SOAR: An Avengers Story

Ch.6: No Day But Today

February 15th, 2017

(Tony)

Valentine's Day was all fun and games, but the next day was all business.

Lucky for Tony, the new kids seemed to understand that.

Once they were in the Quinjet and on their way to Italy, Tony noticed a number of things.

For one, the usual attitude that Dani gave was nonexistent, which only made Tony's morning better. Her new suit, a black, skintight blend much like Peter's with striking pink designs on the sides made her look ten times more adult than she already did. She almost resembled an Avenger.

Joey's usual smile and clumsy demeanor were both gone, replaced with a nervous energy that can only be compared to an athlete before a game. He stood and shook out his muscles, constantly tensing and unraveling through the duration of the trip.

Even Peter, with his usual goading of Casper to join him in his antics, was silent, much like his partner-in-crime. They sat next to each other, completely still. It made Tony wonder if they were having a telepathic conversation.

Tony guessed they all knew the deal: now was the time to focus.

Tony sat at the helm of the jet, watching the clouds fly right under the aircraft much like a sailor would watch his boat slice through a current. The Quinjet was definitely able to make it to Italy on time, and Tony found himself proud of that in a weird way.

What made it weird was what they were flying to.

He had only a vague idea of what they were going to face in Rome: armed guards, super-powered muscle, and maybe even Italian authorities. He also had the codename of the one person who appeared to have organized the whole heist on the private communications hub: Masque. It was very mysterious, and Tony didn't know anything about him except for the fact that people obeyed him without question. He must have been pretty high on the Maggia chain of command. And Tony had no doubt that Masque would be there. Other than these things, he knew nothing.

Except for the Visio-Projector.

Tony remembered when he first created the tech in his dorm room at MIT. He had been up for 48 hours straight finishing it, and when he did, he felt like the smartest person on Earth. He didn't realize how stupid he was. Especially when he let Stane sell it.

He was even more stupid to keep it.

Everyone, including Stane, thought his prototype was gone, destroyed. But he kept it, hiding it in the Stark archives under something trivial like "Reports". He still had it, but he didn't want to. That was the whole point of the mission: to get the blueprints and beta prototype back and destroy it all at once. So no one could use against him. Again.

Tony's thoughts were interrupted by Clint, who came up behind him and stood there, seeming to admire the clouds like Tony himself was doing.

Clint said, "Are you sure about this, Tony?"

"I'm completely sure."

"Yeah, that might be the problem," Clint offered, "You put a bunch of newbies on your op, you benched Steve, and you barely know anything about what's gonna be waiting for us. You wouldn't do something like that unless you're 'completely sure' about something. The only question is, what?"

Tony looked up at Clint with almost imperceptible confusion as he said, "I want my things back. Simple as that. Won't be hard to get 'em back."

"Why is it so important?"