"You won't get an argument from me. I'm closing in," Tony decided as his eyes narrowed in on the target. Within the walls of the glass tower, he could see the madman that had taunted the city, who had stolen tech from Stark Industries and tweaked it to suit his own personal agenda. He'd been a genius in his own right, but he was no match for Tony Stark. He was a novice at best and as Tony could see the whirring, wildly moving machine in the center of the tower circling and spinning around the opening the blast had created, Tony discovered the break they needed, "I've got him!"
"Tony wait," Steve shouted above the night, struggling to reach Tony's ears, but it was no use. Ignoring the sounds of his teammate's warning in favor of keeping his eye on the prize, he kept going forward. If he could just accelerate faster, pushing himself to the limit just a fraction of a bit further, then he'd be able to finish this before daybreak and the city could return to normal. Gritting his teeth and driving forward, Tony heard another loud booming sound beyond Steve's shouts and screaming for his retreat.
"Can't do it Cap. We know what's riding on this!" Tony answered armed and ready to finish this once and for all. His blasters were at full power, his determination unwavering when he slipped through the darkness bound and determined to right the wrongs that had taken place on an otherwise unassuming summer day.
Chaos was all around him sending him straight into hell created by a madman with destruction on the mind. It only fueled the fire inside of Tony's mind when his stubborn determination and a thirst for vengeance at a man who'd worked to discredit and destroy his reputation guided Tony closer to the goal, to the inevitable victory. It was so close he could taste it. If only he could push himself just a bit harder, then he'd be able to circle around in no time and everything would be as it was before. Peace and order would be restored. Stark Industries would be cleared of the scandal that had been unjustly brought into the forefront of the media and the city would be safe. Everything could return to normal just in time for Tony to make the afterparty at the Met Gala. Just a few seconds more and it would all come to the inevitable conclusion where the Avengers saved the day, were hailed by the city as heroes and he could gloat in how he'd never sweated a second of his intervention on taking down the madman who foolishly thought he was fit to stand up against Tony and win this war.
"Sir perhaps we should consider Captain Rogers and his request," JARVIS instructed as Tony moved along on his instincts knowing what was riding on their success.
"Cap's just nervous, but we've got this. Just a bit further and we're home free. We can just…" Tony's words came to an abrupt ending with the loud booming pop that lit up the sky like fireworks. In an instant a vast array of colors was all around him, coming from all directions when a screeching, piercing sound filled his ears stealing his connection with JARVIS away from him as he'd discovered his system had been hacked.
"Such a narcissist," the raspy taunt carried over his suit surrounding Tony by the invasion, delivering him to collapse as his thrusters stopped working. He felt the whip of gravity upon him sending him down towards the burning tower, "Your confidence has always been the key to your downfall."
"You're going to burn in hell," Tony fought to regain control of his suit, to take charge of the situation, but his tech was working against him being controlled by a madman when the freefall continued to deliver him hard through the sky, dropping towards the scattered remains of the city.
"Not for a very long time," laughter taunted further when Tony's vision was taken from the world around him. His clear picture of the world outside was replaced by darkness, sending his mind and body on a tailspin. Fighting against an inner voice considering panic, he struggled with his emergency protocols hoping to work to undo the attack that had been thrown upon him, "and certainly not because you've taken me there."
"This is over for you," Tony argued refusing to reveal the faint flicker of nervousness that carried over him when his vision returned, and he was met by a holographic image of a live feed in the city just beyond where the attack was taking place.
Within the walls of the image before Tony small children were huddled together, sobbing, and shaking when the beam in the sky shifted directions, alerting Tony to the fact that the man who'd taken control of his suit was now working towards a specific target. With the terrified whimpers on the screen before him, Tony spotted Pepper hunched down in the corner of the building holding onto a small girl who'd been too afraid to move out of Pepper's comforting arms. He observed the way Pepper smoothed the small child's hair out, attempting to quell her fears when chaos ruled the city streets. He could hear the fires burning beneath him, could barely make out the sounds of the team working to close in on the man who was engaging Tony.
"Keep him talking," Natasha instructed in his ear, revealing that his communication device was still connected to the team, "Clint and I are infiltrating the building now. He's closing in above from the rear and I'm heading up through the alleyway, so we'll meet halfway. If we can just keep this asshole distracted long enough to shut this down…"