(Soleil's POV)
"Are you ready for this?" Tony asked Soleil, once they crossed the border into New York and continued making their way to Flushing Meadows; where the Stark Expo was located.
In the dark of night -thanks to the 3 hour time difference- Soleil flew in her average sized lioness form beside Tony. They had left Malibu a few hours after Ivan had called due to waiting for the Mark VI to be ready and Soleil's suit to be fabricated. So, by the time they reached New York; it was already around 7pm and Justin's presentation would have long started by now.
Soleil took in the meaning behind Tony's question, knowing that he was asking if she was ready to reveal herself to the world as not just 'Sunbeam' but as Soleil.
"I'm ready." Soleil said firmly.
"Good." Tony nodded as the Expo's building came into view. "Let's do this."
They flew into the opened auditorium, Justin having halted his ongoing speech and everyone in the crowd watching them. Tony stopped and hovered over the stage before killing the power on his thrusters, while Soleil beat her wings a couple times to slow her decent and landed; hind legs first.
Immediately after, Soleil shifted; black and gold dust covering her form before she reappeared in her human form with cat ears and tail visible to the crowd behind her. The once cheering crowd had stopped and stared wide eyed at Soleil; as she stood in her new suit.
A black cat suit with gold outlines to compliment her colourations, with off the shoulder long sleeves, a halter neck line, a black leather belt with a gold buckle that connected in the centre and had a sun emblem on it. There was also a hole for her tail to rest comfortably out of. Some black knee high combat boots with 3 inch heels; a broad heel for functionality but also to suit her liking. Her hair was parted to the side and placed in a high ponytail where the ends met her mid-back.
The crowd soon began to scream in hysteria, with shrieks of 'I knew it!' and similar phrases of people who believed in the theory of Soleil being Sunbeam.
Soleil paid the crowd no mind and turned to look at Rhodey standing in the newly decked out Hammer's tech Mark II. She turned to growl at Justin who was staring at her and Tony wide eyed.
"We got trouble." Tony walked closer to Rhodey.
Rhodey paused for a moment, looking towards Soleil but his expression was hidden behind his face plate. Once he seemed to find his composure, he turned to Tony. "Soleil. Tony. There are civilians present. I'm here on orders. Let's not do this right now."
Soleil and Tony did not seem to care too much and instead moved to stand beside Rhodey, each of them throwing an arm around his shoulder before looking to the crowd. An attempt to keep a sense of normalcy with their abrupt appearance and showcasing Soleil's identity, as the crowd cheered wildly.
"Give them a wave." Tony instructed before he waved to the people, Soleil followed suit while Rhodey just looked on -being sandwiched in the middle of them-.
"Hey, all right. Yeah." Justin tired to take control over the crowd, to no avail.
"All these people are in danger. We gotta get them out of here." Tony informed Rhodey. "You gotta trust me for the next five minutes."
"Yeah, I tried that." Rhodey said with an exasperated tone. "I got tossed around your house, remember?"
"While I got a moderate concussion. Thanks for the reminder, Rhodes." Soleil hissed at the memory of Tony's birthday.
Rhodey looked towards Soleil and before he could apologize once again, Tony interrupted. "Listen, I think he's working with Vanko."
Rhodey's head whipped back around to look at Tony. "Vanko's alive?!"
"Yeah.." Justin continued on trying to get the crowd swayed back to him, while Tony approaches him making Justin turn around.
"Where is he?" Tony asked.
"What?" Justin raised a brow.
"Where's Vanko?" Tony clarified.
"I don't smell him anywhere near here. It maybe with all the different scents in the air, but I can say for sure. He's not around here." Soleil told Tony, mentally.
Justin seemed to be feigning ignorance at this point. "Who?"
"Tell me." Tony said firmly.
"What are you doing here man?" Justin asked a question instead.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rhodey began repeating and Soleil jumped back once she saw the gun mounted on Rhodey's back take aim at Tony.
"Tony! Incoming!" Soleil warned him as she crouched slightly, ready to pounce if needed. "Rhodey!?!"
Tony turned to look at Rhodey and took a defensive stance. "Is that you?"
"No, I'm not doing that. That's not me. I can't move. I'm locked up. I'm locked up!" Rhodey exclaimed.
Soleil's ear swivel to her left where she sees the rest of Hammer's Drones taking aim at her now too.
"Get out of here! Go! This whole system's been compromised." Rhodey yelled.
Tony activates his thrusters. "Let's take it outside."
Tony flies off while the Air Force Drones and Rhodey fire at him, they end up hitting the glass situated over the crowd which ends up shattering and begins to fall over the mass of people. As the crowd takes off running, Rhodey and that entire squadron takes off after Iron Man.
"No! NO! NO!" Rhodey yelled as he flew off without being in control of his suit.
Soleil would have went along as well but realized it was better off she stays on the ground to deal with the other three squads of Drones.
"Tony, I'll stay down here and deal with these drones." Soleil said into her earpiece.
"Sure. Be careful."
"Right back at you."
Soleil left Justin to run off to wherever for now, as she jumped off the stage and shifted in her large form. Flying over the crowd and spread her wings trying to block as much glass as possible from falling on top of them.
"Everyone get out of here!" Soleil roared but her voice was broadcasted mentally throughout all the people there; who began making their way out of the building.
"Soleil!"
Soleil's head turned to look down beneath her and in the sea of people she managed to find Pepper; who called out to her, as well as Natasha.
"Pepper! I need you to go find Justin!" Soleil ordered. "Natasha go with her!"
"Oh..Okay! Be careful, Sol!" Pepper cried out, not seeming to have noticed Soleil calling 'Natalie' by her real name.
Soleil flew back towards the stage were the Army, Navy and Marine Drones began jumping down into the group of remaining civilians trying to get out. They all were equipped with their own type of weapons. The Army Drones carried a gatling gun on its back similar to Rhodey's suit. The Navy were equipped with a bunch of missiles displayed on their shoulders and the Marines did not appear to have any visible weaponry but had camouflage colouration to tell the difference for now.
Soleil immediately landed one of Marines, crushing it beneath her before letting out a growl at an Army Drone that began firing at her. Soleil dodged the barrage of bullets being aimed in her direction as she got closer to the drone. Once close enough, she jumped over it flipping in the air and landing behind the Drone before ripping the gun off its back.
After that, she launched her paw into its exposed wiring and then ripped them out. The suit collapsed at her paws, before she turned to follow the Drones that had slipped by and were making their way to the exit.
As she ran and tackled one of the Navy Drones to the floor, she saw Tony fly by while still being shot at by Rhodey and the Air Force Drones. Snarling she pried the Navy Drone's head off its frame with a jerk of her neck and spit it out.
The other Navy Drones situated themselves on the front entrance's staircase and began setting off their artillery, launching the missiles at random spots. Soleil growled as she spun around; sweeping one of the Drones off its feet with her wing, where its missiles then aimed at another drone and exploded that one. Soleil crushed the drone's head before picking up two familiar scents in the air and turning to find Natasha and Happy.
"Nat!" Soleil called out.
Natasha stopped for a moment to looked at her and smirked at Soleil's form. "I found Vanko."
"Okay." Soleil nodded.
They both turned to Happy who began firing off question after question. "Sol?! What?! When did you get here? Nobody's answering the phone. What's going on?!"
"Get in the car. Take me to Hammer Industries." Natasha ordered as she approached the car.
"I'm not taking you anywhere." Happy said vehemently.
Natasha's brows furrowed. "Fine. You want me to drive?"
"No, I'm driving." Happy said without missing a beat and opened the driver's side door. "Get in the car."
"Stay safe out there, kids!" Soleil said, referring to time Tony nicknamed them all as 'kids' that he lost in the 'divorce' between him and Pepper.
Happy nodded, albeit hesitantly while Natasha smirked. "Have fun with your hunt, Sol."
"I will!" Soleil grinned and took off running as Happy pulled away. Mentally tracking Tony, she spoke. "Tony, Natasha found Vanko and went off to stop him. How you holding up?"
"Still have a tail! And are you sure we should trust 'Natalie'?" Tony said with much disdain.
"For now, it's our best bet. We have bigger issues to deal with here." Soleil hissed as she dodged the Marine's punch thrown at her before swatting the Drone away where it smashed against a wall.
Soleil ran around doing her best to disarm or completely dismantle -rip to shreds- Drones in her wake. From swatting them with her paws or her wings, pouncing on them and crushing them beneath her. Ripping heads off and wires out, or just out right body slamming into them; Soleil took as many Drones out that crossed her path as possible.
She saw a little boy in the far off distance with an Iron Man helmet on, but her eyes widen when one of the Army Drones came to stand in front of him. Soleil pushed herself harder to get to him as the Army Drone raised it's arm and prepared to fire at the boy; who stood there with his own -fake- arm gauntlet ready to fire a Repulsor beam at the Drone.
Before Soleil could get there, Iron Man flew down behind the boy and shot the Drone square in the head. The Drone collapsed and the kid turned around to look at Iron Man.
"Nice work, Kid." Iron Man said and took to the air once again.
Soleil slowed to a canter as she neared the kid, while Tony flew away. She stopped and looked down at him. "Hello. Are you okay?"
"No way! Now way!" The boy shrieked. "First Iron Man and now Sunbeam!! Now way! Are you talking to me telepathically!?! Whoa!!"
Soleil let out a snicker as she brought her head down to nudge the kid, her head literally being as big -if not bigger than- his entire body but the boy wrapped his arms around her in a hug. His little arms tickled Soleil's whiskers.
"Who did you come here with?"
"My aunt brought me after I begged her a ton!"
"Alright. Let's go find her, okay." Soleil said moving her head.
"Okay." The boy nodded before Soleil grabbed him and threw him onto her back. "Woah!"
"Hold on tight." Soleil said and felt the boy grip her scruff making her shake slightly before taking off.
The real reason she brought her head down to him was so that she could get whiff of his scent and see if she could find anything similar to it in the air as she continued to run around the Expo.
With a passenger on her back, it was hard to get rid of Drones as easily as she liked and instead had to restrict her methods to head butts or just outright jumping on them. The boy on her back did not seem to mind too much and was actually gushing over her actions and laughing.
Eventually she managed to catch a faint scent that resembled the boy, and she soon found a woman looking around as if they lost something -or someone-. Soleil continued to run towards them before she spoke to the kid.
"Get ready, Kid."
"What?" The boy asked but was soon launched slightly off Soleil's back by her bucking.
Soleil shifted mid run and slowed to a walk, while catching the boy in her arms. "I got you!"
"That was so cool!" The boy exclaimed and Soleil giggled.
"PETER!" The woman Soleil saw before, screamed.
"Aunt May!" The boy or Peter; Soleil now knew the name of, cried out.
The woman; Soleil now knew her name was May, came towards and met her halfway in her current approach. Peter launched himself out of her arms and into his aunt's own.
"You won't believe it! I met Iron Man and Sunbeam in one day! Isn't that so cool?!"
"That's really cool, Sweetie." May hugged her nephew tightly while looking to Soleil with a thankful smile. "Thank you so much, Ms. Marcella."
Soleil slightly preened at actually being acknowledge for who she was and not as Sunbeam. "It was my pleasure. Peter seems like such a spritely kid."
Though she could not see his face thanks to his Iron Man helmet, she could hear his excitement despite it.
"Ah~! Sunbeam complimented me! Did you hear that!" Peter gushed.
"I did." May chuckled fondly at her nephew's enthusiasm before turning to Soleil once again. "Again. I can not thank you enough, Ms. Marcella."
Soleil shook her head and smiled. "I'm glad I could help. But I have to go now..." Soleil trialed off as another explosion occurred somewhere in the distance. She leaned over and stroked Peter's helmet.
"Stick close to your aunt, Peter." Soleil said and took a step back before turning around and sprinting away. To give a little show for the boy, Soleil jumped and shifted back into her large form mid-air before taking to the sky.
"SO COOL!"
Soleil heard Peter exclaim before she flew off to deal with more of the Marine Drones that have made it their task to fire more of their missiles off, and any other Drone that got in her way.
(Tony's POV)
Tony flies into a parking garage a few kilometres away from the Expo, with Rhodey and the Air force Drones following after him. He zooms over some cars setting off one of their alarms while his 'tail(s)' goes over the same group of cars and sets off the rest of their alarms.
The Drones begin to shoot at him once again, Tony evades the bullets by using evasive maneuvers and swerving around the garage's pillars. Which also lead to some of the Drones crashing into said pillars, while the rest continued their assault.
Tony continued on but soon heard Rhodey informing him of a new change. "Listen, listen. A pack just peeled off. They're headed back to the Expo.
"Got it." Tony said, swerving around another pillar. "Sol! You there?"
"What's up?" Soleil replied.
"Look. Some of the Air Force Drones are coming back your way."
"Oh! Great~! You couldn't handle all the attention, Iron Man?" Soleil teased.
"I was doing just fine, I'll have you know. Still am, Kitten~!" Tony smirked.
"All right. I'll take care of them."
"Thanks." Tony said as he dodged some missiles fired off at him.
"Closing in on you! Coordinates coming in hot, Tony!" Rhodey exclaimed as he heard his gatling gun revving up. "Watch it!"
Rhodey's suit locked onto Iron Man and began firing, bullets hitting more cars than they were hitting Tony as they continued through the parking garage.
In the wake of it all, the cars began to explode leading to Tony flying up and out of the parking garage. Tony flew back towards the Expo, dodging buildings while a few Drones flew into them.
Below him, Tony saw Soleil launch herself onto one of the Army Drones that began to aim at him. He watched as she landed on the Drone's shoulders, pushing the barrel of the gun out of her way before biting down on the head and pulling it off. The Drone fell down with her still on top of it before she jumped off and took to transforming back to her human form to help people who were still in the vicinity.
Tony could not help the smile that spread across his lips seeing Soleil do what she has done for a long time, though her previous scenarios were to save her own life. But he knew she was happy to use her abilities to help others now.
Tony flew down towards the fountain, flipping and sending a surge of power to his hand thrusters to slow his momentum before blasting forward once again.
"Rhodey, you still locked on?" Tony asked.
"Yeah." Rhodey replied, following right after Tony -still against his will-.
"Drop your socks and grab your Crocs." Tony said as Jarvis began formulating a flight path for him to take through the globe monument ahead of them "We're about to get wet on this ride."
Rhodey saw where Tony was leading them and his eyes widen. "Wait, wait, wait!"
Tony's thrusters began to exert more power as he picked up speed, his helmet display showcasing the path for him to take. Tony flew through the gap above Africa, before his throwing his thrusters forward to stop himself and then blasted upwards.
The Air Force drones that followed him into the globe were not so lucky, as some crashed into the interior of the globe; some hitting North America while others tried to fly upwards to only hit Greenland. A giant explosion takes place and parts of the Drones begin falling towards the ground.
Tony continues on, taking a small breather realizing he got rid off a majority of his tail. "Sorry, Buddy. Had to thin out the herd. What's your twenty?"
Tony got his answer in a way he was not expecting, as Rhodey rammed into him and sent them both hurling through glass roofing of the garden's conservatory. They land harshly, both sent rolling due to their momentum in the small stream of the garden.
Tony was the first up and charged at Rhodey. But Rhodey straightened up just as fast, proceeding to grab Tony and flip him onto the ground. Once pinned, Rhodey's gun revved up once again and began firing at Tony's head but Iron Man quickly gripped the barrel, pushing it to fire bullets into ground beside him.
"Tony." Rhodey called out, slightly panicked from his lack of control over his person.
Tony kept hold of the barrel as some of the bullets did ended up hitting his suit and ricocheted off it. He soon noticed Rhodey's eye slots; red colouration fading out, before he turned on his thrusters and launched Rhodey off of him. Tony straightens up and walked over to Rhodey who was now passed out.
"Reboot complete." Tony heard Natasha through his helmet. "You got your best friend back."
"You fixed the control on Rhodey's suit?!" Soleil asked.
"Yes." Natasha stated.
"Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff." Tony replied.
"Well done on the new chest piece, you two. I am reading significant higher output and Tony's vitals all look promising."
"Let's hope it stays that way." Soleil muttered.
"Yes. For the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you." Tony nodded.
"What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?!"
"Oh shit!" Soleil said lowly and Tony grimaced, having forgotten to actually inform Pepper about his health state.
"Is that you?" Tony tried to play it cool. "No, I'm not. Not anymore."
"What's going on?" Pepper asked.
"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you." Tony stated.
"You were going to tell me? You really were dying?!" Pepper cried out. "And Soleil! You knew about this and never said anything?!"
"Pepper, I..." Soleil trailed off.
"It's not Sol's fault. I did not tell her, she figured it out on her own." Tony defended Soleil. "And I was going to tell you, Pepper. You just didn't let me."
"Why didn't either of you tell me that!" Pepper exclaimed but her voice wavered.
Tony's voice took a hint of exasperation. "I was going to make you an omelette and tell you."
"Hey. Hey! Save it!" Natasha ordered. "You got incoming, Tony. Look's like the fights coming to you."
"What? What happened to Vanko?" Soleil questioned.
"Vanko?!" Pepper shrieked which had them all wincing at her volume.
"He's gone." Natasha said through gritted teeth.
"For fuck sakes." Soleil growled. "Tony, do you need my help over there or you good?"
"I'm good. I got my sidekick here, just have to wake him up." Tony said.
"Alright then. I got to go. I'm going to help some the civilians that got injured here and can't move." Soleil said. "And Pepper. I'm really sorry."
With that Soleil's line went dead and Tony sighed. "Pepper?"
"Are you okay now?" Pepper asked.
"I am fine. Don't be mad. I will formally apologize-"
"I am mad!" Pepper said, completely frustrated.
Tony just continued on. "..when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack."
Pepper forcefully blew out a breath. "Fine."
"We could have all been in Venice." Tony reminded her of the conversation they had on the private jet.
"Oh, please." Pepper said before her's and Natasha's line went dead.
Tony sighed as he stood over Rhodey; who was laying down in the stream, still unconscious. He kneeled down and began tapping on Rhodey's face plate.
"Rhodes? Snap out of it, Buddy. I need you. They're coming." Tony instructed as he tapped on the side of Rhodey's helmet to make the face plate lift up. "Come on, let's roll. Get up."
"Oh man." Rhodey said groggily as he looked up at Tony. "You can have your suit back."
Tony chuckled as he helped Rhodey up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks." Rhodey said, regaining his bearings before continuing. "Tony. Look, I'm sorry. Okay?"
"Don't be."
"No. I should have trusted you more. Like Soleil."
"I'm the one that put you in this position." Tony shook his head. "Forget it."
"No. It's your fault." Rhodey affirmed. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear, Partner." Tony remained indifferent to the apology. "They're coming in hot, any second. What's the play?"
"Well.." Rhodey looked around the garden to see what they had to work with. "We want to take the high ground, okay? So, let's put our biggest gun on that ridge."
"Got it." Tony said, and began to head in the direction Rhodey had pointed at. Only to see Rhodey doing the same thing. "Where do you wanna be?"
Rhodey stopped and looked at Tony with a raised brow. "Where are you going?"
"What're you talking about?"
"I meant me."
"You have a big gun. You are not the 'big gun'." Tony stated.
"Tony, don't be jealous." Rhodey sighed.
"No. It's subtle, all the bells and whistles." Tony pointed out sarcastically.
"Yeah. It's called being a Badass." Rhodey said matter of factly.
Tony nodded in mock agreement but let it be. "Fine. All right. You go up top. I'll draw them in."
Rhodey nodded and started moving again, to only stop and look at Tony once more. "Don't stay down here. This is the worst place to be."
Tony rolled his eyes and groaned. "Okay, you got a spot. Where's mine?"
"It's the kill box, Tony. Okay. This is where you go to die." Rhodey said but before they could start another argument, the sound of glass shattering caught their attention.
Soon enough, the incoming Drones started to land one by one and surrounded them. With Tony and Rhodey facing back to back, their face plates slammed down and the fight commenced.
The Drones charged them all at once, firing bullets at them as they approached. While Tony made use of his Repulsor beams, Rhodey used his gatling gun and the arm gauntlets's automatic guns to pierce into the Drones.
Tony ducked underneath a punch before thrusting upwards and kneeing the Marine Drone's head; causing it to explode. As he came down, he swung his arm into the Drone's body to finish the job before landing. One of the Army Drone came up behind him and Tony quickly spun around, and punched it in its 'face' before moving on and tossing another Marine Drone over him.
Rhodey held his stance as an Army Drone approached him and used his one of his automatics to barrage the Drone's build in half. He's auto aiming system was being put to the test as he continued to fire at the nearing Drones that were coming for them.
Tony continued to punch the Drones in near proximity to him, when his display warned him of an incoming Navy missile. He leaned back slightly as the missile flew over his chest plate and exploded some shrubbery a few feet away from him.
Tony raised his arm and fired off his own Micro missiles at the Navy Drone; that fired the missile at him, as well as the two other Drones beside it.
Tony watched as they all exploded, a smug grin appearing on his face. "See that?"
"Yeah, yeah. Nice." Rhodey rolled his eyes, as he continued to fire shots at the incoming Drones.
Once again, the two were being surrounded by a large amount of Drones, that had just appeared out of nowhere. Back to square one, with Tony focusing on close quarter combat while Rhodey did his best on long range.
When there was a small gap in time that was big enough to look around at their current predicament, Tony spoke. "Rhodey? Get down."
Not needing a reason or to be told twice, Rhodey immediately crouched down. Tony equipped his laser attachments before spinning around in a circle with the laser beams slicing all the surrounding drones in half. A tree, also just so happen to be caught up in the cross fire and fell over.
Rhodey hummed as he took in the site of all the incapacitated Drones. "Wow. I think you should lead with that next time."
"Yeah. Sorry, Boss. I can only use it once." Tony said as he ejected the laser's cartridges from his gauntlets. "It's a one-off."
"Heads up!" Natasha voiced cut in. "You got one more drone incoming. This one looks different...The Repulsor signature is significantly higher."
Tony raised a brow as a display came up showcasing the incoming Drone, before his attention was caught by the sound of the Drone coming in from above. It flew down and landed hard, bending its knees to absorb the shock before standing up.
The helmet began to retract on the Drone and soon revealed Ivan Vanko within. "It's good to be back."