Ch.31 The First Encounter Between Captain America And Iron Man

"I've never seen someone as annoying as him. I bet if he is on the battlefield, his superiors have him shot countless times!"

Steve paces back and forth in the middle of the living room at the Schiller's psychology clinic. With his hands on his hips and gesturing wildly, he voices his opinions loudly, looking like an angry lion, his military demeanor fully on display.

Steve says, "I should really give him a waist-lock takedown to see if his damn iron shell shatters like glass!"

To understand why Steve is so angry, we have to go back to last night...

Last night, Peter finished his final exams. He couldn't wait to roam around New York. The few weeks spent revising almost suffocate him. He missed the feeling of swinging through the cool air of New York City.

But lately, his relationship with Gwen heated up quickly. After the exams, it was natural that Gwen invites him to a party. Gwen felt Peter is too introverted and should socialize with classmates more, so she insisted on dragging him to the post-exam celebration party.

Peter really wanted to be a superhero, but it's Gwen. He likes her too much. In the end, Peter agreed to Gwen's invitation, and the two of them happily went to the party.

Predicting that Spider-Man comes out to wander after the exams wasn't only Schiller's idea. The genius Tony Stark also had the same thought.

Stark had serious business with Spider-Man. Peter's self-made web-shooters shown Stark the potential of his scientific research. He planed to talk to Peter about interning at Stark Industries during the holidays, so Stark could also make him a new Spider-Man suit.

While Stark is indeed arrogant, he knows better than to show up in his Iron Man armor at Spider-Man's school—that would be too shocking. So he waited for Peter to finish his exams and came out to roam, so they could meet up in the skies of New York.

His plan was good, but unfortunately, but in the choice between love and his superhero duties,Peter preferred the former. Iron Man hovered around New York's skyline for a long time but didn't see that swinging figure between the buildings.

Though he didn't meet Spider-Man, by coincidence, he ran into another person searching for spider-man.

Captain America could leap between buildings without the need for webs. He isn't like Peter, a young kid. Captain America's strength has been honed through countless trials, and he has better control over his body than anyone else.

Before he could find the swinging kid Schiller mentioned, he saw an ostentatious gold-and-red armor flying close by.

Steve stopped on a rooftop of a tall building. The armor hovered mid-air, and a voice came from across it.

"Look at this, another little hero. Wasn't one web-swinging Spider-Kid in New York enough? What's your codename? Aryan Superman?"

Steve replied, "I thought modern people would be more polite. And who might you be? Some Iron Warrior in a turtle shell?"

"You've never heard of Iron Man? What kind of antique are you? Don't tell me you were dazzled by the brilliance of my cool armor, ha ha."

Iron Man surely had a small reputation in New York. Although Stark's rescues were often brute force, his armor really was too cool. Countless bystanders recorded Iron Man's heroic figure, and there was even a small group of fans who organized a website, making him quite famous across the U States.

"Indeed, I was an antique," Steve said.

"But at least I knew enough to be polite. Weren't you supposed to introduce yourself before saying anything else?"

Stark was indifferent about revealing his true identity. He could tell that the man in front of him had special abilities, no ordinary person could jump dozens of meters.

Since they were both in the same line of work, there was no point in concealing identities, and he said, "As you could see, I am Stark, who else could develop such an impressive suit of armor if not the owner of Stark Industries?"

Steve's expression suddenly changed, and he said, "You are Stark? ...Your surname is Stark?"

"What is your relationship with Howard Stark?"

The armor landed, and its occupant said, "Don't bring up that name to me, you freak. What does that have to do with me?"

"You have nothing to do with him, yet you inherits Stark Industries…" Steve's expression grew even more peculiar.

Before Stark could continue his taunting, he was hit by a massive force and sent flying.

Indeed, Captain America is not like the current Spider-Man . In the comics, he shatters Stark's armor more than once. Stark's current armor hasn't gone through several upgrades yet, and Iron Man is far from his peak, but Captain America is always at his best.

Sparks burst from inside the Mark V, and Jarvis sounded the emergency alarm. Stark was shocked and tried to control his armor to break free. He had never encountered such a monster before; Steve's strength even made the high-grade alloy shell crumble like a cookie.

Steve held him by the waist, pressing Stark to the ground, and then swung his fists, shattering the armor's mask within a few punches. Jarvis's alarms blared frantically, and Stark shouted in anger, "Electrocute him!"

"Releasing the electric current will result in armor failure," Jarvis replied.

"I said, ELECTROCUTE HIM!"

With a boom, the Mark V emitted bright electric sparks. Steve was thrown away; Stark fared no better as he was ejected by the armor's emergency systems and fell to the ground.

Both men were charred black, their hair standing on end from the electric shock.

"You damn thief!" Steve said.

"You lunatic! Why did you start attacking all of a sudden? I didn't even know you!" Stark retorted.

"But I am friends with the old Stark!"

Steve quickly got up, grabbed Stark by the collar, and demanded, "How do you end up with Stark Industries? Where is Howard's offspring? What do you do to him?"

Suddenly, Jarvis stated in Stark's earpiece, "According to the microexpression analysis logic provided by Mr.Schiller, there might be a huge misunderstanding here."

Stark turned off his earpiece in a burst and said, "Did I need to read microexpressions now with what was happening?!"

He looked at Steve. Even though his collar was being gripped, he still shook his head haughtily and said, "I suspected you had difficulty understanding English. When did I ever say I had no connection to Howard..."

Steve gave him a look as if he was an idiotic amnesiac.

"Damn it! I said it, but I don't mean that!"

Stark turned his eyes aside and reluctantly admitted, "He is my father. But my genius creations has nothing to do with him..."

Steve raised his hand forward and threw Stark to the ground, causing him to cry out in pain.

Holding his arm, Steve said, "You are nothing like Howard. Your father is a brave soldier. And you, do you know how annoying you are?"

It's the arrogance that has become ingrained in Stark's bones. No one who met him would consider him easy to get along with.

Stark sat up and loudly exclaimed, "Are you schizophrenic? How can you possibly know my father? Is it something from a past life?"

Steve couldn't be bothered to explain. Tonight, he didn't find the target he was looking for but instead encountered Howard's descendant. And to make matters worse, his old friend's descendant seemed to have taken a wrong path, which annoyed Steve.

Suddenly, Steve heard a gust of wind. But lost in thought, he reacted a bit slowly, and a armor suit burst out, grabbing him and throwing him downstairs.

That height wouldn't kill Captain America. Rolling twice upon landing, Steve looked up at Stark on the rooftop, mocking him. Then, the new armor suit armed itself around him, the mask rose up, and Stark said, "Looks like you might indeed be friends with my father, considering my friend won't react as slowly as you."

With that, he flew away.

Steve, infuriated, hammered the ground fiercely.

And thus, Steve angrily berates Stark in Schiller's therapy clinic.

If Stark were just a stranger, Steve wouldn't be so angry. But having fought alongside Howard, the thought of his old friend's son turning out like this makes Steve both angry and slightly ashamed, feeling like he hasn't fulfilled his role in education.

After Steve leaves, Coulson calls Schiller.

"Dr. Schiller, I have to admit, my previous praise may have been a bit polite, but now it's genuine."

"Captain suddenly becomes spirited. Upon his return, he goes straight to the training room and beats up over a dozen trainers. When Fury talks to him about preparing a special operations team, he immediately agrees and even requests a specially equipped training room from the agency."

"Oh my god, Captain America, he's reborn!"

Schiller chuckles, "The driving force behind positive emotions doesn't necessarily have to be a sense of responsibility or ideal aspirations. It could also be anger."

Confused, Coulson asks, "The Captain seems a bit angry. What happened? Did he run into any trouble?"

"He indeed has some minor troubles, but they're not something you can solve."

With that, Schiller hangs up the phone. The doorbell rings, and Peter, in his school uniform and carrying his backpack, opens the clinic door, waving at Schiller and saying, "Hey, Doc, you won't believe the amazing party I just attended..."

Schiller studies him for a moment. Peter clearly has been drinking, probably coming straight from the party, likely smelling of alcohol and not daring to go home, so he runs to him instead. Schiller says, "You should be grateful to Stark; he took a beating for you..."

Little Spider-Man looks bewildered and asks, "What?"