Steve slammed the shield back onto his arm. Bucky stood beside him, a few Silk still tangled in the joints of the mechanical arm. On the other side, Tony's armor had several dents, and the thrusters' exhaust was less stable than before. Peter's breathing hadn't fully calmed down, but a slightly excited smile played on his lips, a smile he probably didn't even realize himself.
"Their teamwork is better than I expected." Peter lowered his voice, speaking so fast it sounded like he was playing music at double speed. "I just counted, the captain and Bucky exchanged at least six or seven glances, maybe more... His mechanical arm is really scary."
" Peter," Tony said.
"I was thinking if we could disrupt their communication channels, for example, by blocking the captain's vision with cobwebs, or by interfering with their hearing with noise—"
Peter.
"But the noise will also bother you, so this plan isn't very feasible."
" Peter!" Tony raised his voice.
"Exist!"
"Shut up!"
Across from them, Steve and Bucky exchanged a glance. Without any further movement, they started moving almost simultaneously. Steve charged forward from the front, shield held horizontally in front of him, his steps steady and swift; Bucky flanked from the side, his mechanical arm hanging low, dragging a screeching metallic sound across the gravel ground.
Tony's thrusters ignited, propelling him into the air to dodge Steve's initial shield attack. In that instant, Peter fired two Silk, precisely seizing Bucky's mechanical elbow joints. Using the force, he yanked upwards like a Slingshot. This time, instead of circling, he made a move that caught everyone off guard: he twisted his body in mid-air, using the pull of the Silk to drag himself directly towards Bucky, his feet together, and he launched himself into Bucky's chest like a human cannonball.
Bucky's mechanical arm blocked the flying kick in front of his chest. The dull thud of metal colliding echoed in the abandoned factory. Peter was thrown back by the force, tumbling twice in the air before regaining his balance, but Bucky was also forced back half a step by the impact. He glanced down at the shallow dent on his mechanical arm, then looked up at the red and blue figure swinging back, his surprise deepening.
"Your robotic arm is really amazing!" Peter's voice came from high above, panting from exertion. "I used about... I can't even count how much force I used in that kick. And you only took half a step back!"
Bucky didn't answer. He lunged toward where Peter had landed, his mechanical arm swinging up, and delivered a punch. Peter rolled to the side to dodge, the concrete floor shattering where he had just stood, shards of rock flying all over him.
Before he could even stand up, Bucky's second punch followed. At the last moment, Peter used his Silk to stick to a steel beam in the distance, and was pulled away by the pull of the Silk. Bucky's fist grazed his back, and the shockwave made his back go numb.
"Too close, too close, too close." Peter swung halfway through the air, his heart pounding as if it would burst out of his chest. "Okay, let's try something else." He took a deep breath, and as he swung back, instead of avoiding him, he lunged at Bucky.
Two webs shot out from the Silk -shooter on his wrist in quick succession. One blocked Bucky's vision, and the other stuck to Bucky's mechanical arm wrist as he was swinging it. Using the force of Bucky's punch, he was thrown to the side, drawing an extremely strange arc in the air. Then, he stuck Silk to Bucky's back with his other hand, used the force to bounce back, and kicked Bucky in the Bucky blade.
Bucky staggered forward half a step from the kick, but he turned around almost immediately, his mechanical arm sweeping across and forcing Peter back as he prepared to deliver a second Peter. Peter landed and stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance, the spider symbol on his chest glowing faintly in the twilight. His breathing was rapid and erratic, but the excited smile on his lips didn't disappear; instead, it widened even further.
"Oh my god, oh my god. If Aunt May knew what I'm doing right now, she'd faint from fright..." He muttered to himself as he readjusted his stance, bending his legs slightly, ready to launch again at any moment.
Meanwhile, Tony and Steve's battle had escalated from the ground to mid-air. Steve used the rubble as springboards, leaping high into the air several times, his shield accurately blocking Tony's flight path with each throw. Tony's thrusters were operating at full power, their golden-red trails tracing countless intersecting paths in the twilight. His palm cannons clashed repeatedly with his shield, each impact exploding into blinding white light, illuminating the factory ruins in alternating light and shadow.
"Your shield is more annoying than usual," Tony retorted, his thrusters coming to an abrupt halt in mid-air as he fired a stun blast at Steve's side. Steve dodged to the side, the shockwave exploding on the shield and sending rubble flying everywhere beneath his feet.
Just then, Tony suddenly increased his altitude, rising directly above the factory's framework. He hovered there for a moment, looking down at the battlefield. Bucky had already torn and ripped most of Peter's web, but every time Bucky tried to break out to the flank to support Steve, Peter was restrained again by the Silk Peter shot from all angles.
Bucky's robotic arm smashed through beam after beam, while Peter's mouth never stopped. "You know what, I think we should find a chance to switch tactics. I now know at least four of your attack patterns..."
"I've counted them all."
Tony whispered into the comms, his voice muffled through his visor, "You handle the flanks. I'll take the front."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tony's thrusters suddenly unleashed their full power. A blinding trail of golden-red flames stretched across the dim twilight as he plummeted from the sky like a meteorite. His palm pulse cannons were fully charged, and the miniature missile pods on his shoulders opened, firing continuously during his dive.
Three missiles locked onto Steve's dodge path, while two pulse cannons blocked Bucky's flanks. The missiles exploded the instant Steve raised his shield to block, the shockwaves sending up a cloud of debris and dust that obscured everyone's vision.
Amidst the smoke and dust, Tony's thrusters came to an abrupt halt, and he flipped in mid-air, firing a pulse cannon that precisely struck Bucky's mechanical arm's elbow joint. Bucky was about to swing his arm to repel Peter when the blast caused his arm to deflect, and Peter's Silk wrapped around his wrist, pulling him off balance.
Steve emerged from the smoke and dust, shield in front of him, and charged towards Tony. This time, Tony didn't dodge, but met him head-on. His thrusters reversed their flames to slow him down, and just before landing, he activated the enhanced mode of the armor on the back of his hand, striking the edge of the shield with his palm.
The collision of Vibranium and Gold-Titanium Alloy produced a sharp metallic screech, and the impact caused both of them to take a half step back. But Tony didn't give Steve a chance to catch his breath. His other hand's palm cannon was already pressed against the front of the shield, and he opened fire at close range.
The impact sent Steve flying. His heels dug two deep furrows in the gravel, and his back slammed into the concrete wall behind him, cracks spreading like a spiderweb. The shield slipped from his grasp, bounced twice on the ground, and rolled to a pile of rubble. Steve, catching his breath, looked up at Tony walking towards him, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Is that enough?" he said.
Tony stopped in front of him, looking down at the super soldier he had just beaten up, his face covered in dust. Then he held out his hand. "That's enough."
(I know it's a bit of a letdown, but hitting him too lightly or too hard wouldn't be right. Let Tony vent his anger, that's enough.)
Steve grabbed his hand and was pulled up from the rubble by Tony.
Bucky leaned against the cratered steel beam, wiping the Silk off his robotic arm with a cloth he'd torn from somewhere. Peter sat on a pile of rubble a short distance away, panting and muttering, "Your robotic arm is really cool."
Bucky glanced at him, said nothing, but the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch slightly.
Peter continued talking, presumably analyzing Bucky's various attack patterns during the fight, his speech still incredibly fast. Tony didn't interrupt him, but simply walked up to Bucky. Bucky looked up and met his gaze.
"The old debts," Tony said, his voice low but loud enough for all four people present to hear, "Are settled."
Sam arrived about an hour later. When he pushed open the iron gate of the ruined factory and walked in, four people were sitting around a pile of rubble, resting.
Tony was rummaging through a vending machine Peter muttered beside him, "I think that machine looks like it's been abandoned for a long time; the drinks inside are probably expired." Steve was reclining with his shield as a backrest, while Bucky sat quietly to the side, wiping away the Silk residue from the mechanical arm.
"So," Sam's gaze swept over the four men, lingering for a few seconds on Tony's dented shoulder armor and the patch of concrete dust on Steve's back, "Who won?"
Sam raised an eyebrow, waited a moment, and realized that no one was willing to provide information.
That's all?
"That's all." Tony stood up and dusted off his armor.
Sam looked at Steve, Steve gently shook his head, indicating that his decision would not change. He then looked at Bucky, Bucky simply continued quietly wiping his robotic arm. Then he looked at Peter. Peter opened his mouth, about to say something, when Tony's finger was already pointed precisely at the tip of his nose.
"You are not allowed to say a word. This is a confidentiality clause for Stark interns."
Peter immediately shut his mouth, then opened it again about two seconds later. "How long is the confidentiality clause valid? Can't I even tell Aunt May? I don't think she'd believe me even if I told her. Last time she saw me on the ceiling, she thought she was dreaming and threw a frying pan at me."
" Parker," Tony said.
"But I think it's better not to say this, since she might not be able to accept me doing such a dangerous job."
" Peter!"
"Here!" Peter stood up straight reflexively.
"From now on, you can only say two things to Mei about today's events. First: 'The training went well.' Second: 'I learned a lot.' Don't say a single other word."
"Okay, Mr. Stark. The training went well, I learned a lot. The training went well, I learned a lot. The training went well." Peter repeated three times, as if he were engraving it into his brain.
Steve leaned against his shield, watching this scene, a very faint smile playing on his lips. Then he stood up and slung the shield back over his arm. Bucky stood up as well, and the two walked side by side toward the factory gate. As they passed Tony, Steve patted him on the shoulder, a very light touch. Tony grunted, but the smile on his face betrayed him.
It was late at night when Peter returned to SSC headquarters. Peter emerged from Tony's underground parking garage, still brimming with the excitement of the fight. His old hoodie in his bag was crumpled into a ball, replaced by a neatly folded new uniform. He had intended to change out of the uniform right there in the garage, but Tony said, "I'm not responsible if you walk around in this on the street."
The headquarters corridor was brightly lit. Lynn and Natasha were leaning against the sofa in the lounge, looking at their tablets. When they saw them come in, they only glanced up. "Finished?"
"It's over," Tony said.
"Who's winning?"
"Unimportant."
Lynn's gaze lingered for a moment on Tony's dented armor and Peter's obviously freshly washed hair before he looked away and continued looking at his tablet, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Peter stayed in the lounge for about ten minutes, talking non-stop. He kept describing all the highlights of the battle to everyone.
Of course, it was the part Tony allowed him to say, and then he discussed the impact data of Bucky's robotic arm with Banner, who happened to be passing by. Banner listened patiently to him and told him in an extremely gentle tone, "Next time you can try from the side; the lateral torque of the robotic arm is generally smaller than that from the front." Peter immediately took out his phone and wrote the suggestion down in his notes.
JARVIS walked in carrying a cup of hot cocoa and gently placed it on the coffee table next to Peter. " Mr. Parker, based on your heart rate and energy expenditure tonight, I recommend that you replenish your sugar and fluids over the next forty minutes and get plenty of rest."
Peter looked down at the cup of hot cocoa, then up at JARVIS's calm face, and said very solemnly, "Thank you, Mr. JARVIS. This is the most thoughtful post-battle supply I've ever received." JARVIS nodded slightly, saying nothing more, but the blue light in his eyes seemed to soften for a moment.
At the end of the corridor, Tony had changed out of his armor and was leaning against the doorframe in civilian clothes, holding a cup of coffee. He looked at the boy in the lounge who was holding a hot cocoa and gesturing wildly at Banner, demonstrating the Spider-Web technique, while Peter's muttering voice reached his ears.
"Good."
He spoke to the air in a low voice, as if talking to himself. Then he turned and walked into the laboratory with his coffee.