Tony safely parked his car on the side of the road, some distance away from Ivan Vanko. He already heard from Li Yue that Ivan liked to play with the whip, so he wouldn't foolishly drive closer.
He just had to get out of the car and wait for his armor to arrive. It would be trivial to fight against Ivan after putting on the armor.
Not knowing the contents of Tony's machinations, Ivan began to feel confused. Why did Tony stop his road rampage and parked his car on the side? He couldn't have seen me, could he? He was still so far away!
There was no need to be courteous and slow down. You should've driven at me at full speed; I'll use my whip to slice you in two along with your car. But to park your car so far away from me, what the hell are you thinking?
The audience was a little dumbfounded by this development. Ivan had put effort into making his entrance dramatic, but now he would have to run by the track and close the distance on his own. Tony, on the other hand, was leisurely waving at the audience.
The sight of Ivan's long electric whips trailing behind him was rather hilarious. Ivan was thankful that he had installed a switch on the whip; otherwise, he could've been electrocuted by his own whip!
The more Ivan Vanko assessed the situation, the more he found it unfavorable for him. Tony was still too far away, almost a hundred meters. Even a world-class athlete would need several seconds to cross that distance, much less Ivan Vanko.
It took Ivan more than ten seconds to reach around ten meters in front of Tony.
During that ten seconds, Tony had transformed from a vulnerable man in the blue racing suit to a mass of gold and red metal armor.
Mark 7 had flown in at extremely high speed while Ivan charged at Tony. Tony had equipped the armor almost instantly.
Ivan Vanko watched as Tony equipped the armor, but it was too late to change his decision. He had no choice but to go all in, hoping that his electric whip could do some damage to Tony's armor.
Ivan Vanko had never planned to kill Tony anyway. He didn't have to. He just had to rough Tony up a bit and drag Tony down from the pedestal of worship. If a mortal could make God bleed, would the mortals continue to believe in that God?
But his calculation was way off. He didn't expect Tony to stop so far away from him. He didn't expect Tony's armor technology to have advanced to the point of providing long-distance and preemptive support. He certainly didn't expect the armor to arrive and finish assembling in less than ten seconds.
But no matter how much he complained, he couldn't change the past. He could only clench his teeth and pull forward. Ivan Vanko looked straight at his opponent and raised his right hand, slamming the arcing whip at Tony.
Of course, Tony didn't stand still to receive the attack. He raised his own right hand, its palm pulsating with dazzling white light before firing a bolt of energy at Ivan Vanko.
Ivan was sent flying by the concussive force, his whip failed to find the mark. He struggled to stand up after he fell, but unfortunately, Tony rushed right to his side before he could succeed.
Tony punched Ivan's face, carefully holding back so he didn't turn Ivan Vanko's head into a red paste.
Even while holding back, Tony's strike easily turned Ivan Vanko black and blue, spitting blood and teeth from his mouth.
Tony didn't land another strike, instead going for the Arc Reactor embedded in Ivan's armor. He ripped the reactor from the armor and told Jarvis to analyze it.
"Trash!"
Nobody knew if Tony referred to Ivan Vanko or the crude Arc Reactor.
Tony ignited his repulsors and flew into the air. He can't believe that the person Li Yue warned him about was just trash that can be defeated in one move.
"Well, he would've been dangerous if I wasn't wearing my armor." Tony recalled Li Yue's words. It was understandable that Ivan would ambush him when he was not wearing his armor.
The security staff soon secured the area, and the police arrived "on time" after the incident ended.
They dragged Ivan Vanko away, the man struggling on the ground.
"Haha, Tony Stark, go die miserably with the palladium poisoning!" Ivan Vanko provoked Tony one last time, but Tony simply opened his helmet, revealing a poker face.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I already solved the problem of palladium poisoning."
Ivan's heart sank. He spat a mouthful of blood, barely conscious. His last thought was of his thoroughly foiled plan.
Ivan Vanko was taken away from the scene, leaving one of his shoes as the last trace that everything that just happened was real.
Tony waved again at the audience, gaining a round of cheers. His mask closed with a "ding" sound before he raced away with bright flames under his feet, soaring into the sky.
Of course, he didn't fly too far. He only flew back to his Rolls-Royce to unequip his armor and return it to the car luggage.
Seeing Tony land in front of her, Pepper immediately berated him for doing such a reckless thing as participating in the race.
...
Li Yue watched everything unfold. He didn't expect Ivan Vanko to be defeated so quickly. In the movie, Li Yue had seen Ivan play with his whip for a while. Who would've thought that Ivan would be beaten in a single hit?
But Li Yue wasn't too bothered by this outcome. Whatever will be, will be.
"Tony, as the matter had been resolved, I'll go back first. You have to deal with Ivan Vanko; his ability to build the Arc Reactor wouldn't go unnoticed," Li Yue warned Tony.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Tony's face darkened when he heard Li Yue's warning. It would be bad for him if Ivan Vanko fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives.
Li Yue teleported away with his superpower, leaving Tony and the others.
A while later, Tony visited the prison where Ivan Vanko was held in. He came face to face with Ivan Vanko.
"Ivan Vanko, the son of Anton Vanko. I don't understand, why do you hate me so much? You attacked me, knowing full well that you'd be caught! You could've made a fortune selling that reactor technology to other countries," Tony asked Ivan Vanko, who was sitting on the bed.
Tony was holding an unknown box in his hand.
"Why did I attack you? Ask your father. Ask him what he did to my father!" Ivan Vanko half-shouted, agitated by Tony's question.
"My father? What did he do?"
Tony was admittedly curious. The details of what happened weren't written in the report.
"What did he do? Don't pretend like you didn't know. You stole the reactor on your chest from my father and then accused him as a spy, kicking him out of the country. Everything that happened to me was your father's fault!"
Tony made a mental note to talk to the one-eyed bald director. That man must know the truth.
"Well, I don't know if you said the truth, and I don't really care. Fact is, you attacked me, so you should just obediently spend your time in prison," Tony said, standing up.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. This is my gift to you. You'll definitely need it." Tony walked to Ivan's side and put the box beside Ivan.
Ivan opened the box. There was a bar of soap quietly sitting inside.