Chapter 60: Fighting Ivan
A few minutes had passed, and Liam watched as the F1 drivers got into their cars. He noticed one of the drivers smashing his helmet on the ground while Tony climbed into his car.
'I wonder how they happened to have his size for those clothes,' Liam thought as the race prepared to start.
All the cars took their positions, and the lights turned from red to green. The engines roared as the cars sped off.
'Tony's actually not doing bad,' Liam mused, watching Tony keep up with the rest of the drivers and even surpass a few.
Starting in fifth place, Tony was now in second after just a few laps. Liam began to wonder if Ivan would make his move since a couple of laps had passed or if something had changed due to the butterfly effect.
The televisions on the upper observation deck suddenly had their commentators speak in chaotic manners. The commentators were cursing and yelling about someone. The other people on the deck turned their attention from the track to the screens, gasping and breaking out in conversations of their own.
'Finally,' Liam thought, glancing at the broadcast. A man with dreadlocks had walked onto the track, his clothes burning away to reveal a mechanical exoskeleton on his back.
Scanning the track, Liam pinpointed Ivan's location—near the second sharp corner by the water, which was somewhat as he'd expected. Wasting no time, Liam summoned Incursio around him, ignoring the people around him, and jumped from the observation deck.
Screams broke out behind him as he landed with a loud crash, quickly taking off towards Ivan. People pointed, screamed, and froze in place as he passed, but Liam paid no attention to them.
As Liam reached the track, Ivan had already sliced through the first F1 car. Tony had just turned the corner, but unlike in the movies, the other drivers had already started slowing down thanks to radio warnings from their teams.
Despite the alert, Tony couldn't brake in time. Ivan slashed through the front of Tony's car, sending it flying into the air. Liam watched it flip and land upside down after which he jumped high, over the fence.
Ivan began to slowly walk towards Tony's overturned car, raising his right whip. Muttering something in Russian.
"You should've ran to finish him off," Liam said, hurling his spear mid-jump. The spear pierced Ivan's raised whip, snapping it in two. 'Holding back is going to be the hard part, I can't kill him here.' He thought.
Ivan turned in surprise, only to be struck in the head with a broken piece of an F1 car by Tony from behind. Tony had gotten out of the wreck as quickly as he could and sneaked behind Ivan, using the broken piece as a weapon.
Ivan shrugged off the blow, reflexively slashing through the piece. Tony leapt back to safety as Ivan raised his left whip, aiming it at him.
While Ivan focused on Tony, Liam closed the remaining distance and sent a punch to the mechanical joint on Ivan's right shoulder, sending him crashing into the barrier.
Tony climbed the fence in an attempt to escape from something, and Liam had one thought: 'Fuck.'
Liam turned to jump, but Happy's car caught him mid-air, pinning him against the fence.
"What the fuck, man!" Liam shouted as Tony dropped down from the fence to argue with Happy and Pepper.
'I only jumped to keep them from getting injured or killed if I'd stood my ground,' Liam thought, reminded of a similar incident from the past.
Meanwhile, Ivan had regained his footing and sent his left whip through Happy's car, aiming for Liam. The whip wrapped around Liam's arm.
"Fuck, that's hot!" Liam exclaimed as the arm which the plasma weapon was wrapped around started getting red from the temperature.
With his free hand, Liam grabbed the whip and tore it apart, snapping the end in two. His armor stopped melting, though the heat lingered.
'The weapon's at least 2,000 degrees Celsius,' Liam noted. 'Makes sense since it could cut through steel cars without issue's.'
(A.N.) 2000 degrees Celsius is 3632 degrees Fahrenheit.
He pushed the car back, freeing himself and silencing Pepper and Happy's screaming. Pepper threw Tony the suitcase, which he quickly used to put on his armor.
Ivan saw Tony and raised his whip again, targeting him. He slashed down, wrapping the whip around Tony's neck. Before Ivan could act further, Liam kicked his hand, forcing him to drop the whip.
Tony tried to fire his repulsors, but the current running through his armor disabled them. Liam resummoned Neontote and sliced through the whip binding Tony, freeing him. He then punched Ivan in the face, knocking out several teeth and breaking his nose. Ivan collapsed, spitting blood as police arrived to detain him. Before the police could get to him, Liam ripped the arc reactor out his chest.
"You lose," Ivan spoke, his voice barely hearable because of his smashed mouth. "You lose, I win," he repeated as officers dragged him away.
Liam walked over to Tony, holding up the arc reactor he'd ripped from Ivan. "This is yours, isn't it?" he asked, tossing it to Tony.
Tony caught it and pointed at Liam. "Hey, you—what are you?"
"I just saved your ass from getting toasted, and that's what you're curious about?" Liam shot back.
"I didn't need saving. You came here on your own," Tony retorted.
Inside his mask, Liam rolled his eyes and turned to follow the police cars taking Ivan away. Tony checked on Pepper and Happy before being intercepted by paramedics. He declined treatment, worried that rumors about his poisoning might spread if it was exposed at an unfamiliar hospital.
As Tony walked towards where Ivan was being taken, he was greeted by the country's Minister of Defense.
"I want to speak with the assailant," Tony said in French.
The minister nodded, gesturing for Tony to follow. "He's being transported to a maximum-security prison nearby as soon as possible. Our people are running background checks on him as we speak."
Meanwhile, Liam was on the phone with Coulson.
"We saw your stunt on the news. Good job, you saved a very important person for us," Coulson said.
"Thanks, I want clearance to meet with the assailant," Liam replied.
"We'll arrange it," Coulson assured him before ending the call.
Following the police cars slowly with Incursio, Liam arrived at the prison which was nearby. After unsummoning Incursio, he received a text from Coulson containing identification for a SHIELD agent with clearance. He sent Coulson a quick thanks before heading to the gate.
'Even though I know Ivan's motives, they don't make sense,' Liam thought. 'Why would he seek revenge for a father who physically abused him for over 15 years?'
Inside the prison, Liam asked for the location of the prisoner that just got here while showing his identification.
"They're processing his fingerprints and taking his photo right now," the desk officer said. "He's in cellblock 1C, holding cell 13A."
"I'll have an agent escort you," the officer added, gesturing to a nearby guard.
The guard led Liam to a more heavily guarded section of the prison. 'There are at least twice as many guards here as in the other areas,' Liam noted.
"Please wait here until the processing is complete," the agent said, after they had arrived outside the holding cell.
Liam nodded and waited.
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