Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00133. Dropping more hints for Tony.

After riding the rollercoaster three times, Ezekiel and his group slowly made their way to the laser tag area. They stopped a few times to play carnival games along the way and to win Liz a giant stuffed bunny. Adrian tried to win it at first, but he wasn’t having much luck at the game. Leech was the one who ended up winning the bunny though, since it turned out he’s really good at ring toss.

When they finally reached the laser tag area, they found Tony, Rhodey and Happy collapsed on a bench breathing hard and covered in sweat. Ezekiel smiled as he walked up and asked, “So how did it go?”

Tony glanced up before he asked, “How is this laser tag?”

Rhodey nodded in agreement before he said, “This place is more like an urban training course for a delta force team.”

“Ya, and what’s up with the laser packs? How come you get shocked whenever you get hit?” Happy said as he rubbed his chest.

Natasha who stood by the entrance with a smile on her face said, “It’s because we played the advanced version. If we played on the pro level, you would get disabled and won’t be able to move till after one team wins. You also wear a full body suit and wherever you get hit it feels like you’ve been shot.”

Tony looked up in shock at Ezekiel as he asked, “How is any of that meant to be in an amusement park? And why would someone want to feel what it’s like to be shot? Actually how would that even work?”

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “The general public gets to use the normal laser tag course. But if people want, they can challenge themselves to the advanced and pro course after signing a liability waiver. As for how it works, it’s a mix of technology and magic.”

“You didn’t answer why, though.” Tony said.

“You would have to ask the people who designed the place. They were the ones who insisted on making it. I just paid for everything… Well I did make the capture the flag and bomb planting game modes.” Ezekiel said.

Tony shook his head as he said, “Who was crazy enough to want to make something like that?”

Natasha smirked as she said, “My parents.”

Tony glanced at Natasha before he said, “That might explain a few things.”

Natasha planted her hands on her hips as she asked, “And what exactly is that supposed to mean old man?”

“It explains why you’re so good, you're as crazy as your parents.” Tony said.

Natasha smiled as she said, “Thank you.”

Tony mumbled to himself as he said, “That wasn’t really a compliment.”

Gabby, who was still holding Ezekiel’s hand asked, “Can we play laser tag? I wanna be on your team.”

“I don’t mind, but I can only play normal laser tag though.”

Tony chuckled as he asked, “What, afraid of the advanced and pro version of the game?”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Both of them work with magic and I’m currently channeling a magic spell. There’s a small chance the magic from the game could affect my spell, so I’m just being cautious.”

Ezekiel glanced down at Gabby as he asked, “Is normal laser tag fine with you?”

Gabby nodded and tugged on Ezekiel’s arm as she said, “Sure, let's go!”

Pretty much everyone joined for the normal laser tag game, including another group of kids to make two teams of thirty. Tony, Rhodey and Happy ended up doing better in normal laser tag. But Natasha, Yelena, Ezekiel, Gabby and Laura ended up taking the top spots on the team. Tony was close to the top five, but the kids had the advantage of knowing the course. Ava would have had first place, but she ran around the crouse as she used her powers so Ezekiel had her point score disqualified from the rankings for cheating. It’s one of the perks of writing the software that runs the whole place.

After they finished and were walking out of the area Ezekiel asked, “Alright, since Gabby picked the last two, How about we go race go-karts now?”

“Sure.” Gabby said as she took Ezekiel’s hand again.

“Go-karts? What kind of carts are they?” Tony asked.

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “We have four different types, with the fastest reaching a top speed of eighty.”

Tony glanced at Natasha as he said, “Let's go brat. You might have won in laser tag, but you won’t beat me in a race.”

“Whatever you say grandpa.” Natasha said with a smirk.

No one complained about going to race go-karts, so the new bigger group headed over to the area with the go-karts. Once there the group split up because not everyone could race the more powerful carts. Adrian and his family went to a kid cart section with a few of the younger kids, while Ezekiel led Tony and a few others to the pro carts.

The pro kart course actually wrapped around the whole go-kart area and acted as the barrier for it. The track itself had a lot of turns and some long straights with a small hill climb in one section that raised the track over the entrance to the go-kart area. It was followed by a winding downhill section that ended where the race started. The overall course was just over a mile and a half which made it longer than some race car tracks.

After getting suited up and getting into their own karts, Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, Happy, Laura, Cessily, and Ezekiel all lined up waiting for the green light. While Pepper, Leech and Gabby all took seats in the stands. Pepper since she didn’t want to race and the others because they couldn’t. The stands themself had a good view of the downhill section and finish line, but it was also filled with video screens that showed each racer as they went around the track. It also had a main screen that would show the best action at any moment of the race.

As they were all lined up Tony glanced back at Ezekiel who was in the back of the pack with him but in last place as he asked, “Why exactly are we back here?”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “It would be too easy otherwise… Unless you suck at driving, in which case this is gonna be a tough race for you.”

Tony smirked as he said, “Oh, you think you can drive uh?”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Who knows.”

A couple moments later the light changed to green and everyone took off around the track. The first half of the lap was pretty tame with Tony and Ezekiel slowly moving up through the other drivers. Happy and Natasha were the only other people who had any type of skill and ended up fighting for first place as Tony and Ezekiel slowly caught up to them. It was just before the uphill section that Tony and Ezekiel caught up to them and started to fight for first place.

Ezekiel was the one who pulled ahead into first place on the uphill section, since he only weighed half of what Natasha weighed and she already weighed less than Happy and Tony. His lead wasn’t large as the course flattened out and they moved into the downhill portion. That section was the hardest part of the whole race with a handful of tight hairpin turns leading down to the finish line. As they entered the area Tony was only two kart lengths behind and on the first turn he closed in to one and half.

Since Ezekiel was in the front he couldn’t see it, but Tony was better at taking the tight corners of this section of the track. As they ended the downhill section, Tony was just behind Ezekiel and was trying to pass him. Ezekiel was lucky as the last part of the track before the finish line was slightly uphill so he pulled slightly ahead as they started the second lap.

During the first section of the second lap Tony pulled ahead into first place and with his skills was able to take a slight lead. Ezekiel tried his best to keep up, but Tony had a lot more practice and always took the best line possible around corners. By the time they reached the main uphill section Tony was about three kart lengths ahead.

Ezekiel with his reduced weight easily caught up to Tony and they ended up even coming into the downhill section of the race. As they entered the first turn of the downhill, Tony was able to smoothly drift around the corner and pull back into the lead. Ezekiel copied his move but wasn't able to do it perfectly which let Tony pull slightly ahead.

Ezekiel knew he couldn't beat Tony on the downhill after he followed him down it. Tony's skill level was either close to or slightly better then his dad's when it came to racing go-karts. So Ezekiel focused on staying as close as possible to Tony on the last lap. He would overtake him on the uphill and then do his best to hold that lead till the finish line.

Ezekiel's plan worked out correctly and when they came to the uphill section of the last lap. Tony was only a few feet ahead of him as they started to climb up that section of the track. By the time they reached the top and it leveled out, Ezekiel was in the lead by a whole kart length.

Ezekiel focused as much as he could to copy Tony's line from the second lap and while it wasn't perfect. It helped to keep Tony just behind him for the first half of the downhill. In the second half Tony was able to cut in on a turn Ezekiel took a little wide and forced them into a neck and neck race. But with Tony's skill he was able to pull slightly ahead as they entered the final stretch of uphill track.

Ezekiel had his pedal floored as they charged up the slight incline towards the finish line. Seconds passed as Ezekiel’s kart slowly creeped up on Tonys. As they approached the last twenty feet of track both karts were dead even.

Then they were past the finish line and slowed down to enter the cart return area. Once they were parked Tony glanced over with a smile as he said, “Looks like I won.”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Yup, you beat Natasha.”

“And you.”

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “I don't know about that.”

“No, I clearly won the race, I was easily a few inches ahead.” Tony said.

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “You forgot our starting positions.”

“What, we started at the back together.”

As they stripped out of their jumpsuits Ezekiel said, “Let's just go out and check the results.”

A minute later they were outside by the seating area where the race results were posted. Gabby, Pepper and Leech were also there and Tony could see that Ezekiel finished first in the race. He double checked the results before he said, “But I clearly passed the finish line first.”

Ezekiel smirked as he said, “But I started in last place. Which means to beat me you had to be a full kart length ahead of me just like our starting positions.”

Gabby nodded along as she said, “Ya, Ezekiel won, don't be a sore loser.”

“How am I a sore loser? I clearly won. Plus why is that even a rule?! This isn't a professional race where something like that should matter!” Tony said with a huff.

Ezekiel smirked as he said, “I designed the place and programmed the software that tracks the race.”

Tony shook his head as he said, “You went a little overboard with the design. This is a go-kart track.”

“Says the guy who is trying to add a hologram projector to their phone.” Ezekiel said with a flat look.

Tony glanced away as he said, “Fine, you win this time.” Before he looked at Natasha and said, “At least I beat you, brat.”

Natasha smiled as she said, “I didn't want you to cry if you lost again, grandpa. But it looks like you’re crying anyways.”

Tony was about to reply as Ezekiel glanced down at Gabby and Leech and asked, “Wanna head over to the mid range karts so you can race?”

“Ya! Let’s go!” Gabby said as she took Ezekiel’s hand and started to pull him to the other kart area.

Tony looked at Natasha and was about to say something when Pepper pushed his shoulder and said, “Just leave it alone Tony.”

Rhodey nodded as he said, “Stop being goaded by a teenager.”

“Fine.” Tony said as he started to follow after Ezekiel.

When they made it to the other track they found most of the group along with the Toomes who just showed up. Liz raced by herself on the kid karts and wanted to try the faster karts, so she convinced her dad to take her on one. Instead of joining the race, Ezekiel and most of the adults decided not to join this time. Only Adrian joined since he was driving the kart for Liz.

As everyone was getting set up in their karts, Ezekiel moved off to one side to observe the race and was shortly joined by Tony. They sat in silence for a minute before Tony said, “I’m surprised you like go-karts so much.”

As the race started Ezekiel said, “Picked it up from my dad. He’s a gearhead and loves to race go-karts.”

“Really? You should bring him by the house some time. I’ll let him drive any of the cars I have. Then we can come back here and race some go-karts and see who’s better.” Tony said with a smile.

Ezekiel smiled a little before he said, “I’ll think about it.”

As Adrian and Liz were coming down the track towards the area where Ezekiel and Tony stood, Ezekiel pointed towards them and asked, “So you put any thought into what I suggested about a while ago?”

Tony glanced at Adrian and his daughter before he shook his head and said, “I’m not gonna settle down. Being single is too much fun.”

“You sure? Look at them, a father spending quality time with his daughter. That looks a lot more fun than any vapid fling you’ve had recently.” Ezekiel said as he shook his head.

Tony just watched Adrian race his daughter around the track for a while, before Ezekiel finally said, “Whatever, you don’t have to take my advice. But if you ever change your mind, I can introduce you to someone who could help you out.”

“Uh? I don’t need help finding a woman.”

Ezekiel reached over and patted Tony on the back as he said, “I know that, you idiot. I was talking about a therapist.”

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