He's shaken and confused. Tony's been through pain, a lot of pain, but he can honestly say he's not felt anything quite like that. It wasn't just a flesh burn, not like one might expect from acid or scaling water, it was as if it seared straight to the bone and back out again. Fortunately the worst of it didn't last long, a debilitating shock along with the echo that allowed it in the first place, but it was rapidly fading into a sort of dull background ache.

Enough that he sees the bat jabbing for his face and jerks back in time to avoid getting his nose bashed. Instead he just smacks his head into the concrete with an audible crack and curses under his breath. A sharp breath drawn between bared teeth, and once his vision stops swimming he focuses on the familiar face of his attacker.

"What the fuck Cesar?"

The demand is nearly a snarl, eye narrowed in suspicion. This certainly isn't what he was expecting when he agreed to help, sure he and Cesar weren't exactly bosom buddies but he'd not expected something like this.