Tension hung thick in the air, there was no doubt about it. Without the calming influence of Noir Spider-Man, Peter was once again just a 15-year-old boy. Even though he constantly tried to recall the feeling of merging with Noir Spider-Man and pretend to be calm and mature, the truth was that he was still an immature teenager.
His childishness would occasionally show through, especially after the battle began. Of course, he had progressed significantly from his former self - after all, he had taken a human life, no matter how you looked at it.
When he shot and killed the Vulture to save Aunt May, although Noir Spider-Man's consciousness was in control, Peter had experienced that visceral feeling firsthand. In his subsequent encounters with Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblin, the fights were primarily guided by his own decision-making.
Thanks to these experiences, while he still felt nervous at times, he was far better than before. If this had been his former self out there earlier, the shield would surely have been snatched back when Ant-Man suddenly enlarged himself!
Now, perhaps he could even temporarily hold off the Falcon and Winter Soldier in a two-on-one fight.
At that moment, the Winter Soldier came running back. Earlier, while Peter was engaged with the Falcon, he had taken Peter's shield and thrown it through a nearby window down to Captain America, who was locked in combat with Black Panther below.
With the shield, Captain America could finally put up a fight against the powerful Black Panther. Unfortunately, it was only enough for a stalemate.
Black Panther's vibranium suit was incredibly formidable. Wakanda's mastery of vibranium was truly ingenious - they had developed two variants, vibranium A and B. Vibranium A was the original energy-absorbing form, while vibranium B could break the molecular bonds of many metals, including vibranium A itself.
From one metal, they had paradoxically created both the "most indestructible shield" and the "sharpest spear." The claws on Black Panther's suit were made of vibranium B, allowing him to leave several scratches on Captain America's supposedly indestructible vibranium shield.
This shocked Cap greatly, but there was no time for surprise. He could only grit his teeth and endure the sight of his beloved shield being clawed by another, continuing the fight.
Meanwhile inside the terminal, the Winter Soldier tried to rescue Falcon but was kicked down by Peter, who swiftly bound them both with webbing, immobilizing them completely.
"I'd love to keep playing," Peter quipped, "but I have other missions. So..."
Bang! He turned and rapidly fired a web shot, pinning a small drone directly to the ceiling.
Glancing at its design, he said to Falcon, "Is this your kid, sir? Quite the mischievous little thing."
"You got any other tricks, buddy?" the Winter Soldier challenged.
Falcon just shook his head in bewilderment. "Are all you youngsters this formidable these days?"
Peter shrugged. "Bye." He turned and leapt back out the window, rejoining the escalating battle outside.
By now, the fight had reached new heights of intensity. Captain America alone was barely withstanding the combined assault of Black Panther and War Machine when Ant-Man made his brilliant move.
He handed Cap a miniature maze the size of a keychain, along with an enlarging device. "Throw this at that thing!"
Captain America nodded hesitantly, unsure of the plan. Without further explanation, Ant-Man simply hurled the device.
Following his lead, Cap instinctively threw the mini-car after it.
Snap! The mini-car overtook the device and struck it head-on. In an astonishing sight, the car suddenly expanded to full size, slamming directly into the startled War Machine!
War Machine, Black Panther, Black Widow, and the newly-arrived Peter all froze in shock at the unfolding scene. It took a moment for them to process what just happened.
The Black Panther tackled Black Widow to the ground, using his vibranium suit to shield her from the blast. Peter wanted to help but was too far away, so he could only rush over as quickly as possible.
Being a real man, War Machine faced the oncoming vehicle head-on. There was a tremendous bang as he was crushed beneath its immense weight, the force shoving him and his armor several meters back before coming to a halt.
Emerging soot-covered from the burning wreckage, War Machine growled, "Now I'm angry!"
Iron Man arrived just in time, landing to help Black Widow and Black Panther up from the ground.
"Was that part of the plan?" Black Widow asked warily.
Iron Man shook his head grimly. "No...this has exceeded our expectations. I wanted to go a bit easier on them."
"We're not actually going to fight them for real, are we?" Peter asked curiously as he approached.
Iron Man's tone was grim, his mood clearly soured. Turning to Peter, he retorted, "What, you thought we were just playing games here?"
"They're heading for the plane," War Machine reported.
"Don't worry, someone's been waiting to greet them," Iron Man replied calmly, showing no panic. "Now let's regroup over there."
Iron Man took Black Widow while Peter and Black Panther hitched a ride on War Machine's sides. The five quickly made their way across the plaza to the other side.
It was there that Peter finally saw the "sixth man" Iron Man had mentioned. His skin was entirely red, clad in simple gray-green garb with a cape billowing behind him.
Most strikingly, he was hovering in midair, able to fly!
"He can actually fly?" Peter blurted out in amazement.
"That's Vision, an extremely powerful being," War Machine explained.
"How powerful are we talking?"
"Tremendously powerful. And he's a redhead too - maybe he has a taste for scrawny little kids like you."
Peter frowned. "...You really do treat me like a toddler, don't you? Makes me want to defect sides. What should I do?"
As they conversed, the two fully assembled teams faced off against each other once more. This time, all members were accounted for:
Iron Man's team consisted of himself, Vision, War Machine, Black Widow, Black Panther and Peter.
Captain America's forces included himself, Wanda, Falcon, Hawkeye, Winter Soldier and Ant-Man.
It was an intriguing lineup on both sides - Iron Man and Cap's buddy teams, the married couple of Vision and Wanda, the quippy duo of Peter and Ant-Man. Looking at it this way, it felt like they had stacked every possible buff.
The leaders had been quite shrewd in putting these teams together, forging an impressive chemistry and unspoken cohesion between each side's members.
However, the atmosphere was anything but harmonious now that they stood assembled. As the two groups sized each other up, their expressions grew solemn.
After evaluating the opposing forces, Iron Man and Captain America both realized that there would be no convincing the other side through words alone. Not in the short term, at least.
Battle was about to erupt once more between them!
And this time, it promised to reach even greater heights of ferocity!
(End of Chapter)