The gauntlet on Tony's chest isn't just neutralizing the unibeam - it's draining the suit's power core, and thus all of his weapons. His repulsors don't do more than spark when he tries to fire them (and he still can't use rockets or flamethrowers, for fear of catching Akito and Sol in the crossfire). Even his forceshield sputters out almost immediately when he activates it.
Tony feels the armor around his neck start to buckle, and he struggles valiantly in Other Tony's grasp. But the nanoparticle armor, though lighter, is much stronger, and Tony can't budge it. Tony is furious that he's about to get taken out like this, by his own armor, worn by his annoying imaginary future self. And he's scared, too. When the neck plating crumples it will crush his windpipe and tear his throat to shreds, and he knows from too-close experience that it'll be a horrible way to die - and not a quick one, either. Choking, suffocating, gasping for air, drowning in blood, feeling your oxygen-starved brain shutting down system by system, the process of dying drawn out over seconds or even minutes...
He's not panicking. Tony Stark doesn't panic, not even when his life is in critical danger. Especially not then. But Other Tony's attack on his psyche has done its work, and in his uncertainty and denial, he doesn't have the force of will necessary to overcome Malicant on his own.
Fortunately, he isn't on his own.
Solomon's lion lunges, tearing the illusion off him, and Tony immediately rolls over and springs to his feet. Other Tony had gotten too caught up in spouting off and neglected to keep tabs on the other players. The vindictive satisfaction Tony feels about that is just delicious.
And behind the lion is Akito, Vilii stone in hand, and Tony snatches the shard up with a triumphant laugh. As he turns to face his foe, the crystal is melting, flowing over his gauntlet to cover the metal in a thin layer of shimmering purple.
Other Tony has managed to escape the lion with the assistance of his boot jets, but not unscathed: the armor is sealing up over a dozen brutal gouges from teeth and claws.
As Tony raises his newly-upgraded gauntlet, Other Tony snarls, and fires at the ceiling - bringing a large portion of the cavern crashing down on top of Tony and Akito and the lion. Tony throws up a shield around himself and Akito. When the rubble stops falling, he turns back to Akito for a moment, grinning wildly behind the faceplate.
"Thanks, man. I owe you one." Then he shoots a beam from his shiny new Vilii repulsor at Other Tony, using his sensors to pinpoint him through the clouds of dust. Other Tony curses and staggers.
That little taste of victory is just what Tony needs. Confidence surging, he fires off three more shots in close succession. Despite his wounds, though, Other Tony is fast, and he dodges the shots and then... vanishes from Tony's sensors. Where there had been a clear outline only a second ago, there's now garbled nonsense scrambled by heavy-duty interference. And thanks to the dust, Tony can't get a visual, either. Well, that's okay. Other Tony has to show himself sometime. This fight isn't going to end until one of them goes down.
Other Tony's repulsors pierce the debris cloud, but Tony catches them on his shield - which is holding again. Tony responds with a few more blind shots, though he doesn't really expect any of them to hit. There are several seconds of tense silence.
"We're not the reason Dad gave up arms dealing, you know," Other Tony says.
Tony tries to track his voice, but the acoustics of the rubble-filled cavern aren't any good. "Give it up, asshole. You're toast." Now that Tony has his shard, it doesn't matter what Malicant's illusion says. The stones don't rely on willpower: they're all-natural grade-A canned whoop-ass. All he has to do is aim and fire.
"He stopped because he was already rich. He made enough money selling weapons for the company to coast for the rest of his life, and he was tired of being pestered by the hippies and eco-wackos. We were just a convenient excuse."
Tony frowns. "Yeah, sure. If that's what helps you sleep at night, buddy." Other Tony chuckles. Tony wonders if he can hear the uncertainty in his voice. He thinks he sees a figure through the haze, and he fires, but Other Tony just chuckles again.
"You can't beat me. I am you." Another repulsor blast: Tony barely gets his shield up in time, and he staggers back. "I'm inevitable. You'll see it, eventually. I'm not some evil mirror-universe version of you, Tony. I'm just you a little more grown-up. I'm older, and more experienced, and I understand the world a little better, that's all. Some day soon, you'll realize that. And you'll realize that I'm right."
"You know what I'm starting to realize?" The dust is still to thick for good visibility, but Tony thinks... yes. Right there.
"What?" Other Tony asks, sounding amused and curious.
Tony takes aim. "I talk too much." And fires.
Inside the cloud, there's a scream of pain. Tony turns on his boot jets and flies towards it, and the wind of his passage finally clears away some of the dust. Now he can see Other Tony kneeling on the ground, hunched over, a huge gory hole in his torso that not even the nanoarmor can cover. He looks up as Tony approaches. His faceplate melts away, and though there's blood trickling out of his mouth, he grins.
"Nice shot."
Tony raises his shard-altered gauntlet again. Other Tony laughs breathlessly and raises two fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute. "See you in ten years, kid."
Tony fires again.
The illusion disintegrates, melting into slithery, shivering shadows that then themselves dissolve.
Tony takes a few steps back, his ears ringing in the sudden silence of the cavern. Not caring about the dust, he pops open his faceplate to take a few deep breaths of unfiltered air, while reflexively rubbing the dented armor at his neck.
A few seconds later, he realizes he's been staring blankly off into space, and he shakes his head vigorously and turns back to his allies. "Is everybody okay?" Akito and Solomon had been in fighting form just a minute ago, so he's not too worried about them, and Gene— Gene hasn't been in the fight since he got knocked down by the dampener. Shouldn't his armor have reactivated by now?
Sudden terror seizes Tony's heart. What if Other Tony's dampener hadn't just been a dampener? What if he'd upgraded it to damage, not just stun, and Gene's been lying there injured or dead this whole time and Tony hadn't even thought about him?!
"Gene!!" Tony launches himself towards where he'd last seen Gene's armor, stubbornly bottling up the turmoil in his mind and putting aside it until the more pressing matter of Gene's welfare has been resolved. (And possibly until forever, if he has any say in the matter.)
/wordvomits excruciatingly detailed character meta for twenty pages/
Tony feels the armor around his neck start to buckle, and he struggles valiantly in Other Tony's grasp. But the nanoparticle armor, though lighter, is much stronger, and Tony can't budge it. Tony is furious that he's about to get taken out like this, by his own armor, worn by his annoying imaginary future self. And he's scared, too. When the neck plating crumples it will crush his windpipe and tear his throat to shreds, and he knows from too-close experience that it'll be a horrible way to die - and not a quick one, either. Choking, suffocating, gasping for air, drowning in blood, feeling your oxygen-starved brain shutting down system by system, the process of dying drawn out over seconds or even minutes...
He's not panicking. Tony Stark doesn't panic, not even when his life is in critical danger. Especially not then. But Other Tony's attack on his psyche has done its work, and in his uncertainty and denial, he doesn't have the force of will necessary to overcome Malicant on his own.
Fortunately, he isn't on his own.
Solomon's lion lunges, tearing the illusion off him, and Tony immediately rolls over and springs to his feet. Other Tony had gotten too caught up in spouting off and neglected to keep tabs on the other players. The vindictive satisfaction Tony feels about that is just delicious.
And behind the lion is Akito, Vilii stone in hand, and Tony snatches the shard up with a triumphant laugh. As he turns to face his foe, the crystal is melting, flowing over his gauntlet to cover the metal in a thin layer of shimmering purple.
Other Tony has managed to escape the lion with the assistance of his boot jets, but not unscathed: the armor is sealing up over a dozen brutal gouges from teeth and claws.
As Tony raises his newly-upgraded gauntlet, Other Tony snarls, and fires at the ceiling - bringing a large portion of the cavern crashing down on top of Tony and Akito and the lion. Tony throws up a shield around himself and Akito. When the rubble stops falling, he turns back to Akito for a moment, grinning wildly behind the faceplate.
"Thanks, man. I owe you one." Then he shoots a beam from his shiny new Vilii repulsor at Other Tony, using his sensors to pinpoint him through the clouds of dust. Other Tony curses and staggers.
That little taste of victory is just what Tony needs. Confidence surging, he fires off three more shots in close succession. Despite his wounds, though, Other Tony is fast, and he dodges the shots and then... vanishes from Tony's sensors. Where there had been a clear outline only a second ago, there's now garbled nonsense scrambled by heavy-duty interference. And thanks to the dust, Tony can't get a visual, either. Well, that's okay. Other Tony has to show himself sometime. This fight isn't going to end until one of them goes down.
Other Tony's repulsors pierce the debris cloud, but Tony catches them on his shield - which is holding again. Tony responds with a few more blind shots, though he doesn't really expect any of them to hit. There are several seconds of tense silence.
"We're not the reason Dad gave up arms dealing, you know," Other Tony says.
Tony tries to track his voice, but the acoustics of the rubble-filled cavern aren't any good. "Give it up, asshole. You're toast." Now that Tony has his shard, it doesn't matter what Malicant's illusion says. The stones don't rely on willpower: they're all-natural grade-A canned whoop-ass. All he has to do is aim and fire.
"He stopped because he was already rich. He made enough money selling weapons for the company to coast for the rest of his life, and he was tired of being pestered by the hippies and eco-wackos. We were just a convenient excuse."
Tony frowns. "Yeah, sure. If that's what helps you sleep at night, buddy." Other Tony chuckles. Tony wonders if he can hear the uncertainty in his voice. He thinks he sees a figure through the haze, and he fires, but Other Tony just chuckles again.
"You can't beat me. I am you." Another repulsor blast: Tony barely gets his shield up in time, and he staggers back. "I'm inevitable. You'll see it, eventually. I'm not some evil mirror-universe version of you, Tony. I'm just you a little more grown-up. I'm older, and more experienced, and I understand the world a little better, that's all. Some day soon, you'll realize that. And you'll realize that I'm right."
"You know what I'm starting to realize?" The dust is still to thick for good visibility, but Tony thinks... yes. Right there.
"What?" Other Tony asks, sounding amused and curious.
Tony takes aim. "I talk too much." And fires.
Inside the cloud, there's a scream of pain. Tony turns on his boot jets and flies towards it, and the wind of his passage finally clears away some of the dust. Now he can see Other Tony kneeling on the ground, hunched over, a huge gory hole in his torso that not even the nanoarmor can cover. He looks up as Tony approaches. His faceplate melts away, and though there's blood trickling out of his mouth, he grins.
"Nice shot."
Tony raises his shard-altered gauntlet again. Other Tony laughs breathlessly and raises two fingers to his forehead in a mocking salute. "See you in ten years, kid."
Tony fires again.
The illusion disintegrates, melting into slithery, shivering shadows that then themselves dissolve.
Tony takes a few steps back, his ears ringing in the sudden silence of the cavern. Not caring about the dust, he pops open his faceplate to take a few deep breaths of unfiltered air, while reflexively rubbing the dented armor at his neck.
A few seconds later, he realizes he's been staring blankly off into space, and he shakes his head vigorously and turns back to his allies. "Is everybody okay?" Akito and Solomon had been in fighting form just a minute ago, so he's not too worried about them, and Gene— Gene hasn't been in the fight since he got knocked down by the dampener. Shouldn't his armor have reactivated by now?
Sudden terror seizes Tony's heart. What if Other Tony's dampener hadn't just been a dampener? What if he'd upgraded it to damage, not just stun, and Gene's been lying there injured or dead this whole time and Tony hadn't even thought about him?!
"Gene!!" Tony launches himself towards where he'd last seen Gene's armor, stubbornly bottling up the turmoil in his mind and putting aside it until the more pressing matter of Gene's welfare has been resolved. (And possibly until forever, if he has any say in the matter.)