Son of Iron Man
Some of you may be disappointed with chapter's distinct lack of Toby. Rest assured, though, it is important to the story and some of your burning questions may even be answered. For one thing, we're going to check in on Sarah Shilling at the Daily Bugle. Ooh!
For now, let us journey… into Asgard!
Chapter Six: Into Asgard
The two brothers walked side-by-side, hefting their great swords over their shoulders with little concern.
"Another mighty battle well fought, brother!" exclaimed the larger of the two, slapping his younger brother on the back.
"Indeed! Father will be proud to hear our tale when he returns from Midgard," the younger agreed.
"Magni, my brother, the day has not yet ended," said the other. "And surely a feast awaits us upon our return to the city."
"Indeed not, Mothi," Magni agreed. "I could devour an entire boar after today's deeds."
"I wonder whether the lady Freyja would be there," Mothi thought aloud.
"She very rarely journeys from Folkvang," Magni reminded his brother.
"Then one day I shall journey there myself to take her hand," Mothi said with a certainty that should have surprised his brother. Magni, however, smiled and shook his head.
"You keep dreaming that same dream, brother. I, meanwhile, will be doing all I can to ensure it is I who inherits father's hammer," he said.
"And you are one to talk of foolish dreams," Mothi chuckled. "For everyone this side of Helheim knows it is I who will inherit Mjolnir."
"Do not make me laugh, brother! You are strong, but you are arrogant," Magni said.
"Perhaps it is so," Mothi agreed. "I propose that we meet in the arena to determine who is the worthier son. What say you?"
"I accept your challenge, brother. When shall this battle take place?"
"Immediately upon our return," Mothi said. Magni shook his brother's hand, agreeing to the arrangement.
And so it came to be that all of Asgard gathered around the arena to watch the sons of Thor do battle once again. Both wore sleeveless armour which allowed their muscles to move freely. Neither were otherwise armed.
It began.
Magni immediately flew forward and launched a fist at his brother, who caught it and flipped him over his shoulder. As he fell, Magni saw Mothi follow up with a diving attack. He rolled out of the way as Mothi's fist collided with the ground where Magni's head had been. The latter flipped to his feet, kicking his brother as he did so. He followed it up with a charging head butt, which sent Mothi sprawling backward.
"ENOUGH!" shouted a deep and commanding voice. Mothi and Magni looked upward saw Thor, their father looking down disapprovingly at them. He leapt down into the arena and picked Mothi up by the scruff of the neck. "Is this another of your battles to prove who is the more worthy?"
"Yes, father," the brothers said, hanging their heads in shame.
"This must stop," Thor said firmly. "Nay, it will stop."
"Yes, father," Mothi and Magni said in unison.
"I do not think you mean what you say. This will happen again, will it not?"
"…yes, father."
"At this moment, I see neither of you as being worthy of Mjolnir," Thor said. Mothi and Magni's heads fell further in deeper shame. "But thankfully, I know a tried and tested way to improve both of your attitudes. It worked on me," he continued.
"What do you mean?" Mothi asked.
"I am sending you to Midgard," Thor said. "Without your swords."
"But without our swords we are powerless!" Magni exclaimed.
"Precisely," Thor said flatly. "You will learn to become worthy or you will never return."
"But father…"
"Silence!" Thor snapped. "Hand me your swords." Mothi and Magni shared a sad look before handing away the sources of their power. "Follow me," Thor said, "we are going to the Bifrost."
OK, I admit it. I lied to all of you! This chapter will have some Toby in it, but it's meant to focus more on Mothi and Magni. Now, I wonder where Mothi and Magni will so conveniently turn up?
When Toby Stark entered the living room, he found two strangers on the couch.
"Uh…" he mumbled, "hi."
"Hello, son of Tony!" the two boys boomed in unison. They were muscular, and one seemed to be Toby's age while the other was a few years older.
"What are you, uh… doing here?" Toby asked. His finger strayed to the button which activated the suit, but he didn't press it just yet.
"Your father has taken us in during our hour of need," said the older boy.
"OK…"
"We are of Asgard," added the other.
"Oh, like Thor," Toby said, tensing a little more.
"Indeed! We are his sons," the elder said. Toby relaxed.
"Ah!" he sighed. "What are your names?"
"I am Mothi," said the older brother.
"And I am Magni," added the younger.
"I'm Toby," Toby said. "Why are you staying with us?" Mothi and Magni then told the tale of how they had been banished to Earth, or Midgard as they called it, by their father.
"Father brought us here and engaged in a strongly-worded argument with your father," explained Mothi.
"And he agreed to let us stay here," Magni finished.
"Do you have any idea how long you'll be here?" Toby asked, seated now on the couch opposite them.
"Until we are worthy," Magni answered cryptically.
"O…K…," Toby said. "Are you going to school here?"
"School?" echoed the Asgardian brothers.
"Yeah, school. You've never heard of school?" Mothi and Magni both shook their heads. "Huh. Well, it's basically a place you go to learn things."
"We have no such place on Asgard," Magni said.
"Quick question: what shape is the Earth?" Toby asked, catching the brothers off guard.
"Flat," Mothi said with a smug grin. Both of them seemed entirely convinced that it was the right answer.
"Wow…" was all Toby could say. "You guys really need to go to school."
"We shall speak of it with your father," Magni said. "This sounds like an interesting place."
"Oh, it's… interesting," Toby nodded. "Excuse me," he then added, standing up and going to find his dad.
"You are excused," he heard as he left.
"Thor's sons?!" Toby demanded. His father stood before him, rubbing his neck stressfully. "You let them live here?"
"I didn't have any choice," Tony protested. "They need somewhere to stay, and Thor is remarkably hard to dissuade."
"Aren't they going to get in the way of our training?"
"No…" Tony said, though a hint of doubt crept into his voice. "No," he added more confidently.
"And what about Ben? How can we discuss anything to do with heroism with those two around?"
"They can be trusted."
"Can they? They wouldn't know how to keep a secret."
"Well, you'll just have to find a new meeting place," Tony suggested. "I'm sorry, Toby, but there's no going back now." Toby gave up the argument; he knew his father was right.
Sarah sighed to herself as she approached the Daily Bugle building. For the third day in a row, she was returning to Jameson's office without so much as a photograph. She knew he wouldn't be pleased with her lack of results. But it wasn't her fault; Toby just refused to talk to her.
As the elevator rushed up toward her floor, Sarah tried to think of what she was going to tell Jameson. A ding interrupted her thoughts and she regretfully exited the elevator with her empty folder. She knocked on Jameson's glass door and he let her in, gesturing to her that she should take a seat.
"Well?" he asked expectantly.
"I don't have anything for you today, Mr. Jameson, but…"
"Nothing?" Jameson interrupted her. "You don't have a single word?"
"Well, he hasn't been that active recently," Sarah said as an excuse.
"Are you any closer to him on a personal level?" Jameson asked, trying hard to control his temper.
"He's proving… difficult," Sarah said.
"Difficult," Jameson repeated, a statement more than a question.
"Yes, difficult."
"How difficult?"
"He won't have anything to do with me. When I tried to kiss him…"
"You tried to kiss him?"
"Yes, but he didn't accept it."
"Of course he didn't; you weren't close to him – but I admire your commitment to this case," Jameson said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You've got until Saturday to get me a scoop on this kid, or I'm handing the case over to someone more capable."
"Thank you, sir," Sarah said gratefully. She picked up her folder and turned to leave. "I won't let you down."
"You better not."
"So, what's the plan, pops?" asked Dustin as his father pored over numerous documents and newspaper articles.
"Well, Dustin," the man answered, "you're going to put on this suit and visit young Toby."
"And by visit, you mean…?"
"Destroy." He held up a black-and-red helmet that had glowing red eye-slits and put it on his son's head. The rest of the suit unfolded from the helmet, similar in colour with a glowing red chest piece. Underneath the chest piece was a single logo:
Hammer Industries.
OK, this is a short one. I just thought I'd take the opportunity to add some new players to the field and establish a few plots for the next couple of chapters. How will Mothi and Magni adapt to a mortal life on Earth? Will Sarah get her big scoop on Toby? Will Toby survive his encounter with Dustin?
Oh, great, now you have more questions to await the answer for!
See you next time!
