A/N: To everyone in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures fandom: Greetings! I am Teen Tyrant, and yes, I'm the one who is married to prominent IMAA fic writer, Miss Starfire. This story is my first entry into the IMAA community, and while I have done some editing and minor writing for Miss Starfire when assisting with her stories, I am quite nervous about posting my own story. This story is technically a crossover with one of my favorite horror series: Phantasm. It is based on the original movie, and I did not place the story in the crossover section of this site because it is more a case of the plot of Phantasm being adapted into an IMAA story than an actual crossover. I chose to write this story in the spirit of the Halloween season. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Patricia "Pepper" Potts hummed to herself as she strolled in through the secret entrance to the armory located within the derelict Makluan temple. She was in a very good mood, which was actually her normal disposition, but for the past couple of months she had had a few reasons to be even more cheerful than normal. She was actually on her way to see one of those reasons right now.

Entering the armory lab, she saw Tony Stark, her best friend and now, officially, her boyfriend, making repairs to his Iron Man armor. He was leaning over the open pod containing the suit, his back mostly to her and he clearly had not heard her enter the temple, although it was very easy to see why. In addition to his customary red shirt and blue jeans, the young man had a welding mask covering his handsome face and a welding torch in hand which was making a loud hissing noise as he applied its flame to his armor.

The girl smiled to herself, set her purse down and walked up close to him, making sure to keep just out of his line of sight, limited as it was by the welding mask. She decided to make use of his lack of awareness to her presence and make a move she had not done around him in quite some time. After a minute or so, Tony pulled the torch away from the armor, turned it off and set it down where it would not get in the way or cause any harm. This was perfect for Pepper, as she could now make herself known and not worry about anything unfortunate happening with the torch. Before Tony could lift up the front of the welding mask, the redhead stepped quickly into his field of view.

"Hi!"

His reaction was instantaneous, hilarious and predictably adorable. He cried out in surprise and stumbled backward a few steps, one hand clutching his chest as he began breathing hard, the other pulling off the mask and dropping it to the stone floor.

"Pepper?!"

The girl gave him a wide, toothy smile and held her hands behind her back, leaning forward just a little to make herself seem coy and charming.

"Hey, Tony," she said in an innocent tone that was unclear of whether she was playing around or seriously not aware that she had done anything wrong. The boy scowled at her, clearly not amused.

"Pepper! You scared the daylights out of me! What do you think you're doing? If I'd still had that torch in my hand, I might have– " He was cut off as she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him as strongly as she could, knowing that his Extremis-enhanced physique would feel no discomfort from the pressure.

Feeling the redhead's body close to his, embracing him with her warmth, caused most of Tony Stark's irritation to fade away. Grumbling quietly, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back in a way that made it seem as if he was doing so grudgingly, but they both knew it was not so.

Pepper then lifted her gaze to his face, smiled sweetly at him, then leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Tony was again caught off-guard, but this time in a much more pleasant fashion. He could count the number of kisses they had shared between them on one hand, and could use the other hand to count the number of days that had passed since this action had been introduced into their new relationship as a couple. He still was not quite used to such a display of affection, but he certainly was not complaining. The last of his anger at her scaring him a moment before slipped away as he returned the kiss for a few tender moments before they separated.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Tony," Pepper told him with sincerity. "But I couldn't help it. The moment was too good to pass up, and you look so cute when you're taken by surprise."

Tony scoffed at her calling him cute, still unable to cope with such comments from a girl he had known for two years and had never thought he would hear speak such words in regards to him.

"Whatever, Pep," he said before planting another kiss on her forehead, squeezing her in his arms once more before releasing her and moving back over to his armor to examine his work. "What are you up to, anyway? Aside from trying to give me a heart attack?"

Pepper smiled sheepishly and took a seat in one of the chairs, watching him as he inspected the armor.

"Nothing, really. I'm so bored! There haven't been any major supervillain attacks since the Makluan were blown up, and since we've still got a month left before going to college, I've got nothing to do!"

All of this was said at a very fast pace and in a high-pitched whine. Even a year ago, Tony would have found this behavior of Pepper's annoying. Now, however, he could not help but smile a little at her ability to complain about not having to go to school for a two month stretch and the city not being under attack.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Pep. But, me personally, I'm glad that we've finally gotten a break."

Realizing that his armor repairs were exactly as he wanted them to be, he triggered the pod to go back to its storage alcove along the temple wall overhead. He then walked over to an empty chair and took a seat next to his girlfriend.

"Besides, you've probably jinxed us now that you've said that. Gene will probably show up now and try to finish what he started in taking over the world."

This was said with a scowl on his face, and Pepper recognized the sign that he was thinking about the antagonistic past he had with the Mandarin. She reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry to be complaining about our good fortune. It's just annoying that I had to wait so long to get my own armor, and then you made it for me and I've only had a chance to use it on two big missions. Those little robberies and stick-ups we've been dealing with are too easy, no fun at all! Ugh! I'm sorry, I'm complaining again. We should go see a movie or something, maybe walk through Central Park. Something other than hanging around the armory all day where I can be reminded that I've barely gotten the chance to use my armor."

Tony shook his head a little, amazed even now that Pepper could talk so much and switch from one subject to another with each breath she took. He checked his pod to see if he had anything important on his calendar for the rest of the day, and after determining that he did not, he turned to Pepper and shrugged.

"Sure, why not. I haven't been to the park in ages anyway, it'll be good to stroll through it again."

Beaming, Pepper leaped to her feet, grabbed both of the inventor's hands and pulled him up from the chair with more force than one would expect from someone her size. She then wrapped both of her arms around Tony's upper left arm and began leading him toward the temple exit, partially leaning her head on his shoulder as she did so.

"Perfect! C'mon, then! We can ride there on my new scooter," the redhead sing-songed.

Tony shook his head. "I still don't know why you wanted me to make you a scooter. You've got your own armor, and yet you want to cruise around New York on that silly little thing."

"Hey! It's cute, it's safer for the environment, and it can seat two, just like I asked. Thank you for that, by the way. You can sit behind me while I take us to the park. Oh! And while we're walking through the park, maybe we'll come across one of those ice cream stands. It's been forever since I've had some. Ooooh, strawberry-kiwi-lime with chocolate sprinkles, here I come!"

Tony Stark's look of combined bewilderment and adoration would have made any bystanders laugh out loud.

xxxXXXxxx

Harold "Happy" Hogan tried not to look as uneasy as he felt while he and the gorgeous blonde on his arm continued to follow the concrete path. The evening so far had turned out pretty well up to this point, all things considered. He had been very surprised when his current date had showed up at the basketball court he had been shooting hoops at earlier. He had been doubly surprised when she had asked him if he had any plans for the evening, and if he would mind getting a bite to eat and then accompanying her on an evening stroll. And yet, here he was enjoying a nice evening with the ice queen herself. What was it about girls who had never shown any interest in him at all suddenly asking him out?

"I'm really glad you asked me out, Whitney," he said earnestly, before looking around at their current setting. "But, don't you think we could go somewhere a little more, uh… romantic-like?"

Whitney frowned in confusion and appeared slightly hurt. "What's wrong, Happy? Aren't you enjoying yourself?" She clung tighter to the brawny young man's arm, closing her eyes and resting her head against his shoulder, which it was barely able to pull level with. Happy's eyes twinkled and his uncomfortable expression changed to a grin at the show of apparent affection.

"No, it's not that. I really am enjoying spending time with you, at last. But, it's just," he again looked around at the expansive stretch of land which the path they were following wound through.

There were no other people around, especially at this hour, since they were technically here illegally. But, Whitney had wanted a thrill, and Happy was not going to say no to her after she was finally showing an apparent willingness to be closer to him. The lack of other people at the late hour made the place even more unnerving than it normally would be. There were only a few trees here and there, with the only other major features being lots of grass and many, many vertical and horizontal slabs of stone spaced in even patterns in all directions.

"It's just that graveyards give me the creeps, ya know?" As a large, physically powerful and imposing figure himself, he hated showing any sign of weakness in front of a girl, especially one as hot and unattainable as Whitney Stane. But his old childhood fear of cemeteries was settling in. Even now, he could feel as if the eyes of the dead were upon him as he walked through their domain.

Whitney shrugged and looked around at the various headstones. "Doesn't it excite you, being here where we shouldn't be, when we shouldn't be? Nobody knows we're here right now. It's just between us and the dead, and they aren't saying anything." All of this was said in a come-hither voice and with a flirtatious raising of the eyebrow.

Happy grinned again, completely ignoring the unsettling statement and focusing more on how the blonde said it.

"Wow, Whitney, you sure are more relaxed and, uh, intense since the last time I saw you. Where did you go, anyway? You disappeared, like, months ago."

The girl looked down at the ground as they continued to walk through the cemetery. "I just needed to get away for a while. Clear my head and all that. After my dad… well," her expression became crestfallen and Happy began to regret asking. "I just needed to get away for a bit. But I'm back and I'm feeling much better. And I wanted to see a friendly face." She again hugged his arm tightly, causing Happy to blush and silently congratulate himself.

Yup, still got it. All the ladies love Happy!

The two walked for a little while longer, until Whitney pointed to a rather large tree in the middle of the cemetery, suggesting that they could stop and rest beneath it… on the side that was hidden from the path. The look on her face told Happy that resting was not on her mind, and his grin could not have been wider. He took her hand and led her off of the path, zig-zagging between headstones, until they reached the tree and moved to the far side of it, sitting down and leaning their backs against its wide trunk.

Whitney continued to rest her head against Happy's shoulder, while the young man counted off a mental timer of when he would make a move. With the exception of the fact that they were in a cemetery, the setting was perfect; it was dark, the place was empty, nobody knew they were here, a warm but welcoming breeze was lightly blowing, and he was with a girl of supermodel quality. Everything was set for a great make-out session. He just had to be smooth about it.

"Say, Whitney?"

"Hmm," came her response, as she sounded as if she might drift off to sleep while leaning against his shoulder.

"I, uh… just wanted to tell you that, well, I've always liked you."

Whitney pulled her head away from his shoulder and looked up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I know you have, Happy. And I'm sorry that I mostly ignored you, or called you names when I did acknowledge you. You're such a sweet guy, and you've never done anything bad to me, unlike other guys I know."

Seeing an opening with the way she was complimenting him, Happy decided to go for it. He cleared his throat a little before speaking again.

"Well, uh, Whitney, I was wondering…" he threw in some hesitation to make himself seem vulnerable. Chicks really dug that kind of thing. "If it would bother you too much, if I tried to… kiss you."

At this, Whitney's smile widened and a playful gleam appeared in her eyes.

"Why, Happy, you read my mind," she said with in a teasing tone.

"Really?" Happy was surprised that she had been having similar thoughts.

"Of course. But, I think since you've been so nice to me by going out with me this evening, I owe you a kiss. So, why don't you just lean back and close your eyes," she shifted her position and rolled over in place, so that her knees were now on the grassy ground at the base of the tree, each knee planted on either side of his legs, which now ran under her as she more or less straddled him.

"Oh, awesome!" Happy nearly shouted in his enthusiasm, and then relaxed completely against the tree trunk, closed his eyes and puckered his lips, waiting for the magic to happen.

Whitney giggled a little as she brought up the knife that was hidden under her skirt and plunged it forward, stabbing through cloth, then flesh, straight into Happy's heart. The young man's eyes popped open and he uttered a gasp, more of surprise than pain. A moment later, his eyes closed again and his head drooped until his chin rested against his chest.

Pulling the knife free of his body, Whitney stood up slowly, the breeze blowing her blonde hair about her head. She stared down at the body with a look of satisfied accomplishment. In a space of time so fast that it was literally in the blink of an eye, the figure standing over the dead body of Happy Hogan was no longer Whitney Stane.

xxXXXxxx

It was never an uncommon sight for Tony Stark and Pepper Potts to be hanging out in the home of their mutual friend, James Rhodes. Even though Tony now lived once again at Stark Tower with his father, and he and Pepper could just as easily have gone there for the remainder of the day, the two still enjoyed spending time with the third member of Team Iron Man whenever they were not spending time alone together.

The Rhodes made both of them feel welcome anytime they were there, as Tony had practically been an adopted member of the family for two years, and Pepper's presence soon became so common that she was looked upon as an honorary family member as well, although her desire to spend her free time around two trouble-prone young men without having been considered a romantic item with either of them had been a headscratcher. Roberta Rhodes had been well aware of the crush the redhead had harbored for the inventor, but there had never been an indication that she had acted on it or that Tony acknowledged it. This had made her continued presence puzzling, even to the attorney. Knowing now that the three teenagers had secretly been battling criminals together solved that particular mystery rather quickly. And of course, now that Tony and Pepper were dating, the other odd thing about that whole picture was finally cleared up as well.

"I'm just saying, maybe instead of spending time making upgrades to your armor when there's no pressing need to, you should be making a backpack armor for War Machine," Rhodey reasoned as he drank a mouthful of milk to wash down one of the homemade cookies his mother had made for the three of them.

"Totally! You should definitely do that, AND make a backpack for the Rescue armor, too!" Pepper's predictable enthusiasm was followed by her taking a few bites of her own cookie.

Knowing that the two were double-teaming him, and further knowing that he hardly ever came out on top in an argument where neither of them was on his side, Tony sighed in resignation that they were not going to quit until he agreed to make both devices for them. He decided that he would skip his usual smart-mouthed retort and just go with the flow this time.

"Alright, fine. I'll try to figure out a way to get both your armors into backpacks as soon as I finish the upgrade I'm currently in the middle of with my own. Sound good?"

"Sounds reasonable to me," Rhodey replied, with a concurring nod from Pepper for good measure. "So, how was your afternoon date?"

Rhodey's remark caused Tony to cough a little on his cookie and a blush to break out on his face. He was still not used to the teasing his best friend would send his way regarding the fact that he was now dating Pepper. For her part, Pepper also blushed lightly, but maintained her composure otherwise, not really being embarrassed at the mention of her dating Tony.

"How'd you know we went out today?"

"Well," Rhodey smirked, "Nothing to do today, neither of you were here, at Stark Tower, or at the armory. Doesn't take an IQ as big as yours to figure it out, Tony. So, where did you go?"

This caused the inventor to shoot a glare at his friend, and he was preparing to tell him to mind his own business, but Pepper had other ideas.

"We went walking through Central Park. It's amazing this time of year, and I've had so few opportunities to go there the last few years and just enjoy it. We took pictures in front of all the memorials, fed bread to some ducks, got some divine ice cream cones," Pepper paused to sigh dramatically, although the two young men were pretty sure she also needed a moment to take a breath. "It was a wonderful day," and she shot Tony a wink.

Rhodey rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Well, I'm glad that Tony is doing a better job at being a boyfriend with you than he did with-" Rhodey stopped as he heard Tony take a sharp inhale of breath through his nose and Pepper frowned slightly. "Uh… She Who Shall Not Be Named," Rhodey finished.

That actually earned him a small grin from both of his friends and the moment passed, the three turning their attention back to their cookies and milk. It was a nice time for all three. The world now knew who they were, so there was no longer the pressure to keep secrets from people they cared about. They had just recently graduated from the Tomorrow Academy and would start college in a few months, taking away the additional pressure of keeping up with school, at least for now. No major villains had attacked recently, so the trio of heroes had not needed to risk themselves for a little while.

Yes, right now was a good time to simply enjoy the quiet moments in life with friends… or in the case of Tony and Pepper, friends who also happened to be a romantic couple.

The quiet moment among the three came to an abrupt end when Roberta Rhodes opened the door to her son's room and walked inside, the cordless house phone in her hands, an expression on her face indicating that she was bringing bad news.

"I need to talk to the three of you," she said gravely, her tone indicating that they were not in trouble, but that they would not like what she had to say. The three looked at each other, then set their glasses down, as well as their napkins upon which rested their cookies.

"What's wrong, Mrs. Rhodes?" Pepper was the only one who had the courage to voice the question, although if asked, she would admit that it had less to do with courage and more with despising moments that dragged on in anticipation when you knew that something bad was coming anyway. She just wanted the older woman to come out with it already.

"I've just received a call from the police. It's about your friend, Harold."

This caused the three teens' eyebrows to shoot up and for their jaws to drop, hearing that their mutual friend and schoolmate was the subject of a phone call from the authorities. Rhodey had to end the waiting this time.

"What is it, Mom? What's happened to Happy?"