𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄 » avengers x reader

16. Attacked!!

"Where's Happy?!" Pepper whispered over to Natalie, concerned over Tony's decision to race, "He's waiting outside," Natalie replied before Pepper demanded that she go and get him.

The audience gazed as Tony pointed towards the camera before the race began. The crowd didn't know, neither did his friends know the real reason Tony was acting more reckless than he usually did.

The arc reactor, the only thing keeping him alive was the same thing that was killing him. He was informed by JARVIS that the blood toxicity in his heart is increasing rapidly due to the palladium that powers the reactor.

From the time that you had seen him at the New York Expo and the trip to the bathroom Tony had taken here in Monaco, his blood toxicity levels had only gotten higher.

With no alternative solution, it seems that Tony's fate had been decided.

Although he was getting weaker, Tony did not want to be perceived that way. If he was going to die he wasn't going to die quietly. He was going to have a loud, obnoxious, proud exit. He was also going to do a shit tonne of reckless things before then because why not?
He's Tony Stark.

Of course, today he decided he would take part in the Grand Prix although he had no race car training at all. Of course, he could get fatally injured but the outcome was the same.
Besides, Tony would rather go out in a race car than sat at home having succumbed to blood poisoning.

Tony himself, was sat in his own race car, while one of the mechanics did a quick safety check before the countdown. He raised a thumb to Tony which he reciprocated before the mechanic walked off allowing the race to start.

The red light began to turn on telling the drivers to get ready. Although at first Tony only did this as a gimmick, he really did want to win. He had gotten himself into the correct mental state before the third light switched on signaling the drivers to go.

Tony sped off with the rest of the racers, already overtaking two cars in the first part of the track. The crowds screamed in support, cheering on their hero as he fought for first place.

Further into the race, Stark had made his way into the fourth position, overtaking a car after exiting a tunnel. The crowds were elated watching him do so well. However, the cheers quickly died down as one of the crew members bypassed the barrier and stepped onto the track.

To the crowd, he seemed to be personnel. He was dressed in orange high-visibility overalls and a  white helmet. He also had a toothpick which he swirled between his teeth and lips.

Everyone in the room was now on their feet, gasping at the television screen provided by the restaurant. The man in the orange overalls was now standing right in the way of the racers on the track and he didn't seem to be too cautious. Pepper's mouth was wide open and Lewis was still in the bathroom missing out on all the action.

The man swiftly removed his helmet, throwing it on the floor revealing his black long hair that blew in the wind as he strutted in the opposite direction to the traffic flow. He then ripped open his overalls unveiling a glowing circle in his chest.

My heart started pounding in my chest at the realization, I grabbed Pepper's arm and exclaimed quietly in his ear, "He has an arc reactor!"

Pepper moves away from me in disgust of what I'd just said, not because I said it, but because it was true. "But how?!" I questioned as Pepper simply ignored me, mouth wide open in horror.