Chapter 14: Nervous Jitters

"Well done, kid!" Iron Man praised. 

When Ant-Man appeared earlier, he thought the shield would be snatched away, but he didn't expect Peter's reaction to be so swift.

"What the heck is that thing? Is it really some kind of insect? Straight out of a children's book?" War Machine fired off a barrage of questions.

"Ahem, I'm not a insect. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Ant-Man," Ant-Man slowly rose from the ground, giving Peter a resentful glance. "Kids these days, no respect for their elders."

"I'll respect you when you're old, Ant-Uncle," Peter retorted, showing he wasn't one to be outdone in a battle of wits.

Ant-Man was displeased, "I'm not an ant, I'm Ant-Man, you spider."

"I'm not a spider, I'm Spider-Man."

Seeing the two about to engage in a "mid-air duel," Iron Man intervened to stop them.

He had already located the positions of Captain America's other allies using the thermal imaging system in his Iron Man armor.

"There are two on the tarmac, one of them is Wanda. I'll go apprehend her."

Captain America reached out to Peter for his shield, "Son, can you give me the shield?"

Peter held the shield in his left hand and waved it, grinning, "Sorry, I'm quite comfortable holding onto this shield. Why don't I keep it for now?"

Clang! As he spoke, he shifted slightly to the side, using the shield to block an incoming arrow.

"Well done," Iron Man praised again, turning to fly towards the tarmac. "Rhodey, you handle the Captain."

Rhodey said, "There are two in the terminal building, Wilson and Barnes."

"Barnes is mine!" Black Panther declared and ran towards the terminal building without hesitation.

Captain America's expression hardened slightly, realizing he wouldn't get the shield back anytime soon. Without further hesitation, he turned and chased after Black Panther.

Barnes was his good friend, and he couldn't just let Black Panther confront him.

But without the shield in hand, the unarmed Captain America was no match for Black Panther.

He soon found himself at a disadvantage.

If Black Panther hadn't held back, Captain America might not have lasted long.

"Well, I guess I'll go meet the famous Winter Soldier," Peter observed the scene below, feeling his presence wasn't needed there for the moment.

Black Widow had also engaged Ant-Man in combat.

Everyone was busy fighting their counterparts.

So, he decisively left, shooting out a web-line, heading towards the terminal building.

Soon, he found two people running on the second floor of the terminal, one of them with a silver metal arm.

That unique feature identified him as the Winter Soldier!

Peter swung the shield directly, using its edge to shatter the glass, and followed through into the building.

"Whoa, what the heck are you?" The Winter Soldier was startled.

Falcon took a fighting stance, "In this day and age, does everyone have some flashy gadget or what?"

Peter glanced at the Winter Soldier's arm, emphasizing, "I'd say he's not lacking in that department."

The Winter Soldier looked at the shield in Peter's hand and asked, "Are you sure you want to stop us?"

"On someone's behalf," Peter shrugged.

The Winter Soldier didn't say anything more; he was never a man of many words.

Boom! The Winter Soldier swung his metal arm at Peter.

Peter raised the shield, easily blocking the strike, feeling no force transmitted to his hand.

"Whoa, this is the vibranium shield? Cool!"

At that moment, his spider-sense warned him.

Peter jumped up with a sudden burst of force.

Whoosh—

A figure flashed past his previous position from below. If he hadn't jumped, he would have likely been caught and thrown.

His powerful dynamic visual acuity allowed him to clearly see the figure's appearance.

It was Falcon!

However, he had now entered his armed mode, with a pair of metal wings on his back.

"Whoa, he has a metal arm, you have metal wings, and you're calling me flashy?" Peter aimed a web-line at Falcon's back.

Falcon nimbly dodged it.

He then fired a few micro-missiles back at Peter.

Such a direct attack didn't faze Peter; he merely pretended to move a step to the side, evading all the attacks.

Yes, pretended. Because based on his spider-sense's warning level and the trajectories he had calculated after glancing at the few micro-missiles, they couldn't possibly hit him; at most, they served as a warning.

Indeed, everyone seemed to be "playing" in unison. Of course, Peter was also quite interested in playing along.

Whoosh—

Another web-line shot out.

But it was again dodged by Falcon.

Peter scratched his head, feeling a bit regretful as he looked at the shield in his hand.

If he had shot with both hands earlier, he could have restricted Falcon's movements, making it harder for him to dodge.

Indeed, Spider-Man shouldn't be playing with shields.

Peter's eyes rolled, "Here goes!"

He tossed the shield, which rapidly flew towards the Winter Soldier below.

The Winter Soldier was startled, catching the shield with both hands, pushed back several steps by its tremendous force.

Having successfully passed the shield, Peter engaged Falcon in earnest.

For someone like Peter, the space above the terminal was relatively spacious.

But for Falcon, who was still wearing his mechanical metal wing suit, this space was a bit too confined.

Many of his movements were restricted.

Peter soon discovered this and exploited it.

As Falcon dodged a thick steel beam, Peter predicted his position and shot a web-grenade, directly sticking to the gear mechanism of Falcon's mechanical wing suit.

Click, click. 

The gears moved a few times before being bound by the tough webbing.

Falcon fell straight to the ground from the air.

Peter wanted to go and catch him, but seeing the height wasn't enough to injure him, he didn't act.

Falcon landed on the ground but quickly got back up, reaching out to use his equipment to attack Peter again.

But by then, Peter had already predicted his move.

Whoosh, whoosh, two web-lines from left and right bound Falcon's hands to the railing.

"Are your wings made of carbon fiber? No wonder they have such good stiffness and elasticity." 

"Did you spin that web yourself?"

"Uh, of course not. Actually, I wish I could spin webs myself; it would be so convenient, so I don't have to. I (cough) secretly in class," Peter felt a bit embarrassed as he explained himself. 

Falcon was speechless, "Kid, have you never fought before? We don't usually talk so much trash during a fight."

"Nonsense, of course I've fought!" Peter recalled his few battles in the Noir Spider-Man's world, then realized the difference.

In that world, he was a combination of himself and Noir Spider-Man, so his actions were more decisive, and his mentality more mature.

But now, this was the complete him.

He talked so much trash not for any other reason, but because... he was nervous!

(End of chapter)