Deadly Battle

At the Monaco Racetrack, Tony saw Hammer again. All he had left for Hammer was ridicule.

"Tony, actually, I'd like to exhibit something at your expo."

Tony looked slightly incredulous and teased, "I'll give you a booth if you've got anything worth showing."

The embarrassed Hammer could only fall silent. After all, he was the one asking for a favor.

Tony's condition continued to worsen. Wanting a little excitement, he entered the racetrack, drove off one of his team's racers, and decided to race himself.

The race began. Whiplash had already arrived near the track, while Li Stark was still searching for his trail from the air.

"Damn it, Whiplash, where are you? I'm going to catch you. I can't let you hurt my family."

Speak of the devil—Whiplash charged onto the track, and Li Stark's temples throbbed. The noon sunlight turned a strange orange-red before his eyes. Through Mark I's cracked faceplate, he saw Tony's race car being torn apart by scarlet arcs of electricity, while screams rose and fell from the stands. The spectators scattered like startled birds, and the metal barriers groaned under the panicked crush. The Vision Prototype hovered above the racetrack, its exposed circuits humming with surging energy, like Helen Cho's frantic heartbeat whenever she checked his armor before leaving.

"Activate the energy barrier!" Li roared over the engines. The massive electronic screen beside the track suddenly erupted in dazzling sparks, its image freezing on Whiplash's twisted grin. The Vision Prototype instantly spread a translucent shield and barely caught the Tony flung through the air. The impact spiderwebbed the asphalt with cracks. As Whiplash turned his head, fierce winds swept dust into the sky. Li saw the distorted sneer beneath his mask and felt a chill run down his spine—this was the first time he had seen eyes like those of a murderer.

"Damn it, why is little Stark here? He shouldn't be here." Happy and Pepper arrived at the racetrack in a car with the portable Mark V armor, but aside from Whiplash, they had never expected Li Stark to appear here.

Lightning shot through the air like a poisoned spear. Li twisted into a roll, his back scraping against the barrier at the edge of the track as sparks flew. The sparks bursting from Mark I's shoulder armor were especially blinding beneath the harsh sunlight. Taking the chance, he flung out a mechanical arm, its grappling claw wrapping precisely around Whiplash's electro-whip.

"Let go!" Whiplash's roar mixed with the hum of electricity as an overload current raced through the metal. Li felt as though an invisible hand had clenched every muscle in his body. Countless white spots exploded across his vision, like blazing meteors streaking past.

"Vision! Attack!" Li coughed out a bloodied roar, crimson spray blooming across the inside of his mask. The dark blue energy gathering in the Vision Prototype's palm was like a miniature sun, only for Whiplash's crossed whips to slash it into scattered blades of light. The electromagnetic pulse bomb he hurled tore through the air. Li's vision went black, and the instant his armor's thrusters failed, he plummeted like a falling meteor. At the crucial moment, the Vision Prototype transformed into a silver shield in front of him. The deafening crash of metal made his eardrums ache, and in his daze, he heard Helen Cho crying out beside him.

Maybe it was only an illusion. He did not think Helen Cho could have reached Monaco so quickly, but that no longer mattered. What mattered most was taking down Whiplash.

"Forget about me! Vision! Finish him!" Li trembled as he tore the overloaded energy core from his chest. The scorching metal burned his palm, hissing as skin peeled away from the core. Light surged around the Vision Prototype, transforming it into a silver streak that pierced the sky and punched through Whiplash's energy core. The blast wave hurled Li away. As he tumbled, he saw broken mechanical parts filling the air like metal butterflies shredded by a gale. Before losing consciousness, the last thing he seemed to see was Helen Cho breaking through the cordon and racing toward him. Sunlight gilded her outline, while Whiplash's wreckage twisted into grotesque shapes amid the flames, and rising black smoke gradually blurred the glaring blue sky.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with faint engine oil drifted into his nose, and Li Stark frowned in the haze. His eyelids felt weighed down by lead. When he finally forced them open a sliver, the harsh white light made him recoil instinctively. Blurry figures swayed within the glow until a familiar voice cut through the ringing in his ears. "Look at our little hero. You finally decided to wake up?"

Tony Stark leaned against the hospital bed, the blue glow from his arc reactor making the dark circles under his eyes even more obvious. He spun Li's Mark I energy core between his fingers, its metal casing still stained with dried blood. "If the Vision Prototype hadn't hauled you back, you'd be keeping Whiplash company right now." Beneath his joking tone was an almost imperceptible tremor. Li noticed Tony's expression and could tell he had gone through a brutal battle as well.

"Don't listen to him trying to scare you." Pepper pushed Tony aside and handed Li a cup of warm water, gently wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. Her pale pink shirt was smeared with dust, and a paper clip serving as a makeshift hairpin was still tucked into her hair. "You were unconscious for three days. You had everyone worried sick." The glass touched his lips, and the warm water washed away the rusty taste in his throat. Li vaguely remembered being sick with a fever as a child, when she had held him the same way and fed him medicine.

A soft clink of metal came from the foot of the bed. Happy awkwardly shifted a fruit basket onto the bedside table, its plastic wrapping rustling. The burly bodyguard scratched his buzz cut, the tips of his ears turning red. "If Miss Cho hadn't stopped me, I would've dragged you straight off that operating table..." He suddenly choked up, turned away to wipe his eyes, and Li saw gravel from the racetrack still clinging to his clothes.

"You little bastard." Helen Cho's voice came from the shadows. Only then did Li notice her curled up on the sofa in the corner, her lab coat wrinkled beyond recognition and dried tear marks clinging to her lashes. When she rushed over, she knocked over a nearby piece of medical equipment. Her cool hand pressed against his burning cheek. "You promised you wouldn't get hurt, but what did you do? You went and slept for three days and three nights..." Her choked voice and aggrieved sobs made Li's eyes sting.

He struggled to sit up, but Tony pressed him back down by the shoulder. "Save your strength. The alloy shielding layer inside you nearly melted into slag." Even as he spoke, Tony quietly adjusted the bed so Li could lie more comfortably. "Still, that Vision Prototype of yours... maybe we should talk about upgrades." A proud smile hid in the curve of his lips.

Pepper patted Tony on the back of the hand, signaling him not to make things worse, then turned and gently tucked Li's blanket around him. "Do you want something to eat? I've got chicken soup simmering in the kitchen." As she spoke, Li caught sight of the diamond ring glittering on her ring finger. He suddenly remembered the explosion before he lost consciousness, and his heart clenched. "Tony's palladium poisoning..."

"Shh—" Helen Cho pressed down on his restless hand, the warmth of her palm passing through the bandages. "It's all been taken care of. All you need to do now is rest." She lowered her lashes, her hair brushing against the IV line on his wrist. "Ever since you fell asleep in my arms like a child, I told you I wouldn't let you face things alone again."

At some point, the sunlight outside the window had dimmed, and dusk crept up the sill. Li looked at the people gathered around his bed and suddenly felt his chest swell. Without realizing it, these people had already become the strongest armor in his life. Tony's teasing, Pepper's tenderness, Happy's awkwardness, and Helen Cho's hand clasped tightly around his all silently spoke of a bond deeper than blood.