Chapter 16: The Arc Reactor Theft - Part 2
The mansion filled with flashing lights—police, EMTs, and mysteriously, federal agents in dark suits. A mild-mannered man with a receding hairline approached, showing a badge with practiced authority.
"Agent Phil Coulson, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We need to talk about what happened here."
Ben's System screamed warnings about SHIELD's arrival, but bigger problems loomed—his Enhanced Hearing still tracked that ominous mechanical sound from Stark Industries.
"They've been watching. They know about me."
Coulson interviewed Ben separately, his demeanor friendly but his eyes calculating with the precision of a professional spy.
"You threw a wrench with remarkable accuracy for a ten-year-old. Your movements on our security footage review show... unusual coordination."
Ben played dumb, summoning every ounce of scared kid act he could manage. "I don't know, I just threw it! Mr. Stark was hurt!"
But Coulson was too experienced to buy the performance. "Mr. Parker, we've been monitoring you since you appeared at the soup kitchen weeks ago. The Bishop Security file, the parkour footage, the infiltration of this facility—you're not a normal child."
Ben's blood chilled. They'd been watching the whole time, documenting his abilities, building a profile. How much did they know?
Coulson leaned forward, his voice gentle but implacable. "Whatever you are, whoever trained you, right now I don't care. Tony Stark is alive because of you, and that makes you an asset we're interested in protecting. But I need honesty: is there anything else we should know about tonight?"
Ben's mind raced. If he mentioned Iron Monger, he'd reveal impossible foreknowledge. But if he didn't, people might die when Obadiah returned with his weaponized suit.
He made a choice based on the principle that had guided him since awakening in this world: protect the people he cared about, no matter the cost.
"The bad man isn't done. He's going to come back with something really dangerous. Like Mr. Stark's suit, but bigger."
Coulson's expression sharpened like a blade. "How do you know that?"
Ben met his eyes with all the sincerity his child face could project. "Because I'm always right about bad things coming. I just can't explain how."
Tony, recovered enough to function, overheard Ben's warning from the next room. JARVIS had played the audio feed, and the implications hit Tony like a physical blow.
He burst into the interrogation room. "Coulson, we're done here. Ben, with me. Now."
In the workshop, Tony was already suiting up in the Mark III, the familiar whine of servos and power systems a soundtrack to controlled urgency.
"If Obie's got the Iron Monger operational, he'll come here or cause havoc to draw me out. Either way, this ends tonight."
Ben grabbed Tony's arm with surprising strength. "You can't go alone! He's bigger, stronger—"
"Which is why you're staying here where it's safe."
Ben's System blazed with a quest update that made his heart stop:
[CRITICAL CHOICE: ALLOW TONY TO FIGHT ALONE (CANON PATH, HIGH RISK)]
[OR INTERVENE DIRECTLY (DIVERGENT PATH, UNKNOWN CONSEQUENCES)]
His adult mind knew Tony won in canon—barely. But this wasn't quite canon anymore. Ben had already changed things, and those butterfly effects might mean Tony would lose.
He couldn't take that risk.
"Mr. Stark, I'm coming with you."
"Absolutely not."
"I can help! I have my web-shooters, I'm small enough to get places you can't, I can—"
Tony's face was stone. "You are TEN YEARS OLD, Ben. I am not risking you."
Ben played his trump card, letting adult wisdom leak through his childish facade. "You need a spotter, someone who can see what you can't in that helmet. JARVIS can help, but he's not on the ground. Take me or I'll follow you anyway."
Tony stared at this child with eyes too old for his face, recognizing something that shouldn't exist in a ten-year-old. Finally, he made a decision that would haunt both of them.
"Happy, get him a comm unit and body armor. If he gets hurt, I'm blaming you."
Happy fitted Ben with a ballistic vest—child-sized, requisitioned from SHIELD agents with Coulson's bemused approval—and a tactical comm system.
Pepper arrived just as they finished preparations, and her face went white when she saw what was happening.
"Tony, you cannot take a child into combat."
Tony's faceplate was up, his expression grim with terrible determination. "He's already in combat, Pep. He saved my life an hour ago. Right now, I trust his instincts more than my own."
It wasn't comfort, but it was truth.
Ben used his last minutes to check his loadout: web-shooters charged with 16 shots total, EMP device reloaded with one charge, Enhanced Reflexes at maximum level. His System displayed a quest that made his blood sing with anticipation and terror:
[SURVIVE IRON MONGER ENCOUNTER]
[REWARD: 10 LEGENDARY TICKETS, 1 GUARANTEED SS-RANK PULL, TITLE: 'GIANT SLAYER']
The reward was insane, reflecting the mortal danger he was about to face.
Happy handed Ben a flare gun with the weight of a father giving his son a weapon. "If things go south, fire this. Every cop in LA will come running."
Then, quieter: "Keep the boss alive, kid. He's an idiot, but he's our idiot."
Ben nodded, throat tight with emotion.
JARVIS announced with artificial calm: "Sir, seismic sensors detect heavy movement from Stark Industries Sector 16. Estimated weight: 3,000 pounds. Approaching this location."
The Iron Monger was coming.
[PRE-BATTLE PREPARATION COMPLETE]
[EQUIPPED: WEB-SHOOTERS (16 SHOTS), EMP DEVICE (1 CHARGE), FLARE GUN (1 SHOT), TACTICAL COMM, BALLISTIC VEST (+15 DURABILITY)]
[FAMILY BOND BONUS ACTIVE: +10% ALL STATS WHILE PROTECTING TONY]
[CURRENT TOTAL POWER: 5,500 WITH BONUSES]
[STATUS: INJURED BUT FUNCTIONAL]
Tony's faceplate slammed down, the HUD activating with streams of data. Ben climbed onto Iron Man's back, the suit adjusted to carry him, his small arms wrapped around Tony's neck.
It was absurd, terrifying, and somehow perfect—a ten-year-old and a billionaire in a flying metal suit, about to fight a monster.
"JARVIS, take us up. Ben, hold on tight. And if I tell you to run, you RUN. Understand?"
Ben nodded against the cold metal, his Enhanced Hearing already tracking the Iron Monger's thunderous footsteps approaching from the east.
"I understand. But I'm not leaving you."
Tony's bitter laugh crackled through the comm. "Figures. You Parkers are all stubborn."
The name hit Ben like lightning—Parker, like Uncle Ben, like Peter Parker. The legacy of that name, the responsibility that came with power.
The workshop roof opened above them, night air rushing in. Tony's repulsors ignited, and they launched into the sky just as a massive gray suit crashed through the mansion's outer wall.
Obadiah Stane's voice boomed through external speakers, amplified to shake windows: "TONY! It's time to finish this!"
The battle for the arc reactor—and for the future—had begun.
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