Son of Iron Man

Hello, everyone! I've been thinking of following in Toby's footsteps and creating a team of my own. This would basically involve a team of writers to each take a character from this story in order to write a spinoff story for them. These stories would be separate from this one, perhaps following their early days. That part's up to the writers. If any of you would be interested, leave a review or send a PM detailing which character you'd like to write for and any stories you think best show off your writing skills. You could even make your own character that might appear here. As for writing skill, not just anyone can do it. You need to be able to tell a good story (so a plot synopsis would be useful in your message) and develop the characters well. Good spelling and grammar are essential and I'd all too gladly proofread the chapters before publishing. I hope to hear from some of you soon!

Anyway, here's my latest chapter...


Chapter Thirteen: Secrets and Tricks

Toby was walking through the streets on a sunny Saturday. After the excitement of Monday, nothing much had happened. Ricardo was imprisoned at Stark Tower, where Emily was even now trying to get information out of him. But the ex-mugger wasn't talking. She had tried everything from threats to seduction to invading his mind itself, but her powers were not yet strong enough. Mere minutes ago, Toby had stormed frustratedly out of the tower.

"Toby," he heard Emily's voice say. He raised his watch up and saw Emily's face. "You need to get back here; he's singing like a canary." Toby pressed the screen of the watch and his suit unfolded. He blasted up into the sky and flew toward the tower. Before he could land, however, he was tackled in midair by a black blur.

"Hammer!" he exclaimed. "What do you want?" he demanded, breaking free of his enemy's grip.

"Rushing back to your little girlfriend, are we?"

"How do you know-?"

"Surely you of all people know how easy it is to generate a fake call like that. Ricardo isn't going to say a word; I just wanted you alone so we could talk," Dustin said tauntingly.

"I have nothing to say to you," Toby spat, launching a missile which Dustin dodged.

"Perhaps not, but you seem to have a lot to say to that junior reporter... Sarah, is it?"

"What have you done to her?" Toby demanded.

"Oh, nothing... yet," Dustin said with a cruel grin. "If you rush off to the warehouse on 4th you could still save her."

"What's your game?"

"A game of choice. Your reporter friend... or your girlfriend." Toby almost dropped out of the sky.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard of a substance called Viper? It's basically like steroids on... well, steroids. Ricardo has a tablet in his mouth that he only needs to swallow - can you guess what happens then? A nice frosty smoothie!"

"You little-"

"Tick tock, Toby! Time to make a choice!" Dustin laughed cruelly. Toby considered his options. On the one hand, Emily had powers and Sarah didn't. On the other, Emily would be a much greater loss. But she could hold her own and he had a duty to protect the public. He made his choice for good or ill and flew toward the warehouse. Sarah needed him most.

Upon arrival at the warehouse, he landed and called out.

"Sarah!" There was no answer. He looked around. "Sarah?" Nothing. He came to a realisation: Sarah wasn't here. She wasn't in danger. But Emily still was.

"Ha!" came a cruel laugh as Dustin's face appeared on his HUD. "I knew you'd choose the helpless reporter! She's perfectly safe... but Emily isn't." Toby wasted no time in flying to the tower. He arrived to find a hole in the wall.

"I'm too late!" Toby hissed, flying in through the hole and finding Emily unconscious on the floor. "Emily!" he called out, raising his faceplate. He landed by her, feeling for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found one. He unbuttoned her shirt and performed a preliminary check to make sure she wasn't badly injured. There was some bad bruising and a broken rib, but she'd live. Gently, he lifted her onto a sofa and started a call to his dad.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"Not really, what's up?" Tony replied.

"We've got an injury here, can you help?"

"I'll be there immediately."

"Thanks," Toby said. He then opened a new channel with Ben. "Hey, Ben. Emily's been injured and Ricardo's escaped. Get Lupin to hunt him down. I want you to try and find Katie, or Venom, or whatever you want to call her. Our last prisoner didn't go so well."

"No offence, but I don't think Emily's methods would work on her," Ben chuckled.

"Now's not the time for jokes," Toby said seriously. "Emily's badly injured; I have to stay here. I'm trusting you to do this."

"OK, sorry. I'll do my best," Ben promised. Toby sighed and turned to Emily.

"How could I let this happen?"


Ben turned off his communicator and turned to Lupin, who was panting in the heat.

"Did you hear that?" he asked the wolf.

"Sure thing. I can still remember his scent," Lupin replied.

"OK then, go get him," Ben said, "and be careful." Lupin nodded before running off toward the city. Ben, meanwhile, reached into his bag to find the red and blue costume.

Half an hour later, Ben was swinging through the streets of New York. Venom had to be around somewhere. The trouble was that he didn't know where to look.

"Let's see... if I were a symbiotic monster, where would I be?" he asked aloud. Little did he know that only a block away, Katie was searching for him.

"Come, little sssspider," she hissed. Then she heard it: the thwip of Ben's web shooters to her left. "We're coming for you, ssspider." She turned, only to collide with Ben. They both fell, but caught themselves with webs. Ben was quicker, swinging into a kick. Katie was slammed into a building before falling to the ground. Ben touched down beside her.

"That was easy," he quipped, but as he went to web her up he took a web to the face himself. He pulled the web off only to receive a spinning kick to the jaw. He staggered back and Katie followed up with a barrage of punches. Ben blocked the third one and punched her in the gut. The symbiote receded for a moment.

"That's it, I need to get the symbiote off her!" he realised. But how to do it? He looked around and realised they were outside a church. Churches had bells, and the symbiote hated bells.

"Over here, ugly!" he taunted, racing up the wall with Venom in tow. He clambered in at the top of the tower, Venom closely following. Katie looked around for him before finding him with a rope in hand. "Nighty night!" he said before pulling. The noise was horrendous. Katie couldn't take it. The symbiote wailed and began to recede, taking with it its control over Katie. It left her body, but before Ben could contain it the symbiote escaped. He looked across at Katie, who was shivering in her underwear.

"What do you remember?" he demanded.

"E-everything!" Katie cried. "I've done such bad things!"

"Could you talk to me about it?" Ben asked, but the girl had dissolved into tears. He delved into his bag and pulled out his clothes. "Here - put these on. They'll be a little loose, but better than what you're wearing." She took the clothing and started to get dressed.

"Thanks," she said shakily. "Who are you?"

"Spider-Boy," he replied.

"I mean under the mask," Katie pressed.

"Oh, I couldn't tell you that," Ben said.

"Fine," Katie said. She slid the T-shirt back off and looked at the label. "Ben Parker," she read aloud. Ben froze, thunderstruck.

"Give me that!" he exclaimed, snatching the T-shirt away. He read the label and saw his own name. "Curse my mother's organisation!" Katie chuckled slightly. "Look - you tell no one about this!" he hissed.

"My lips are sealed," Katie said. Ben looked frantically around, checking no one had overheard them.

"Put this back on, we're going to the tower," he said, throwing the T-shirt back at her. Once Katie was clothed, Ben took her in one arm and swung them both back to the tower.


"How is she?" Toby asked his father.

"She's battered, but she'll live," Tony told him. "You guys need to be more careful about who you bring home."

"Well, where else were we meant to keep him?" Toby asked.

"Where indeed..." Tony said thoughtfully.

"You have an idea?"

"No, it's nothing." Toby dropped it when Ben walked into the room with Katie in his arms.

"No, don't bring her here!" Toby moaned.

"Relax, the symbiote's gone," Ben said.

"But it'll come for her again, and we've seen what happens when prisoners get their powers back," Toby argued, gesturing to the battered Emily.

"This is different, she's good now. And she will willingly give us the information we need." Toby sighed.

"You have three days to get the information out of her," he relented. "And then it's up to you to find somewhere for her to live."

"That's all I need," Ben said thankfully. He led Katie away, leaving Toby with his father, who had been watching the exchange with interest.

"You need a real base," he said finally.

"You'd build us a real base?" Toby asked hopefully.

"Anything to stop you smashing my walls in," Tony joked. He then turned serious. "I'll make some plans." He stood up and left, leaving Toby with Emily.

"Toby..." he heard Emily croak. She was awake!

"What is it?" Toby asked.

"Make sure we have... a stronger prison," she choked. Toby chuckled.

"I'll go tell dad. You get some rest," he said, kissing her forehead.

"I love you," Emily said as Toby made to leave.

"You know, for all that kissing we've been doing you haven't once said that," he replied.

"I didn't know I did until now." Toby chuckled slightly.

"I love you too."


OK, this is kind of a short one but this seems the right place to stop. Still, it is the second one today. Don't forget to contact me if you're interested in my little team; I need at least two volunteers before I start it up.

In the next chapter, work will start on the new Avengers facility and Ben will get some information on the Dark Avengers. Meanwhile, we'll see how Lupin gets along with Ricardo, who coincidentally needs a supervillain name. Any ideas?

Until next time, true believers!