Disclaimer: I do not own "Iron Man: The Animated Series" or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are both properties of the Walt Disney Company and Marvel Comics.
"Spider Woman, CEO"
By TwilightSparkle3562
Chapter 1
"Promoted to Chief Executive Officer"
"Sometimes your best partners are under your nose, Tony," I said to my boyfriend, Tony Stark, as I removed my Spider Woman mask after we and the rest of Force Works had finally defeated the Mandarin in China. "All you have to do is reach out and kiss one."
With those words spoken by me, we kissed underneath the shining moonlight while the rest of our team watched from a short distance.
"Oh, jeez," scoffed Hawkeye, one of our Force Works members. "I hope I don't get a terminal case of the fuzzies."
But, the moment was briefly interrupted by our good friend Jim Rhodes aka War Machine, who had not taken part in the final battle.
"Hey!" he called as an airplane flew overhead. "What's with the plane?"
We all turned to see Jim riding in a donkey pulled wagon.
"You mean the power's back on?" he called from down below. "You know I could have taken a nice air conditioned cab? Oh man! All the way from Hong Kong! You guys got any idea how many rotten potholes there are out here?"
But Tony found Jim's dilemma to be quite amusing.
"It's been a bumpy road for all of us," he laughed. "With a whole lot of surprises ahead of us and a whole lot of rewards along the way."
With those words spoken by him, we once again kissed under the moonlight.
…
It had been one year since the Mandarin had been defeated and Tony and I…well, we continued to be a couple and run Stark Enterprises the way we always meant it to run. We had moved the company's headquarters from Los Angeles to New York for about six months. Then, we found life to be difficult in New York, so we relocated the company's headquarters again to Attleboro, Massachusetts, a medium sized town located between Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. Tony, however, continued to run his company between Los Angeles, New York and New England every week.
However, despite all the changes buffeting us, there were a series of new threats that were towering over us, a threat that Tony nor the rest of Force Works could handle alone.
He needed to recruit a new team of heroes that could surpass Force Works.
To this end, Tony formed a new group of defenders called the Avengers which consisted of Bruce Banner otherwise known as the Hulk; Steve Rogers aka Captain America; a warrior from the Norse country named Thor; and a Russian Spy who now worked for S.H.I.E.L.D named Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. Of course, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye also joined, in an effort to get back on good terms with Tony.
Yes, a lot has certainly changed in one year. But, that was only the beginning. You see, before Tony formed the Avengers, he called me into his office one day with something important he needed to talk with me about.
"Hey there, beautiful," he whispered as he kissed me on the cheek. "You got a few minutes?"
"Well, I've got Germany's meeting in a few minutes," I sighed, sitting down in front of Tony's desk. "What's going on?"
"I've been…doing some thinking," Tony said. "You know that I have been thinking of forming another group of heroes to defend Earth, don't you?"
"You have talked about it for a while," I remarked. "With Bruce and Clint as members?"
"Yes," said Tony. "And it's going to take up a lot of my time which means I won't be able to run this company full time anymore."
I was somewhat surprised to hear this coming from Tony. There had been plenty of times where he would balance being Iron Man and running Stark Enterprises. So, why would he just step down now?
This seemed all…so sudden to me.
Unless, those surprises and rewards he said after the Mandarin was defeated might have meant something.
"Wait a minute," I wondered, my eyes popping wide open. "Are you saying that…?"
"Yes, I am Julia. I've decided to promote myself to Chairman of Stark Enterprises and you are to take my place as Chief Executive Officer."
As much as I was honored to be given this promotion, I couldn't help but wonder why Tony would make such a decision.
"Look Tony," I said in a flabbergasted tone. "I know you've seemed to be planning this for some time, but why now?"
Rising to his feet, Tony walked over a cabinet and pulled out what appeared to be a series of photographs. The photographs were pictures of moderate damage in New York.
"This isn't about what happened in New York, wasn't it?" I asked, skimming through the photographs.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, Julia," Tony replied as I put the photographs down on his desk. "It is. I've been doing a lot of research on the ones responsible and it appears that we have a new threat that is greater than the Mandarin, the Chitauri or even Ultron. Apparently, this new threat is by a conqueror named Thanos."
"Thanos?"
"I had learned about it from Bruce and Stephen Strange and apparently, he is seeking six stones called Infinity Stones and once he obtains them all, he can have the power to wipe out half of the universe."
The more I listened, the more I began to realize just why Tony was giving me such a position. This wasn't just because he had no more interest in being CEO, this was because of this threat from this creature, this conqueror called Thanos.
"Furthermore Julia," he continued. "We've also learned that Thanos has planted spies here on Earth and they are all working within Stark itself."
"What has that got to do with me?"
"I need you to find them, Julia," Tony said, placing a hand on my right shoulder. "I need you to find them and stop them from whatever Thanos ordered them to do."
"How will I know what they will look like? And why send me alone? Can't you have Jim, Century or someone help me out?"
Of course, Tony always had a plan up his sleeve.
"I do have someone to help you out," he said. "Bambi, can you send Pepper in?"
At that moment, a strawberry blonde haired woman walked into the office dressed in a gray business skirt suit and black high heels.
"Hey there, Tony," she said standing next to me. "What's going on?"
"I have something important to tell you," he replied. "I'm promoting Julia to Chief Executive Officer and I want you to be Chief Operating Officer of Stark Enterprises."
But, Pepper was just as flabbergasted as I was.
"That's what you called me in for, Tony? But, I've only been on the job for…"
"You're qualified for the job, Pepper," Tony interrupted. "In fact, your resume proves that to me in addition to our friendship since we were kids."
As I witnessed what was happening, I couldn't help but wonder if Pepper was going to be competition for me in getting Tony's heart. Nevertheless, we remained focused on the task at hand which was to accept these new positions of leadership.
"There is something else I have been meaning to tell you about," said Tony, rising from his chair and walking towards the door of his office. "Follow me."
With no idea on what was happening, we followed Tony down to the basement of headquarters and we soon found ourselves standing in an armory similar to the one that was at our former Los Angeles location.
"HOMER," he said to our long time artificial intelligence system as it popped up on the large screen. "Is the armor ready for Pepper?"
"Yes, Mr. Stark," he answered. "Miss Potts' armor is ready to be handed over to her."
At that moment, the doors to a storage area opened at the far-left corner of the armory and revealed itself to be a more sleek version of Tony's armor, clearly meant for a female occupant. Pepper gasped as she gazed at the armor that was made for her.
"Tony," she gasped. "It's amazing, but…"
"There has been a threat made against the Universe," I said, walking over to Pepper. "But, maybe we should talk about it after we're introduced to the company's employees as CEO and COO."
Still, my suspicions about Pepper remained high as we left the armory just as much as her confusion was about being given such a role. Nevertheless, the threat was high and we needed to be ready for whatever was coming our way.
Pepper and I were about to fight one battle while Tony was about to fight the other one…