Chapter two of Avenging Speedster. For anyone who thought that the way Tony treated his son in the last chapter took away some of the redemption thing going on in the story, that wasn't my intention. I meant it to be that like he decided to make a major change with how he was raising his son as part of that redemption thing. I thank those of you who gave me ideas for this story but I already have a plan for this story so I hope you'll like it. Updates will likely be slow cause of life and I have a few other stories I'm working on so be prepared to see updates at anytime. Thank you and now on with the story.

I don't own any Marvel characters or the oc. OC belongs to sketchywolf.

A couple weeks have past and things were beginning to calm down, and yet Max could tell that his dad was planning something big.

Now he was hearing crashing sounds coming from downstairs and knew he was doing something crazy.

He quickly and quietly went downstairs to see that his dad had on the floor, getting extinguished by Dum-E.

"Having fun?," he asked, and Tony freaked out as his metal boots were on and in clear view for his son to see. "What exactly happened when you escaped?"

Tony knew that his son wasn't going to let him get away with a lie so he knew that he had to tell him the truth.

"Okay, okay...when I was captured," he began getting up. "...When I was injured, there was a man who helped me by putting electromagnet in my chest and hooked it up to a car battery. Kept the remaining shrapnel from reaching my heart. His name was Yinsen, he lived in a town called Gulmira. His family...had been killed and he was a captive like me. He helped me with the arc reactor, and..."

"What?"

"We carefully and quietly built our way out of there. A suit of thick metal armor, held together by my reactor. We need time though to cut all power from the caves so I could have the element of surprise. Yinsen bought me some time...at the cost of his life."

"...I'm so sorry, Dad," Max said, truly meaning it. "You escaped then. How?"

"...I flew," he answered. "But what has caused me to keep doing this is...the men who held us had my guns. Now...I need to protect the world from the chaos that I've created. I have to do this...because it's the right thing to do."

"...No...it's not," Max said and his dad looked at him weird, then he saw his son move over to the holotable. "Alone, you'll kill yourself. Luckily...you've got me to make sure that doesn't happen."

Tony then smiled ever so slightly at this statement. He was quite glad that he wouldn't be doing this alone, that his son didn't despise him for all the neglect he got from him over the years.

"Now in order for you to not hurt yourself while testing your...boots. You're gonna need something to equalize the force coming from them. Maybe something for your arms."

Tony nodded in agreement and together they began to work on Mark 2 together.

They were at this for many weeks until finally they were able to create a flight stabilizer. Just as they were about to test it, Pepper came down with a gift.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey sweetie," she said kissing his head then turning to Tony. "Hey, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, everything's- What?," Tony said.

"Obadiah's upstairs."

"Great!"

"What would you like me to tell him?"

"Great. I'll be right up," he said finishing putting the stabilizer on his right arm.

"Okay," she said back but then she got the wrong idea from what was on his arm. "I thought you said you were done making weapons."

"It is. This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless."

He then charged it up and then the end exploded and sent him back a ways, crashing into a few things.

"That was unexpected," Max said. "Well, as you can see, Dad and I have been having a blast down here."

"Oh, man! That was so bad, buddy!!," Tony commented and Pepper just rolled her eyes at them.

"Come on, let's say hi to Obadiah."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," they both said sternly and at the same time.

Max then followed his mother upstairs as his father got up finally and got himself cleaned up.

"Your Uncle Obie has been very stressed out at work since your father called for no more weapons production," Pepper said very softly. "So try to be nice to him. He also hasn't seen you in a while and he's missed you."

"Fine...," Max groaned as they reached upstairs and they saw Stane at the piano.

"Hey, Max!!," he said, happy to see the boy again, and pulled him into a one armed hug. "Been a while huh? What have you been up to?"

"Been in the shop mostly. Hanging out with Dad."

"Well I'm glad you two are spending more time together. Just remember to give your mother some attention too."

He nodded and then went to grab a slice of pizza Obadiah had brought from New York just as Tony came up.

"How'd it go?," he asked as Obie continued to play the piano and then he saw the pizza. "It went that bad, huh?"

"So it would seem," Max agreed.

"Don't let your innocent mind be corrupted by your father's witty remarks," Obadiah said, kidding around a little as he finished the tune he was playing. "Also, just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad."

"Nope. Sure doesn't," Tony responded sarcastically, taking a bite out of the slice he swiped from his son, earning a glare from the kid. "Oh, boy."

"It would have gone better if you were there."

No! Mm mm! You told me to lay low. That's what I've been doing. I lay low, and you take care of all..."

"Hey, come on. In public! The press!," he exclaimed. "This was a board of directors meeting."

"This was a-. A board of directors meeting?"

"The board is claiming that you have posttraumatic stress."

"Wouldn't anyone from something like Dad went through?," Max asked, though he already knew the answer.

"You're right there, Max, but unfortunately that's beside the point in this instance. They're filing an injunction against."

"A what?," Tony said.

"They want to lock you out."

"Why? Because the stocks dipped 40 points? We knew that was gonna happen."

"Fifty-six and a half," Pepper corrected then Tony snapped at her a little.

"It doesn't matter! We own the controlling interest in the company."

"Tony, the board has rights, too," Stane continued. "They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest."

He's being responsible!!," Max argued. "Dad's trying to go in a different direction. For himself and the company."

"Exactly. I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that...this is great," tony said and he walked back downstairs, and Max sped right by him.

"Oh, come on. Tony. Tony!," Stane said trying to get his attention again.

"We'll be in the shop."

Max didn't hear much of what was said after that as he was busy talking to his friend.

"You won't believe what's going on with my Dad's company," he typed.

"What?," his friend asked.

"They're filing an injunction against him. Basically trying to kick him out of the company. Trying to have him fired."

"That's not good. What's going to happen?"

"Not sure. But my Dad has made it a habit to be able get out of situations like this so I'm not too worried about it. What I'm really worried about is what he is planning to do with what we're building here at home. I probably shouldn't say anything on the phone, but it's something big."

"Ooooh!!! Now I'm even more interested," she responded. "Let me know when you can tell me. Bye."

"You'll be the first," he promised. "Bye."

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?," he heard Obadiah ask from upstairs.

"Good night, Obie," Tony said. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Just talking to my friend," he answered.

"Oh yeah, your girlfriend."

"Ew!! Dad!! She's not my girlfriend!"

"Is she your friend?," he teased, but Max knew this tease and wasn't going to fall for it.

"Don't we have about 9,999 other ways to kill ourselves to figure out?"

"I'll take care of some of those tonight, Mr. Edison. You...need to go to bed, it's pretty late."

"Alright. Goodnight, Dad," he said heading upstairs.

"Goodnight, buddy."

Sometime later, after dozens of tests, Max and Tony believed that they had finally gotten it right with the boots.

"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0," Max said, as he recorded the testing. "Also, for lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety."

"Yeah and if you douse me one more time, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college," Tony threatened, very annoyed by the robotic arm.

"And so the drama-filled love/hate relationship between my Dad, the great Tony Stark and the robotic arm, Dum-E, continues. Will my father finally admit his love for the caring and understanding robot? Find out in the next failed testing to see if we can kill ourselves by doing backflips and crashing into the wall behind us."

"Hey, uh...focus on the real task at hand here. You can watch your stories later."

"My whole life is a soap opera," he commented softly to himself. "All right then, nice and easy."

"Okay. Seriously, we're just gonna start off with literally 1% thrust capacity," he announced to the camera. "And three...two...one."

As soon as he said one, the boots were activated and a slow and steady thrust came out and he was lifted off of the platform.

"Okay."

"Whoa...," was all Max could say until Tony landed back on his feet. "Whoo!!! Yes, finally!!"

"Got that right!!!," tony yelled, celebrating a little as well, but then saw Dum-E at the ready with the extinguisher. "Please don't follow me around with it, either, 'Cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down! If something happens, then come in."

"Okay, Dad, again, but this time, how bout we bring it up to about 2.5."

Sounds good. Three...two...one."

He was then lifted up even higher than before and the thrusts incoming from the boots seemed to be more stable as well. However, the slightest movement Tony made made him move all around the shop.

"Whoa!!," Max yelled and ducked out of the way as Tony flew over him and to the cars.

Sorry, buddy!! Oh, not the car, not the car!! Table!," he yelled then laughed fearfully a little before realizing his son was still recording just as he was beginning to get the hang of it. "Could be worse! Could be worse! We're fine! Okay."

Tony was finally able to take back control of the flight testing and safely landed back on the platform, and Dum-E was then about to douse him.

"No! Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"

Then he stood down, whirring in shame.

"Yeah, I can fly."

"I think I've noticed," Max said and later that night, Tony had the rest of the Mark 2 suit on before his son grabbed the facial plate and put it on him.

"JARVIS, are you there?"

'At your service, sir,' the AI answered.

"Alright, engage Heads Up Display," Max said looking at the computer. "Check. JARVIS and I are being uploaded into the suit."

"Alright. Import all preferences from home interface," Tony said.

'Will do, sir.'

"I know you and Mom don't like it when curse, but you have absolutely no idea just how badass you look right now."

"Yeah, it's not that bad. And all is forgiven...this time. All right, what do you say, JARVIS?"

'I have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online and ready.'

"Same on my end on the computer. For whatever you plan to do with these suits of yours, JARVIS shall be your main backup in the suit and I'll be the secondary, sending you any and all information to your display."

"Nice. Can we start the virtual walk-around?"

'Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment,' JARVIS said doing so.

"JARVIS, what say we check on all control surfaces?," Max suggested.

'As you wish.'

All flaps, openings and weapon containers were opened and closed in a chain reaction as Tony just stood inside the silver suit.

'Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics.'

"Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check," Tony said and his son looked at him strangely. "Start listening in on ground control."

"Dad, we've barely been able to get you up into the air in the shop. By only a few feet. You go outside and the suit fails, that suit might aid you in killing you faster as metal and gravity do not mix."

'Your son is correct sir,' JARVIS agreed. 'There are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-.'

"Guys! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk."

"...Alright. Don't blame me if you die."

"Noted. Ready? In three...two...one," Tony said then activated the thrusters and slowly and steadily began to move towards the outside and he began flying fast and free all around the sky. "WHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

"Glad you're having fun," Max said over the coms. "How's the suit holding up?"

"Handles like a dream."

"Good. By the way, I think we should have codenames or something, because let's face it...you're a superhero now. I thought of one for myself: Database."

"Ooh, I like it," he said. "I'll think of something for myself. All right, now let's see what this thing can do. What's SR-71's record?"

"Record for fixed wing flight is 85,000 feet," Max answered.

"Records are made to be broken! Come on!"

He then began to fly up high into the atmosphere.

"If you're gonna actually do this Dad, I'm warning you now. You've already reached the mesosphere, there's an extremely high risk for icing up."

'Sir, Max is once again right. There is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring.'

"Keep going!," Tony insisted. "I can do this!! Please stop doubting. Higher!"

"I'-m- n-t d—in y-."

Then all coms with his son were killed as the ice had frozen everything on his suit and he began to descend down towards the ground.

"We iced up, JARVIS! Deploy flaps!," he yelled. "JARVIS?! Come on, we got to break the ice!"

It was then that he knew that he lost contact with JARVIS as well. He reached for his leg and manually deployed the flaps, breaking the ice and slowly turning the suit back on, and the thrusters started again just before he reached the ground.

"Dad!!!! Dad, do you hear me?!!," Max yelled.

"Max!! Max!! It's alright. I'm here."

"...Please don't do that again until we upgrade the suit more. I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again. That's why I was warning you the way I was. Can you please come back so that I can feel better?"

"...I'm on my way back. I'm sorry for worrying you," he said back and then flew off and hovered over the house roof. But it was then that Max decided to get some payback.

"JARVIS, kill power to the suit," he said over the coms and Tony's eyes widened when he said this as he fell straight through the roof, went through the piano and onto one of his cars. Tony then lifted up his head to see his smug son looking at him.

Then for a cherry on top, Dum-E then used the fire extinguisher on Tony...who wasn't even close to being on fire.

Tony got out of the suit and went to get an ice pack and then remembered the gift Pepper had left him. He opened it as Max watched him do it. It was a small display for his old arc reactor, with an inscription on it.

Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.

Tony smiled at this, and so did Max.

"Here," Max said and handed him an ice pack. "...I have a vague idea of what you're planning to do with this suit, Dad. All I ask is...that you're careful when you do it."

Tony then looked at his son andcould see the fear in his eyes, scared that he could lose his father a second time.

"...I promise. Come here," he said back and gave him a one armed hug as his other one was indisposed.

Later on, they continued to look at any improvements they may add upon the suit.

"Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude," Tony said.

"Looks like hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor," Max added and tony nodded in agreement.

'A very astute observation on both of you,' JARVIS said. 'Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems.'

"Connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"

"Yes."

'Shall I render using proposed specifications?'

"Thrill me."

As JARVIS readied the specifications, the boys watched the news and saw that a party was being thrown at the Disney Concert Hall.

"Did we get an invite to that?," Tony asked out of curiosity.

'I hold no record of an invitation, sir,' JARVIS answered.

"By the way, where's your mother? She usually comes by around this hour to check up on us both."

Max didn't reply but simply pointed to the TV, meaning she was at that party.

"Stane is there as well," he added.

'The render is complete.'

JARVIS then showed a completely golden colored suit, but Max didn't need to be able to read his father's mind to see his dislike of the solid color.

"Little ostentatious, don't you think?"

'What was I thinking? You're usually so discrete.'

Then Max took a look around and then saw something that gave him an idea.

"Hey JARVIS."

'Yes, Max?,' he asked.

"How about you throw a little hot rod red in there?"

"Ooh, I like that idea," Tony commented.

'Yes, that shall help you keep a low profile,' JARVIS said, though Max could not tell whether or not if he was being sarcastic or not. After a few minutes, he spoke up again. 'The render is complete.'

JARVIS then brought up a new suit with both hot rod red and golden colors on it and Max could tell it was much more to Tony's liking.

"Yeah, I like it. Fabricate it and paint it."

'Commensing an automated assembly.'

"Estimated completion time is five hours," Max said.

"Don't wait up for me, boys!!," Tony yelled, and then he left and Max knew where he was going, to the party at Disney Concert Hall.

"JARVIS, do you have any ideas as to what my dad is planning to do with this suit?"

'I have calculated several different theories on the subject and the most likely one is that he intends to locate and destroy any Stark Industries weapons in the hands of terrorist groups such as the Ten Rings, the group that kidnapped your father.'

"...Then we'd best make sure that he stays alive through all of this," he said. "You with me on that, buddy?"

'As always, Max, I shall do whatever it takes to protect and aid the Stark family,' JARVIS answered. 'So yes, you can count on me.'

Max could definitely see that from now on, things in his life were just going to get weirder and weirder. What's worse was that he knew that he'd have to get weirder as well.

'My life just keeps on getting more interesting,' he thought to himself.

Hope this was good. I'll begin the next chapter with Tony and Max preparing for their first mission and then the rest of the movie. Hope you like what I do.