.
While Shinji being an adult was shocking enough, it was the walking weapons that were captivating Kensuke.
"THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!" Kensuke said, jumping up and down like an excited kid, practically jumping around all three of them like he was hopped up on PCP.
"If he does the 'Snoopy dance', I'm gonna shoot him myself." War Machine said.
"No you won't." Iron Man said.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm gonna fry him first!"
"I can't allow that." Shinji said. "He's my friend. I'll shoot him."
Toji could only gulp as he said that.