"Where did he go? There's nowhere to hide in the air!" 1st Gen Spider-Man muttered, scanning the footage for any sign of Tony.
"Maybe he dove below the clouds?" Gwen suggested.
"No! Radar would still pick him up!" 1st Gen Connors immediately dismissed the idea.
Turning to Otto, he asked, "What do you think?"
Otto smirked. "Oh, Peter… you're wrong. There are places to hide in the air. Haven't you considered that he might be hiding right next to the fighter jet?"
1st Gen Spider-Man's eyes widened as realization dawned.
"That's right!" Otto continued. "A fighter jet's field of view is extremely limited. If Tony positioned himself beneath the aircraft or directly behind it, the pilot wouldn't be able to see him."
"Exactly! And if he's hugging the belly of the jet, that would explain why he disappeared from both radar and satellite imaging."
Otto glanced at 1st Gen Spider-Man approvingly. The kid was smart, but he still had more to learn.
"Yeah, that makes sense!" 1st Gen Spider-Man nodded. Then, suddenly, his curiosity shifted. "I wonder if Harry's skateboard can go as fast as Tony Stark's suit."
At that, 1st Gen Connors' interest was piqued, and he immediately began discussing the pros and cons of Harry's Goblin Glider compared to Tony's Mark III armor.
Otto joined in, and soon they were immersed in a conversation about potential improvements and battle capabilities.
[After repeated scans failed to locate the target, the pilot of Whip-2 finally reported: "Sir, I believe the target has been neutralized."]
[Rhodes, however, had a bad feeling. Something told him Tony was not down. Before he could say anything, his phone rang.]
[Seeing Tony Stark's name on the screen, Rhodes hesitated for two seconds before answering.]
["Hello?"]
["Hey, Rhodey! It's me!"] Tony's voice came through.
[Rhodes, unimpressed, threw Tony's earlier words right back at him. "Who are you?"]
["I'm sorry! Look, it's me! The one you really want to know about!"]Tony admitted, realizing he couldn't keep up the act any longer. With two F-22s on his tail, secrecy was no longer an option.]
[Rhodes clenched his jaw, struggling to stay calm. "NO! Listen to me, Tony—this is not a game! You can't just send civilian tech into an active military zone! Do you understand?!"]
["Rhodey, this isn't just a suit! I'M IN IT! This is a suit! But that—that's ME!" Tony shouted.]
[Hearing this, Rhodes stared at the radar screen in shock. The "UFO" was Tony Stark.]
[The base supervisor, who had been watching him closely, frowned. "Rhodes, what's going on?"]
[Rhodes turned, suddenly at a loss for words. How was he supposed to explain this?]
[Meanwhile, back in the command room, the assumption was that the target had been destroyed.]
["Mark the location and return to base," the order was given.]
[Whip-2 turned sideways, preparing to return. But as he did, the pilot suddenly gasped—
"Wait! I see something! There's a person stuck to the underside of your jet!"]
[The pilot of Whip-2 immediately rolled the aircraft. Tony, unable to hold on, was flung into the air.]
[Whip-1, which had been trailing behind at high speed, had no time to react. Tony slammed into the jet's left wing—shattering it completely.]
[Smoke erupted from the aircraft as it began to plummet toward the ground.]
["I'M HIT! I'M HIT! WHIP-1 IS GOING DOWN!"]
[In the command room, everyone froze in horror. Rhodey's eyes widened in panic.]
[The pilot of Whip-1 immediately ejected, his seat blasting into the sky just before the F-22 exploded mid-air.]
[The once $150 million fighter jet was now nothing more than debris, raining down in thick, black smoke.]
["Whip-2, do you have visual on the parachute?!" the supervisor demanded.]
["Negative! I don't see the parachute!"]
[The atmosphere fell into tense silence as the realization hit—the pilot's parachute was malfunctioning.]
["My—my parachute is stuck!!!"The pilot's voice trembled with fear as he spiraled downward at terminal velocity.]
[Just when all seemed lost, a flaming streak of light shot down from the sky at high speed.]
["Sir! The target is back!" Whip-2 reported, spotting the glow.]
["Lock on! Take it down!" The base supervisor ordered. Losing an F-22 was already bad enough—letting the culprit escape was unacceptable.]
[Rhodes knew Tony was about to get shot down, but he couldn't just reveal his identity outright. Instead, he subtly tried to intervene.]
["Sir, we don't even know who it is. We should hold off—"]
["That thing shot down a military aircraft in a no-fly zone! I can't let this slide!" the supervisor snapped. "Whip-2, engage immediately!"]
[Tony, still diving toward the falling pilot, ignored Jarvis's warnings.]
["Sir! You are locked on again! Please take evasive action immediately!"]
["Not yet!" Tony growled, focused on one thing only—saving the pilot.]
[With incredible speed, Tony caught up to the pilot, grabbed the seat, and punched through the jammed parachute release mechanism.]
[WHOOSH! The parachute deployed instantly.]
["It's open! It's open!!!" the pilot shouted, relief flooding his voice.]
[A cheer erupted in the command room. Even the supervisor exhaled, tension finally easing.]
[Tony, on the other hand, wasn't sticking around. As soon as he confirmed the pilot was safe, he blasted into the sky at supersonic speed, dodging Whip-2's pursuit.]
"That was awesome!!!" 2nd Gen Spider-Man cheered. "Tony Stark knew he was a target, and he still went back to save that guy!"
"Yes… he really does have a sense of responsibility now," Gwen murmured in admiration.
The difference between Tony before and after his capture was undeniable. He had transformed from a reckless playboy into someone willing to put his life on the line for others.
"Yinsen played a huge role in shaping him," 2nd Gen Spider-Man said.
"Yeah. Yinsen's death changed Tony, just like how Uncle Ben's death changed Peter in The Sky Screen."
"Maybe we're all the same," he added thoughtfully. "Sometimes, it takes pain to realize our true purpose. That's how Spider-Man became who he is today."
...
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