章 49: Chapter 49
The Fastest Man Alive
Chapter 49
Monaco
Benjamin Blake Aka Jason Todd
Doting Father, Overkiller
Raven and Ororo had gotten the kids ready in record time while I took a quick shower. Once I finished, I had to get in contact with Sage to go over some information quickly. Gunny had gotten hold of some of the retired Marines, and they were going to pull bodyguard duty today and help free me up so I could take full advantage of Whiplash's little stunt.
With Tony's ego, he made the world know he was going to show up at the race in Monaco. This was just fine with me because I didn't have to track him for any changes in cannon. Since there were no changes from the MCU movies, this also meant I could put my full attention on his adversary for the main event. Vanko was last seen taking the train out of Russia last Tuesday night. The A.I. collective on the island had picked him up from a camera connected to a transition station. Well, they caught the side of his face, which sent the systems into a frenzy. They got so overzealous that I had to stop them. Everything was tracked down from fingerprints to information I didn't even want to know. Hell, I had to order a drone into the area to drop a package of nano-investigators.
Once Ivan Vanko's credentials were confirmed, I had the nanobots investigate the power suit he had made. The whiplash suit scanned as a lower-tech version of Tony's suit, and I was surprised he was able to get the level of output he achieved with such low level, even trashy materials. Then I had to stop and think about it. But putting it all in perspective, I realized Tony made his suit in a cave with parts from his state of the art weapons program while Vanko scrounged and made his suit in Russia without anyone knowing.
There was no stopping my excitement once I knew for sure this was happening. Hell, I had created a whole suite of containment units for the Delta Six accelerator suits. Was I an asshole for using the knowledge I gained from the movies? Maybe, but waste not want not. And this was just business. My company was going to gain a golden halo after this (literally in this case); and so was Emma's for being a part of it all.
I had already come to terms with the fact that the hero life was not for me. It was a cool fantasy once upon a time, but I was much more Slytherin than Gryffindor to the core. With one last message sent to my guards on the ground, I put my holo-tablet away. Everything was in place for the show later so I could just sit back and relax…
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"Are we there yet?"
"No, we'll get there when we get there!"
Turning around, I looked at the little imp as she tried to drive Raven up the wall. Ororo and Emma were the smart ones and had earphones in and were intentionally ignoring the byplay. Alfred was playing a game with Celeste and Sophie over the holo-net. Phoebe was reading something on her own tablet while snuggled into Jean's side. Gwen and Sue decided to stay on the island and do something in the labs together, but I already made sure to schedule assistants to ensure there was no repeat of the hentai tentacle monster episode.
Felicia was doing her thing in New York, and I made sure I had people watching her back as well since she was trying to play with The Hand. She didn't tell me about what she was planning, but my paranoia protocols were on full-scale alert, and I was going to be sure I had backups for my backups when it came to The Hand's Ninjas.
Before Maya could ask her question again, I flicked her on the forehead. She pouted and did the most mature thing a spoiled and totally loved child who has her daddy tied around her finger could do: she stuck her tongue out at me.
"Leave your mother alone," I said before pulling my holo-tablet back out. "Here let's watch something."
With some quick commands into the particle seat layout console of the sky car, I was shifted to sitting next to Maya. The sky car we were using was one of the premium variants from the island. Well, I wouldn't consider it an island vehicle since it was built with the family in mind. This sky car had everything one with a large family would need. This baby was rated for vacuum and underwater operations with an expanded interior, kinetic shielded safety seats, and inertia dampeners, of course, with separate enclosures to ensure safety. Hell, it even had state of the art medical facilities that were just a button press away.
None of the seats were traditional seats, either: most of the interior was built from photon deposition layering of hard lights and nano-particles. This process allowed us to both have preset configurations while allowing us to program the inside. I knew Wakanda had their little Vibranium dust, but that was all back of the bus now and quite played out. I felt more than a little smug, knowing we had the upgraded version of their musty dusty. These nano-particles came in colors and, combined with the hard lights, could even turn the interior of the sky car into a kitchen, a living room, or even a flying saucer if one wished.
Anything one might imagine.
We had settled in to watch some of the cartoon, but didn't even make it ten minutes into the show when Raven called out that we were touching down. Once we drove out of the parking garage, I placed a call to Gunny, who was heading the security detail. The information I received back wasn't so bad. Justin Hammer had shown up, but no word on Tony as of yet. Putting that aside, I found Ivan out a few blocks from the raceway before I closed down the tablet as Raven drove us into the owner's side of the parking lot.
When we pulled into our section, there was a nice little crowd of guards and employees waiting on us. The kids rushed out while Raven, Emma, Ororo, and Jean took their time and looked stunning doing it. Some of the workers looked stunned that we were able to fit so many people in what looked like a futuristic sports car, but ignored it for staring at the absolute beauties I surrounded myself with.
Emma turned and started to coordinate with her people, while Raven and Ororo took the kids with one of the tour guides. Jean and I went right to the formula one car to take in its curves. This formula one car was the brainchild of Peter, Ben Grimm, and Johnny working long hours in the labs back in New York. They had gotten it done with room to spare for the qualifiers, and I had thrown millions into getting a team together while also snatching up a driver. He went by some fancy French name that I could not be bothered to remember at the moment as I looked over the formula one racer with Jean.
The team's manager came up with a smile, and I had to take him to the side to let him know that I would be racing today. The look on the man's face was priceless, but he still jumped to and got done what needed to be done. Lucky for me, I was footing the bill and had my qualifications, bad news for him, I was the eccentric billionaire that paid for everything. Jean gave me a look that screamed unfair, and I could feel the need for speed bleeding through her empathic powers.
Before I could say anything, Emma and Ororo showed up with a disgruntled look on their faces.
"Why do you get to race, and I have to stay in the V.I.P. booth?" Ororo asked with piercing eyes.
"Yes, I believe we should play for the right to race," Emma added before turning to the team manager, which had the man break out in a cold sweat.
"Because I came up with the idea, and I brought my racing gear," I replied, trying not to sound smug about it.
"That's why you brought the duffle bag." Jean gasped as she put the parts of my plan together.
"What duffle?" Ororo asked while looking around.
"The one in his utility belt," Emma answered with a huff.
"Look, I'll set up a racing track when we get home, okay," I said, raising my hands to forestall them from turning this into a thing.
Hell, maybe it would be fun to recreate a speed racer or Mario Kart style racing back home.
"I will even program the game tower races myself."
That seemed to appease the three, but I noticed the way Ororo and Emma looked at the formula one vehicle. Yeah, I would have to do something to make up for this later, but for now. I was going to enjoy fucking up MCU canon.
The team manager didn't even wait for his queue, he vanished somewhere, so I had one of the guards find the man and relay my orders on getting the racer ready for me. Since the manager was going to take care of getting everything ready, I pulled out the advanced helm stashed in my duffle. I gave it to one of the assistants and told them how to sync it to the F1.
I followed my family out to the V.I.P. section of the racing circuit. One of the things I instantly picked up on was that Gunny was sitting his oversized marine ass in a little golf cart labeled security. I didn't even say anything, just pulled out my phone and snapped a picture for later. He shot me a look and brought his hand up for a middle finger but stopped halfway once the kids rushed over to his side.
Salt was in the second cart that pulled up so everyone could grab themselves a seat. The old man charmed the kids and allowed Maya to take the seat next to his while Alfred was stuck between his sisters in the back. I was wondering why he didn't mind when I noticed he took out the collapsed form of the mega-buster we had worked on earlier that morning. In the collapsed form, it looked like a coffee thermos. I did a quick check of my surroundings to make sure that we didn't have any cameras directed at us, but I noticed three.
Well, shit!
Ororo picked up on what I was doing before giving me a look asking why. Since there was no fast way out of this, I pointed to what Alfred had in his hands. The narrowing of her eyes told me she didn't understand but knew that it was important. Luckily for us, we didn't have far to ride on the little carts. The first thing I did once I hopped out was to make a beeline straight for Alfred. He saw me coming and handed it off to Celeste behind his back, but my eyes were far too fast for that.
I can't believe he is already working with his sisters to pull one over me.
Before Celeste could make off with the mega-buster, Ororo was already there to take it out of her hand.
"We will speak of this later," Ororo said, looking down at the troublemakers and using a neutral tone of voice.
The kids looked a little sheepish and crestfallen, but I was just happy they didn't blow someone away. That air cannon packed a punch normal people just wouldn't be able to stand up against. I guess it was my fault for tempting them when I left it on the dining table and not in my lab's kiddy corner. I gave them each a look before Emma went on her best behavior speech.
Gunny and Salt made a hand motion to the side, which I took as my queue. I tapped Jean on the shoulder, and she turned and followed along. I had taken Jean with me to keep the rest in the loop telepathically.
Walking over, I noticed Salt pressing one of the buttons on her vambrace that sent a shimmer of light around us, forming a small privacy corner.
"Our security forces are all in place, boss," Gunny stated as he brought out a regular table to show me. "I had Laslow tracking him since he got off the train last night. Everything is hands-off like you asked, but I gotta ask, are you sure you don't want to pop him right now?"
Before I answered, I reviewed the information he gave me. The suit that Vanko was going to use was a stripped-down variant of Tony's second suit. He had legs, arms, and some torso, but no helm or weapons besides his whips. He did have this modularity that would help advance some of the things I was working on for Emma.
"Yeah, I am sure. We pop him during his little showboating later," I said, then expanded a little. "I built you guys one of the most state of the art suits known to man. I know your fears, but you can protect the people when this all blows up with the guards planted throughout the crowd. We need the publicity, but I also have you stationed, so civilians aren't sacrificed during this little party."
He gave me one hard look before acquiescing to my demands.
"You're almost as bad as the politicians," Gunny growled.
"True, but we at least have a contingency plan in place to protect the people. No one is going to drop the ball and then start pointing fingers." I quipped.
"So the shields will hold if they need to?" Salt asked, inserting herself into the conversation.
"Yeah, they are using a new hard light tech called photon deposition layering. It allows us to change the nature of light itself into a hard structure. You can hit it with an Abrahams sabot round and barely crack the outer layer." I said with smug satisfaction bleeding into my voice. Jean smacked me in the side before sending me a look. I sent her a kiss in return that made her cheeks bloom a red blush.
With his fears laid to rest, Gunny begrudgingly let us get back to our family time. What I found in the V.I.P. room was one of the funniest things ever. Maya was standing in front of Tony with her hands on her hips. The look on Tony's face was reminiscing as if he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Hammer was trying to interject, and the triplets with Alfred were looking at the man as if he was a bug they wanted to crush.
I stood next to Emma, who was beside Pepper, who was trying hard not to laugh at the byplay as Tony was stared down by a little girl.
"Daddy said you're a hero," Maya said, staring down at Tony as he had a strained smile on his face. "What are your powers?"
"I don't have any, but I'm Iron-Man, did your daddy tell you about that." Tony tried to reply, but the look Maya gave him said it all. She closed her little book before putting it back in her pocket before turning around and walking over to me.
"My guards wear suits." Maya snipped at Tony before she held her hands up for me. Chuckling, I picked up my baby girl as I took in the devastated look on his face.
"Jason, you sumbit-"
"Language!"
"You're here!" Tony exclaimed like we didn't stop him from dropping the B-word. "Cute kid, are the rest yours?"
"The Jason Todd reclusive billionaire rumored to be involved with Emma Frost of the Frost conglomerate?"
"And who are you?" Emma asked the blonde that spoke up.
"Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair." The blonde spoke rapidly as she moved from Justin Hammer's side.
"Is she any good?" I asked, turning to Tony, who just shrugged back.
"My editor would love it if we could set up a time for an interview." Christine gushed.
"Yes, well, she can't because she is doing a spread on my company and me." Justin Hammer, the self-tanner said, inserting himself into the conversation.
"Yeah, about what?" I ask, shooting Tony a look. The grin on his face told me he understood.
"You know, that canceled government contract," Tony answered, sending it back my way.
"Ohh, they finally gave up on his bargain bin rent-a-weapons!" I said, nodding and playing along.
Tony smiled, and then we both just turned and ignored the man. Emma, Ororo, and Pepper were seated at a table with another blonde that tickled something in the back of my mind. When Tony asked her a question, that was when it clicked.
"Bobby this us?" Tony asked as she directed us towards the best seats in the house. Somehow they had my table and Tony's combined into one.
Well, I'll be damned, since Fury didn't have Natasha to do his little infiltration of Stark's company he sent over Bobby Morse instead. Not a bad choice actually, besides Natasha and Malinda May. Bobby would be on that very short list of kick-ass super spy babes that can get the job done.
Salt directed the kids to their seats while I picked Alfred's tablet off him as he walked by. Tony watched over my shoulder as I donated the money Alfred liberated from Justin Hammer to a list of charities I kept.
"Hahaha, you should have seen it, Pep, the kids rolled Hammer for his money," Tony chuckled with a laugh. "How do you deal with all these kids?"
"Tony!" Pepper said, scandalized.
"What?" Tony returned with his own shocked look.
"It's fine," I said, placating Pepper from digging into Tony's ass. "My little geniuses can be a handful. I'll tell you that, but it helps that we keep them engaged. That and also that we aren't slouches when it comes to the intelligence department, also."
Pepper tilted her head to the side, and I noticed the look she gave Tony. Well damn, she was already thinking ahead. Tony noticed the look and made his escape while tapping me on the shoulder to follow along. I gave Jean a kiss on the cheek before putting Maya in my seat and followed him to the side.
"Let's race," Tony said, not even trying to hide the playboy smile on his features.
"What's the bet?" I asked in return.
"Michael Keaton's Bat-mobile," Tony said, bringing out his phone. The video feed that popped up was of his garage with the Bat-mobile parked right there in the center. I looked at it and gave Tony a nod that spread the smug look on his face.
"I see your bat-mobile and raise you one back to the future DeLorean with a working flight module," I said, bringing up my own smart band with a floating hologram of the garage section of my labs. Sitting between my supercars sat the DeLorean from the movie. Floating next to the image was the text of all its flight capabilities. "Authenticated, of course."
"Done," Tony said as he looked at my flying time car with crazy eyes. We both looked around for a moment. Tony got a little head motion from Happy which gave us a clear exit. "So, I have a second-team out there, and you can drive that one."
"No need," I answered before sending the commands to my U.M.F. suit. Tony stood stunned as my clothes changed from my black slacks and boat shoes to racing gear.
"You have programmable clothing!" Tony gushed as he tried to touch the fabric. He didn't get a chance as I pushed his hands away.
"You should worry more about getting yourself ready man," I said as I fended off another one of his attempts. "You're a grown man, no pouting."
There was no looking back to see the look on his face. He was a grown man; he will get over it. Walking into the pit, I found the team's manager was already waiting there for me with a helmet in hand. The French driver was seated on the side and looked sour as could be. This was his lucky day because if I wasn't here, he could have ended up one of Whiplash's victims.
Hell, I knew the only reason he isn't up in arms about me taking his spot was that he will still get his hazard pay. Plus, I was going to give him a driving bonus for the day.
With a quick double-check of the helmet, I slid it onto my head before waiting to get into my formula one racer. Once the helmet was over my head, I gave it a moment to connect with my suit and smiled at the Heads Up Display became available.
For a moment, I wondered if Tony had created the same set up for his driver. I dismissed it since there was no news on such a thing, and he wasn't 'I care for the world' Tony yet. While I was looking through track conditions on my H.U.D., I waited on the side for them to finish running pre-race checks.
Once that was completed, I got in the formula one car and then went through more pre-race checks. The racer U.M.F. suit had a built-in cooling system that most other racing suits lacked. On the side was a double plug system that connected right into the F1 vehicle. The blue plug on my left brought in the cool liquid that ran through the suit. While the red plug on the right drew the liquid heated with my raise body's temperature.
It was a pretty easy system to install with the heat sink fins located right behind the driver's seat. These were the little advances that my driver's like, and I was starting to understand why. Inside of the F1 racer was fucking hot. Yeah, we had an overhead cooler sending in air, but that could do nothing on the track.
With this system, once I plugged in my suit, and the cooling liquid started to circulate. Damn, I felt so much better. I had to finish that ship for Peter and Johnny because everything got so much better once the coolant started to circulate.
With a double-tap on my helm side, I had the H.U.D. changed to the race track mode, and I noticed the marked lines with green giving the fastest track times.
"Mic check, mic check."
"Mic check clear, mic check clear," I replied into the inbuilt radio. With that out of the way, we went over another round of checks before we got the final release.
I took the racing column handed to me, allowing me to snap it into place. Once it registered, I thumbed a switch letting me scroll through my H.U.D. to the racing setup I had for this day. On my lower, left was tire health, depicted by four wheels lit by a steady green. On the right was tack and position, my top left had gear with speed and had fuel levels in the middle. Once everything was in place, I rolled my neck while shifting my shoulders to settle in my seat some more.
As the team lowered the formula one racer down to the floor, I powered it on but was interrupted as the top right of my H.U.D. blipped on activating the video chat feature. Maya was stuffing her face at the side as she sat in Raven's lap. It surprised me that my triplets were the ones making the call.
"Daddy, you're going to race?" Phoebe asked with pouting lips.
"Yes sweetheart, I am," I answered as I followed the lead out onto the track. I was to get into my position at mark seventeen.
"Mommy said you're going to build us a track at home?" Sophie asked with her brows scrunched together.
"Yeah, I am sweety, but why did you call? The race is about to start." I asked back.
"We didn't get to wish you luck, and Miss Salt said we have to be good girls and stay inside," Celeste answered for her sisters.
"Well, that just means I have to do my best to win this race and take you, girls, to victory row," I told them with a smile. Even though things will get interrupted, I still planned to make my own little thing with the girls and family later.
"Okay, well good luck, daddy." The girls all said at once. Maya looked up from her ice cream for a moment to blow a kiss at the tablet the girls used before going back to eating. Before the video call closed, I heard Alfred's voice telling me good luck.
A five-minute count popped up on my H.U.D., letting me know that we were already in the final moments before the race started. Relaxing into my seat, I allowed my team to run the last of the electronic tests before the race. Closing my eyes, I blocked out the world around me.
Not only was I about to start one deadly race, but Vanko was going to show his face halfway through the race.
Ba-bump!
2:52
Ba-bump!
1:22
Ba-bump!
00:32
Ba-bump!
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
Ba-bump!
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
Ba-bump!
00:02
00:01
GO!GO!GO!
My eyes snapped open as I pressed down on the throttle and shifted gears. Everything around me shifted as I sped forward with a quick left and then a right to avoid crashing into the car position ahead of my starting position. I ignored the knocking at my side as I shot down the straight.
A quick message in my top right indicated a collision behind me, but that was ignored as I noticed the names above the cars before me.
Tony was in the eighth spot from his starting twelve, while some other names popped up, I ignored them.
A right turn popped up with a five-count and a green line for the approach that I should take. Ignoring both, I downshifted and waffled the turn before kicking it back into high gear shooting forward to overtake on the next turn.
The engine roared and growled as I shot around a wide turn right on Tony's heels as we hit the downhill section. We raced neck and neck as we shot downhill, playing chicken with speed and hard turn coming to greet us in…
05…
04…
03…
02…
01…
We both shifted and took the turn hard, locking out those behind us as we did the S curve before going into the tunnel. Sweat trickled down my neck and cooled as it entered my suit, my palms gripped the wheel tightly as I made another daring maneuver to get in front of Stark. I feathered a trigger to shift the panels changing the downforce on the race car as I shot around another corner heading for another short straight. Before we could get more than halfway down the straight, my helm started to flash red.
ABORT! ABORT!
This was the moment my reflexes kicked in as I pulled my legs in for a tuck and roll as something sliced into the front of my racer. The cockpit foamed up instantly with stasis bubbles as the racer rolled around for a moment.
Shit, I had gotten so into the race, I forgot about Vanko for a moment.
Once the rolling stopped, I watched the H.U.D. flash the all-clear green as the fire suppressant systems did their work. With a growl, I applied a little strength to work my way out, but I was already hearing the sounds of battle and crashes going on around me. I might be in front of cameras, but I was pissed and angry.
Crawling my way out from under the racer, I found Vanko in the craziest fucking suit he could have made. The man had four arms, two located each side with a mounted weapon on his shoulder firing off pulses of electricity. Gunny and five guards stood around Vanko with shields made of hard light holo-plating at the ready, boxing Vanko in.
We were making discoveries after discoveries on the island, but hard light was turning into one of the most important discoveries we could have made with how flexible it's applications were. With enough power and imagination, you could make just about anything with hard light.
Two other guards were using a reverse styled tractor beam to slow down the other racers and keep them from crashing into the other racers. This was to prevent that bullshit from the movies, where people just watched chairing because our Hero was facing the Villain.
Pulling myself up to my feet, I did a quick dust off before running to the side of Gunny and the rest of the marines he had on guard duty. The gear they carried was only for incapacitation, but they were making due. They were wearing the latest in the Delta Six line with shield gauntlets and stun batons.
Sleek blue and red lines denoted the large V for my Vega industries so that everyone would know who was saving the day today. I looked over and noticed the smug look on Tony's face as he looked up, and that was when I heard the whooshing sounds. It had seemed he had built in his remote calling function into his damn suit.
About damn time to since I could not suit up and play the hero.
The crowd cheered as the red and gold suit came down with AC/DC playing in the background.
"Not suiting up?" Tony asked me with a smirk as his upgraded suit landed right beside him.
"Nahh, not with all these cameras on me. Kids gotta still show up at school, you know." I replied with a shrug. There was a snap, and a hiss as one of his lightning whips slashed into the hard light shield between Tony and my location.
"Suit yourself," Tony said before his face mask closed down. He walked up to the side of one of my guards before tapping him on the shoulder. "Open up, boys."
The guard that was holding back the lightning blast from Vanko aka Whiplash, looked at Tony before giving me a look. I shrugged in return because, honestly if Tony wanted in, he could have just flown over the top. The guard gave the nod before turning to insert his stun baton through the hard light shielding. With aim, he fired off a taser round at Vanko, causing him to dodge out of the way before Tony was allowed in.
Tony did a jump and launched himself into the air to dodge a swipe of the electric whips as Vanko rounded to face him. Instantly my eyes were attracted to the back stabilizing fins on Tony's suit and the same mark fifteen logo on his shoulder. His suit was a lot sleeker looking and far more advanced than that suitcase model he was using in that Iron Man 2 movie. I was guessing that this was more of my influence coming into play.
The forearm of Tony's suit opened up to show something that I was not expecting. Gunny had the guys link shields before a sonic scream punched out of Tony's forearm. Some of the hard light shields showed cracks which highlighted the weakness in the artificial crystals used. Frowning, I made a note of that as I watched the two battle. The surrounding crowds cheered and gasps from feats of daring.
Daddy!"
I heard the shout over Tony shielding against a lightning blast launched by one of Vankos two robotic arms. The fight had really heated up as Vanko realized he was now a caged animal.
"Daddy!"
Checking to make sure the shields were secure, I turned around from the fight that was going on. I looked over to the stands and noticed my family standing with Pepper and Happy with a bunch of guards. The girls and Alfred were at the fence looking on stunned, but Maya was the one yelling for me. Raven Jean and the rest looked a little bored with the fight, but I could see the analytical mind of Emma working on how to spin this.
"Daddy, I thought you were a hero?" Maya questioned me as I walked up to their little section of the fences. That had me slow up for a moment because how do I tell my baby girl that I don't play with minor hero roles. Hell, was that my ego talking once more, I wasn't even sure anymore.
"He is sweetheart, but he doesn't have his costume," Raven said saving me from answering.
"But, how am I going to tell Anna that I watch daddy save the day?" Maya asked with pouting lips.
"Ohh." Maya pouting and her sisters nod in understanding also. The triplets shared a look before Celeste started to shift on the spot. Before I could ask what they were up to, Ororo gave them a look as a pink hello kitty tube appeared in their hands.
"What's this girls?" I asked, taking their hello kitty remote control. I rotated the now confirmed remote in hand before Phoebe had me point it away from my face. Sophie pressed the button and a damn lightsaber came out of the end.
Jean's eyes narrowed as she looked at the use to be harmless hello kitty remote. I looked on at the pink lightsaber until the girls told me that it was nothing, but a taser. I tested it and heard the vish vish sound as it just bounced off my open palm. When the lightsaber made contact with my open palm, it delivered a weird sensation that tried to shut down my motor functions.
Honestly, I wanted to say something about bringing such things outside the house, but I really couldn't. Here we were in a situation where their toys could make a difference. Granted, I could have taken a baton from one of the guards and then go kick ass, but the looks on their faces were all I needed.
"Okay, girls, Daddy will save the day," I said before turning back around. I heard Ororo and Emma telling the girls that we would be discussing this later, but I was already sprinting back to Tony and Vanko. Tony had caught Vanko with a sick hook sending him towards Gunny who had his stun baton ready to deliver a hit of his own. Vanko dodged under Gunny's swing to slap him across the chest with a lightning whip.
I watched as he went rolling across the pavement and out of the shields cover. The other guards closed ranks, and I went to the side of Gunny as he recovered. I gave some orders before putting in a call for one of my emergency vehicles. That command and call alone will upset the balance of the world soon. Since I didn't have my earpiece in, Gunny had relaid some information. Some of the drivers were down, and the emergency vehicles couldn't get to them because of the backup racers.
They couldn't come from the other side because Vanko and Tony were fighting on that section of the track. The only way that they could get out was through my flying emergency vehicles. Once my commands were given, Emma took over and started to coordinate with Pepper to help get the trapped drivers out.
My family was on a strict no power display other than money and tech, and my woman was enforcing that fact with the kids.
An opening in the shield opened up, allowing me to step through and into the battlezone with Tony. I noticed the ozone smell in the air from the crackling electricity first before having to commando roll out of the way from a lashing whip.
"Nice flashlight." Tony quipped as he hovered overhead.
"I know right," I replied back as I jumped over a low swing for my legs then a mid-swing for the chest. "My girls made it!"
"Cute kids." Tony quipped as he dodges around a lightning blast to return a shot with his repulsor gauntlets.
"FACE ME LIKE A MAN, STARK!" Vanko screamed as he lashed out with all four arms and whips. No one heard the snap-hiss as I activated the bright pink lightsaber as I moved in for the incapacitation. Vanko watched stunned as I slashed through his lower mechanical arms before getting hit in the chest. Tony had stayed out of reach and waited for the distraction before blasting him with a chest repulsor shot from up high.
"So, you think she would want my autograph now?" Tony asked as he watched me deliver a spin kick to Vanko.
"Have you not looked at the guards standing around?" I asked as I dove back from a whip. "Our guards were advanced suits; yours is just red and gold."
"Mean," Tony said before slapping his palms together before bringing out his sonic cannons. The guards dropped their shields while I ducked behind Gunny as Tony fired his cannon.
The chest piece on Vanko's chest finally cracked, shorting his power for a moment when Tory stuck. Tony came down hard, breaking the other mechanical arm and jabbing his hand into Vanko's chest.
The chest piece whined as it charged up to fire, but I was already there with the lightsaber. I stuck the thing into Vanko's neck, shutting him down and allowing Tony to rip out the chest piece.
"Shot your wad far too soon. Could have doubled the cycles and gotten more power out of this model." Tony snarked as his faceplate lifted.
"What do you mean?" I asked as we stood over the downed form of Ivan Vanko.
"Even with the materials on hand, if he upped the cycles, it would allow for magnetic reinforcement," Tony said as he crushed Vanko's arc reactor in his hand. "And break the palladium down better on an atomic level."
"Meaning he wouldn't have had any power outages," I replied, nodding my understanding.
"Palladium in the chest," Ivan Vanko spat blood out at us from his downed form. "Horrible way to die."
"What's he talking about?" I questioned faking it while also tilting my head to the side. Then I looked at his chest and Tony noticed me putting the pieces together. "Have you told Pepper yet?
The widening of his eyes then paling of his skin told me all I needed to know.
"Look, if you can't figure it out, call me," I said with a shake of the head. I was not going to let on about what I knew of his situation. Solving this was one of Tony's most defining moments and I wasn't going to intrude if I could help it. "We can run the numbers at a lab where Pepper won't catch us."
He looked interested for a moment, and then I noticed when his ego kicked back in as he started to shake his head. I could only shrug in return as the guards allowed the police to get through and take Vanko away. Vanko was screaming and yelling the entire time he was taken from the race track. Tony stepped out of his suit and allowed it to fly back to where he had it stashed.
My guards circled around us and moved us towards the medics that waited in the hovering emergency vehicles while the cameras flashed. I noticed Emma was off to the side, speaking to some reporter while a medic went over the few scraps I had from rolling around. I handed Gunny the girl's lightsaber when Ororo intercepted it from reaching them. Ororo gave the girls a look and then shot one in my direction.
"Let the girls have their toy," I answered the look she gave me. "It can only stun anyway."
The girls turned and gave her the puppy dog eyes of defeat. I looked away to watch Tony try and talk Maya into getting his autograph. Pepper was freaking out with Bobby Morse on the phone, talking to whomever she needed to fix whatever was going on back in America.
Jean was talking to the team's manager and letting him know that a new car should be delivered within the week. It would seem that my paranoia to have at least four made and stored in storage was the proper thing to do. After taking the tablet Alfred had held out for me, I completed some quick work before letting my people handle the mess.
Walking into the team's pits, I put the helmet back in my duffle before turning to talk with the team manager myself. Once I was finished with that, Tony caught me on the way out. He was trying to give me an invite to his upcoming birthday party, but I was not going to be a part of it. I already had plans in play for the Savage Lands and Titan if I could swing it.
Logan was extremely interested in the Savage Lands when I had mentioned it to him. While Sue wanted to go look at the old Eternal's Civilization on Titan. I was excited for both and was not in the mood for some playboy bullshit. I already had enough women and wasn't going to rock the boat.
After sharing some notes with Tony after letting him know I wasn't going to be available during that time. Pepper had finally had enough and dragged him away from the equations hanging over one of my holo-tablets. Tony was smart, and he knew it, but it was strange to see him put the ego aside as Alfred and I worked out some of his suits problems with him. I knew it was time to leave when I noticed Maya sleeping on Raven's shoulder, and Celeste, Phoebe, and Sophie all looked tuckered out.
Emma and Ororo had already taken care of everything with the media while Jean had scans sent back to the island and company for review. Gunny had set up security for each of the flying emergency vehicles that we brought with us. This was to make sure that nothing went missing while we weren't paying attention. G.P.S. could always be spoofed or turned off.
Vega was back on the map with this showing after the president's little shit show of a back-track on meta-human affairs. I was going to get him for that, but before then, I had to make sure Senator Kelly brought me to where Trask was building his fucking murderbots.
Still upset with Marvel and those fucking Sentinel robots.
O.O.O.O.O.
It had been a few days since the race, and I was in my office watching the news about a gas explosion in Monaco. This was important because it was a gas explosion that happened to be linked to the jail holding Ivan Vanko. I could only chuckle at it all since everything was falling into place. The media was loving the Delta Six enhancer suits, and profits were flowing.
Using some of my blackmail, I had wrangled a few senators to pick up the bill for my suits, and SHIELD leaped at the chance. With a shake of my head, I changed the channel to the one recording Richards labs. There was no way I was not going to have monitoring on his elastic ass. So far, there have been three explosions where I had to replace everything, but the man was too silent recently.
None of Richards computers were bugged, but that was only because he might spot the code. For now, everything seemed fine, but I couldn't shake the feeling that shit was going to explode in my face soon if I didn't keep a closer eye on him. Because of the feeling, I was having; I had called back Ben Grimm from his little stint in Kar Mon Taj. He wouldn't be able to come back for some time, but it was better to send him in instead of Sue.
Pussy would just have Richards blindly do whatever and blow us up a lot faster than if I sent in his long time old friend. Then again, this would also help split him and Ben Grimm up some more. Ben Grimm was on my side about exploding labs and when I had broken down how that portal tech could have been made safer. Let's just say that Mr. Grimm was not a happy camper that day.
The labs and scanning showed an all clear, so I changed the channel instead of continuing to watch Richards stretch across his labs. I relaxed back into my office chair as I kept reading the grimoire that Selene had given me.
The magical grimoire that Selene had written me had confirmed a few thoughts I have had over the years. From her understanding, the human body always contained a source of power that could be used for multiple things. Chi, mana, and so much more all came from the same unifying force within the human body. Just reading this was starting to have me compare it to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Light was light, but it covered such a range, that even the human eye couldn't see them all. From thermal wavelengths to the color blue was all under the electromagnetic spectrum.
Well, it turns out magic was the same way. The soul and body synced in a way that produced energy over one's lifetime. Some people pull on the energy to enhance one's body and call it chi. Others pull on the energy and project it outside of the body and call it magic. While others pull on this same energy and sync it with the world around them to access inter-dimensional energy.
Selene had found a way to harness this energy, yet with her flexibility of mind. This same energy wasn't locked into only one use. She was able to harness the sun's energy itself and use it however she wanted. Then turn around and use this same energy to sync with the shadows. Over her long years, she found that meta-humans were born with a type of hard control that automatically locked their powers into one subset. The other subset was what she called soft energy, which was what she used to control the energy flowing through the human body.
Hell, I was starting to understand how lucky I was that she didn't take me seriously.
The more I read about her discoveries in the grimoire, the more I realized how I could apply some of my ideas, but I truly didn't understand anything about the higher powers. Hell, there was even a section on how the higher planes can saturate the soul with their powers, which in turn affect the body.
Honestly, I understood it, but changing internal energy into arcane energy or magical energy was just wow. Granted, I wanted magic, so I powered through it until it was time to go see Selene at the arch mage's tower.
I had to pay attention to an incessant beep from my desk. It was a message that came from the ambassador that I had sent to Xavier's.
Urgh, I was in no mood for Namor and his bullshit. Reading the message, I frowned at the shit demands about cleaning the ocean at certain points in the ocean. All that did was have me mark points on my map about possible locations of Atlantis.
That one underwater base we found had been built into a cliff face with no viable entrance. I think I knew who's base that was, but if I was correct, I was going to flip my shit. This was because Adam Brasher was one seriously badass mother fucker and it would not do me any favors fighting him right now.
From what little meta-knowledge I had on the man, Adam Brasher had found and created a portal to the anti-matter dimension which gave him and his best friend powers. His friend went crazy after being trapped in the anti-matter dimension. While Adam went around calling himself Blue Marvel, the hero. Because of the whole racial tension back then and with him saving the earth from a rogue asteroid. Adam Basher had to go into hiding and end up getting his C.I.A. mole wife pregnant. Yeah, his bio was all kinds of fucked up seven ways from Sunday.
It was going to be a good and a bad thing if we got into the base, and it turned out to be his. It was a well-known fact that he was a powerhouse on the Hulk's level, but the bad news about that is the whole American dog part. He gave our country almost everything and still rolled over and took it up the ass when Kennedy was in office.
Then again, maybe I shouldn't put my own expectations upon others.
Ignoring the demands from Namor, I sent back that the most he was going to get in trade were a place on the island. Anything other than that he would have access to for his people was the school and vitamins they couldn't get in their diet. There were some other things in the deal, but I was happy to have someone else deal with Namor and his shit. I can already see us discovering how they made their tech work under saltwater without faulty issues. This was going to open up water worlds down the road, but I would have to suffer through this micro-interaction for now. I did not need or want him around, but I was trying to be inclusive instead of how Marvel in the comics dealt with many things.
Once things settled and my space exploration division was running like a smooth machine. I wanted to reach out to the bargain bin X-Men that lived on the moon, calling themselves the Inhumans.
Urgh, there was so much to do. Maybe I should flip a coin.
O.O.O.O.
There was a knock at my office door that drew me out of my head. Checking my camera feed, I found Sage waiting with one of the werewolves. Checking my time, I noted I still had space before going to see Selene.
"Come in," I spoke up as I did a quick organization of my desk. Sage walked in wearing her all black and custom red smart shades. The smart lens she wore was one of the latest made by my company. It was powered by a micro Blake particle battery and housed a supercomputer within its small frame. With her powers paired with a smart lens and smart bands made Sage one of the most formidable minds around compared to my own and Jeans.
Jean hadn't said anything to me, but I was starting to notice the changes that Phoenix gave her. One of the largest things I noticed was that she could now contact me with telepathy. Even Emma wasn't powerful enough to do that without me slowing down some of my mental processes. And Emma was far stronger than Xavier by far, that could only mean Jean outstripped her by a vast margin.
It was such a shame Shaw never utilized Sage properly. Sage was paid far better than any secretary, but her job could also be considered far tougher. Not only was she crunching data with her superhuman mind paired with human intuition that computers lacked. But she also had to coordinate the mad scientist that worked in the building. That in itself was a job and a half. This was because those mad bastards could be working on anything that ranged from extremely dangerous to mildly so. Natasha had already left for her mission in Greenland, so Sage came at the right moment.
Sage directed the guy to an open chair as I looked him over. He was greying at the sides and had a scar running down his left eye. I also noted the same air of wildness around him that Logan also gave off.
"My Alpha, you called for me?"
"Yes Malcolm, I did," I started off as I looked him in the eye. "I have a mission for at least ten from the pack. This will allow you to let out the wild side beyond what you guys are allowed on the island. I understand that some would like to run within a forest and experience the hunt?"
The way he shifted in his seat told me that he didn't think I would notice or do something about it. I stayed silent as I allowed him to sweat it out. My only other option for this mission would be Kraven the Hunter, but he was currently out on a hunt and couldn't be reached.
"It's the wolf nature, my alpha." Malcolm started out softly before gaining his confidence. "We can sate the need for the aggression with sports, but it can't replace the need for wilderness and letting the wolf out."
"And you're all able to control yourselves?" I asked, wanting to see what he had to say since I already knew my answer.
"Of course, a lone wolf is a dead wolf, my alpha," Malcolm answered with a scowl.
Hmmm, it seems they throw the disobedient wolf out of the pack.
"Good, pick ten, and I will allow you guys access to the Savage Lands," I said with a nod of the head. The look he gave me was that of a savage grin. I knew that the Savage Lands had Tigerman and Catwoman, but it looks like I might have introduced my own set of monsters. Malcolm half transformed into a beast-man in his excitement, and I had to flex a little of my powers to settle him back down.
It was not cute at all to hold up a quarter ton wolfman by the nape of his neck. It was even worse to watch him hang their limply as he submitted to you.
"Calm down, I still have homework for you to complete," I growled at the man as I deposited him back into the chair with my gravity control. "I want a report on werewolves, and it needs to be from your perspective on the things I need to be aware of as an alpha. None of this secret society bullshit either, get it down and make sure you don't miss anything."
"Yes, my alpha." Malcolm barked out as if he was before a drill instructor.
"The Portal to the Savage Lands will be opened later this week. Get it done before Friday." I said before dismissing him. He left just before my alarm paged me about it being time to show up and learn magic from Selene.
It was time to pull a Harry Potter and become a wizard.
End Chapter...
Author's Notes:
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The next chapter will be out in 2 weeks time...
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