Tony’s eyes narrowed. power. Power that flowed in your veins.
Then, in an instant, the choice was made. Though then again, perhaps the choice had actually been made long ago, been made when he had first chosen to program in this particular contingency option.
The doomsday option.
“Friday” Tony made sure to keep his voice perfectly clear, perfectly steady “Initiate Extremis protocol.”
Monsters and Men
is a Marvel Cinematic Universe Alternate Universe fanfiction by SummerKnight717 focusing on an alternate ending to the Avengers Civil War.
Tony Stark, enraged and grieved after his defeat in Siberia, decides that the Godzilla Threshold has been crossed - and initiates the Extremis Protocol which allows himself to be infected with a modified version of the Extremis.
The modifications to the Extremis results in a more than slightly unstable Technopath Tony Stark, and events swiftly spiral out of control...
In addition to the cast of the Avengers Civil War, Dr Strange, Wong and Daredevil also play important roles.
The trope page is still under construction; if you've read the fic, please add more content!
This work contains examples of the following tropes:
- Alternate Universe: The change, in this case, stems from Tony deciding to infect himself with Extremis in order to become meta human - in his own words, to have power that can't be taken away from him like the suit was.
- There are also other details - Dr Strange is already the Sorcerer Supreme, Matt, Foggy and Karen are running a seemingly established law firm and the latter two are aware of Matt's identity and okay with playing Secret-Keeper. Similarly, MJ and Ned are aware of Peter's Spidey identity though Aunt May is still in the dark.
- Ax-Crazy: Tony, soon after waking up from the coma Extremis put him in. He initially tries to destroy the rogue Avengers' reputation, but when that spectacularly backfires he decides that the entire world needs to be taught a lesson for being ungrateful. Which then goes over into a God Complex in time.
- Friday is even more so, seeming fascinated by 'Vision' torturing Daredevil.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Multiple characters, including Wanda and Vision. Of course, Bucky as the Winter Soldier is a canonical example till he gets his triggers removed by a highly experimental surgical procedure in Wakanda.
- Broken Pedestal: The one Peter kept Tony on has been gradually getting broken since the events of Leipzig and the teen figuring out what the Accords mean in practice for people like him. It completely snaps, sending Peter into a brief Heroic BSoD, when he sees the video of Tony trying to kill Bucky in Siberia. By the time he and Daredevil confronts a homicidal Tony, the break is complete.Peter (when Tony asks whether he outgrew his suit): I...kinda outgrew a lot of stuff, Mr. Stark.
- Big Bad: Tony Stark.
- Child Soldier: It is pointed out by multiple characters that this was what Tony effectively did by recruiting Peter for the airport battle. Rhodey, on realizing how young Peter is, basically freaks out and cuts all contact with the teen. Partly in horror at having been party to it, partly in fear of repercussions.
- Daddy's Little Villain: FRIDAY, once Tony has altered her codes using his newfound technopath ability. Throughout the fic, FRIDAY acts in a very childish manner, with extreme devotion to and violent possessiveness of Tony. It freaks out multiple people who are used to her normal behavior. Tony even has her calling him "Dad" and calls her "baby girl", "princess" etc., puzzling and squicking out others.
- Deconstruction Fic: One for the fanfic trope of worldwide support for the Accords and Tony Stark. It is pointed out multiple times that the world is still pretty much divided on the subject. And when Tony, in a very mistaken PR stunt, releases the videos of the battle in Siberia and from the Raft, public opinion shifts rapidly in favor of the rogue Avengers - public is quick to latch onto the realization that Tony Stark, the Accords poster boy, broke them less than days after signing.
- The Siberia video being released causes at least one international incident. Russia demands an explanation on why an American civilian was allowed to get away with entering their territory without permission.
- The slow moving nature and general ineffectiveness of UN in security scenarios requiring rapid action is mentioned. Notably, even when the situation reaches global threat levels, the Accords Committee doesn't enter the picture. It helps that most of the incidents are confined to New York, and with the Avengers all being US citizens there's less need for red tape.
- Rhodey and Pepper comment multiple times - usually in internal dialogue - about how Tony's general irresponsibility puts considerable burdens on them. Rhodey in particular is more or less done with Tony by the time the plot happens.
- MJ, Ned and Peter discussing the Accords points out the risks it places all enhanced people under - the vague wording means that they can be arbitrarily jailed for any use of powers, even if they stay out of vigilante activities.
- Defiant to the End: Unsurprisingly, the majority of NYC's superhero population come under this trope. When faced with the announcement that the Iron Legion will destroy the city, all of them head out so as to go down fighting. Most notable examples are Spidey and Daredevil, but several others have their own cameo appearances.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Directly brought up when Tony offers to stop his current plans if Steve publicly apologises for his past lies, Tony's current ego being so great that he's genuinely taken aback when Steve is willing to sacrifice his pride in the name of getting Tony to stop what he's doing.
- Faking the Dead: After the final battle, Vision and Wanda are officially declared dead as there's no way to satisfactorily prove to the general public that they're no longer under the influence of the AIs that initially possessed them, even if the other Avengers accept them back.
- Friendly Fire: Instances of this on the side of the Pro-Accords team, as revealed in the released videos of Leipzig battle, serves to further erode public trust in them. In the comments after watching Rhodey being shot down by Vision, at least one person admits the world is probably screwed if they have to depend on this 'team' to defend them from something like the Chitauri invasion.
- A God Am I: This ends up becoming Tony’s mindset.
- Godzilla Threshold: Secretary Ross ends up having to work with the rogue Avengers to fight Tony with the US President offering pardons.
- Grand Theft Me: Tony has some of his own AIs downloaded into Vision and Wanda's bodies, suppressing their original consciousnesses while allowing him to use their abilities for his own benefits.
- Heroic Suicide: Bucky calmly and logically points out that he can and will do this to remove the risk of the Winter Soldier harming his friends again. The only reason he doesn't do it immediately after being forced to attack and almost kill Steve is because there is an experimental surgical procedure that might be able to remove the triggers. The risk of the surgery going wrong and leaving him a vegetable is not of any concern for him, despite the doctors themselves and the team pointing it out multiple times.
- Hypocrite: Several characters, most notably Pro-Accords team. Rhodey even remarks on this in an internal monologue, commenting 'That's illegal, but he still does that' could be the motto for most of them. He lists Tony's recruitment of unregistered and fourteen year old Peter, Tony's and T'Challa's unauthorized trip into Siberia, and his own actions in hiding Tony's new Enhanced status from the Accords Authorities.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight:
- Attempted by Steve when Bucky is triggered into Winter Soldier mode by FRIDAY Possessed Wanda. It is briefly successful and Bucky does emerge from his trance as he did in the original Winter Soldier film... except this time his 'handler' is in the same room and can simply trigger him again.
- Later on, Strange does this to draw out Vision and Wanda's consciousnesses while they are controlled by JARVIS and FRIDAY.
- Mythology Gag: In the epilogue, during the Avengers' meeting to discuss the Accords, the Cloak briefly settles on Peter's shoulders while it's greeting the other heroes, reflecting how it chose Peter as its bearer in "What If... Zombies?!".
- Noodle Incident: What exactly did Shuri build after getting hooked on Star Wars? T'Challa is unlikely to say, given she has sworn to modify all his Panther suits to the Hello Kitty theme if he dares tell anyone.
- Prophecy Twist: Reviewing the prophecy of the Scarlet Witch given the revelation that Wanda has basically been possessed by FRIDAY, Wong and Strange note that this may reflect the idea of the Scarlet Witch being "forged, not born".
- Too Dumb to Live: Several characters consider Spidey's and Daredevil's attempt to attack Stark as this, given the power differential involved. However, it is made clear that both of them are fully aware of the futility. It's simply that, with the city apparently doomed, they figure they are going to die anyway and want to go down fighting.
- Also Tony, given he has injected himself with the highly volatile Extremis virus, and made it impossible to remove from himself. Which, even without the attendant risks, means he is now Enhanced and subject to as many restraints as Steve or Wanda.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Tony is clearly more than a little unstable after Extremis takes effect, even before he goes completely homicidal. Although several characters speculate on how mentally stable he was to begin with given he considered extremis to be a legit option and had it ready for deployment in his suit.
- Dr Strange and Wong initially suspect this is the case with Wanda when they sense the outburst of Chaos Magic. Turns out it is more a case of hostile takeover by FRIDAY.
- Worst Aid: When the videos of the Leipzig battle hits the internet, one of the comments point out that Tony moved Rhodey after the latter had clearly received a severe spinal injury. The commenter - a paramedic - berates Tony for "going for the Hollywood style Cradle The Wounded look" which might well have contributed to Rhodey's paralysis.
