Sorry, guys. I feel like this chapter is a disappointment. I wrote it when I was half-asleep, so my grammer and such is really lacking. If things don't make sense, that's because I'm seeing it differently in my wacky mind. Just throw my a review to let me know, and I'll fix it once I've *yawn* slept.
Tony had no idea what to do with MODOK at this point. Shooting him out of the sky had its merits, but then he had to worry about the baddie squishing some civilians.
Tony was NOT going to save that thing, either. Let him fall to his death. Hell would freeze and heaven would fall before Tony even considered it.
So that left…what? Tony hesitated, before deciding that the civvies would just have to move. He took careful aim with his repulsors and…
Crack! A mind shield, courtesy of your evil neighborhood man-robot, shot up. MODOK grinned maniacally as he continued to slowly fall, his jets keeping him from outright falling, though definitely not supporting his weight.
Warning signs lit up all over Tony's HUD as the suit blocked some of MODOK's mind games. Tony had to go on the offensive.
He fired up the thrusters, and began circling MODOK, trying to dizzy him so his shield would fail. No such luck.
'Well, Tony, what now?', the genius asked of himself, 'For a man who shot a nuke into outer space, you're being pretty lame on this.'
Tony decided just to go for it all the way, no planning involved. The way he did best, the way Starks always have done best.
MODOK had no defense as the strength of Tony's repulsors firing at closer range and the power needed to run the jets to keep from free-falling became too much. His jets flickered and sputtered before resuming, which distracted him, and his shield to drop momentarily. And a moment was all Tony needed.
MODOK screamed as he spiraled towards the ground, his face burnt.
Tony watched dispassionately as the thing crashed into the pavement, not hurting anyone but himself, and became lodged in the cement.
"Jarvis, call Director Fury. Tell him he needs to send a retrieval team to outside the Tower, and pick up a package." Tony said tiredly, "I'm going after the Avengers."
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Tony hurt. Every inch of him complained. Loudly. Much like Tony himself. But the genius hardly even noticed as he boosted his thrusters to their full capacity to hurry to the restaurant where his friends were.
He didn't even stay long enough to watch MODOK get arrested, which was a mistake.
But halfway to the restaurant, a new pain made itself known, or more accurately, made itself known again. (AN: At this point in time, this was not here when I first updated. But a unknown Guest pointed out that this was an unresolved plot point, and so I fixed it :D THANK YOU UNKNOWN PERSON!)
Tony had been brushed with that poison knife, and the burning was quickly becoming unbearable. However, when his arc reactor flickered, Tony knew that he couldn't blow this off much longer. Who knows what kind of poison this was?
"Jarvis, analyze this. Quickly." Tony said, dropping to the pavement and stumbling, very unlike him. Civvies started to scream out his name, but Tony ignored them as best he could while remaining upright.
"Sir, this seems to be a poison of AIM's own design." Jarvis said, "Most likely designed to target the arc reactor or shrapnel residing in your chest cavity."
"Just what I thought," Tony grunted, "Any ideas how to fix it?"
"Go to the hospital?" THe AI suggested mildly.
"You know what I'm going to say to that, J."
"I do indeed, sir. Creating an antidote in a timely manner would be highly improbable. Might I suggest a dose of Carbon 17 Hydrogen 19 Nitrate, sir?"
"Dose me up." Tony said, relaxing as the morphine flooded in his bloodstream though a tiny built in needle. This convenient feature was the result of Pepper's worry. She hated to see Tony come home every time in constant pain, and decided that as long as Jarvis monitered his dosage so he didn't become addicted, this would help ease her worry slightly.
"Sir, may I remind you that the Carbon 17 Hydrogen 19 Nitrate will not actually dispose of the poison in your bloodstream, it'll just remove the pain for a few hours..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know all that, Jarvis." Tony said, boosting up his thrusters and shooting into the sky, "But I feel great, so let's just focus on that, and saving the team, and worry about other things later?" (AN: Bet you guys can see what imma gonna do with this little plot right here! :D)
"Oh, no." He whispered when he saw the situation that waited for him at the restaurant. The Hulk, not Bruce Banner, but the actual Hulk was unconscious, laying in a large green pile. Tony never saw something more stunning in his life. The AIM scientists…figured out how to sedate the Jolly Green Giant? The snarky side of Stark wondered if he could borrow that next time Tony accidently set the Hulk off in his lab, but he quickly became serious again.
The faintest flash of blue and red signaled where Cap was, and he didn't look good. 'Ole Stars and Stripes was tied, and Tony felt a lasting flash of anger when he saw that the soldier was also gagged. Tying him up was okay with Tony, given their tense relationship, but to gag the image of America? Not cool.
Tony couldn't see any more from his vantage point. He was hiding behind a chimney on the roof, cursing his ostentatious armor, not for the first time. A plan slowly began to form, and Tony smiled grimly when he realized it was his favorite kind; one that could either go really well or really bad, one that had no middle ground.
One that was self-sacrificing.
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Natasha gasped silently as her face was whipped to the side again, spitting out blood angrily. Clint and her were beat, and they knew it. Soon, like Cap, they were bound and gagged. It boiled her blood, but she couldn't find the will to see them take her rebellion out on Clint.
"Now, now. I know she can be very annoying, I know that personally, trust me, and what she says isn't always the most respectful, but do you really need to gag them?"
Natasha almost leapt to her feet, the anger of the sight of the man in front of her reenergizing her. Tony Stark, without armor, without any protection of any kind, approached the group of enemies.
He was wearing a normal suit and tie, and Natasha could just tell by the way the clothes were laying that he had no bullet proof vest.
Why had he waited so damn long before showing up? With this his idea of a fashionably late entrance? Was he so proud that he would wait this long? What was wrong with this man? That last questions, along with others, floated through Natasha's mind. The last one especially, since she had thought it so often.
"Tony Stark." One of the agents that was the self-appointed leader, stepped forward, "Were you able to give greetings to our leader, MODOK?"
Tony shrugged nonchalantly, "I suppose. Nick Fury and him wanted to chat, though, so I gave them some privacy." He smirked in that way of his that was both infuriatingly annoying and hilariously funny, depending on the situation.
"Ah, I see." The man nodded, understanding Tony's reference, "And our Scientist Supreme? Qui?"
A dark shadow passed across Tony's face at this, his face tightening, "Yes." It was short and cut off, speaking of something bad that had happened.
The leader clicked his tongue, "And you think you could just free your friends by yourself? No SHIELD agents? No suit?"
Natasha wanted to know the same thing.
The shadow disappeared, and carefree Tony was back, "Well, as you'll soon find out, I am a freakin' master of awesome, so yeah, I do think that."
The leader was amused, "As we'll soon find out? Why don't you explain what you mean?"
Tony spread his hands placidly, "Release my friends and you won't have to find out."
"I grow tired of your jokes, Tony Stark." At the leader's words, around three dozen guns were raised and fixed on Tony.
At this point in time, Clint and Natasha were now not the only ones awake. Cap was stirring, and was conscious enough to recognize what was going on, even if he couldn't escape.
Thor was also stirring, but he had been bound and gagged tightly while he was out.
With the exception of Bruce, who was not around at the moment, all of the Avengers watched as the agents opened fire upon the helpless genius.
Again, this chapter is a disappointment in my eyes. It's short, and lacking the whump that I want to post. Next chapter, definitely. *Yawn* god I want sleep...please review while I get my zzz's, so when I get up I have a nice full inbox?
BTW please check out the poll on my profile! It's Avengers, and will help post a new story thats stalling a bit since I couldn't decide. So you guys vote for me! :D