The Son of Iron Man
Right, I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but I'm Back in Black from the Highway to Hell. I will Shoot to Thrill while spilling Whiskey on the Rocks. You guys are going to be Thunderstruck by this new story. OK, I'll stop making AC/DC references now.
Anyway, this will follow the inevitable time when Tony Stark hangs up the suit and passes on his legacy to his son, Toby (because that's a super-clever name). Now Toby Stark must master the new suit his father helped him build while managing his school life and trying not to let his friends slip away from him. And on top of it all, Tony Stark's enemies – as well as some of Toby's own – are content to destroy Iron Man no matter who is in the suit.
It's a good job Toby's best friend – Ben Parker, the Amazing Spider-Boy – is there to help.
One quick note about language: while Toby and the others are indeed American, I am English and therefore they will call mothers 'mum' and so on. It's just easier for me. So, if it helps, just imagine they're saying 'mom.'
Chapter One: The New Generation
An unceasing buzzing forced open the blue eyes of the sleeping boy. With a yawn, he sat up slowly and looked at the glowing green numbers on the clock. He pressed the button which silenced the machine and crossed the room to his wardrobe, where he picked out a black AC/DC shirt and jeans for the day.
Downstairs, the boy walked into the living room of Stark Tower and was greeted by his mother, Pepper Potts-Stark.
"Morning, Toby," Pepper called to her son as she sat at the bar, reading a magazine and sipping from a drink.
"Morning, mum. Where are dad and the other Avengers?" Toby Stark asked, looking first around the room and then out of the panoramic glass walls to see New York City bustling about its business.
"Your father got a call earlier this morning about some villain. Nothing he and the others can't handle," Pepper told him.
"Huh. You know when he'll be back?" Toby asked, unfazed by the thought of his father going off to fight who knows what. It was, after all, a common occurrence.
"Well, the last I heard he was in Spain. Perhaps tomorrow?" Pepper suggested. "I really don't know. Hey, ready for school?"
"I think the real question is whether school is ready for me. Did I tell you about IT yesterday?" Toby asked.
"When you corrected the teacher so many times he let you take over?"
"That's the one. I don't think he thought I'd actually do it, but everyone said I taught better than he did," Toby said with a smug grin.
"Well, don't let that go to your head. You're a smart boy, but no one likes a show-off," Pepper said half-jokingly.
"Clearly that's not true; you married dad, didn't you?" Toby chuckled, his mother joining in.
"Wow, look at the time!" Pepper exclaimed as she glanced at the clock. "Get some breakfast; there's toast on the table or cereal in the cupboard."
"Right. Wouldn't want to be late for teaching the teachers," Toby quipped as he turned away from the window and crossed to the dining table.
Half an hour later, Toby found himself in tutor period with his friend Benjamin Parker at Midtown High School. They got along well because they were both intelligent young men with genius fathers.
"So, Toby, I heard your dad's out of town," Ben said.
"Yep. He's out with the Avengers, fighting some bad guy or another. What about yours?" Toby asked.
"Shh! Not here!" Ben shushed him.
"Right, sorry," Toby said, lowering his voice.
"It's fine. Just save it for the next time I'm round the Tower," Ben said.
"Yeah. What's our first lesson, again?" Toby asked, trying to change the subject.
"IT again," Ben answered. "Should be interesting, if yesterday is anything to go by."
"Yeah, I wonder if Mr Farnett will even bother trying to teach us today, or whether he'll just hand the class straight over to me," Toby laughed.
"Personally, I'd rather learn from the best. And by that I mean the second option," Ben said.
"Well, we'd better go. Don't want to be late to class," Toby said as the bell rang. He stood up and put on his backpack before walking with Ben to their IT class.
"Now," said Mr Farnett as his class sat in front of him at their desks. "To create a pull-down list in Access you go to Design View, and then…"
"I know all this already," Toby whispered to Ben.
"I know, right?" Ben agreed. "Why don't they ever teach us anything useful?"
"Toby Stark! Ben Parker!" Mr Farnett suddenly exclaimed. "I trust what you're talking about is suitable for the whole class to hear?"
"Certainly, sir," Toby said with a wink at Ben, who rolled his eyes.
"Here we go again," Ben sighed.
"Good, then would you like to share it?" Mr Farnett asked.
"If you want me to, but don't come crying to me when the Principal comes and replaces you with me," Toby said, eliciting a dagger-like stare from his teacher. He then stood up and moved to the front of the class. "I was just saying to Ben that there are more useful things we could learn in this lesson than how to make a database. Don't we all pretty much know this stuff?" The class nodded in agreement. "Why don't we learn how to, say, set up a server? Operate an AI program? My dad's figured out all this stuff by himself, but now we have this knowledge why don't we pass it on for a smarter America? For a better future?" The class was silent, admiring Toby's grit in challenging Mr Farnett.
"Kids this age are too young to learn such things," Mr Farnett said.
"I learned when I was twelve. We're all sixteen here; we'll be out in the world of work in only a few years, and some of us will be technicians, and engineers. How many technicians do you meet who don't know how to establish a secure server?" Toby challenged. "Let's ask the class, shall we? Hands up who wants to put pull-down lists into databases?" One hand flew upward. "And who wants to create a server?" A few hands went up, but not many. "What about creating a holographic virtual reality program?" All the hands, even those that had already gone up, were raised. "So, Mr Farnett, would you like to take over?" Toby asked the teacher, who stared dumbfounded around the room. "I thought not."
An hour later, Toby found himself in the principal's office.
"So, you took over Mr Farnett's class, threw out the syllabus and taught a group of High School students how to create a… virtual reality room?" the principal demanded.
"Well, I tried," Toby corrected him. "But it went way over their heads."
"I still don't believe you even tried. And from what I heard, you remained accurate," the principal said incredulously.
"Well, I'm Toby Stark," the boy said with a winning smile.
"Let's see what Tony Stark thinks of what you did today," the principal said, dialling a number into his phone.
"Yes, you go ahead and bother Iron Man while he's trying to save the world. Great plan," Toby said sarcastically.
"Oh. Well then, let's see what your mother thinks," the Principal said, redialling a different number. He then proceeded to explain over the phone what had happened to Pepper. Afterward, there was silence, and then Toby heard faint laughter on the other end.
"I'm sorry!" Pepper said, breathless with laughter. "He did what?!"
"He taught a High School class how to create a virtual reality room," the principal repeated. Pepper laughed again.
"Did he succeed?" she asked.
"No, but he did create a working miniature," the principal said.
"Very impressive!"
"Impressive?!" the principal exclaimed. "It's rebellious! He took over a classroom and disrespected the school syllabus! Mr Farnett has actually handed in his official resignation!"
"Well, what do you expect me to do? Students come to your school to learn, and if teachers can't help with that then why shouldn't Toby?"
"Mum's right," Toby agreed. "An educational facility that fears education? Historically not awesome."
"You stay out of this; your mother and I are discussing how to discipline you," the principal said to Toby. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Stark, you were saying?" But Pepper was gone. "Get back to class," the principal sighed. "But know this isn't over."
"It never will be…" Toby sighed to himself.
After a long day at school, Toby returned home to Stark Tower.
"Hey, mum!" Toby called out to the living room.
"Hello, Toby!" Pepper called back.
"Thanks for earlier," Toby said as he swung his bag off his back and tossed it into a corner.
"I didn't see anything to punish. In fact, I don't see why we even bother sending you to that school," Pepper said. "They can't teach you a thing there."
"I agree with you, there," Toby said, looking around. "Where are you?" he then added as he noticed Pepper wasn't in the room with him.
"In the medical room…" Pepper answered. "With your father."
I was going to end this here, but it seemed so very short and I've been gone for such a very long time. So, that logic withstanding, I shall continue!
"Dad?" Toby muttered as he saw Tony Stark lying shirtless on a table, Pepper dabbing at his wounded chest. Tony was breathing heavily, his greying hair dishevelled. "What happened?"
"We were fighting M.O.D.O.K. in Spain when he managed to hack my armour…" Tony spluttered, struggling to speak. "He used it against me; Thor only just managed to take it down before flying me back here. The others are still fighting M.O.D.O.K. back in Spain."
"And a mighty battle they shall fight, indeed!" boomed a voice from the corner. Thor emerged from the shadows where he had previously been hidden from Toby's sight. "Though I suspect they would benefit greatly from my aid." He then began to swing his hammer, Mjolnir, and aimed out the door toward the glass walls.
"Not the walls, not the walls!" Tony croaked, but it was too late. A loud crashing sound followed Thor's disappearance.
"Will you be alright?" Toby asked his father, concern in his voice.
"Of course I will, son, I'm a fighter. It'll take a lot more than that to take down the Invincible Iron Man," Tony said reassuringly.
"He's got some lacerations on his chest, but he'll be fine," Pepper added.
"Don't worry about me," Tony said finally. "You go and play, or whatever it is you do." Toby reluctantly left the room and went to call Ben round for a bit.
"Toby!" called Pepper from the medical room. Toby sighed and paused his videogame before going to see what his mum wanted.
"Your father wants to speak to you," Pepper told Toby when he entered the medical room. "Alone." She then left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Toby alone with Tony.
"Toby, come here," Tony said to his son, who quickly crossed to the bed that Pepper had brought him for the night. "This injury has made me realise that my time left as Iron Man is running out."
"Dad, don't say that," Toby said.
"Why not? I'm not saying I'm going to die; just that I'm going to retire. Soon."
"You can't retire! The world needs you!" Toby protested.
"No, son… they need you." Toby didn't reply for a moment, though he knew precisely what his dad meant.
"You mean…?"
"It's time for you to take up the mantle of Iron Man," Tony said. "We'll start work on your suit tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Toby repeated.
"Tomorrow." Toby fell silent for a moment, an overwhelming mixture of emotions flowing through him. Fear and excitement were prevalent.
"Really?!" he asked.
"Yes. We'll have the whole weekend to work on it, which is plenty of time," Tony said with a smile.
"A new suit in a weekend?" Toby asked disbelievingly.
"Well, we have JARVIS, and I've got a whole mess of designs on the system. I have the materials here already, just in case," Tony said. Toby noticed he was struggling with his injuries considerably less than he had been earlier that afternoon. "So," Tony said, "are you in?" With an effort, he extended his hand.
"Sure," Toby said, struggling for an answer to fit what his father was asking of him.
"From tomorrow onward, Toby," his dad said, looking his son in the eye as he shook his hand. "You are Iron Man."
Wahey, I'm back! Are there any next generation superheroes you'd like to see here? We have Iron Man Jr. and the Amazing Spider-Boy. Whoever next? Private America? Mothi and Magni (the mythical sons of Thor)? Ooh, now there's an idea! If you have any such brainstorms, be sure to drop a review or a PM. Thanks.
Stick around and see where this is going, I promise it'll be worth it. If not, I'll have Lil' Deadpool hunt me down. Ooh, there's another one!