Revamped!

Copyright - Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Marvel Animations)


Chapter 34: Technovore Part One

Two Hours Before The Attack - Stark Towers - 16:12 PM

As she hangs up from a boring and seemingly never-ending phone call, the elevator doors open and welcome Emily Stark back into her main home, Stark Towers. She steps in, hearing the elevator doors close behind her as the heels of her stilettos sink into the carpet. Emily inhales deeply, taking in the homely scent that she has missed terribly while partaking in university, internships abroad, and family business. After admiring the decor that hasn't changed drastically in the years away from home, she turns around and sees all her luggage and boxes piled beside the wall. Emily sighs, knowing that she'll have to unpack seven years of belongings at some point. And Daniel's things when he moves in.

"It'll take seven years to unpack all those…" Emily mutters. She's unwilling to do that chore by herself so she could just have a few robots assist her (or do it all for her).

"How the hell did your bags make it back before you?" Tony asks as he approaches her.

Ecstatic to see his daughter, Tony opens his arms for a hug and like a child, Emily leaps into them with a grin on her face. She kisses her dad's cheek as he lets her go. Now, the two of them are looking at her many boxes.

"My suitcases don't get distracted by window shopping or need a caffeine boost," Emily responds about her unimportant tardiness, still smiling.

Tony playfully rolls his eyes. "Your bags got here thirty minutes before you."

Emily frowns. "You're not one to talk about punctuality." Her grimace quickly dissolves. "Where's Mom?"

"Packing for Sofia. Her flight is in three hours."

Emily nods. "I don't want to disturb her although I want to say hello. Tell her I'll be downstairs. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane ride back from Prague since my mind was working on something else."

-o-

One Hour Before Attack

Upstairs, as Pepper continues to pack for Sofia, Tony lies flat on their bed. Every time he makes some sort of whining noise coming from his mouth, she would just throw another pair of shoes in her bag. This goes on for another ten minutes and has been going on whenever Pepper would leave for business purposes. It was their routine since he never wanted her to leave.

"Don't leave me, Pepper," Tony begs (another important part of the ritual).

"Do you think I want to?" Pepper responds. "Not only do I love you and our daughter dearly but I fear for the company whenever it's only you here. You know I have little to no faith in the two of you as a duo."

Tony laughs a little. "Emily's here to help or just be standing there as support."

"Not helping and I don't think she'll be assisting you at all."

"She'll be inheriting the company one day so she might as well help - or do it all for me."

Pepper glares at Tony although she knows that he's only joking.

"Not today." She zips her suitcase. "I'll go visit Emily in the basement when I'm done here and on my way. Then, she could sleep because I just know she got none and you could drive me to the airport. Deal?"

"Deal."

-o-

Thirty Minutes Before Attack

Downstairs, Emily stands in front of a lab table with various tools and parts scattered everywhere. She has changed into comfortable clothing consisting of a solid black tank top and jean shorts, barefoot, no makeup on her face, and her hair pulled back into a makeshift bun. She's covered in mechanical grease and sweat which only adds to how beautiful she already is, trading her makeup for motor oil.

She huffs, blowing some loose strands of hair out of her face. In front of her is only the skeleton of her own version of her dad's Iron Man suit, modified to her liking, of course. She got bored one day during university and wondered what it would be like to build an Iron Man suit so she did (or started to. It's still a work in progress. She currently has the skeleton and some parts of it completed). Then, fast forward six years, and Xavier calls her saying he's about to ask the Council if he could start Project: New Generation. She wasn't prepared and she knew the Council would chew her out for not being properly trained so she had to give them something.

Not to mention that she handed in a blueprint as extra credit for one of her courses. It was accepted and given the best grade possible.

Emily's hands ache from forcing the screwdriver into an ankle joint to loosen a stubborn screw. Giving up, she tosses the screwdriver onto the table. A spark singes her fingertips and she jerks away, kissing her minor burns. There are no marks left on her skin so she doesn't worry about it all that much.

"Jarvis," Emily calls, "my mom hasn't left for Sofia yet, right?"

She waits for a response that never comes. However, she's too busy to notice the silence. She mistakenly took it for a no.

-o-

Five Minutes Before Attack

Pepper stands in the elevator, waiting patiently as it goes down to the basement. All her bags are at her feet as she taps her heel against the floor in rhythm with the ding the elevator makes every time it passes another level. She suddenly loses balance when the elevator stops on its own and the lights turn off. Pepper lands on one of her suitcases just as the bright emergency lights turn on.

-o-

Attack

Tony sits up in his bed, not knowing when it got dark. He gets up and sits exits his bedroom into a dark hallway. He's unsure of how the place got so dark so fast but only assumes that Pepper turned off all the lights on her way out.

He navigates through the darkness using the arc reactor on his chest and what little natural light was coming in through the windows. The more steps he takes, the louder some odd background noise gets. He stops, slowly turning around to see what's there. He sees two red lights that look at him like eyes.

Before he could call Jarvis or a suit, the red lights pounce on him.


[Emily is finally here!]