the race (battle)
Tony is outside, surrounded by security guards, photographers, and eager fans. He’s striding towards the race track, dressed in a blue and black jumpsuit with the name "Stark" in white letters, stitched all over his chest. He jumps onto the race track.
“Oh, no. This is a terrible idea.” Maria shakes her head.
“You’re not about to drive, are you?” Howard asks the onscreen Tony, sounding quite angry and like he already knows the answer.
Back in the dining room, a television is streaming Tony live behind Justin Hammer's head as he continues his interview. He tries to convince Christine that Tony and he are friends.
“Really, man. This is pathetic.” Tony shakes his head.
“Obviously he wants to profit off the Stark name,” Howard growls.
Christine's eyes travel to the screen where Tony’s facing the cameras. "Well, what's the use of having and owning a race car, if you don't drive it?"
“Sounds logic to me.” Tony shrugs.
“No, no.” Maria shakes her head. “Owning a race car is one thing, driving it is completely different,” she says. “Just owning a car is no reason for actually participating in a race.” she sounds stressed.
“It’s incredibly dangerous, especially if you’re not a professional,” Howard adds.
“It’s the future, maybe in the future, I am a professional. We don’t know.” the teen defends himself.
“We know. You’re an engineer and a businessman, not a racing driver.” Howard answers, with enough of a note of finality that Tony decides to end the conversation here.
The crowd cheers and Pepper notices what is happening, calling Natalie to herself. "This is the first that I've known of it," says the PA.
On the TV screen, the name Stark appears on the list of contestants. "This cannot happen," Pepper comments.
“Let me just have some fun, pleeease.” Tony whines.
Natalie runs away in the search for Happy, and Hammer goes on lying his way through the disaster-interview.
“I can’t even focus on watching the amazing race cars right now, because I’m too busy being worried that my son is going to kill himself driving one of them.” Howard grits through his teeth.
“I can drive a car.” Tony rolls his eyes.
“But this is different.”
Christine walks away from Hammer, shifting her attention to what is happening with Tony Stark while he is now in a race car, helmet on his head. He raises a finger in greeting as he looks into the camera, and Hammer scowls watching it.
“Why does that woman have a flip phone?” chooses to comment Tony when he notices the phone in Christine’s hand.
“At least you’re wearing a protective helmet.” Maria breathes out.
On the race track, Tony revs the engine a few times and gives someone next to him a thumbs up to indicate he’s ready.
“What a beautiful thing,” comments Tony on the sound as well as the graphics. “It makes me really want to go to a race right now.”
“Only if you want your mother to have a heart attack.” Maria threatens him with a finger raised in the air so he lifts his hands up in surrender.
Up above in the crowded stands, people cheer eagerly. Five sets of traffic lights on the pole above the race cars glow brightly, and an announcer counts down in French. When the lights turn red, the race begins. All the cars zoom off in a line down the track, motors whining loudly. They turn corners and steer curves at breakneck speed.
“I’m sorry but that looks amazing.” Tony points at the screen.
Howard sighs. “It does, I wonder about the engines…”
It shows a person dressed in an orange jumpsuit and a helmet labeled 'Intervention' walking in a line with other similarly dressed attendants. The man’s face is visible only underneath the clear part of the helmet, but it’s enough to recognize who he is.
“Oh my god, please no,” Tony whispers.
“Is that Ivan Vanko?” Maria pales.
“How did he get through to the security? He has a fake name on the plate, he shouldn’t even be let anywhere near this event.” Howard growls, his palm closing into a fist.
Meanwhile, oblivious Tony is still racing, seeming to be doing fairly well.
“I’m good.” the teen nods to himself.
“That isn’t the point.”
While Pepper waits for Happy to arrive, Ivan breaks away from the rest of the line, and Tony with the other drivers comes out of a tunnel and zooms along the track. Then, Ivan steps out onto the track, letting one of the contestants pass him by. He stops in the middle of the road, waiting, and in the dining room, Pepper's eyes widen with horror.
“Pepper already knows what’s up,” Tony says to himself.
“Yes, it seems she has to deal with you a lot.” his mother responds to him, though not even turning in his direction.
Hammer joins a small gathering watching the event just as Ivan pulls open his orange jacket, under which the Arc Reactor glows brightly. He powers up his weapon, crackling and sparkling with electricity, and it burns his shirt off.
“There’s no defense, it’s just to hurt.” Tony realizes as he sees no armor like in his Iron Man Suit. This thing is just like a harness, holding together the Arc Reactor and the whips so that he could attack.
“Knowing his father, the offensive strategy isn’t surprising,” murmurs Howard.
Then, as an unknown driver comes screeching towards Ivan, he steps forward and without any thought, he brings one of the whips down across the front of the race car, slicing off part of the car and ignoring it as it crashes with the driver still in his seat.
“Oh my god!” Maria almost jumps in her seat.
“This guy is a maniac.” Tony watches. “If he just wants me, why does he have to hurt someone innocent in the process?” he asks, horrified.
“He wants to do as much damage as he can,” Howard answers quietly.
The watchers in the dining room gasp in horror, except for Hammer, who seems to be more interested than afraid.
“This idiot is a lunatic too, why is he watching this as if he enjoyed it?” Tony’s voice is dripping with disgust.
Finally, in the doorway of the room, Happy appears with the shiny briefcase he’s been carrying before.
“The briefcase, yeah. Knew this couldn’t just be a regular briefcase.” Tony nods.
“What is in it?” Maria narrows her eyes.
“Maybe some sort of weapon similar to the Iron Man suit, the color would certainly match,” answers Howard.
Next moment Happy’s jumping a car and Pepper flings herself into the back seat. "Go, go!" she shouts and the man quickly drives straight through the gate with a crash, and with a screech of swerving tires, he swings round to follow the track.
“No, don’t go there, it’s dangerous!”
“They are going to get themselves killed!”
Security guards are briefly shown hurrying the civilians out of harm's way.
“If you did a better job checking the people coming in, you wouldn’t have such a problem right now!” sounds Howard’s angry voice.
Then Tony comes flying around a bend, onto the stretch where Ivan stands waiting for him. He doesn’t even have time to react before Vanko swings the whip right across the front of his car. The entire section snaps off, and Tony goes spinning through the air in the remaining part of the car.
“Oh my goodness!” Maria yells, a heartbreaking sound tearing out of her throat.
“Tony!” Howard yells as well and even though the teen is terrified by what’s happening on screen he takes a second to just cherish the fact that his father called him Tony and not Anthony. He swallows and does his best not to show many emotions on his face when he feels both of his parents’ gazes on him.
The car lands upside down, and Tony begins to struggle, trapped in the machine. While Vanko slowly walks closer, Tony pulls off his helmet and looks upside down at the man, trying to understand what just happened.
“Please get out of there fast!” Maria worries and Howard lies a hand on her back, to comfort her as much as he can right now.
A few cars come up behind Ivan, crashing into one another while the man doesn’t even spare them one glance. Happy and Pepper are driving, shouting at each other nervously about the case and a key.
“Please, tell me that case is actually something good.” Tony murmurs while in reality, his thoughts are going I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die and mom is going to watch me die, I’m gonna die while my parents are watching. What the hell was that Watcher thinking?!
Vanko marches up to Tony's car and cuts it in the middle, but when the pieces fall apart, Tony is nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, thank god, you got away.” Maria breathes out.
Then, from behind, Tony hits Ivan on the head with part of a car door.
“Do you have a death wish?!” Howard yells at the screen.
“Please, run.” Maria whispers and all Tony can do is stare at the scene, almost frozen, and just hope that by some miracle he survives that fight.
Vanko turns quickly and swings his whips again. Tony's makeshift weapon flies out of his hands and he goes tumbling to the ground. Ivan brings down one of his whips but Tony rolls aside just in time. He scoots backward until Vanko attacks again, and again he rolls out of the way.
“Oh shit, those reflexes.” the teen is amazed, honestly, because at the moment even a lab station is able to defeat him. He can’t count how many times he didn’t notice a table or a part of some machine lying on the ground and tripped over it or found some other way to injure himself while in his engineer-genius trance.
Onscreen, Tony scrambles to his feet and makes a bolt for the remains of another car, he tries to jump up on top of it as Vanko swings for him again but ends up falling flat on the ground. He groans in pain and lies there, trying to re-orient himself.
“You need to get up, dear.” cheers on him his mom.
He notices the gasoline dripping from the tank so he stays there, waiting. Ivan walks up to him, smacking his lightning ropes on the ground, but Tony jumps up and springs away just in time, while the car goes up in flames.
“That was smart,” Howard says, taking a breath. “But if you hadn’t timed it right…” he doesn’t finish. Honestly, Tony is lost between watching himself almost die every five seconds and between the fact that apparently, his father gives a shit about him?
As Tony steadies himself he realizes that his arm is on fire.
“Oh, my dear!” Maria is going to get a heart attack any second now, she swears to everything that is holy. Maybe it’s just a nightmare, maybe there is no actual watching future Tony’s death experiences. A nightmare would be so much more welcome than this race track situation being true.
Hastily he begins beating at the flames and manages to put out the small fire, backing away as Vanko comes on him yet again. Then, he notices a black car flying into view, and recognizing it, he jumps on the fence while Happy smashes Ivan into the railing.
“Thank god for that man’s quick thinking,” Howard says quietly, releasing a breath he’s been holding.
“He almost drove into your son!” answers him Maria.
"Are you okay?" shouts Happy as Tony jumps down from the fence.
"Yeah," snaps Tony, marching up to the front window. "Were you heading for me or him?"
"I was trying to scare him!" protests Happy.
"Cause I can't tell!" Tony goes on indignantly.
“Give him a break, he did help you.”
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" screams Pepper. "GET IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!"
"Better security!" Tony barks. "I was attacked! We need better security! You're CEO!"
“She just became the CEO.” defends Maria.
“The security is on those organizing the event,” says Howard. “And they should all respond for whatever happened that allowed this man in there.”
"Get in the car!" calls Happy, who’s really holding it together well.
“You can just tell looking at his calm demeanor that he’s dealt with shit like this before.” Howard shakes his head.
“Language, Howard, your son is sitting right there.”
“That’s fine mom, I know worse,” Tony says, trying to shed some light and humor considering what they’ve just seen and experienced, but the moment his parents both glare at him, he realizes it was a wrong thing to say.
“You’re on thin ice right now,” Howard says.
“Driving in a race, what are you thinking?” asks Maria.
“I didn’t do it yet.” he tries to explain it through gritted teeth once again.
Tony marches around the back of the car, still griping. "Better security measures. God, this is embarrassing!" He opens the back door - "First vacation in two years!" - when half of the car door suddenly breaks off in his hand. Ivan's whip splitting it right down the middle.
“Okay, note to myself, never go on vacation,” he says.
“How is this man still going at it after being hit with the car?!”
Tony reels back in surprise. Pepper and Happy both cry out, but Happy instantly throws the car into reverse, backs it up, and slams Ivan into the fence again. "Oh my God!" howls poor Pepper.
"I got him!" shouts Happy.
"Hit him again! Hit him again!" cries Tony, and he reaches into the back seat. "Football!"
“Oh, this poor Pepper in the backseat.” Maria shakes her head.
“Football is for give me the case, so what is in this case?” wonders Tony.
Pepper tries to pass it to him, but the car backs up and rams again, so Pepper falls back still holding it. The three of them keep shouting at each other, Pepper trying to throw the case to Tony, while Vanko damages the car.
“It’s so chaotic, oh my god,” murmurs Tony.
“This is too much for me to handle.” Howard shakes his head.
Meanwhile, Maria talks to Pepper as if the woman could hear her. “Darling, pass him the suitcase already, please.”
"The case, please!" barks Tony, unknowingly mimicking his mother and clapping his hands. "Come on!"
Pepper manages to throw it out of the car. It lands on the ground and slides to Tony, who puts his foot on the handle.
“What are you doing?” Tony asks his future-self, narrowing his eyes at the screen.
The briefcase opens to reveal many folded layers of red and silver. It’s a different version of the Iron Man Suit, obviously designed to be easily transported. It unfolds partly as Tony bents down and grasps two more handles. He pulls the main part of the Suit up and puts it on his chest, stretching out his arms as the gold-titanium fits itself over his arms and then the rest of his body, finishing over his head.
“Woah.” he breathes out.
“Well, that… is quite unexpected.” his father’s voice sounds to his right.
“You can both marvel over it after Tony is out of danger and this man is taken to prison.” Maria snaps.
The Arc Reactor glows brightly as the Suit connects to it. The civilians still in the stands cry out and rush forward to look as Iron Man appears.
“Are those people without brains? Run as far away from there, not stand around and watch.” Maria comments. (And honestly, Tony has to agree with her.)
Tony kicks the car and then turns to deal with Ivan, who glares back at him. Tony stretched out his left hand to shoot at Ivan but the man swings his whip. Tony glanced down at himself in alarm, and then raises his right hand, shooting another beam at Ivan, who deflects with another swing of his whip.
“Where is the security? Where are the police? What is happening there?” Howard asks, enraged.
Tony is unable to shake off the whips Ivan flung at him, so he decides to use it, curling part of the crackling steel rope around his arm.
“No, no, no, don’t do that, dear.” sounds Maria’s alarmed voice. And Tony isn’t completely sure what he’s doing either but he trusts his future self.
Finally, Tony grabs Ivan by the front of the harness-like half Suit and slams him down on the ground. As he lays there, Tony walks over and rips the Arc Reactor out from where it was powering the electric whips.
All three Starks breathe a sigh of relief at that, able to calm down a little now that the fight is over. “Oh, thank god.”
Tony looks down at the reactor as a responding team of men in black gear comes to carry the injured man away. As he’s being hauled off, he spats blood in Tony's direction and laughs. "You lose. You lose, Stark!"
“Uh, I don’t think I did?” Tony frowns.
“He means your reputation,” Howard answers, gazing at the screen a moment longer before turning into his son’s direction. “The Senate feared that someone may create a weapon similar to your Suit, you convinced them that it’s not going to happen anytime soon, yet, here he is.”
“Whatever, I made the suit, it’s mine, they’re not gonna get it.” Tony snarls, leaning back into the couch and finally deciding to grab one of the throw pillows and hug it to his chest.
Onscreen, Tony gazes after Ivan, then back at the Arc Reactor in his hand, analyzing it through his HUD. He crushes it till it fizzles out.