"Last chance," Tony's voice crackled through the suit's speakers, modulated but clearly strained. "Stand down. Come in peacefully. We can sort this out."
Jason's jaw tightened. "I told you. I'm not your enemy."
"You're sleeping with an elderly woman after knowing her for twelve hours," Tony shot back. "You nearly killed Norman Osborn. You refuse to explain where you came from or what you want. That doesn't exactly scream 'not an enemy' to me."
"May made her own choice," Jason said, his voice hard. "She's an adult. What we did is none of your business."
"She's my aunt!" Peter shouted from his perch. "That makes it my business!"
"Your aunt who told you she could make her own decisions," Jason countered. "Or did you forget that part?"
Peter launched himself forward, web-lines shooting out. Jason sidestepped effortlessly, the webs passing through empty air. Peter landed, spun, kicked—Jason caught his ankle mid-strike.
"Don't," Jason warned.
Peter twisted, his flexibility allowing him to bring his other leg up in an impossible arc. The heel caught Jason's jaw. It was a solid hit—would have dropped a normal person instantly.
Jason's head barely moved.
"Oh, that's not good," Peter muttered.
Jason yanked Peter forward by the ankle, his other fist coming up in a controlled uppercut. Peter's spider-sense screamed at him—he got his arms up just in time. The impact still sent him flying backward, crashing through a parked car's windshield.
"Peter!" Tony fired. Both repulsors, full power.
The energy beams hit Jason square in the chest. He slid backward six inches, boots scraping concrete. Smoke rose from his suit where the beams had struck. But when it cleared, Jason was still standing, completely unharmed.
"Okay," Tony's voice had lost some of its confidence. "JARVIS, analysis?"
"The energy appears to have been absorbed or redirected, sir. His cellular structure is unlike anything in our database."
"English, JARVIS."
"He's not from our universe, sir. I think?"
Jason smiled grimly. "Finally catching on?"
Tony's faceplate flipped up, revealing his face—equal parts frustrated and calculating. "You're from another Earth. Another dimension."
"Gold star."
"Then why are you here? Dimensional travel doesn't just happen. What's your mission? Your purpose?"
"I didn't choose to come here," Jason said, some of the anger draining from his voice. "I was saving my people from a weapon. It threw me across the multiverse. I ended up here by accident."
Peter had recovered, pulling himself from the wrecked car. "And immediately started hitting on my aunt?"
"I protected her from the Goblin," Jason snapped. "Or did you forget that part? Where was Spider-Man when she was running for her life?"
Peter flinched. The hit landed harder than any punch.
"That's not fair," Tony said, his faceplate closing again. "Peter can't be everywhere."
"But I was there," Jason said. "I saved her. Everything after was between consenting adults."
"And capable of making her own choices!"
Tony raised both hands, repulsors charging again. "This is getting us nowhere. Jason—that's your name, right? You need to come with us. Peacefully. We'll figure out your situation, help you get home if we can. But you can't just—"
"Can't just what?" Jason's eyes began to glow red. "Can't just refuse to be interrogated like a criminal? Can't refuse to be locked up because you're scared of what I can do?"
"That's not what this is," Tony insisted, but his voice said otherwise.
"It's exactly what this is." Jason rose off the ground, floating at eye level with Iron Man. "You don't know me. Don't trust me. So you want to put me in a cage until you feel safe."
"After what you did to Norman Osborn, can you blame us?"
"He was trying to murder an innocent woman!"
"And you nearly beat him to death!"
The words hung in the air between them.
Jason's hands clenched into fists. "He deserved worse."
"Maybe," Tony admitted. "But that's not how we do things here. There are rules. Laws. If you want to stay in this world, you follow them."
"And if I don't want to stay?"
"Then tell us how to send you home, and we'll help you go."
Jason was quiet for a moment. Could he explain how he'd crossed dimensions? The weapon, the exotic matter, his newfound ability to sense dimensional barriers? Even he didn't fully understand it yet.
"I don't know how," he finally admitted. "The crossing wasn't intentional. I'm still figuring out what happened to me."
Tony and Peter exchanged a look.
"Then you definitely need to come with us," Tony said. "We have resources. Scientists. We can help."
"By putting me in a cell?"
"By keeping everyone safe while we figure this out."
Jason's eyes flared brighter. "No."
"That wasn't a request."
The repulsors fired again, joined by impact beams from the suit's chest piece. Spider-Man webbed Jason's legs from behind, trying to immobilize him. The combined assault was coordinated, precise.
Jason tore through it like tissue paper.
His heat vision lanced out, cutting through webbing before it could bind him. He caught Tony's wrist, twisting hard. Servos screamed in protest. Tony's repulsor misfired, the beam shooting wild into the sky.
"JARVIS, emergency power!"
"Diverting now, sir."
The arc reactor flared bright. Energy surged through the suit, trying to break Jason's grip. Jason just squeezed harder.
Metal began to crumple.
"No no no—" Tony's voice rose in pitch as his gauntlet compressed, the delicate machinery inside breaking. Jason ripped the entire arm off at the shoulder joint, sparks and fluid spraying.
"Tony!" Peter webbed Jason's face, trying to blind him. Jason burned through it with a glance, grabbed Peter's web-line, and yanked. Peter flew toward him like a yo-yo. Jason's palm met Peter's chest, stopping him cold, then pushed.
Peter rocketed backward, tumbling through the air. He caught himself with a web-line at the last second, swinging back around.
Tony had landed, his suit sparking, the missing arm leaving him off-balance. "Okay, that's it." His voice was tight, controlled. "JARVIS, Protocol Omega."
"Sir, are you certain? The collateral—"
"Do it!"
The arc reactor began to glow brighter, energy building to dangerous levels. Jason's eyes narrowed. He could see it—Tony was preparing to overload the reactor, create an explosion that would take out the block. Himself included if necessary.
A containment blast. Maximum damage to stop an unstoppable threat.
Jason moved before Tony could release it. His hand shot out, tearing open the chest plate, reaching inside—
And plucking the arc reactor right out of Tony's chest.
The suit died instantly, going dark. Tony collapsed inside it, gasping. The reactor glowed in Jason's hand, its energy still building.
"No—my heart—" Tony's voice was weak, panicked.
Jason crushed the reactor. The energy dissipated harmlessly, absorbed into his cells. He dropped the mangled metal and grabbed Tony, ripping him free from the dead armor like opening a tin can. The suit fell apart in pieces, thousands of hours of engineering reduced to scrap.
Tony slumped against Jason's grip, his shirt torn, his chest where the arc reactor had been now exposed. No gaping hole, Jason realized. The shrapnel must have been removed in this timeline. But Tony's heart was racing, his face pale.
"Please—" Tony gasped.
Jason set him down almost gently. "I'm not a killer. But I won't be caged."
Peter landed beside Tony, checking him frantically. "Tony! Tony, talk to me!"
"I'm... okay..." Tony wheezed. "Just... low blood pressure... shock..."
Jason stepped back, looking at the destruction around him. The ruined armor. The wrecked cars. The crater from his initial landing. Peter kneeling beside Tony, hands shaking as he called for medical help.
This had escalated too far. Too fast.
"I didn't want this," Jason said quietly.
Peter looked up at him, and even through the mask, Jason could feel the hatred radiating from him. "You need to leave. Now. Before—"
"Before what?" Jason asked.
Peter's voice was cold. "Before the Avengers get here."
Jason's enhanced hearing picked it up then—the sound of approaching engines. Multiple. Coming fast from different directions.
Tony managed a weak smile despite his condition. "Called them... when you first... showed up..."
He tapped his temple. "Neural... link..."
Peter stood, fists clenched. "Last chance. Surrender now, maybe they'll go easy on you."