Chapter 17
"Mr. Stark, be careful, it's Ant-Man!" Peter immediately reacted, shouting a warning.
Iron Man also received a report from his AI, Friday, and promptly activated the suit's fire suppression system.
"Oops, caught me?" Ant-Man's voice came from inside the suit.
"You're the shrinking guy?" Iron Man asked.
Ant-Man replied, "No, no, I'm your conscience."
Iron Man let out a cold laugh. "Hope my conscience can withstand the coolant flush."
"Whoa! I'm gonna die, gonna die, gonna die!" As he spoke, coolant surged through the pipes toward Ant-Man.
Ant-Man turned to run, but how could he outrun the coolant?
When Iron Man designed this cooling system, it was to prevent overheating in certain parts or fires caused by external damage.
So, the cooling system had to be fast.
Ant-Man was flushed out by the coolant, splattering onto the ground.
Meanwhile, Captain America's side used Wanda's outburst to quickly put distance between themselves and Iron Man's team.
After some discussion, they decided to let Captain America and Winter Soldier proceed to Siberia as planned, while the others stayed behind to continue stalling Iron Man's group.
But before that, they needed a big distraction to draw everyone's attention, making it easier for Captain America and Winter Soldier to slip away.
So, Ant-Man volunteered to be the big guy.
"Holy crap… what is that?" Peter stared in shock at the center of the plaza.
Before him was a giant Ant-Man, over thirty meters tall, almost as big as Ultraman.
"The little guy got big again. This dude's so weird, shrinking one minute, growing the next?" War Machine, whose foot was caught, let out a helpless quip.
"Good job, Tic Tac!" Falcon praised.
Ant-Man said nothing, flinging War Machine out, right over Peter's head.
Peter quickly shot out webbing, trying to pull War Machine back, but the immense force dragged him forward instead.
Finally, with the help of a bus, he managed to stop War Machine's momentum and pull him back.
"Good job, Spidey," War Machine thanked him before charging back at Ant-Man.
At that moment, Ant-Man kicked another bus toward them.
Peter spun around, catching the bus and stumbling back several steps before stopping.
"Take it back!" He exerted force, throwing the bus back.
Iron Man and War Machine launched a combined assault on Ant-Man, but against a giant Ant-Man who could use an airplane wing as a knife, they were momentarily at a loss.
"Anyone on our side got a special talent to show off?" Iron Man shouted while firing a barrage of bullets.
Peter asked in confusion, "This guy defies the laws of physics. His body gets bigger, but his toughness shouldn't change, right? How can he tank bullets?"
"Does growing bigger follow the laws of physics? His mass increases too!" Iron Man retorted.
"Fair enough. I've got a plan. Let me try."
Peter still didn't quite get it, but no matter. They could fight first and figure it out later.
He quickly approached Ant-Man, shooting several webs to stick to his feet and joints.
The incredibly tough webbing instantly restricted Ant-Man's movements.
Already sluggish after enlarging, he became like a lumbering giant old man.
Taking advantage of this, Peter shot out more webbing with both hands, circling Ant-Man round and round from his feet up.
"Mr. Stark, and, uh…" Peter didn't know War Machine's name, or even that he was called War Machine.
"Rhodes. I'm Rhodes. What do we do?" War Machine replied.
"Alright, Mr. Stark, Mr. Rhodes, find an opening, use your speed to hit his chin, and knock him out!" Peter shared his plan.
"Got it!" Iron Man and War Machine chose to trust Peter.
Ant-Man seemed to sense their plan, but at this point, he was a fish on the chopping block with no ability to resist.
In fact, this was only the second time he'd used his enlarging ability, and the first time wasn't even this big.
So, he was really just a big, flashy target with limited actual combat power.
*Duang!*
The two armored suits used their thrusters' momentum, channeling all their kinetic energy into their fists, and landed a heavy blow on Ant-Man's chin.
Ant-Man's body tilted backward and collapsed to the ground, quickly shrinking back to normal size.
"Nice work," Iron Man looked at Peter, very satisfied with his performance.
Peter flashed a victory sign. "You're welcome!"
*Boom!*
As the two spoke, a Quinjet took off from the tarmac not far away.
"Damn it!" Iron Man and War Machine cursed under their breath, flying off toward the Quinjet.
Falcon, seeing this from afar, took off as well.
Peter was momentarily stunned.
The battle had shifted from the ground to the air. What was he supposed to do?
Which Spider-Man in any universe could fly?
Could he copy that?
Online and waiting—pretty urgent!
"Hey, kid, can you give me a hand?" Ant-Man groaned, calling out to Peter for help.
Peter walked over, stopping about three meters away. "If I help you, will I get labeled a war criminal too?"
Ant-Man: …
"No, no way!" Ant-Man tried to convince Peter. Enlarging again had put immense strain on his body, and now he was in pain all over with barely any strength left.
"But it's too risky. I don't want to take the chance," Peter said.
"I've got a daughter named Cassie. Super cute. How about I introduce you?" Ant-Man resorted to the temptation of beauty.
Mainly, he thought this kid was pretty good. His voice suggested he was young, but he was bold, clever, and highly capable—a remarkable young man.
Though Cassie was still young, he didn't mind scouting a promising guy for her to get to know.
Most importantly, they were "kin"!
Peter: …
"Your daughter would be heartbroken to hear that," Peter said, walking over to help Ant-Man up.
Of course, it wasn't for the supposed pretty daughter. He just figured helping Ant-Man wasn't a big deal.
After all, anyone could see that neither side had gone all out from start to finish.
Ant-Man introduced himself. "I'm Scott Lang. You can call me Scott. What's your name?"
"Uh, I'm Peter Parker. You can call me Peter," Peter said.
"Heh, nice, Peter. You're a great kid. Solid muscles," Ant-Man said, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder and patting his chest with a goofy grin.
Peter shivered. "Please don't make such creepy moves and faces."