1. The Beginning
James Anthony Stark, now 11, woke up in his father's, Tony Stark's, Malibu mansion. He got up from his bed, knowing he missed his dad's award ceremony. "Not like it matters, he's got a bunch of 'em last time I checked." He yawned, brushing his red bang out of his face.
He went to the bathroom and began his daily ritual. He came out, refreshed and ready to start his day. He grabbed his bag and walked out. Immediately, James saw Pepper, his father's assistant/secretary, and smiled. "Hello Pepper!" He greeted.
Pepper nodded at him. "Hello James. I trust you actually slept for once?" James rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah I did. I'm just busy working on getting my own AI to work." Pepper sighed at that.
"You've been working on that since you met JARVIS, and you still refuse help." The 11-year old just smirked.
"What can I say, I just want to prove myself to Tony." Pepper raised an eyebrow.
"Still not calling him dad, hm?" James sheepishly shrugged, turning around to get to the kitchen.
"I have my reasons, alright? How'd the Apogee Awards go?" He said, off to get his breakfast started.
"It went… well. Your father…"
"He invited another random 'hot' woman here last night, didn't he." It wasn't even a question, it was something he KNEW Tony did. Pepper nodded as James sighed. "Where is he anyways?"
"Downstairs, at the moment. He's working." She replied.
"Thanks." He then looked at Pepper, placing down a plate of toast, bacon and eggs. "You're a real help, Pepper. To me and to Tony."
Pepper Potts just smiled at that. "It's nice to hear that, James."
James 'hmm'-ed to himself. "Want some food?"
"I already ate, thanks."
"Alright. You can do your job now, Miss Potts." She nodded and left downstairs, with James sighing. He pulled out a laptop from his bag and looked at it, typing away quickly. The screen turned dark red, with a lighter red circle on the screen. "Booting up… Project JIGOKU, Test 45." He pressed a button and watched tentatively, and then grinned when he saw it work.
"Greetings, Sir James. I am JIGOKU." The computer said as James jumped for joy.
"It worked! It worked!" He pulled out his phone. "JIGOKU, link yourself to my phone!"
"As you command, Sir James." The young boy saw his new AI appear on his phone. He finished his food quickly and rushed downstairs, ready to show his newest accomplishment to his adoptive father.
"Tony, Tony! Dad!" He said excitedly, with both Tony and Pepper looking up at him from their conversation. "I did it! I completed my AI!"
Tony blinked. "You serious? Without any help from dear old dad?" He joked. James just showed them his phone.
"Greetings Lord Stark, Lady Potts." The newly "born" AI greeted. "I am JIGOKU, James' newest creation, and his personal assistant."
"Well I'll be. It took you long enough!" He laughed, ruffling his son's hair. James grinned widely, he finally got his father proud of him.
"Hey Tony, I heard you're going on a trip today."
Tony frowned a bit at not being called "dad" again, but he knew it was just a spur of the moment thing. "Yeah, it's just a meeting with some military backers."
"Jericho?"
"Jericho." Tony confirmed, nodding. James silently and slowly nodded.
"Alright, see you after I guess."
"...You can come with me you know? I'd like some extra quality time with my son." Tony said.
"Really?!" James's eyes widened.
"Anthony Stark, that is reckless! You want to take your son there, to a weapons demonstration?" Pepper scolded. Tony rolled his eyes.
"But he's my heir, he needs to learn how I do things, so he can do things the right way when he takes the Stark mantle." Tony shot back, not budging.
James tuned out the argument by putting ear plugs in his ears, only pulling them out when Tony and Pepper looked at him. Tony had a smug grin on his face, so James knew his father somehow won the argument. "Alright kid, you're coming with me."
"I can't believe you convinced me to let you do this…" Pepper sighed, shaking her head. "You better bring him back safe!"
"Trust me, both of us want him safe." Tony said sincerely.