Tony Stark woke up in a sweat. He was having a nightmare where he was in a life and death struggle against the nefarious Mandarin, the greatest enemy of his Iron Man alter ego. His first thought upon waking was that he needed a drink. A scotch on the rocks to help him forget his endless battles to save the world seemed like a good start. Then he remembered that he gave up drinking eight months ago to pursue his new passion in triathlons, in particular the Ironman distance. Today was going to be his crowning achievement in triathlons as he was going to race the Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii. He used his famous playboy celebrity image to garner a charity spot in the race. He donated a large sum of money to the Wounded Warrior Foundation to help secure the race slot which was an organization as close to his heart as the piece of shrapnel left there from when he wounded while being kidnapped during a demonstration of his newest weapon technology in the jungles of Vietnam. He managed to escape after a fellow prisoner saved his life by inserting a magnet in his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart and helping him develop the first armor suit. Since then he had become Iron Man and joined the Avengers, a superhero group assembled by Sgt Nick Fury to battle the world’s enemies.
Tony got out of bed and starting getting ready for the race and eating some breakfast making sure he got his necessary carbohydrates and proteins but low in fiber because he didn’t want to spend his day in the Porta Potty’s. While he ate, his mind drifted to the events that led him to this day. A year ago he defeated The Mandarin and his creation Ultimo in a epic battle to save the world. During the fight he nearly died after his suit lost power but he was saved at the last second by the Hulk. This near death experience troubled him mightily and he succumbed to the demons of alcohol as he never did before. For four months he drank himself into a stupor in order to cope with his memories. Finally, the love of his life, Pepper Potts could not take it anymore and left him. She moved in with a friend in Brooklyn, NY of all places leaving him alone at the Stark mansion in Malibu,CA. The loss of Pepper devastated him and he sank even deeper into an alcohol infused depression. One day he was summoned to the Avengers headquarters to meet with Captain America, Thor and Bruce Banner. Cap informed him that he was being put on suspension from the Avengers due to his alcohol problem and told him that once he got sober there would still be a place for him on the team. In the mean time, War Machine would take over his duties.
Tony continued to drink heavily. He rarely left his mansion and spent most of his days watching television. He constantly thought about ways to win Pepper back. He opened her Facebook page often to see what she was up to and if there was any indication that she wanted to come back to him. Other than her workout updates, he didn’t get useful information on Facebook but he saw that she hadn’t changed her relationship status which did give him a glimmer of hope. He missed the Avengers but he was not ready to get back into the armor and fight all the villains trying to destroy the world over and over again. He was surprised that he missed Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, as much as he did. They were always butting heads and had even come to blows on a few occasions but he always respected Cap even if he was an old school boy scout goodie two shoes.
One day Tony was sitting on the couch watching NBCSports and drinking a beer right out of the growler. This was the last growler of beer left in the house. It was his all time favorite beer. This beer, called Hoptopus Double IPA, can only be found in Virginia Beach. He remembered how Pepper would put on his armor suit and fly down to Virginia and buy him several growlers worth. That was just one of the wonderful things she did for him. His heart ached for her and he began to cry. Through his tears he saw that NBCSports was showing the Ironman World Championship triathlon event. He watched in awe as these “normal” people swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran 26.2 miles in the Hawaiian heat just for sport. He was fascinated by the race coverage which not only showed the pros racing but also the age group competitors. There were also a few inspiring stories of people overcoming huge odds to race in the Ironman. It was at that moment that Tony decided to quit drinking and train for the Ironman. He was going to do it as Tony Stark the regular guy and not as Iron Man the superhero. He vowed to race without the aid of his technology and intended to buy all his race gear off Craigslist. He dreamed of becoming sober and competing with the top age groupers. Maybe then he could try winning Captain America’s respect back and finally reuniting with the one person he wanted in his life most of all, Pepper Potts, but he had to show them that he could be functional, sober and worthy of their love and respect.
Tony spent the next 8 months training. Due to his celebrity he was forced to train exclusively inside his mansion. He had an Olympic sized pool and large fitness area with a treadmill for running and a Computrainer for biking. He used the memories of his time with Pepper to help him get through the tough workouts. She was always with him in his mind with endless encouragements. He dreamt that they would reunite and have the same type of loving relationship that the Vision and the Scarlet Witch had. It was extremely tough but he remained sober throughout the training period and didn’t give in to the demons that were constantly tapping him on the shoulder. He kept up with the news of the Avengers who had fought some tough battles against some tough enemies including Kang the Conqueror and Count Nefaria.
Now it was finally race day! The day that all his hard work would pay off. Tony’s goal was to be at the top of his age group at the finish. He knew he was in great physical shape and had trained hard for this moment and the fact that he was a superhero had to help his chances. At the swim entry he waited for the start gun with the rest of the age groupers. He was wearing a gently used swim speed suit that he found on Craigslist. He thought that if he had contacted Mr. Fantastic then he could have gotten a speed suit made with one of Mr. Fantastic’s newly invented polymers that would not only allow him to swim faster but help him survive any unknown environmental elements in the event he slipped into another dimension while swimming. But he had made a promise to himself to race “clean” and not use any of his advanced technologies and he planned to honor that promise.
Tony was brought back to attention when he heard the gun go off and all the age groupers start to enter the water. He waded in slowly and then started to swim. It was like swimming in a washing machine with thousands of other swimmers kicking and punching him. The battering his body took reminded him of the time he fought the Mole Men with the Hulk. The swim was 2.4 miles total, it was an out-and-back course with an elongated triangle stretching out from Kailua pier south to a turnaround. The swim was tough but Tony kept going, letting his training take over. Before he knew it, the swim was done and he was on his way to transition. He felt good about his time but knew he was still in the middle of the pack. He needed to make up time on the bike.
The bike course in Kona is also an out-and-back, heading north up Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway to the turnaround in Hawi. The course was 112 arduous miles with heat and lots of headwind thrown in. Tony really grew to love the bike but wished he could have ridden more outside on the roads rather than indoors on the Computrainer. He concentrated on his cadence and heart rate to judge his effort. He knew that if he went too hard on the bike then his run would be miserable. Once again he thought of how his technology could help him. He knew many ways to make his newly acquired used Cervelo P2 more aerodynamic and he had access to some interesting alien rubber acquired from the Shi’ar Empire that was completely frictionless which he could use for tires.
He had attached a photo of Pepper to his aero bars to provide motivation and be constantly reminded of why he was putting himself through this. The ride was tougher than he ever could have imagined. Without his armor suit with regulated temperature, he found the heat very difficult to deal with. The heat was getting to him as he tried to keep up with his hydration and electrolytes to combat it. He was taking in nutrition to keep his energy up but felt he was losing ground. As time went on, he found himself more and more isolated from the rest of the age groupers. He knew he was now in the back of the pack but he kept going. His goal now was to finish. His respect for the people who did this race was growing by the minute.
At last, he made it to the second transition where he would change into his sneakers for the real hard part of the day, the Marathon. He made sure to take the photo of Pepper from his bike before turning it over to the volunteers so he could have her with him on what he expected to be the hardest 26.2 miles of his life. The run heads south out of transition, turning around at Keauhou. It then goes north along the Queen K Highway before heading back south to the most famous finish line in sports along Ali’i drive. The first few miles went fairly well as he tried to catch up on his nutrition and hydration but the hard bike ride had taken its toll. From here on out Tony knew he was going to suffer. Tony was no stranger to suffering but usually it was at the hands of a mortal enemy. Tony remembered the time he and Thor went up against Loki, Thor’s brother. Loki had captured Tony and proceeded to torture him for a period of days trying to extract information of a new technology that would help Loki develop a new hammer to rival his brother’s mystical hammer Mjolnir. Tony never gave in and eventually he and Thor defeated Loki.
Darkness now was setting in as Tony continued to run. He was alternating between walking and running at this point. He was just trying to keep going forward to the finish in any way possible. He was prepared to crawl if needed. He thought of Pepper and how he hoped to go to Brooklyn and see her after the race. He needed to apologize to her and tell her how much he loved her. He knew at this point that he was done with alcohol forever. He prayed that she would take him back. He thought about Captain America and the Avengers and hoped that they would take him back too. He wanted to put his armor suit back on and fight evil again to protect the ones he loved. He hadn’t even finished but he already felt that the Ironman had saved Iron Man.
The crowds started to get bigger and louder as he approached the finish line. He knew he was getting close and he was determined to finish. He felt light headed and his legs felt weak. He almost went to the ground several times. There were only a few minutes left before midnight. The time when the race officially ends and anyone left on the course would be labeled with DNF. Tony’s energy perked up when he thought he heard a familiar voice in the crowd. He looked deep inside himself and willed himself to the finish line. The crowd recognizing him went into a frenzy. They started chanting his name. The crowd was trying to send him their energy so he could finish. He picked his head up and threw back his shoulders and began to run again. Now he was only a few feet from the finish line and he knew he would make it with only a few seconds to spare. He started to cry as the joy of his accomplishment started to overtake him. He crossed the finish line and heard the voice of Mike Reilly cry out “Tony Stark you are an Ironman!”.
As he was helped down the finisher chute by the medical staff volunteers, he heard someone calling his name. He thought maybe he had passed out and was dreaming but then he saw the crowd start to open up and Pepper Potts emerge right in front of him. He later learned that she saw the coverage of the race and convinced Sgt Fury to loan her a jet with pilot to get her out to Hawaii so she could see Tony finish in person. Tony took her in his arms and told her he loved her and that he was sorry for hurting her. He told her that he had been sober for eight months and he hoped they could try to rekindle their relationship. Pepper did not take him all the way back at once but agreed to move back in and work on their relationship. She was really happy for him and that she still loved him. The medical staff now moved in and put Tony on a gurney and started a intravenous drip to help rehydrate him. Pepper continued to hold his hand. She then broke the news to him that the pilot of the jet that brought her was Steve Rogers. Steve approached Tony and told him congratulations on his achievement and that he was welcome back to the Avengers when he was ready. Tony could not believe it, everything he wanted from his quest to becoming an Ironman had come to fruition. This was the greatest day of his life.
The next week he was back home in New York and sleeping in late with Pepper by his side. The phone rang and it was Sgt Fury calling from the helicarrier somewhere above New Mexico. He told Tony that the Avengers were needed to fight the Mandarin again. It seemed that the Mandarin had found the alien spacecraft that landed in Roswell back in 1947 and armed with new technology threatened to take over the world. Tony looked at Pepper who nodded giving him the okay sign to save the world and that she would be there when he returned. Tony grabbed the phone and called into the Avenger’s mansion intercom system and said “Avengers Assemble!”
The End
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