"Stop. Hold it right there."
Tony raised a hand and cut off the rest of Natasha's itinerary before she could keep going.
"Jesus, I'm only here for the race. Why the hell do I have this much work stacked on ? Didn't Pepper tell you not to shove business at when I'm supposed to be doing sothing else?"
"Apologies. Those are the executive office's instructions."
Natasha's tone stayed perfectly professional, but inside, she was already thinking about how close payday was. Maybe she should buy herself sothing nice.
After all, the salary was a lot better than risking her life for a living.
Honestly, Natasha would not have minded another three years of this kind of double life.
Tony snorted. "Drex, your instincts still need work."
He did not care whether Natasha's cover was exposed or not. In fact, it was probably better to keep everyone, including the Black Widow, guessing. Counterintel was like shaking a bottle of snakes. No matter how you looked at it, the people still standing at the end were always fewer than the ones who started the fight.
Co to think of it, when had S.W.O.R.D. ever assigned a Black Widow to infiltrate Tony Stark's side anyway?
How was he, the director, only hearing about that now?
The private jet landed in Monaco shortly after.
Officials had been waiting for them for so ti. Big nas were coming in, after all.
Drex and Tony left the logistics to Natasha and walked off in their own direction.
At the F1 circuit, Tony stopped and threw up his hands.
"Drex, tell what the hell you're doing."
"The most basic thing in the world," Drex said, leaning over the car with a chanic's calm. "I'm tuning the racer and mounting my fire core reactor as the power source. Just imagine the kind of speed that can co out of this. It's thrilling."
Tony stared at him. "You're actually insane, right? F1 cars are already fast enough to kill you. Add a reactor and you'll die the second you pull off the line."
He could not help complaining.
Both of them were tech-based superheroes, not monsters who could walk out of a nuclear fireball and keep talking.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Drex said. "When I was tearing through Akina, you were still busy throwing money at won."
The sight of the two company heads standing in full race gear and working on their own cars imdiately drew caras.
Tony Stark was one thing. He was always good for a headline.
But Drex Valen was another matter entirely.
Even if most of the female reporters present had, at one point or another, spent a very enjoyable night with Tony, the caras were still mostly on Drex.
Neither man gave them a chance to get close, though.
The only outsider who had managed to speak to them after the jet landed was Justin Hamr, the owner of Hamr Industries, who had wandered over with all the friendliness of a man trying to strike a deal before he was thrown out.
The result was exactly what you would expect.
Hamr Industries was having a rough ti of it now.
Umbrella Corporation and Stark Industries had squeezed them so hard that Hamr could only go hunting for contracts in smaller countries.
And those smaller countries wanted War Machines.
War Machines, Iron Mongers, and Sky Tyrants were all buried under mountains of orders, but the delivery priority was simple.
S.W.O.R.D. got first crack.
Then the Five Great Powers.
Then the rest of the United Nations.
Private buyers had to pay extra if they wanted anything at all. If they could not pay, they could wait.
And Umbrella Corporation still demanded half the deposit up front.
If the client ran out of patience, the deposit stayed where it was.
Tony adjusted his helt and glanced over at Drex with visible irritation.
"That little punk is not worth your ti."
To be fair, Drex could see why Tony was annoyed.
"That guy is obnoxious," Tony continued. "That is not just my opinion."
"I do not pay much attention to my competition," Drex said. "There is no one worth competing with. But Hamr Industries? I know enough."
The track had been cordoned off, but the screaming crowd still felt loud enough to split the air.
Drex waved the maintenance crew away from the car.
"Ambition is a good thing," he said. "But ambition alone is not enough. If you actually want to do anything, you need a plan detailed enough to survive contact with reality."
Tony gave a short laugh and swung himself into the cockpit.
"Looks like we agree. That little punk is just a clown."
Then he looked at Drex with open curiosity.
"Seriously, how the hell did he build Hamr Industries up so big? With jokes like that?"
Before putting on his helt, Tony's expression practically said, Do you have any idea?
Drex rolled his eyes.
"How would I know?"
In fairness, Hamr's information was not even worth much. It would not be useful as leverage, either. The comic version would have been a different matter, but this Justin Hamr was not nearly that dumb.
Justin Hamr was a Monaco citizen and a sly, shrewd businessman. His company operated across multiple industries, including weapons manufacturing. He was one of Stark Industries' major rivals.
He also secretly funded supervillains and supplied them with advanced weapons, turning them into tools for crushing his competition.
Compared to the film version, the comic version was nastier and far more cunning. A real villain through and through.
"Anyway, Drex," Tony said as the engines began warming up, "prepare to eat my exhaust."
Confident he was about to win, he threw out the first taunt.
"You'll be lucky if you can even see my taillights," Drex replied, pulling on his gloves and helt and climbing into the car.
"The loser does not get cheeseburgers for a month."
Tony's eyes widened. "That is basically a death sentence."
Then he thought about it for a second and relaxed.
There was no reason he should lose to a rookie like Drex anyway.
Drex's mouth curved into a cold smile.
Electromagnetic force flowed through the car.
"Then let the ga begin."
Vrrrrrnnn.
The engine roared low and deep. The exhaust burst with black flas in an instant.
The tires screeched against the pavent with a sound so sharp it might have been capable of tearing open a soul.
Tony, sitting right beside him, felt a spike of pain crawl through his head.
Even the helt could not block that horrifying noise.
Smoke billowed up from the tires as the race start was announced.
And then a dark red streak shot forward.
"Hey, Natalie, why is Tony on the track?"
Pepper Potts stared at the live broadcast in disbelief.
The press conference and lunch had already been arranged, and now he had gone off to race cars?
"And what is that red streak in front of the field? Is that so kind of route guidance?"
"Apologies, Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark's schedule did include the race. It was one he added himself, and he has already delayed the other events."
Natasha, holding a stack of files, narrowed her eyes and watched the live feed closely.
"And that red streak... if I am not mistaken..."
She looked up.
"It is S.W.O.R.D. Director Drex Valen and Umbrella Corporation CEO Drex Valen."
Pepper froze.
"W-What?"
Tony Stark had dragged Drex Valen into an F1 race?
Never mind how he knew Drex in the first place.
The real problem was that if anything happened to Drex Valen, that would be a disaster on a level that really did not need further explanation.
...
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