horns-of-mischief:”No vital signs detected. Engaging Avalon Protocol.”Based on this heartwrenching p
horns-of-mischief:”No vital signs detected. Engaging Avalon Protocol.”Based on this heartwrenching post by @knightinironarmor Tony went off-comms three hours into the battle. Clint had eyes on him when it happens–Tony had been diverting a missile (in an awful parallel to their first battle together) and had been still a bit too close when it had blown. Iron Man was hurtled ass-over-teakettle through an old brick factory wall, a portion of the building collapsing on top of him. Steve was howling for him to report in over the comms for almost two minutes when Clint responds that Iron Man is up and fighting again. There’s still no response from Tony, but from the damage done to the suit it was likely that the communications systems had been knocked offline. It had happened before, and Tony had claimed that he’d fixed the problem, but, well–Anyway, Iron Man was up and fighting the hordes of robots with the rest of them, and everyone was too swarmed to reach him in person. Patching injuries could wait until lives weren’t on the line. And they couldn’t afford to bench him now even if he was hurt–they needed every fighter they had. Eventually, the fighting ends. The army of robots are left in pieces in the devastated streets. SHIELD teams are sweeping the battlefield for any stragglers. Steve tiredly orders the Avengers to gather at Iron Man’s position. He meets up with Natasha first, coming from the sidestreet where she’d bottlenecked them. Clint drops from a rooftop to walk with them a block later, filthy and smiling. Thor and Bruce join them at the corner, Thor’s cape slung over Banner’s bare shoulders. Iron Man is standing at the end of the block. As they come into view, Tony marches towards them, movements stiff and halting. The suit has taken heavy damage and lacks the usual grace Tony pilots it with. Steve’s brow furrows when they all come to a halt in the middle of the street–the faceplate is cracked, the lenses fractured, and there’s fluid leaking from the breaks. It’s impossible in the low light to tell if it’s coolant or blood. “Tony?” Clint asks. “Pop your helmet, man, we can’t hear you on comms.”The suit does not respond. “Iron Man, open your faceplate,” Steve orders.The voice that emerges from the suit is not Tony’s but JARVIS’s. “Avalon Protocol is engaged, Captain. Override required.”Avalon Protocol? Steve doesn’t know what that is, but hopefully his general override code will work. “Override: S. G. Rogers, passcode Sierra Tango Juno Niner Oh. Open the faceplate.”The faceplate opens.And everything is wrong. -- source link