Son of Iron Man
Told you I was back for good, didn't I? Strap in, kids, we're about to see the New Avengers in action.
If any of you are wondering, I have seen the new Avengers film, but I'm leaving the new characters out for now.
Chapter Eleven: Some Assembly Required
It was Sunday morning and Toby was reading the morning newspaper. He had spent the majority of yesterday with Emily and the evening with Sarah, and her interview was in the Daily Bugle this morning.
Sarah: Thanks for joining me.
Toby: No problem.
S: So, I see there are a few of you heroes around now. Can you confirm whether there's going to be a team? A kind of new Avengers?
T: I really couldn't say. What matters is that we're all out there fighting.
S: And... is that lipstick on your neck?
T: Uh... yes...
S: Who's the lucky lady?
T: I probably shouldn't say. I have enemies who would take advantage of that information.
S: Of course. Speaking of which, it's been a while since we last saw the Black Knight. Has he given up, do you think?
T: I'm sure he's still out there, but I promise to keep everyone safe from him for as long as I breathe.
The interview continued, but Toby was interrupted when his phone buzzed. He answered it, seeing it was Ben.
"Hey Ben, what's up?" he asked.
"I found us a new teammate," Ben revealed.
"So did I, actually."
"Really? Great! Now, what's this about a girlfriend?" Ben asked slyly. Toby sighed.
"You'll find out soon enough," he said. "Anyway, we should all get together; meet our new friends."
"Lunch at that restaurant near your place?" Ben suggested. "Wait... they wouldn't let him in. What about a picnic in central park?"
"Sure," Toby said uncertainly. What had Ben recruited?
Ben sat on the wooden bench with Lupin sat beside him on the grass. He felt a little odd in his costume, but it was necessary to protect his identity. Still, at least Toby and their new teammate would be wearing their costumes, too. He wouldn't be the only one, at least.
"Will they be long?" Lupin whined. " I hate pretending to be your pet."
"Well, it's necessary. You know what people will do to you if people find out about your abilities. Speaking of which, try to be a little quieter," Ben explained softly, knowing he was pushing his luck. Lupin's ears fell and he whimpered slightly, but he didn't speak. "Hey - there they are!"
Toby walked toward them, his armour clinking and whirring and his faceplate raised. On his arm was a beautiful blonde girl with ruby red sunglasses and a white outfit which exposed her midriff. Ben recognised her, but only because he knew her. Toby Stark was with Emily Frost.
"Who's this?" Ben asked, forced to pretend he didn't know her.
"This is Emily Frost, daughter of Emma Frost. Emily, this is Spider-Boy, " Toby said by way of introduction.
"A pleasure to meet you," Ben replied in a deeper voice than his natural one.
"And you," Emily responded, shaking Ben's outstretched hand. They sat, Toby opposite Ben with Emily on his right.
"So, where's your guy?" Toby asked.
"Right here," Ben answered, and Lupin jumped up beside him. Toby raised a quizzical eyebrow while Emily's face contorted into utter shock.
"That dog?" she asked doubtfully.
"I'll have you know that I'm a wolf," Lupin said defensively, causing shock for Toby and Emily.
"You found a talking wolf?" Toby asked.
"I've actually known him for years. Dad met his dad in a laboratory where he was being experimented on, granting him - and his descendants - the power of speech, as well as other things," Ben explained.
"Well, I mean no offence to your friend but a talking wolf isn't going to do us much good," Toby said. Emily nodded in agreement.
"Oh, he does more than talk. You'll see once we get some action," Ben assured them.
"If you can promise me he's not just going to die, then I'm willing to give him a chance," Toby conceded. Emily shook her head exasperatedly.
"I promise," Ben said.
"Well then, welcome to the team..."
"Lupin," the wolf finished for him. Emily, who had been growing visibly more irate, sighed.
"So now we're letting animals join?" she asked. "I thought this was more serious than that."
"Just give him a chance," Toby said, looking imploringly into her eyes.
"...No, I can't. This is just ridiculous - I mean, this guy won't even tell us who he is!" Emily said, pointing to Ben.
"Do you trust me?" Toby asked her.
"Yes, of course, but-"
"Then trust them," Toby implored her. Emily looked a while at Ben and Lupin before slowly shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, rising from the table and turning to leave. "I can't." Toby watched her leave before running after her. At that moment, Ty arrived.
"Just got your message," he said. "What's up with them?" he then added, gesturing to Toby and Emily.
"A bump in their relationship," Lupin replied. Ty nodded before performing a double take.
"Ben, you've got some explaining to do."
As Ty sat down and Ben petted Lupin sadly, Toby caught up with Emily.
"Emily, wait!" he called out. Emily halted and turned, placing her hands on her hips and frowning.
"Sorry Toby, but I have difficulty trusting people since my... father..." she trailed off.
"But you trust me, right?" Toby asked. Emily nodded slightly. "And I'm leading this team. You think I'd pick anyone but the best?"
"I... guess not," Emily said.
"You would be able to tell if I was lying, right?"
"I guess so, but it doesn't always work."
"So, will you give us another chance?" Toby asked hopefully.
"I guess," Emily said. Toby grinned.
A yelp sounded behind them and Toby's faceplate lowered by instinct. He turned to see the last person he expected to see: the Black Knight. Dustin hovered just out of reach of Ben and Ty, holding a struggling Lupin in his arms.
"Nice dog," he commented. "Shame if something were to happen to it." Toby jetted up into the air and flew toward Dustin, but a web pulled him back down to earth. He looked across at Ben, confused.
"Wait a moment," Ben said with a knowing grin. "He's taken the wrong hostage." He then added to Lupin: "Go ahead!" The air filled with a warped howl as Lupin seemed to grow in size.
"What the-?" Dustin exclaimed as he realised he was suddenly holding what was essentially a wolf version of the Hulk, if a little smaller. As his thrusters struggled to keep him the air, Dustin shrieked as Lupin began to claw at his armour, howling in fury. The others watched in awe. Before Ty could even make himself moderately irate, Lupin had Dustin on the floor.
"Who's top of the food chain now?" Lupin asked with a dangerous laugh as he ripped Dustin's faceplate off to reveal the very image of terror.
"D-Dark Avengers!" he cried out, "Assemble!" As the public fled, from the bushes emerged a girl covered in a black ooze and a man with dark hair, dark eyes and a very big gun.
"Venom!" Ben exclaimed.
"Katie!" Toby said at the same time. Toby remembered the scared girl who had come to him when he first became Iron Man, while Ben recognised the symbiote from his father's stories. The other man, however, neither of them recognised. He was muscular and had sharp black tattoos all over his head. Emily, however, gasped as she saw his face.
"You know him?" Toby asked her.
"He was one of the muggers I stopped the other day," Emily revealed. "The really creepy one."
"You caught me unprepared, little girl" the man said, loading his gun. "Not this time." He fired, but in the split second the bullet took to fire Emily took her diamond form. The bullet bounced off her. As Lupin continued to fight Dustin (who was losing spectacularly), Ben leapt toward Katie and the two began to do acrobatic battle. Toby and Emily stood side by side, arms crossed unimpressedly as the ex-mugger fired bullet after bullet at them. Ty, meanwhile, was busy working himself up.
"Are you done?" Toby asked, a hint of boredom in his voice. When the pepper of bullets continued, Toby raised a hand and blasted the man to the ground. He then left Emily to finish the job she started and flew over to Ty.
"I knew I shouldn't have recruited you," he spat at the still-not-angry boy. Ty looked at him, offended. "I mean, you can't even become your hulk form," he continued. Ty's face reddened in anger. "What use do you have?" he finished. Ty shouted something nondescript as the redness spread throughout his body and his muscles built up. "That's it! Now use that anger and pound these guys!"
"HULK SMASH!" Ty shouted, leaping up and bounding off. Toby saw, out of the corner of his eye, Dustin trying to escape, his flight somewhat shaky. He blasted up after him, tackling his enemy in midair. Below him, Emily was now battling her enemy and Ben was still leaping around with Katie. Toby looked down briefly and couldn't help but sigh: Ty had gone straight for Lupin, unable to remember his allies and seeing him as the biggest threat. The two musclebound giants where hitting chunks out of each other, Lupin in an attempt to defend himself.
Ben leapt over Katie, kicking her in the head as he did. She retaliated with a web, pulling him down and hitting him several times.
"We will destroy Sssspider-Man!" she hissed in a rasping voice. Ben grimaced and pushed her off.
Emily blocked a punch, only withstanding it because of her diamond skin. Up above, Toby angled downward and rushed Dustin to the ground. Dustin tried to resist, but his armour was malfunctioning and he crashed into the ground.
"Uhhhh..." he moaned. "Retreat!" He flew away, but Toby let him go. Following their leaders, the two teams broke up their fighting. Dustin's team ran while Toby's allowed them to do so.
"We'll meet again," Katie promised before swinging away. That only left Ty and Lupin to worry about.
"Help!" Lupin exclaimed, overpowered. Toby flew over and blasted Ty, drawing his attention. The Hulk ran after Toby, who flew just out of reach. As Ty started leaping up to try and catch him, Lupin crept up behind him and, mustering all his strength, punched him into unconsciousness.
Ty awoke, feeling soft grass beneath him. He heard the voices of his teammates.
"Well, that could have gone better," Toby said.
"I thought we did well," Ben disagreed.
"Until Ty started trying to beat the fur off of Lupin," Toby agreed.
"I did what?" asked a groggy Ty.
"You don't remember anything?" Toby questioned.
"Not really," Ty said. "Just anger."
"Well, we won," Toby informed him.
"They're still out there," Emily corrected him. "I wouldn't call that a victory."
"We were unprepared, and at any rate too much was going on to bring them in. They've used the same idea we have: strength in numbers," Toby explained.
"So, to take them out we need to target one at a time?" Ben put forward.
"Precisely. But first we need to find out more about them, and for that we need to take a prisoner."
"I bet I could make the mugger talk," Emily said.
"Done. Now we wait for an opening..." Toby finalised. With their next move set, the Avengers went their separate ways.
A cold wind blew through the abandoned factory, carrying with it old newspapers and litter. Dustin Hammer sat on an oil barrel, swinging his armoured legs in an attempt to distract himself from his anger. Before him stood Ricardo, the mugger, who was polishing his gun. Katie hung upside down from a web attached to the ceiling, the mask of her symbiote no longer covering her head. She swung slowly from side to side like a pendulum while Dustin watched for a minute. He tried to control his anger. But it all burst forth.
"You're both idiots!" he shouted. Ricardo dropped his gun and Katie fell to the floor in surprise. "The only reason we're not dead is that their big guns were dumber than you!"
"We were outnumbered, boss," Ricardo complained.
"Then we need to outnumber them! You must have contacts, right? They have muscles, so we'll get an army!" Dustin instructed him. "And you!" he pointed an accusative finger at Katie, "that symbiote must be useful for something. Find me more members!"
"And what will you do?" Katie asked, her hands on her hips.
"I will continue to pay you not to ask STUPID QUESTIONS! GO!" he screamed. Katie swung out on a web and Ricardo picked up his gun and ran toward the door. Dustin sighed. Father would not be happy.
Another day, another chapter. So, what do you guys think of the first battle for the New Avengers? Too much going on, perhaps? We'll just say I was trying to show how confusing it was for the characters. In the next chapter, Toby attempts to get Magni acquainted with school as well as seeing how the school reacts to his new girlfriend. If he can keep her that long, of course...
