Chapter 14
"Good job, kid!" Iron Man praised.
When Ant-Man appeared, he thought the shield was about to be taken back, but Peter's reaction was surprisingly quick.
"What the heck was that? An actual bug? Something out of a storybook?" War Machine rattled off a series of questions.
"Ahem, I'm not a bug. Let me introduce myself—I'm Ant-Man," Ant-Man said, slowly getting up from the ground, shooting Peter a resentful glance. "Kids these days, no respect for their elders."
"I'll respect you when you're old, Ant Uncle," Peter retorted, never one to lose in a verbal spar.
Ant-Man grumbled, "I'm not an ant, I'm Ant-Man, you spider."
"I'm not a spider, I'm Spider-Man."
Just as the two were about to start a verbal showdown, Iron Man cut them off.
He had already located the positions of Captain America's other allies through the thermal imaging in his suit.
"There are two on the tarmac, one of them is Wanda. I'll go after her."
Captain America was reaching out to Peter for the shield: "Kid, can you give me the shield?"
Peter waved the shield in his left hand, grinning. "Sorry, this shield feels pretty comfortable in my hands. How about I hold onto it for now?"
*Clang!*
As he spoke, he slightly sidestepped, using the shield to block an arrow that came flying at him.
"Good job," Iron Man praised again, then flew toward the tarmac. "Rhodey, you handle the Captain."
Rhodey said, "There are two in the terminal—Wilson and Barnes."
"Barnes is mine!" Black Panther declared, sprinting toward the terminal upon hearing this.
Captain America's expression tightened slightly, knowing he wouldn't get the shield back anytime soon. Without hesitation, he turned and chased after Black Panther.
Barnes was his good brother, and he couldn't just stand by while Black Panther went after him.
But without the shield, Captain America, with just his flesh-and-blood body, was no match for Black Panther.
He quickly fell into a disadvantage.
If Black Panther weren't holding back, Captain America probably wouldn't have lasted a few moves.
"Then I'll go meet the famous Winter Soldier," Peter said, glancing at the scene below, feeling he wasn't needed there for now.
Black Widow had already started fighting Ant-Man.
Everyone was paired off in combat.
So, he decisively left, shooting a web and heading toward the terminal.
Soon, on the second floor of the terminal, he spotted two people running, one of whom had a silver metal arm.
With such a distinctive feature, that had to be Winter Soldier!
Peter swung the shield, smashing the glass with its edge and charging in.
"Whoa, what the heck are you?" Winter Soldier was startled.
Falcon assumed a fighting stance: "These days, does everyone have some fancy tricks?"
Peter glanced at Winter Soldier's arm, emphasizing, "I'd say he's not lacking either."
Winter Soldier looked at the shield in Peter's hand and asked, "You sure you want to stop us?"
"Someone asked me to," Peter shrugged.
Winter Soldier said no more. He wasn't much for words anyway.
*Boom!*
Winter Soldier swung his metal arm at Peter.
Peter raised the shield, easily blocking the strike, barely feeling any force.
"Whoa, is this a vibranium shield? Cool!"
At that moment, his spider-sense warned him.
Peter pushed off with force, leaping into the air.
*Swish—*
A figure zipped past where he had just been standing.
If he hadn't jumped, he'd likely have been grabbed and flung out by now.
His enhanced dynamic vision allowed him to clearly see the figure's appearance.
It was Falcon!
But now, he was in armed mode, with a pair of metal wings on his back.
"Whoa, he's got a metal arm, you've got metal wings, and you call *me* fancy?" Peter aimed a web at Falcon's back.
Falcon dodged with a nimble maneuver.
Then he fired several micro-missiles in retaliation.
Such straightforward attacks didn't faze Peter. He pretended to sidestep, dodging them all.
Yes, pretended.
Based on the intensity of his spider-sense and his quick calculation of the micro-missiles' trajectories after a glance, he knew they wouldn't hit him. At most, they were a warning.
As expected, everyone was "playing" with a certain understanding.
Of course, Peter was also quite interested in playing along.
*Swish—*
Another web shot out.
But Falcon dodged it again.
Peter scratched his head, glancing at the shield in his hand with some frustration.
If he had shot webs with both hands, he could've boxed in Falcon's movements, making it harder for him to dodge.
As expected, Spider-Man shouldn't be playing with shields.
Peter's eyes darted: "Here you go!"
He tossed the shield, sending it hurtling toward Winter Soldier below.
Winter Soldier, startled, caught the shield with his hand but was pushed back several steps by its immense force.
Having successfully passed off the shield, Peter got serious about facing Falcon.
The space above the terminal was relatively open for someone like Peter.
But for Falcon, with his mechanical metal wings, it was a bit too cramped.
Many of his movements were restricted as a result.
Peter quickly noticed this and capitalized on it.
As Falcon dodged a thick steel beam, Peter anticipated his position and fired a web bullet, sticking it directly to the power gear of Falcon's mechanical wings.
*Click, click.*
The gear turned a few times before being bound by the tough web.
Falcon plummeted from the air.
Peter initially moved to catch him but realized the height wasn't enough to cause injury, so he didn't act.
Falcon hit the ground but quickly got up, raising his hand to attack Peter again with his gear.
Peter had already anticipated his move.
*Swish, swish.* Two webs shot out, one from each side, binding Falcon's hands to the railing.
"Are your wings made of carbon fiber? No wonder they've got such great stiffness and elasticity."
"Is your web something you spin yourself?"
"Uh, no, of course not. Though I wish I could spin my own webs—that'd be so convenient. No need to sneak—*cough*—during class," Peter said, a bit embarrassed, defending himself.
Falcon was speechless: "Kid, have you never been in a fight? We don't usually talk this much during a brawl."
"Nonsense, of course I've fought!" Peter thought back to his battles in the Shadow Spider-Man world, then realized the difference.
In that world, he was a composite of himself and Shadow Spider-Man, so his actions were more decisive, and his mindset was more mature.
But now, this was the real him.
All this chatter wasn't because of anything else… it was because he was nervous!