A/N Just a little songfic I got in my head about Gene Khan. Takes place long before "Tales of Suspense." The song is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin. It's a huge change from my normal style in writing, so it might not be all that great. Criticism would be appreciated. ;)

Now the dark begins to rise,

Save your breath, it's far from over.

Leave the lost and dead behind,

Now's your chance to run for cover.

Gene Khan slowly closed his curled fist, watching as the Tong member crumpled to his knees, groaning in agony. This was the punishment the man must face for bringing back the Mandarin such terrible news. It was only fair.

"M-Mandarin…the man gasped out, holding up a shaking hand in a "halt" gesture. Gene relaxed the Makluan rings for a moment, deciding to give the man one last chance so that he wouldn't crush him. "I on-only wanted to warn y-you," the Tong member gasped out, still shuddering, "that the Tong is growing uneasy about your sudden change in strategy a-against the Maggia. There is talk o-of a revolt."

Gene's eyes flashed, the gauntlet tightened, and the man fell to the ground, his eyes, unblinking, staring at the cracked tiled floor.

"You should have known better than to tell me of such atrocities," Gene growled, his voice altered by the mask he was wearing.

I don't wanna change the world,

I just want to leave it colder.

Light the fuse and burn it up.

Take the path that leads to nowhere.

The idea that the Tong were conversing of a revolt unsettled Gene, though it wasn't unexpected. His sudden interest in nothing but the rings wasn't going to go unnoticed. But the Tong were expendable, like this man, the one who's lifeless body Gene stared down at, sprawled across the floor. He didn't need them. He didn't need anybody.

After all, once he achieved the goal of finding all five rings, he would do away with the Tong anyway. They knew too much. Like Stark and his irritating friends.

The thought of Tony made Gene's insides squirm. He would never admit it, not in a million, or a trillion, years, but he didn't like the thought of having to kill him. But he convinced himself having his blood on his hands would sting at first, and then he'd get over it. Like he got over everything.

It was funny how the thought of killing Stark made him weary, but the death of one of his own barely left a thought in the teen's mind about what he had done. Perhaps it was because he knew the Tong thought they were working for Zhang, and he knew they'd turn on him in an instant if they knew his real identity. A Khan or not, he was still only a thin teenager who had no significant power without the rings.

Thoughts of Zhang and the torture he had to endure because of that wretched man filled his mind, setting his insides to flame. That man should have known better than to mess with a Khan. All of those years of torturing Gene, of making him go weeks without food and making the Tong members take turns at whipping him with whips embedded with jagged glass had gotten him where? Locked in a dismal dungeon. Gene's fist tightened. No one messed with the true Mandarin without suffering the consequences.

All is lost again,

But I'm not giving in.

I will not bow, I will not break,

I will shut the world away.

I will not fall, I will not fade,

I will take your breath away.

Gene would never let an inferior get away with disrespecting him. Never.

His mind clouded by blind fury, Gene didn't at first notice that he was walking, practically running, down the stone steps that led to the dungeons. All he could think about was his mother, dead at Zhang's hands, him, a frightened little nine-year-old, being whipped and burnt, locked in dark closet with rats for months on end, told the discipline would turn him into a worthy heir of the Makluan rings. Even if this had been true, if his stepfather had had his way, he would have never have even been allowed to touch the rings, much less inherit them.

Watch the end through dying eyes,

Now the dark is taking over.

Show me where forever dies,

Take the fall and run to Heaven.

As Gene reached the moldy, filth-ridden cell his stepfather was caged in, he felt a sense of revulsion…and perhaps a touch of fear. Here was the man who had caused the worse years of his life to be filled with agony and confusion. Here was the man who had killed his mom.

No, Gene reassured himself. I'm in complete control. Zhang has nothing over me.

To prove this to himself, a heavily armored hand reached out, spreading its fingers and slowly closing them. The thin, straight-back man who sat, legs crossed on the floor, winced but did nothing else. Gene scowled, tightening his fist, and Zhang buckled under the force.

"So," the old man rasped out, still managing a smile despite his situation, "my traitorous stepson returns to, what is it that the Westerners call it? Kick a man while he's down."

"Shut up, old man," Gene growled, wishing badly that he could aim a good kick in the man's face. Instead, he applied more pressure to the rings' power, forcing the man's spine to bend even further.

"You are a fool, boy," Zhang hissed, sweat beading on his brow. "You are a fool to believe the Tong loyal to you. Believe me, the wrath you take out on me will be reflected onto you tenfold."

"And I won't let that happen."

I will not bow, I will not break,

I will shut the world away.

I will not fall, I will not fade,

I will take your breath away.

And I'll survive, paranoid,

I have lost the will to change.

And I'm not proud, cold-blooded, fake,

I will shut the world away.

Gene's rage bubbled up at the smirk still on Zhang's agony-filled faced. He shouldn't be smirking! He should be writhing in pain! Even that would be less than what he deserves.

Gene let out a maddening cry, and, pressing the gauntlets together and directing them at his stepfather, let out a fiery inferno from the palms of his hands. Flames flickered unnaturally high in the cell, only reducing to two feet tall when Gene's rage had subsided for the most part. In a circle of flame, Zhang sat, cross-legged, still smirking.

"Coward. You cannot even kill the man who killed your treacherous mother."

Gene turned and stomped away, leaving scorch marks in the stone where the soles of his metal boots touched the floor. His eyes still reflected the inferno in the cell, wishing he could kill Zhang then and there.

I will not bow, I will not break,

I will shut the world away.

I will not fall, I will not fade,

I will take your breath away.

And I'll survive, paranoid.

I have lost the will to change,

And I'm not proud, cold-blooded, fake,

I will shut the world away.