Son of Iron Man

Welcome back! With the cinematic Civil War fast approaching and our own rifts forming, it's time for our own Avenger Vs. Avenger battle. Though a little on the short side, this chapter is big in action. So, without further ado, we begin...


Chapter Twenty: Civil War

A darkness had fallen over the facility, both physical and emotional. Katie was still nowhere to be found; Lupin had not left the forest since the day before; Ben was sulking in his room and Emily was sharpening a blade by the door. Tensions had never been higher. The only sound was of handheld grindstone against metal. In the silence of night, it was as though the whole world was holding its breath in wait. The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of thrusters followed by a metallic clang and the whir of a rising faceplate.

The moment had come.

"I was wondering when you'd return," Emily said, tossing the grindstone into the water and holding the blade out toward him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, my love," Toby replied, his faceplate sliding down. "You have my full attention." He shot a repulsor blast at her, which simply dissipated on her suddenly diamond skin. The sound of the blast echoed through the still air, and Spider-Man and Ty arrived at the door. Toby simply raised a hand, ordering them to stay where they were as Emily returned fire with a red blast from her eyes. It hit home, staggering Toby. She rushed forward with the knife, but Toby recovered too quickly for her. She sliced at him with a wide arc, only to have the blade blocked by a raised arm. She tried again, with the same result. When she tried to stab him, he simply caught her blade between his hands. She pushed, driving the blade toward the ARC reactor, but the armour was too powerful. Toby pushed it away, following with several repulsor blasts, but could only stagger her. The two stopped for a moment, staring at each other. Emily tossed the knife to join the grindstone in the depths. They stood apart before, in the same instance, firing an optic blast and a unibeam at each other. The beams collided in mid-air, and it quickly became a contest of wills. Toby rerouted all power to the unibeam, and Emily put all her concentration into the blast from her eyes. The meeting point shifted between them, moving back and forth as they struggled for domination. Then came the decider.

"Sir, power is running low."

It happened in an instant. The unibeam failed and the concentrated optic blast penetrated Toby's chest, not only taking out the reactor but leaving a hole through his chest itself. He dropped to his knees, the hole in his chest steaming, before falling face first on the ground.

Dead.

"NO!" Ben screamed, pelting forward and raising his fist. It collided with the back of Emily's head, but had no effect. She twisted round, lashing out and bringing him to his knees, before turning toward Ty.

"If I see you turn so much as a shade redder, I will kill both of you," she told him. Ty visibly fought the Hulk, desperate not to let him out. "I have killed the best of you, don't think I can't take down the rest of you," Emily warned, glancing at Toby's body.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Ben demanded.

"Dominance. The Avengers are broken. I will take the ashes and sculpt them into something better," Emily explained. "If you join me and swear loyalty to me, you will be spared. If not... You'll join Toby here in Hell."

Ben, still on his knees, raised his head.

"How could you make us better? Would you have us kill our enemies? Tear down the city in search of your twisted sense of justice?" A smile played about Emily's lips.

"Yes."

"No. We're heroes, not killers. I will defend this city, but not your way."

"Ask yourself this, Spider-Man: what good would you be to the city if you were dead?" Emily asked threateningly. Ben bowed his head.

"Fine. I'll join you," he said darkly. "But I draw the line at killing."

"Very well. And you, Tyler?"

"I can see there's no resistance here. I'm in," Ty said. "But I can make no promises about the other guy."

"Good enough," Emily nodded. "But remember, both of you, that I can see inside your heads. At the first sign of betrayal, I will slit your throats. Understand?"

"Yes," the boys replied.

"Yes, mistress," Emily asserted. Beneath his mask, Ben's nose wrinkled.

"Yes, mistress."


Over the coming days, Emily outfitted Ben in a black suit similar in design to his old one, and Ty in black denim clothes. Katie was still nowhere to be seen, and Toby had been thrown into the water. Presently, Ben had been tasked with finding Lupin and chaining him to the ground, a task Emily had given him due to his close connection with the wolf. He was currently stepping slowly through the forest, the chain in his hand weighing heavily on him.

"Lupin!" he called out for the sixth time. He listened, hearing the padded footsteps of his friend. He sighed; he had been hoping the wolf would not come.

"Ben! I'm glad to see you. We need to talk," he said.

"Of course," Ben said quietly. "Sit down there and we'll talk." Lupin did so, raising a curious ear as Ben staked the chain into the ground.

"What are you doing, Ben?" he asked.

"Putting in a tether for prey when Lupos visits. He's not as quick as he used to be," Ben told him. The lie burned at him, and he was thankful for the mask hiding his expression.

"Oh, how kind. So, about what I wanted to talk about..."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Well, I've been feeling... Weird. I have this- hey, what are you doing?" Lupin snapped. While he had been talking, Ben had pounced on him, tying a collar around his neck. "Ben..." he growled. Ben's spider-sense tingled and he jumped back just in time to avoid Lupin's teeth. He shot a web and pulled himself into a nearby branch, observing his friend as he growled and bit thin air. "Ben! How could you do this?!"

"I'm sorry, friend," Ben said quietly. He twisted his webshooters, loading the cartridge which held the permanent fluid, before shooting the stake. "Not even the Hulk could get out of this," he said sadly. "Goodbye." With that, he swung away, leaving a whimpering Lupin to struggle with his bonds.


Things had never been better for Emily Frost. She had succeeded in killing Toby, taken control of the Avengers and pleased Enigma. As she sat in her quarters, she watched her fish carelessly. It was a tropical tank, complete with living coral which had become active in the daylight. As her attention was focused on the fish, she didn't hear the footsteps of the person entering her room.

"Emily," spoke a bold voice. She looked up to see the unmasked face of Ben Parker.

"Mistress," she growled.

"Emily," he asserted. Emily stood and the pair faced off, hatred in both sets of eyes, though Emily's were obscured by her glasses.

"What do you want, bug?" she asked coldly.

"Anything but this. I've just betrayed one of my best friends at the request of the person who killed the other one," Ben said firmly. "I'm done."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Emily said. As she spoke, she grabbed a tube of lipstick from the dresser and began to apply it. "I had hoped I could subjugate you with my own talent, but you're better than that, aren't you?" she sighed. Ben raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Did you enjoy our kiss the other day?"

"I..." the question caught him off guard. "I, uh..."

"I did. It was so liberating," Emily purred. "With Toby dead and Katie gone, I guess we're both available now, huh?"

"No. No way, I'm not going to be distracted by you. I'm leaving, and I pity you if you think you can control the Hulk without me around," Ben told her. Emily frowned.

"I suppose I could let you live," Emily said. "But just... kiss me one last time. Give me that, and I'll let you leave."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't. But what other choice do you have?" Ben sighed. He knew she was right.

"Fine," he submitted. Emily was on him immediately, throwing him down on the bed and straddling him. She bent down, framing his head with her hair and ensuring she was the only thing he could see. Ben looked confused, but Emily simply laughed.

"If this is our last kiss, I'm making it a good one," she offered by way of an explanation. With that, she lowered her head and kissed him fiercely. When she ran out of breath, she raised her head to catch her breath. She looked into Ben's eyes and frowned.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Sat there you can probably guess how I feel," Ben quipped.

"Hmm, I've underestimated you," Emily pouted. She dived down for round two, this time keeping the kiss going for as long as possible. When she came up for air again, she found Ben staring blankly upward, his eyes a bright blue as opposed to the usual hazel. "Ah, that's better," she commented. "Now how do you feel?"

"I feel only devotion to you, mistress," Ben replied in a monotonous voice. Emily grinned.

"Perfect," she purred as she bent down toward his lips once more.


What is this?! Toby dead? Ben under Emily's spell? Lupin in chains? How can things possibly improve from here? Join us next time to find out!

In terms of production, I'm currently writing the chapters which introduce new characters. You've got a few weeks before the first chapter which sees them all together, during which you still have time to suggest characters. I'll even take just the name of a superhero you like, since otherwise I'm just going to have to do that myself and make a character around them anyway.