Avenging Speedster part five.

I don't own anything. OC belongs to sketchywolf, rest belongs to Marvel.

Max awoke and went throughout his usual way. Get up, clean up, then get some breakfast then head down to the shop.

"Morning Dad, morning Happy," he said as they trained on the way to the shop.

"Morning son/kid," they said.

Max went downstairs to the workshop and began his secret research on his new... abilities.

"JARVIS, analyze this sample of my blood. See what you can find."

He placed a small syringe of his blood into a blood analysis computer.

'The analysis shall take a few minutes, sir,' the AI said.

He nodded and he contacted Shuri.

"Hey. Something has happened to me," he texted.

"What's wrong?," she asked.

"The explosion... it did something to me. I'm fast... impossibly fast. I have superspeed."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"...Whoa...," was all she could say.

"Yeah... can you keep this to yourself? I don't want anyone to know," he asked.

"Of course. Who else knows?"

"Well there's JARVIS, and then there's SHIELD. They both might be able to help me with this. I'll likely get more reliable help from the former."

"Haha... probably. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"I will. I'll let you know when I can visit," he said.

"Okay. My Baba needs me for something so I gotta go. Bye."

"Bye."

'The analysis is complete, Max,' JARVIS said as he hung up his phone. 'Analysis shows reactor energy is present within your DNA strands. It seems to be supercharging your cells, causing the increased metabolism and accelerated healing. It also seems to have improved your homeostasis.'

"Why isn't the scar over my eye healed though?," he asked.

'It's possible that it is because that you received the injury before your exposure. Miss Potts is approaching, I suggest that you inform her-.'

"Mute."

Pepper then came into the shop along with a very beautiful woman with red hair that hung slightly off her shoulders and green eyes.

"Hey Mom."

"Morning, Max," she said. "Since I'm the company's new CEO, I'm gonna need a new assistant. This is Natalie Rushman. Thought you should meet her since she'll be here a lot."

"Hello, Mr. Stark. Very nice to meet you," Natalie greeted.

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Rushman," he said.

"I'll let you two get to know each other a little."

Pepper then left and as soon as she did, Max looked at Natalie.

"So... who do you really work for?"

"I beg your pardon?," she asked.

"My parents have had quite a few assistants over the years... they were all women for my dad and some of them weren't even assistants, but that's off topic. They were all nervous and a bit all over the place trying to impress my Mom and Dad. Plus you don't seem to show any sign of stress, even if you're hiding it. I may not actually know what it's like, but I know enough to know how stressful it can be to be the assistant of a CEO, especially to one of Stark Industries, and you seem to be shrugging it off like it's nothing."

Natalie couldn't help but smirk at the kid's deduction of her.

"...I'm impressed," she finally said. "I was sent here by SHIELD."

"Huh... I was expecting a rival company like Hammer Industries," he admitted making her chuckle. "Don't worry about me exposing you. I owe them a few favors so I won't tell anyone. Why are you here though? Fury send you here to watch me after I informed him of my... condition?"

"No, I'm here to watch your father. What condition?"

Max showed her and he sped across the entire shop and stood right by her.

"...Whoa."

"That's what I said. So yeah... superspeed."

"Well then... I suppose we both have secrets to keep for each other," she said then began to walk out.

"So what should I call you when it's just us?"

"...My real name is Natasha, Mr. Stark."

"Max. You can call me Max," he said, and Natasha nodded and walked back downstairs. "JARVIS, delete that entire conversation from security footages."

'Already done, sir,' JARVIS said. 'And It has been replaced with a fake conversation.'

Shortly after she left, Natasha made a call.

"Agent Romanoff," Fury said on the other end.

"Director, it seems as though the exposure to the arc reactor energy has granted the young Mr. Stark incredible speed," she informed.

"Hmm... interesting. Stick to your mission and watch Tony. Does Max know who you are?"

"He figured it out almost immediately."

"Do you trust him?," Fury asked.

"...In all honesty, yeah I do. Plus he did say that he owes SHIELD a few favors."

"He does indeed. Carry on as ordered, but keep an eye on him as well."

"Yes, sir," she said then she accidentally bumped into a man her after she hung up. "Sorry."

"No harm done," he said. "You must be Pepper's new assistant."

"I am indeed. Natalie Rushman."

"Colonel James Rhodes, friend of the family. Is Max around?"

"Yes, he is. He's downstairs."

He nodded and the two went their separate ways. Rhodey immediately went downstairs as Max began to work on some sort of design.

'Probably just catching up on any improvements Tony has made to the Iron Man suit,' he thought to himself.

"Well, it would have to be light and thin, but still strong. Hook it up to some sort of visor or-," Max said but then JARVIS interrupted him.

'Colonel Rhodes is approaching,' he informed the thirteen year old.

"Hide everything."

JARVIS did so just as he came down.

"Uncle Rhodey!!"

"Hey, kid," he said, hugging his surrogate nephew tightly. "Glad to see that you're up and about. Really had us worried."

"Well, despite losing two years of living my life, it was worth it. I was able to save my father after all."

"Yes, you were. We're all very proud of you. You'd make a great soldier."

"Haha... well, I'm not that good at following orders," he joked, making them both laugh. "So... what were they like while I was asleep?"

"Not too bad, all things considered. They're working on their relationship, but you know Tony and Pepper."

"Yes... I do. So, I've heard that the military is starting to get jealous of my dad's suits."

"Haha... that's one way to put it, yeah," he said, chuckling. "The government believes that your father should be sharing his tech with them as other countries are attempting to copy the Iron Man suit."

"And Hammer Industries," Max added.

"Yup. During a recent hearing, your Dad said that most countries are ten to fifteen years away to developing Iron Man like suits. Hammer Industries, twenty."

"More like thirty. It's embarrassing how cheap his tech is."

"Mm-hmm. Well, your parents wanted me to let you know that the three of you will be heading to Monaco tomorrow, along with Happy and that new assistant, Natalie. So you should go and pack."

"Okay. It's good seeing you again, Uncle Rhodey."

Rhodey nodded and Max walked away to go and get ready for Monaco. As he was finishing up, however, he received a message from his best friend.

"Hey, you there?," Shuri asked.

"Yeah, what's up?," he messaged back.

"Nothing, really. Just wanted to check up on you, see what you're doing."

"Well, I'm packing for Monaco right now. Little family vacation there I think. Heard that there's a big race track near the hotel we'll be staying at so that's something to look forward to."

"Cool! Hope you have fun there. Though, hopefully nothing bad happens."

"Yeah... I'd really like a break from the action."

"See ya," she said before signing off, making Max to wonder why.

"That was weird," he said to himself.

"What was?," Pepper asked at the door.

"Oh, hey Mom. Shuri just messaged and asked what I was up to. Then she signed off on me once she got her answer."

"Sounds like she was a little nervous or just shy about asking you that. Or just wanted to make sure you were still alright. Over these past two years, I've developed little this theory that the princess may have a bit of a crush on you."

"Oh, Mom!! Not you too!!," Max exclaimed in annoyance.

"Hey, you're thirteen now. It's okay to feel that kind of stuff now," she said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that she's had a crush on you since you two first met. But the real question is... do you like that way as well?"

"...Okay... maybe a little," he muttered.

Max then realized what he had just said, but by then it was far too late as he saw his mother with a smug look on her face. She then left, satisfied as she'd gotten her answer, and left him to finish up packing.

Max finished up and immediately went back downstairs to the shop.

A few days later, Tony, Pepper, Max, Happy and Natalie found themselves in a fancy hotel in Monaco. On the way in, Happy carried a fancy red suitcase for a reason unknown to Max.

"You know, it's Europe. Whatever happens the next 20 minutes, just go with it," Tony said.

"Go with it? Go with what?," Pepper asked.

"He's joking, Mom," Max said. "Probably."

"Mr Stark?," Natalie said, walking up to them.

"Hey, Natalie."

"Hello, Max. How was your flight?"

"It was excellent," Tony answered for his son, then walked ahead of them with Pepper and Happy.

"...Evidently, our flight was excellent," Max joked and they both chuckled and walked to catch up to them. "So how are you holding up as my mom's new assistant so far?"

"Not bad, all things considered. It is slightly difficult to keep up with all the paperwork and scheduling, but I manage," she answered.

'Man she's a great actress,' Max thought to himself.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Most of my parents' assistants go insane from either all that scheduling and paperwork or simply because of my dad."

"Is this us?," Tony asked, referring to an empty table.

"It can be," Natalie confirmed.

"Great. Make it us."

Max decided to wander around and soon walked near the bar and weasel looking man popped his head out to see him as Tony walked up to his son

"Anthony," the guy said. "Is that you?"

"My least favorite person on Earth," Tony said quietly so the guy couldn't hear before turning around to shake the guy's hand. "Justin Hammer."

"Oh, this is Justin Hammer? Thought he looked familiar," Max said and then Justin's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute. You're Maxwell Stark. The kid hero!! I was told you were in a coma."

"You were told right. I woke up a few days ago."

"Well it's good to see you back up on your feet."

Max nodded in thanks and politely excused himself and sat with his mom and Natalie.

"How are you holding up, Mom?"

"...Oh, I've been better," she said with a sigh. "Your father can be so exhausting. Add that to being the new CEO of Stark Industries..."

"Well if anybody can handle it and do a great job at it, it's you, Mom," Max said, earning a one armed hug and a kiss on the forehead. But then he saw something strange on the tv. "Uh... speaking of Dad being exhausting..."

Pepper looked to see Tony getting into an open-wheeled race car.

"Natalie," Pepper said, beginning to stress out. "Natalie!"

"Yes, Ms Potts?," Natalie said, coming over.

"What do you know about this?"

"This is the first that I have known of it."

"This... this cannot happen."

"Absolutely. I understand. How can I help you?"

"Where's Happy?"

"I think I saw him waiting outside," Max answered.

"Okay, get him. I need Happy," Pepper said.

"Right away," she said walking away to do so.

As the engines of the cars started revving, Max just kept his eyes on his dad.

'Something's wrong with him,' he thought to himself as the race took off.

"What is going through your father's head?"

"...I don't know," Max lied as he had a few ideas as to what was going on. "But he's actually better at racing than I thought he'd be."

Pepper just just gave him a deadpan look and he returned it with sheepish smile.

All of a sudden, a man dressed in a orange pit crew suit walked out onto the track.

"What's that guy doing?"

The guy then opened up his suit and revealed a prototype, Iron Man like exosuit. Two handles appeared in his hands and whip like objects came of them and they turned on, electricity running through them. The heat from the electricity running in the suit across his body burned through the orange jumpsuit and it fell tattered to his hips. Then a car came at him and he turned to his side and slashed the front of the car clean off with the whips, and it flew into the air and crashed, frightening everyone there, especially Pepper and Max as Tony was approaching him quickly. Pepper looked to the exit as saw Happy with the suitcase. The three of them got into the car.

"Go, go," Pepper ordered and Happy immediately hit the gas and drove towards the track. They quickly came up to the track, but were blocked.

"Hang on," Happy said before crashing through the barrier and onto the track... heading the opposite way the race cars were going.

Meanwhile, Tony's car made it up to the man, who then spun his whips and sliced the front completely off and the car went up into the air and crashed, landing upside down. Tony quickly comes to, and sees the man coming towards him. As he walked, two more cars crashed into each other behind him and they explode, creating some fire behind him, while Tony began to try to get out of the car as he saw petrol dropping.

"Give me the case," Pepper said as they got closer.

"Here, take it," Happy said, handing it to her.

"Where's the key?!!"

"It's in my pocket."

"Car!," Max yelled, and Happy struggled to avoid cars while getting the key. "What's in that case?!"

"The case is a suit."

"...Oh."

The man comes in close and slices off more of the car, only to see Tony was gone. He came up from behind and hits him hard in the back of the head with a sheet of metal. The guy turns and slashes the metal in two and begins swinging the whips at him. Tony kept on dodging and jumping out of the way. Then the guy slices the the ground enough and sends Tony a distance away. He begins to walk again and starts swinging the whips in the air threateningly. He continues to do so then slashes at Tony but hits the petrol and the car busts into flames. Tony recovers from this to see that his arm was on fire and he quickly put it out.

Then Happy came in and rammed into the man, knocking him out for a moment.

"Are you okay?," Happy asked Pepper and Max.

"Yeah!!," they both said then Tony came up to the driver's window.

"Were you heading from me or him?," he asked.

"I was trying to scare him."

"'Cause I can't tell!!!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!!!!," Pepper yelled. "GET IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!!!!"

"I was attacked!!!," he continued and Max then saw the guy beginning to stir.

"Uh, Dad!! Get in the car!!," he yells and based on peer pressure, Tony gave in.

"First vacation in two years," he said and opened the door but it was sliced in half by the man.

"Oh my God!!," Pepper yelled and Happy backed up and rammed the guy again, but he kept on slicing at the car.

All the while, Max and Pepper kept on trying to hand Tony the case, but with the man swinging the whips and Happy ramming him over and over, it became very difficult to do so. That is until the man swimming one last time and a large chunk fell off the car.

It was then that Max got out and pressed something on his chest and repulses appeared on his hands, and began firing at the man, who simply swung the blasts away.

"Give him the case now!!! I've got him!!," Max yelled but then the man swung at him and his repulses were damaged, hands getting burned as well.

"Max!!!," Tony and Pepper yelled.

"Give me the case! Please! Come on!," Tony yelled and Pepper threw the case to him and it open and gauntlets appeared and Tony stood on it and placed a part of it on his chest and it began to spread across his body and soon became the Iron Man Mark 4 suit. Tony kicks the car away and turns back to the man.

"You're gonna regret that."

The man simply smirked and Max was able to get up a little and lean against the car.

"Max!! Are you alright?!!," Pepper asked, as he got the reactor and repulsors off.

"A little singed, that's all," he said as the fight began.

Tony readied a repulsor but the man swung at him, damaging it and swung again, damaging the other one slightly. Iron Man began firing with the other repulsor, but like with Max, he blocked the attacks with the whips. He swung again, but Tony caught it this time and he wrapped the other whip around him and pulled him up into the air and threw him onto the car and pulled off one whip, focusing all of the power on one, in hopes of killing him. But Tony would not have it that way and began wrapping the whip around his body so as to get up close to the man then he punched him in the gut and face before throwing him over his shoulder and Max ran over and ripped the arc reactor off his suit, and the whips were shut off.

The police arrived and began to drag him away and the man just laughed at him, yelling that he had lost. Tony looked at the reactor and analyzed it, then took it from his son and crushed it.

"How's this possible?," Max asked.

"I don't know," Tony said. "But I'm gonna find out."

Later on, on the plane ride home, Max got the scolding of his life.

"That was stupid and reckless!!!," Pepper yelled. "We just got you back!!! We can't lose you again!!"

Max stopped for a moment and truly thought about it and he realized that she's right. He had no idea how hard it must've been for them while he was in a coma. What he did could've gotten him killed and they would've lost him for good.

"...You're right. I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't just... sit back and watch as someone I love gets hurt or killed while I have a way to save them."

"...I know. I know you feel like you need to help. Just... think about how it'll affect others around you."

He nodded and gave her a hug, which she gladly returned tightly.

Then Tony came in and saw what they were watching, just a senator saying that he was wrong and that's he's basically a child.

"Mute," he said. "He should be giving me a medal."

He sat down Max smelled something.

"What's that?"

"This is your mother's... in-flight meal."

He took the top off the dish to reveal that it was completely burnt.

"Did... did you just make that?," Pepper asked.

"Yeah. Where do you think I've been for three hours? Max... can you step out for a moment? I need to talk to your mother alone."

"...Sure," he said and walked out, but not far so as he could hear what they were saying.

"Tony, what are you not telling me?"

"...I don't want to go home," he said. "At all. Let's cancel my birthday party and... we're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?"

"Oh, yes."

"It's a great place to be healthy. We can have happy bring Max home and it can be just the two of us."

"...I don't think this is the right time. We're in kind of a mess," Pepper said, not hearing what Max could hear in his father's voice.

"Yeah, but maybe that's why it's the best time. 'Cause then we can..."

"Well, I think as the CEO I need to show up."

"As CEO, you are entitled to a leave," Tony said.

"A leave?"

"A company retreat."

"A retreat? During a time like this?"

"Just a ride. Well, I'm just saying, to recharge our batteries and... figure it all out."

"...Not everybody runs on batteries Tony," Pepper said, and Max walked out to talk to the only person he could talk to.

"Hey, Shuri," Max said on a text message.

"Max!! Glory to Bast, you're okay. It's all over the news!! You are okay... right?," she responded.

"Yeah I am. But I don't think my dad is. And it's not from the attack today."

"What do you mean?"

"...I think my dad is dying."

Hope you liked what I did. Sorry if it seemed rushed at the end. Next movie after Iron Man 2 will be Thor, hope you like what I do. Anyway, I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. See ya later.