Let's end this now," Tony replied in a cool, distanced voice hoping to refrain from cluing the madman in on his connection with the team. When it appeared that he hadn't picked up on it, Tony continued to struggle to regain control of his suit.
"Oh, I intend to," the voice leered when Tony's body came to a standstill. His thrusters were back in action shooting him upward towards the clouds without any direction of his own. He was still being hacked, driven to the limit by forces beyond his own volition when he worked to regain his control of his suit.
"JARVIS is working to free the system," Natasha explained in a labored voice. There was a tapping sound accompanying her words indicating that she and Clint were in the building, working their way to the midway point of the building through the extensive staircase towards the mainframe of the tower, "If we can get another forty-five seconds then…"
"You've always been so sure of yourself Stark," the menacing voice in his suit continued to taunt him, "You've always believed that there was a balance in the man you are and the hero you long to be, but you are no hero. You are no different than I am."
"I'm the man with the Hulk," Tony shot back with sarcasm as he fought to silently keep tabs on his team, "You're the imitator stealing another man's genius in the hopes of proving your copycat skills are enough to set you apart from all the other frauds out there. You're not a genius."
"I don't need to be a genius to best you Stark," the voice promised with amusement rumbling through the suit. When Tony's body came to a jerking stop indicating that he was being suspended mid-air at the mercy of the man whose thirst for chaos tore the city to pieces, "You might have made your mark, but rest assured after today the world will know the fraud you truly are. Everything you've ever acquired was stemmed from another man's blood, sweat and tears. Your genius means nothing when you fail to deliver on your promises."
Thirty seconds until you're back online Tony," Natasha's voice maintained in his ear, "Clint and I are almost at the penthouse. We will be there in under two minutes and…"
"Hurry on with it," Tony spoke up in his best attempts at pretending to engage his new foe, "I'm bored with this conversation."
"Then perhaps I should serve up something a bit more titillating," the man behind the intrusion snickered, creating another sense of upward movement when Tony's thrusters returned to action. With the beams in the sky, Tony felt them circling around him, observing them sparking with life, and soaking up energy as the man behind the controls was no doubt anticipating delivering the city one final devastating blow. Again, the feed of Pepper and the preschoolers was on the screen revealing an earlier moment when Pepper had been seated beside Rhodey reading Charlotte's Web to the children. They were all ears as she and Rhodey took turns switching off in their narration and offering a slice of entertainment to the children who'd come from less than fortunate areas to share in a special day with Iron Man and friends.
"You were supposed to be there," the voice reminded him of his oversight as Tony observed the exchange between Pepper and Rhodey, sensing their sheer elation at the idea of being able to share a much-loved classic with the children who ate up their every word.
It was an experience to treasure and one that Tony hadn't thought to skip out on, but at the last second a staff member at the Pentagon had requested the team's appearance at the Met Gala instructing them to come together for the celebration to discuss business. In his disappointing confession about his new engagement, Pepper had been disappointed that once again duty overruled his promise to the children all coming together to see their favorite hero. He'd apologized profusely, but there was no backing out when the President had been calling the shots. At the time, Rhodey had stepped up volunteering his reading skills and services in Tony's absence while Tony dedicated the night to celebration and saving the world. His initial intention was to have skipped out earlier in the night once shop talk was done. He'd planned to find a way to return to his promise of Iron Man's arrival at the reading. He'd sworn to Pepper he would, but then the night took a turn for the worst and after a little booze and a bit more schmoozing, he'd been driven to distraction taken from his promise to the ones he loved.
"Too bad Iron Man wasn't there to share in their joy before it expired," the voice jabbed guiding Tony to the guilt he'd felt when he'd known he'd lingered a bit too long at the Gala.
Tony hadn't intended upon it, but when a salacious reminder of his past had taken up his time, he'd flirted just a little too long, got distracted a little too far until the point in time when he'd been delivered the first blow that the person whom he'd been flirting with was working in cooperation with the enemy. After she'd tried to drug him, he'd staggered a bit, caught up in the embarrassment of being caught off guard at a time when he'd been meant to be on high alert. Now, knowing of his mistake, he'd fought to rectify it vowing to make it up to Pepper in all the ways he should've from the start when the man's voice continued to taunt him.