Three minutes.
One hundred and fifty people.
If Tony had been a certain hometown hero draped in the United States flag, he would have known what to choose.
Unfortunately, not everyone could be that hometown hero.
Tony immediately had F.R.I.D.A.Y. locate the explosives.
The results were far from good.
"A large quantity of explosives is stored in the tail of the plane."
"An anesthetic gas remains in the cabin. Inhaling it causes rapid unconsciousness."
No wonder these people were sleeping so soundly.
This was no improvised performance, but an elaborate show planned in advance.
The heroes were their actors, tasked with rescuing everyone.
With everyone at their best and working together, they might just have managed it.
But now there were explosives to contend with, and members of their own team were injured.
Sam quickly reported the situation to Steve.
After hearing him out, Steve found it a thorny problem, too.
Whether the rescue could succeed was uncertain. If the passenger plane crashed and set off the explosives, the entire airport would be destroyed.
The Superheroes inside would not escape, either.
"The systems here have been hacked. That person is controlling this plane remotely."
Tony told Vision, "Do it the old-fashioned way. Get everyone out!"
"Stark." Sam tossed his communicator to Tony.
Tony caught it, paused for a second, then put it in his ear.
In a crisis, grudges had to be set aside.
"One hundred and fifty people. What do we do?"
"Sometimes the old ways come in handy," Tony said. "Build a barrier down below that can withstand the blast. Vision and I will send the people down."
One hundred and fifty people, a little over two minutes.
They were no fools. Rescuing everyone was simply impossible.
There was too little time and too much distance. Tony could