momslilassassin | Project Pegasus New York Facility [Late Thursday Afternoon] (Reply)

Billy	Billy and Ben had managed to catch up with Topher after he'd lost the gauntlet - Topher still wasn't running that fast, unfortunately - and they'd just kept moving through the facility from there, stopping only to catch their breath until they could hear metallic sounds and had to take off again. This did not look like it was going to end well.
Topher	Probably not, no. Not that Topher was paying much attention to that. What with the being doubled over and gasping for air. But it was pretty clear.
Ben	Ben was straining his Force-enhanced senses, trying to find a path as far from the skittering as he could find. "I think they're following the gasping," he murmured.
Technovore	That was possible! Or it could have been the delicious lightsaber that taunted him with the unknown technological properties. There was silence by them before something dropped down from the ceiling only a few feet away from the trio. "Consume."
Tony	Which, of course, be when Tony did the dumb thing and attacked the technology consuming monster, tackling it against the wall with enough force to crack the concrete.
Steve	And Steve's shield came from somewhere in the general direction Tony had come from, ricocheted off said technology consuming monster's face, and bounced back to his hand as he stepped into view wearing some...weirdly thematically appropriate clothes he'd scrounged from a locker on the Helicarrier, since going into battle in his khakis would have been less than ideal.
Billy	Topher wasn't the only one who was out of breath now - Billy looked back and forth between where the shield had come from and where Tony was flying around, and had to put his hand over his mouth to keep an embarrassing noise from coming out. "Ohmygodhithankgod," he said quickly.
Topher	Topher choked, made a deeply undignified squeaking noise, and unconsciously grabbed for Billy's hand. "Oh my god," he breathed. TONY, HOW WERE YOU THIS COOL?
Ben	Ben's "Oh my God," was in a decidedly different tone of voice. Being ~~as big a dumbass as Tony~~ a ~~Skywalker~~ heroic Jedi type, naturally he flung himself, lighsaber first, toward the thing that was trying to eat Tony.
Technovore	Ben, Steve... stop trying to make Technovore go hungry here. It was rude. "Absorption initiated," it rasped, almost completely covering the armor in a black mess of nanotechnology. "Disassembly in progress."
Tony	The armor's AI system chimed in with a cheerful: Warning: Armor exterior breaking down. User action required. "Get it off of me!" Tony shouted, charging up the unibeam. "Ben, get away!"
Steve	Steve had no idea how to get a bunch of nanotech off of Tony personally, but this was what delegation was for. "Wiccan," he barked, hoping Billy was currently going by that name and would know who he was talking to. "Now might be a good time for one of those spells of yours."
Billy	Oh, Billy definitely knew who he was talking to, and there would be fanboy flailing later if and when they were all out of danger. Still clinging to Topher's hand, he held his other hand up and aimed another blast of lightning at the creature. It had seemed to bother it before, and he hoped like heck it worked now too.
Topher	"Badass," Topher breathed, taking his eyes off of Tony for all of a second to follow the movement of the lightning from Billy's hand. "So cool." Which was quickly followed by a choked noise and an outburst of, "Tony--!" DON'T GET STRUCK BY BILLY'S HOT LIGHTNING, TONY. DON'T DO IT.
Ben	Ben's danger-sense screamed at him and he dropped to the ground with a thud that knocked the breath out of him. But, glancing up, he decided it was better than being hit by lightning. Again. ...his life was weird.
Technovore	Technovore howled, rearing back from the armor as it tried to reassemble itself and get away from the lightning. "C-con-consume armor," it said, skipping like a broken record. "Integrate armor functions. Consume biologicals. Adapt intellects. Evolve. Replicate. Expand into exterior environment. Consume." Oh, that could only end badly.
Tony	"Oh crap," Tony said, letting that unibeam blast knock it back further still. "Ohcrapohcrap." Very eloquent and helpful assessment, Tony.
Steve	Yeah, that did not sound good. "Again!" Steve ordered Billy. It was like he was used to being in charge or something...
Billy	Yeah, that didn't sound good to Billy either, and it was clearly past time for something a little stronger. Holding his hand up again, he began to chant, "IwantittostopIwantittostopIwantittostop..." Yes, he was still holding Topher's hand too. It helped, shhh.
Technovore	There was another shriek from the creature as it stumbled back. The nanotech comprising it's body started to seemingly melt away, leaving piles of very tiny pieces of black metal. "Consume--con--"
Ben	Ben reached an arm up to shield himself from falling bits. "Tony?" he called out. "You need help still?" Like he was going to follow directions about staying back if he did.
Tony	The helmet retracted and Tony breathed in deeply. "Help me get this off," he said, already pulling at the release on the chest piece. "That won't stop it for long. It's--I designed it to adapt."
Steve	While this Tony Stark didn't exactly have a voice override for Steve built into his suit, and some of the specifics were probably different, Steve was practically a professional at getting Tony out of the armor as quickly as possible ~~NOT DIRTY~~. So he stepped up to help, moving quickly and efficiently and not even pausing as he huffed, "Why am I not surprised?" when he realized this was a Tony Stark original they were dealing with here.
Billy	Billy finally let go of Topher and ran to Tony's side, trying to help as well. "Are you okay? I didn't hit you, did I?"
Topher	Topher was right behind Billy, tripping all over himself in his haste to get to Tony's side. "Yeah, are you okay?" he echoed, the very picture of concern as his hands got to work on the suit. "Your gauntlet got eaten I'm sorry are you okay you're not hurt are you?"
Ben	Ben stood a bit off to the side, figuring six hands were enough assistance for Tony. He'd check to make sure the pile of pieces stayed a pile of pieces long enough for them all to get out of there.
Tony	"I'm fine," Tony grumbled, squirming out of the last parts of the suit to start working on something in the piece of torso left. Past them, the pile of black was starting to move again, slowly, but sure enough it was moving. "We have to run. It wants my suit. It gets my suit," he said. Because that was a normal response. "This will give us a thirty second head start." Self destruct initiated. "Run now."
Steve	Tony just had to destroy a suit every other week, didn't he? But there was no time to comment on that, because Steve was running and looking for threats and/or stragglers in need of rescue from the impending explosion. So basically, keeping one eye on Topher.
Billy	This seemed like a good time to try to grab Topher's hand again, to make sure he didn't fall behind. "Just don't let go, okay? You'll be fine," he said as they took off.
Topher	Topher squeezed Billy's hand without even meaning to -- yeah, sorry about the nails, Billy -- and took off with the rest of them. "Tony -- Tony, you're okay, right?" he panted while running. Because clearly what he needed to do was strain those lungs even more.
Ben	"Running now," Ben replied. "Checking for injuries later." Was it sad that was one of the first things he'd learned as a kid?