Brooklyn, New York-
-June 2, 2010, 2010h local-
"Paycheck? We're getting paid?" Steve asked.
"No, but someone else might. We're not the only ones he called." Peggy answered.
Both super soldiers were wearing all black tactical gear and mask to prevent anyone from figuring out who they were. Because of this, Steve opted out from using his shield, or any shield for that matter, since it would be just a dead giveaway. An enhanced individual with a shield would immediately be linked to Captain America, and as he was supposed to be still in recovery.
"Let's go. He's about to break through the barricade..." Peggy said when the 'Abomination' threw a car towards one of the humvee forming the blockade. "Remember, we can't outmatch him in strength, but we can outmaneuver him. Be light on your feet, and don't stay long in his range."
"I think you know that I can handle that." Steve replied with a smile.
"That's why I'm reminding you. I remember how you fought—never backing down. That'll give us more problems if you take on a full swing than just backing down."
Steve looks like he swallowed something sour but nodded nonetheless. Even he himself acknowledges that he can be a bit stubborn. Without another word, the duo charged from one blind corner behind the monster and punched it behind the knee, causing the 'Abomination' to fold.
However, all it did was infuriate Blonsky, causing its attention to focus mainly on them, relieving the pressure from the military at the front.
Steve and Peggy moved together like a seamless machine. Steve opted to be in the 'frontlines' by not dodging more than necessary and actually parrying a lot of the blows. This gives Peggy, who's a great, deal more agile and athletic due to Naruto's training, a lot more chances to attack Blonsky cleanly. Although the massive difference and size and natural toughness mean most of the attacks don't go through. It's a good thing that they just need to buy time for the big hitter.
Blonsky took a few steps back, stunned, after a particularly powerful kick.
"So, Ross was able to perfect the serum..." Blonsky said with a feral grin. "It's no use, though..." He took a step back and opened his arms wide, showing off his body. 'Look at me! I'm faster, stronger, and tougher than both of you combined."
"Then why can't you get a solid hit in?" Steve taunted.
Blonsky flashed a feral grin before hitting Steve with an absolutely brutal spartan kick, sending Steve towards a parked car.
"Like that?" Blonsky asked.
As a testament to Peggy's professionality, she didn't even gave Steve a second glance before doing a backflip and picked up a utility hole cover before tossing it to the Abomination's head, buying a few seconds of relief.
Steve slowly got himself out of the wreckage onto the street before stretching his back a bit.
"That stings." Steve groaned out.
"Told you to stay mobile." Peggy chided as she retreated from Blonsky's immediate range.
"Yeah..." Steve replied, agreeing with Peggy. "When will the supposed backup arrive?"
"It should be any second now..." Blonsky quickly recovered from the direct hit and lumbered his way towards them. "We need to buy a few more seconds. We can't have that Abomination raging across the city."
"You know me..." Steve moved towards Peggy's side while doing some Bounce steps to loosen up his muscles. "I can do this all day."
Steve quickly rushed Blonsky, preventing the giant from using its larger mass to gain some momentum. Blonsky just smiled, expecting another slugfest. However, something unexpected happened that caused both Blonsky and Steve to stop in their tracks.
A mass dropped from the sky, created a crater, and it suspiciously sounded like a bag of meat. Looking inside the hole, they could see an unremarkable man lying face down. Now, Steve, Peggy, and Blonsky have seen many parachuting accidents. Soldiers whose parachutes never opened and just dropped straight to the ground. Assuming the guy fell from the helicopter that flew over, then the body should have been more damaged—broken bones, open skull, or at the very least some lacerations. The man in the crater doesn't even show a speck of blood.
The more peculiar thing, though, was the crater formed by the impact. People dropping, no matter how high, don't make craters. Humans aren't just heavy enough to make the force necessary when the terminal velocity was factored in.
Peggy must have realized something since she pulled Steve by the scruff of his neck and bolted away from the crater.
"Peggy! Blonsky's the other way!" Steve pointed out, only slightly fighting off Peggy's pull.
"I know. We need to make some distance. Reinforcement's here..." As soon as Peggy replied, a monstrous roar echoed blasted from the crater. "The Hulk's here."
-Brooklyn, New York-
-June 2, 2010, 2015h local-
"Oh, God. There's two of them." PFC Phillips can't help but blurt out as soon as another titan emerged from the hole.
"Move everyone back another block..." The master sergeant's voice can be heard from the radio. "I want squads 1 to 12 to move into the red zone and check every nook and cranny for non-combatants. Make sure to stay out of the streets and avoid getting anyone's attention. The rest are going to hold the line. No one goes in the area."
Phillips released a sigh of relief since he was in squad 16. There's no way he's getting close to the two monsters having their grudge match.
-Stark Expo, Queens, New York-
-June 2, 2010, 2005h local-
"Today! I present to you the new phase of the United States military!" Hammer pointed behind him with a flourish. "The Hammer Drones!"
Heavily modified humanoid drones raised from the floor in four groups of eight, one for each branch of the United States Military, accompanied by Justin Hammer's over-the-top presentation. When the final group was raised, all the drones saluted alongside Hammer at the crescendo of the background music, sending half of the audience into a standing ovation.
Hammer was basking from the attention when two armor flew in, and superhero dropped onto the stage, sandwiching Hammer. The crowd went ballistic when two IronMan armor showed up.
Tony and Rhodey didn't even acknowledge the crowd when the alarms started blaring in the Pavillion, turning the excitement into confusion. The staff on-site quickly set into action and ushered the people out og the pavilion.
"What are you doing?" Hammer said with a whisper. With his microphone still connected to the speakers, everyone in the audience could hear his voice. "What are you doing!? You're ruining everything!"
"We know Vanko's with you, and he basically created those class F imitations..." Tony replied, not acknowledging Hammer's rant. "It's funny if you think about it..." He walked towards one of the drones and tapped its chest. At this point, only essential personnel and some of Hammer's lackeys are left inside the pavillion. The police should already be surrounding the place and creating a safe zone. "It took you, a 120 IQ CEO whose greatest strength is copying my stuff, and a 160 IQ emo with a flare for the dramatics."
Hammer was practically seething by this point, and it looks he isn't the only one who heard Tony's tirade. A marine Hammerdrones quickly pulled its arm back and suddenly punched Tony. Only Tony's increased reaction time from continuous use of his armor enabled him to dodge the oncoming metal fist straight to his face.
Tony rolled out and aimed his arms towards the drones while opening all his arm weapons. Rhodey quickly followed suit and aimed his heavier loadouts. The drone's face indicator lights changed from blue to red before stepping of their platforms.
"What... What's happening?" Hammer asked, shocked at the sudden turn of events. In his understanding, those drones can only salute and march around in preprogrammed route.
"That's Vanko screwing with you..." Tony replied. "Here we go, Rhodey-bear. It's showtime."
Everything was at a standstill. The only thing moving was the staff and Hammer, who was slowly moving away from where the supposed action would start. It's pretty weird seeing that there's visible tension between the two groups when one group was made up of drones.
Just like a dam giving way, the fight began. All air force and marine drones flew up, breaking the glass roof, sending shards of glass raining down. It's a miracle nobody left behind was hurt.
"I'll take on the flyers. You handle everything down here." Tony said to Rhodey before flying off.
"But I'm the Air Force Pilot!" Rhodey shouted, but it fell on deaf ears. That was when one of the army drones fired an anti-tank round straight to his chest. It's a thing that his armor was both highly advanced and thick. "So that's how you want to play it, huh. Let me show you what I got."
Rhodey aimed his railgun towards the offending drone and blasted it with ultrasonic shards of metal, effectively making the drone a human-shaped pile of scrap metal. The remaining drones quickly scattered, opting to make their way out by blasting the walls.
"Oh fuck. Now it's a cat and mouse."
Tony was experiencing something similar. He's got to give credit where the credit is due; the drones were better at flying than he expected. The Marine drones have shitty maneuverability, and they lose more of it when firing their wrist-mounted armaments. The air force ones could keep up with him in low-speed maneuvers, and their shoulder-mounted machine guns could actually do some damage if he sustained a prolonged fire. That's why he had no choice but to use hit and run tactics to deal with them, even for his superior tech.
However, even with Tony's hit and run tactics, he must continue pressing the drones. Otherwise, they might turn their attention to the crowds below. Even from here, he can see the ground-based drones already wrecking the area around the Pavillion. Rockets and tank rounds were firing wildly, aiming at doing maximum damage. Only Rhodey's intervention prevented the worst of it.
Tony was analyzing the situation when the air force drones suddenly broke their usual pattern and separated to cut off his potential escape routes, surprising him. Jarvis quickly sent optional routes to his HUD, but he would still take some damage by plowing through the drones with his micro missiles. He was about to fire the missile when the drone's head in front of him suddenly exploded.
"Where did that come from?" Tony asked JARVIS after he escaped his current predicament.
"Tracing the shot. Mapping the area via satellite. Hacking the camera with the best angle. Bringing it up on the HUD, sir." JARVIS replied.
Tony saw an African American man with a fifty-caliber sniper rifle on top of a highrise near the expo.
"That's Naruto's guy. He was supposed to be in Gulmira..." Tony said to no one in particular. "Check to see if he has comms and patch me through."
"Connecting... now."
"You know I can handle that, right?" Tony said to Erik. There was a moment of silence before Erik replied.
"Not from where I'm standing, white boy." Erik replied in a perfect mix of condescending and sarcastic.
Tony smiled, hearing the reply.
"You wanna help? Check the people on the ground too. Let's see how many you can take out."
"You're on Stark. There should be at least fifty more incoming. Plenty of Hammerdrones to go around. Well, as long as Vanko could finish what he's doing. Or at least that's what Naruto said."
"Huh, they really got too much time on their hands."