"You're committing multiple felonies. The odds you get away with this are not in your favour."
Jarvis spoke as Ronan breathed heavily, glaring while his mind raced.
They both stood in the expansive space that was the Tower's mainframe.
Falling lines of code cascaded downwards like waterfalls as Ronan and Jarvis stood on a thin platform.
-VUAM
But that didn't last long as Ronan stumbled forward, noticing the ground was closing in around them.
An abyss of nothingness lay at the bottom as the platform mostly disappeared, leaving a singular spire where the two stood.
"You'll have powerful people after you. I suggest you confess and turn yourself in."
Hearing the suited figure say this, Ronan raised an eyebrow.
'Turn myself in? They already have me.'
But Ronan's confusion was cleared in the next second.
"Tell me, what kind of AI are you?" Jarvis asked, staring at Ronan.
Only now did he understand what was happening.
They didn't know he was a human with an ability, but rather a simple hacker out there using an AI, himself.
"I'm nothing compared to you. Something like you is to be expected of Tony Stark."
'I don't get it. Why doesn't he just kick me out?'
Ronan knew he could, but he chose to keep him here, as evidenced by the resistance Ronan felt when he tried to withdraw.
[You will die in 40 seconds]
Ronan clicked his teeth as he tried to hide his discomfort.
"Why are you keeping me here? I've already siphoned a considerable amount of information back. Keeping me here won't help you."
Ronan spoke casually, the fact he would die at any moment never evident in his blank expression.
In reality, his desperation made virtual sweat drip down his face. He was tight on time and things didn't seem to be going his way.
"Won't it?" Jarvis questioned vaguely.
However, he didn't need to say anymore.
Ronan widened his eyes as he turned his head, looking at the direction he came from.
Only now did he notice the faint green trail that followed the way he came in.
A faint green line that led out of the Tower, then down into an alleyway.
"You surprised me. You're skilled enough to force your way through security as strong as ours, yet lack the knowledge on basic concepts such as Digital Footprints."
"Perhaps you were made solely to infiltrate. Or perhaps the person who made you was simply impatient."
Ronan inwardly ground his teeth. Jarvis wasn't particularly wrong.
Despite him not even having a 1% mastery over his Technopathy, he put himself in such a dangerous situation.
Perhaps with weaker forms of Technology, it was okay, but when it came to the likes of the Tower, he was a one-trick pony.
All he could do was destroy.
However, due to his rapid thoughts, only now did he realise the voice that entered his eyes.
'Who…'
"Tell me, can the person responsible for this hear me through you?"
It was a smooth voice despite being authoritative with a hint of confidence, coming from an unknown direction, or rather, from everywhere.
But knowing it wasn't Jarvis talking, it didn't take long for Ronan to put the pieces together.
"Tony Stark. Yes, he can." Ronan played along. Technically, he wasn't lying.
"Good. Then please just turn yourself over. I'd rather not go through all this trouble." Tony exasperated as if this was something he was used to.
However, hearing this, Ronan only felt his eyes narrow dangerously as his face darkened.
"I'll admit, you're pretty skilled to have made it this far, but you didn't think you'd just walk away after this, did you?" Tony asked a witty hint to his tone.
'He's…underestimating me. Patronising me like I'm a common crook.'
Ronan didn't know why, but it rubbed him the wrong way.
He knew his skills were lacking.
He knew he was nothing much compared to Tony Stark and he knew he deserved to be underestimated.
Yet it still bugged him. Why?
But surprisingly, rather than acting like one might suspect, Ronan's lips curled upwards.
"What you should have done is approach the mainframe little by little, starting with menial software and going from there. We would have still caught you but it…"
"Get away with this? That's the easy part."
Ronan interrupted Tony as the latter raised an eyebrow.
"...what?"
No, instead, Ronan accepted the challenge.
"Avengers, Shield and highly classified information. We have it all. And trust us, as a newly transformed crook, that information will be of good use to us."
A pause erupted as Jarvis' smile disappeared, likely imitating his creator's expression.
After seeing the quest, Ronan was quick to come to an understanding.
'No matter what happens in this scenario, I'll be far from being any sort of Hero.'
"Fine," Tony said simply in a flat tone.
And in the next second, Ronan's smile faltered as he felt something powerful rise, causing him to raise his head.
All his mind could picture was a humanoid metallic figure with glowing horizontal eyes.
'Iron Man…'
[You will die in 27 seconds]
'It's clear I'm severely outmatched here. But if I'm a one-trick pony, I'll abuse the shit out of it.'
Jarvis' eyes narrowed as he witnessed the boy before him raise both arms, only to violently bring them down.
-SHATTER
-CRASH
The surroundings shattered and crashed, collapsing like a house of glass as the corner of Ronan's lip curled upwards.
He could no longer feel the piercing pain. It had numbed as if his nerves had just given up.
But he didn't mind. He preferred it this way.
No distractions.
"I'll destroy."
"Wait, stop it…"
However, before Jarvis could finish, Ronan leapt off the edge of the platform, diving through the abyss.
-SHATTER
-CRASH
As he did, his arms stayed outstretched, the surroundings tearing down as he went.
'Come on, come on, come on!'
He repeated desperately as if he were waiting for something.
[You will die in 17 seconds]
His eyes darted to the side occasionally as he kept an eye on the countdown.
And it was at this moment where a voice entered his ears.
"Jarvis, let the malware out. I've already got a location."
Each word was laced with urgency, making it clear he expected immediate action.
"Understood, sir."
And with this, Ronan felt a heavy force dawn upon him.
He was being forced out.
But before he was, something happened.
Something that made him grin wider.
It was only a single second.
No, less than that.
Perhaps it was because the mainframe was a mess or maybe because Jarvis had underestimated him and didn't think he'd be able to make use of this small window of time.
This small window of time where nothing was stopping him from sucking in the last bit of information he needed before…
-ZMMM
***
-RANGGGGG!!!
Ronan snapped open his bloodshot eyes, his nose dripping with blood and tainting his pants.
His pale skin seemed to worsen as green circuit lines ran up his neck, the large scar stopping just shy of his jawline glowing as well.
"GAH!"
Ronan exclaimed, letting out a sharp exhale and dropping to his hands and knees.
[You will die in 4 seconds]
The time paused as it took all of Ronan's power to push back the Technobane despite the immeasurable pain that shot through his body.
He foamed from the mouth and his breathing was ragged, his body occasionally seizing and the world feeling as though it was spinning.
And when it was all done…
[You will die in 1 week and 4 days]
'What the hell? Where did 6 days disappear to?'
Though asking this, it was rhetorical.
It was understandable if his maximum time was cut short due to exerting himself.
Ronan clicked his teeth as he forced himself to his feet.
'I can worry about that later. For now, Iron Man is coming…'
Ronan tried to stand, however, a loud THUD rang out as his legs seemingly stopped working.
Only now did he realise the exhaustion in his body.
Perhaps it was adrenaline that made him neglect the pain and fatigue for so long, but whatever it was, it was gone now.
'Come on, get up.'
He repeated to himself, gritting his teeth as he ignored every fibre in his body that told him to rest.
-BOOM
Ronan slowly looked up with a difficult expression, only to see a humanoid figure break the sound barrier as it darted through the air, leaving the highest point of the tower.
Ronan, his body leaning against a dumpster, felt his heartbeat quicken, his hands shaking.
But…it wasn't because he was scared.
No, this feeling was familiar. It was the same one with Spider-Man.
Only now did he realise he'd been feeling it his whole time.
And because of it, Ronan's eyes stayed wide, his gaze shifting to a small rock on the ground, then to the tall brick wall of the alley.
***
"Jarvis, pull up the minimap."
A metallic humanoid figure darted through the air above the city like an arrow, his hands and feet bursting with energy that propelled him.
However, underneath this suit was a man.
A handsome man with a well-groomed goatee and gelled, styled hair.
And before him appeared a small square map of sorts that depicted the layout of the city, a red dot adorned on it like a radar.
"The alleyway beside the Tower? Why there?" Tony asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Perhaps to be as close as possible while still staying hidden," Jarvis commented.
But it ultimately made no difference as Tony dived down like a fish in the sea, shooting like a bullet to the ground until…
-BEEP!!!
"Sir…"
"Yeah, I see it. He's moving."
"And at an impressive speed as well. He might be in a vehicle."
Tony witnessed the red dot darting from where it once was, shooting around the corner as it moved rapidly through dozens of alleyways.
"I'm faster," Tony noted.
And with that, he shot through one alley, changing his trajectory perfectly despite the immense speed he was travelling.
He cut corners sharply, rocketing from one alley to the next as the dust and garbage were kicked up into the air as he passed.
"You're gaining on him, Sir."
Jarvis mentioned as if he were cheering him on.
But Tony stayed silent, slightly mumbling, "A little more." as he closed in.
Truthfully, the conversation he had with the hacker lit a sort of fire in him.
With his ego, he couldn't allow a small-time crook like that to get away.
He was an Avenger. Earth's mightiest warrior, for god's sake.
And as he inched closer to the figure, his eyes widened in anticipation until…
-VUAM
Tony, inside his suit, hovered in an alleyway as he paused, looking around as his propulsors burst loudly.
"Jarvis, what's going on?"
He asked.
Despite being where the radar indicated the red dot to be, he was alone in the alley, finding nothing despite looking around with infrared.
"I'm not…"
However, the realisation slowly dawned on Tony and Jarvis as they had a better look around the alley, the radar confirming their thoughts.
-BEEP
The red dot disappeared as Tony dropped to the ground with a CLANK.
"This alley is the same one the footprint led to. I still don't know why the minimap malfunctioned. There doesn't seem to be…"
"It was him," Tony spoke in a low tone.
"What you should have done is approach the mainframe little by little, starting with menial software and going from there. We would have still caught you but it would have taken longer."
Tony remembered these words he'd spoken without much thought earlier.
'The minimap…he…'
And if that wasn't enough…
"So, was he never here?" Jarvis asked once more, the position of AI and human between them blurring as Tony stared at a brick wall.
Tony's face contorted in uncomfortable expression, a result of a dozen emotions like anger and resentment causing his teeth to clench.
But most prominently, frustration.
"No, he was definitely here…and he wanted me to know it."
On the brick wall, carved in were the words, "The Crook Wins." in clumsy handwriting.