Son of Iron Man

Sorry this is a little late, but I've been rather busy doing stuff of international importance. I had to make a choice between uploading this chapter on time or making sure there's a world to read it – I think I made the right decision in the end. Now, we get to meet the newest New Avengers! Whoopie!

Bonus: This chapter includes a short scene written about Lupin by Johnwolf234, expert of all things wolf character and co-creator of the characters of both Lupin and his father, Lupos. He's got a bunch of wolf-centric stories on here if you love Lupin but think this story focuses too much on the humans.


Chapter Twenty-Four: Necessary Expansion

The Jean Grey School For Higher Learning was located in the Westchester county of New York. Built in the 1700s, it was a large mansion in neo-classic style, converted into a school for young mutants with nowhere to go. Originally called the Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters – named after the owner of the mansion and the founder of both the school and the X-Men it housed, Professor Charles Xavier – its current name came into use when Jean Grey, a founding member of the X-Men and one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, died.

Today, it is home to hundreds of mutant students and a number of teachers who serve as X-Men, protecting the world from threats it can't even imagine. As Toby Stark touched down by the fountain in the courtyard in front of the mansion, he couldn't appreciate the history of the building or the people inside it. He was on his own mission to protect the world from his own teammates, a selection of people he had hand-picked to defend the world. He knew they couldn't help it, but at the same time he felt somewhat responsible for the current predicament by even assembling the team in the first place. Much as it pained him to admit, it was time to get the help of more experienced heroes.

As he approached the oak double doors, they unexpectedly swung open and Toby was met by the wheelchair-bound figure of Professor X.

"Ah, Mr. Stark, I was wondering when you would come to see me," he said kindly.

"Oh, uh, hello," Toby said awkwardly.

"Please, come in and tell me all about your problem," Xavier offered. Toby thanked him and followed him to his office, where the Professor locked the door and wheeled himself over to his desk.

"Thank you," Toby said when offered a seat opposite him.

"Now, what is your problem?" Xavier asked. "I have noticed there is something strange about young Emily Frost – telepath – but she's strong enough to keep me out of her head."

"You're absolutely correct, professor. I think she's being mind-controlled, and she's passed it on to the rest of my team. I'm only safe because she thought I was dead – long story, read my mind if you want it –"

"Do you mind?" Xavier interrupted, pressing two fingers to the side of his head.

"Oh – no, go ahead." After a few moments of silence, Xavier spoke again.

"I fear you are correct, Mr Stark. And if a telepath can succumb to this control, I dread to think how powerful your hidden enemy is."

"I really need help," Toby admitted. "It's just me and a talking wolf against a team I put together to be unbeatable. I was really hoping you could-"

"I'm sorry, Toby, but I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Wha-?"

"You may have noticed this place seems remarkably empty. The X-Men are on mission in Europe, and they're not expected to return for weeks yet. And... peering into the minds of your friends... you don't have a day. I truly am sorry," the Professor said with genuine sympathy.

"So... I'm on my own?" Toby sighed in desperation. "Great! Absolutely brilliant!"

"I'm sorry I can't be of any more help."

"Well, thanks anyway," Toby said dejectedly. However, just as he stood to leave, he heard a loud bang like a gunshot before two kids a year or two younger than him burst into the room. One, a boy about 15, was a surprisingly muscular young boy with spiky white hair and a smoking pistol still in his hand. The other, a girl of about the same age, was rather short, with raven hair and an angry look on her face which looked as if it were a permanent feature. Both were dressed in casual clothes.

"You have to help him, professor!" the girl said.

"Laura, you know as well as I do that all the staff are away at the moment. I have no one to spare," Xavier said firmly.

"Send us," the boy said, his back now against the wall with his arms crossed. "We can take a couple of mind controlled goons."

"Nathan, you are talking about the Avengers."

"We can take them," the boy repeated.

"We can," Laura agreed.

"No! I will not have my students run off to fight a battle without sufficient training!"

"We were both trained by the goddamn Wolverine!" Nathan retorted. "I survived for months alone in the Savage Land, and Laura literally cannot be killed no matter how hard these punks try." An awkward silence fell as a standoff occurred between Xavier and his students. Eventually, it was broken when the Professor sighed and turned to Toby.

"What do you think of this?" he asked. Toby took a moment to consider it, then turned to Nathan and Laura.

"Can you handle yourselves in a fight?" he asked.

"Can your friends?" Laura replied.

"I like you," Toby said with a warm smile. "Is it true? Can they fight?" he asked Xavier.

"They're my best students," Charles replied.

"You can come along if you want. I need all the help I can get, and if you're half as good as you think you are I'd be glad to have you by my side. It's going to be tough, though. We might not all make it back," Toby told the students. Neither of them seemed bothered. In fact, they seemed visibly excited. "Go get any equipment you need and meet me in the hall." The pair grinned and ran out of the room, leaving Toby alone with the professor.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Mr. Stark," Xavier said solemnly.

"So do I..."

A little less than half an hour later, Toby was stood in the hall of the mansion with Laura and Nathan, each of whom was dressed in the black and yellow uniform of young X-Men.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Toby asked the two mutants stood before him. Nathan and Laura shared an excited glance before turning to him with serious expressions on their faces.

"Certain," they said in unison.

"OK, then," Toby said. "Thank you, professor," he added with a nod of the head to Xavier.

"You are quite welcome," came the response, though Toby saw that the professor's mouth remained still. He was in his head. Taking the young mutants with him, Toby left the mansion.


Lupin was bored.

This would not usually be a problem in itself, if not for the fact that he knew he couldn't just go and see what the others were doing – usually either Toby or Ben, since those were the two he was friendliest with, growing up with the latter and having been the only other member of the team to stay out of college with Toby. Because, you know, he was a Wolf, and didn't really have any reason to go to a human school.

"Well… This sucks." He said, having run around in a circle for the fifth time. It was… frustrating, even more than when he'd been collared and chained, as now he knew he could move but didn't dare move too far from the middle of the small forest for fear of being noticed before the team Toby was hopefully assembling got here. The fact he knew that something didn't feel right in his head but had no one to tell about it was also annoying.

"Only one thing for it." He sighed, resigned.

And promptly started chasing his tail.


Toby, Laura and Nathan were walking through the city streets on their way to the Facility when they suddenly heard an almighty crash. Out of nowhere came a colossal, 12-foot robot, falling onto its back with three white, crescent-shaped throwing stars buried in its chassis and throwing out sparks. As it stood itself back up, Toby could see the wires present on its neck disconnecting themselves, leading to the head falling to the floor with a great clang. No sooner had the fight begun than it was already over. From behind the building which had previously obscured the robot leapt a man dressed in white body armour with a matching hood and cape. Beneath the hood was a black mask, and on his chest was a crescent shape which matched the throwing stars in the robot's chassis. Just as Toby opened his mouth to express surprise, a girl appeared beside the head of the robot, as if from nowhere. She was dressed in a red suit with a thick, black line down the centre. Her head was covered by a helmet with red lenses and a breathing apparatus. She removed the helmet and held it under one arm, revealing the smiling face of a young girl with brunette hair, tied back in a ponytail.

"Nice work, Matt," she said to the white-clad man. Only when the man didn't reply did she seem to register Toby and the two X-Men behind him. "No. Way!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up with excitement. "You're Iron Man! Are the other Avengers around?"

"You're pretty much looking at them," Toby said with a sigh.

"OMG, what happened?" the girl asked.

"Long story. We've actually got somewhere to be right now, so if you'll excuse us..." Toby said, trying to walk away without being interrupted. As he did so, he felt a sturdy force on his chest stopping him. It was the armoured man.

"Not so fast," he said forcefully.

"MK, what are you doing?" the girl asked, horrified. "That's Toby Stark!"

"Iron Man is missing. Don't you read the papers? And I don't even recognise the other two," the man said. "You think you're Toby Stark?" he added to Toby. "Prove it."

"Prove it? What are you, five?" Toby chuckled. "Look, I haven't got time for this. Move out of my way before I move you."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It would be wrong to call you a challenge. An inconvenience, maybe. Now, get off me before I show you what real armour looks like," Toby threatened. The man stepped back, only to draw two white clubs.

"You think you can best the Fist of Khonshu in battle?" he growled. "Try it. Prove to me that you are who you say you are. Prove that you are the Iron Man."

"Moon Knight!" the girl squealed. Toby looked to his new friends exasperatedly.

"This won't take a minute," he told them as the suit formed around him from the nanobots in the air. Without another word, he blasted the Moon Knight squarely in the chest with a repulsor blast; but rather than flying into the nearest building, he was barely staggered.

"Carbonadium reinforcement," the man in white said, and Toby could feel the smirk beneath the black mask. He had to move fast to dodge the crescent blade which shot past his head and counter the club which followed. With the Moon Knight's wrist in one hand, he let loose his own attack, an armoured fist to the unprotected face. His foe staggered backward before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The suit's sensors immediately adjusted to counter the smokescreen, so Toby could see the man firing a grapple gun upward. As the man left the ground, Toby severed the chord with a laser burst, causing him to fall right back down in a heap. Wasting no time, he jetted over to the downed man and lifted him by the cape into the sky, where he could do no harm. As the smoke cleared below, both combatants' parties looked up in awe at the sight: Iron Man hovering above them, the light reflecting off his shining suit of armour, with the struggling Moon Knight dangling by his cape.

"Any more doubts you'd like clearing up?" Toby asked.

"You win this time... Iron Man." Satisfied, Toby gently returned the other man to the ground and lifted his faceplate.

"Now, if all that's sorted, my friends and I have an important battle to fight," Toby said. After a moment's pause, he added: "You're both welcome to tag along, but it won't be easy."

"What are you doing, exactly?" the girl asked.

"I'm glad you asked, uh..."

"Cassie. Cassie Lang."

"Antman's daughter?" Toby realised. "Well, Cassie... we're going to take down the Avengers."

"Take down the Avengers?" came a new voice, the shock in her outburst seeming somehow less genuine than Toby would have expected. The five heroes turned to see a woman dressed in black and red, with two katana swords at her back and two pistols at her side. "I'm in," she added, her voice turning deep.

"Wait, who are you?" Toby asked.

"The name's Pool. Dead Pool," the newcomer replied in a voice that would have fit well in a spy film as she sipped a martini. Toby looked first at Nathan, then at Cassie, but both shrugged.

"Never heard of you."

"What?!" the woman exclaimed, spitting martini through her mask. "Deadpool? Merc with a Mouth? Regeneratin' Degenerate? No? Maybe you've heard of my father, Deadpool? You know, Merc with a Mouth? Regeneratin' Degenerate? He led the goddamn Avengers once! Wade Wilson? I'm Eleanor, his daughter!" The other five had confused, even scared looks on their faces.

"Moon Knight, have you heard of either of these people?" Cassie asked. Matt shook his head.

"Pfffffft!" Deadpool hissed. "F***ing Moon Knight is more well-known than me in this universe? You know what, never mind. Sounds like you guys are in need of some help kicking Avenger ass, and I know just the foot!"

Blank expressions.

"It's mine. The foot is mine," Deadpool said with a sigh. "Jeez, couldn't you guys have been written with some personality?" she mumbled.

"Uh, right," Toby said uncomfortably. He then turned to the four other heroes and resumed his speech. "If any of you want to back out, now is your chance. Otherwise, I know we've all just met, but I look forward to fighting alongside you." With that, he closed his faceplate and took off in the direction of the facility. Moon Knight fired a grapnel line and swung away, while Cassie shrunk down and hopped onto the back of a flying ant. Nathan and Laura started to run after the others, leaving Deadpool staring dumbfounded after them.

"Wait, we all just met right now as we're needed? Talk about convenient!" she commented before running after the others. "Hey guys, wait for me! If I'm not in the next chapter there'll be riots in the review section!"


Ah, now that was a fun chapter to write. Now, I'd usually talk about the next chapter here, but I think we all know what's coming. Heroes fighting heroes (and Deadpool)! Yes, folks, it's all been building up to this.

In the meantime, don't forget to review. Deadpool made the effort to turn up in this chapter, and she promises to turn up for more if we can at least prove she's more popular than Moon Knight.

Until next time, true believers!