9 – Birthday Boy Blues

Harry's first week back in New York went slow. In the days immediately following his meeting with Luna and appointment of Hermione to the role of COO, he, Edwin, and JARVIS scanned the files of Interpol, the CIA, MI6, and Shield, hunting for references to Madame Masque in an effort to determine her true identity. Despite their best efforts, however, nothing came of it. When not working on this, Harry spent most of his time either patrolling as Iron Man or simply sleeping. As the day of his joint celebration with Neville approached, Edwin and Luna rushed around the house, hanging decorations and preparing the house for the party.

And so it was, on the day of the party, he found himself down in the Labs, working on the design for a new suit, when his cell phone began beeping wildly. With a frown, he picked up the device, tapping several buttons to take the call. "Go for Stark," he stated, tapping away at the keyboard in front of him as he worked on potential cloaking methods for his armour.

Hermione's frantic voice sounded in his ear. "Turn on the news," she told him, not bothering with the pleasantries. He closed the tab, instructing Jarvis to pull up all major news stations. Sitting there watching CNN, Fox, and several other stations, he frowned.

"What am I missing?" he asked Hermione.

"Search for stories coming out of east Asia. Narrow the search to Stark Enterprise related stories". He nodded, despite knowing she couldn't see him, and instructed JARVIS to do so. Within seconds, he was staring at several screens reporting on an attack upon a Stark enterprises facility in Taiwan. Harry frowned, before speaking into the phone.

"What's in this facility?" he demanded. He frowned as he watched Madame Masque and a strange figure using repulsors based off his own technology leading a large group of mercenaries into his building, attacking – and likely killing – his employees.

"That's one of our shipping factories. We build freighters for shipping out our products. It's also one of the sites we've been using to destroy our old weapons. They also work on some of our clean energy projects in that facility, so there is nuclear material there, and an arc reactor. If they manage to do enough damage to the facility, they could wipe out multiple blocks in Taipei". Harry stood without a word, pulling his under-armour body suit from the locker at the side of the room, and pulling it on over his clothes.

"Alert the American and Taiwanese authorities to the threat. Contact Dean as well. Shield probably already know what's happening, but just in case, they need to. I'm heading out now. Also contact the facility. Tell them to shut down the reactor, and do their best to secure any nuclear material".

"It's done".

"Good," he replied, waiting as the bots worked to assemble the suit across his body. Not for the first time, he thanked fate for placing someone like Hermione on his path. It was a unique feeling, Harry mused with the ghost of a grin, to have friends on whom you could thoroughly rely. For an abused orphan, it was beyond a blessing to have so many. Within moments, the visor slipped down over his face, and the HUD flared to life. Flying at Mach four, he quickly arrived over Taipei, zeroing in on the warehouse. Below him, he could make out Masque and her allies engaged by the local defence forces and Stark Enterprises security personal. 'at least some of those weapons can be put to some kind of use', he thought grimly. Angling diagonally towards the ground below, he slammed into the lead mercenary as he reduced his speed drastically. Bullets showered around him, striking the shoulder pads of the armour and scratching the paint.

Arms extended out straight in front of him, he collided into the mercenary. The force jostled him within the suit. Bullets slammed into the armour from all around. Below him, the fallen mercenary let out a pained groan. Standing slowly, he extended his arms out around him each side, unleashing the Incendio runes on each wrist. Spurts of fire slammed into the soldiers, sending them up in flames as they howled in agony. Still sprays of gunfire slammed into the armour from the men in the back operating their Gatling guns. Turning his attention towards them, he launched a storm of missiles. The projectiles whizzed through the air, slamming into them. A massive explosion rocked the air. Raising an arm above his head instinctively to protect against the buffeting winds, he turned towards the building.

As he approached, the defenders lowered their weapons. He approached cautiously, keeping his eyes peeled for Madam Masque and the stranger using his tech. "J", he instructed as he moved towards the entrance of the building, "scan for hostiles".

"Yes, sir".

One of the soldiers stepped forward, pushing his way through the group to the front. "Mr. Stark," he began, offering a hand to shake. The other man was short, with balding black hair and brown eyes behind horn-rimmed spectacles. Harry took the offered hand, shaking it firmly. "It's good to see you sir. Captain Lin. I'm in charge of security here. Ex-Marine".

"Good to know there's someone competent in charge here, Lin. Where are the remaining hostiles?" Lin winced, pointing towards the far corner of the facility.

"We tried to stop them, sir. Unfortunately, we were outgunned. They've gone around to the back door. I sent some heavy weapons their way, and we locked down any of the dangerous stuff, as per your orders". Harry nodded, stepping back slightly to make room for a take-off.

"Good work, Lin, keep anyone else who comes out of the building." The soldier nodded as he shot up into the air and arced over the roof of the building.

Touching down on the grass, he stepped towards the destroyed doors, striding over a twisted mess of metal and glass. The power in the facility had been switched off, casting the entire place in Shadows. Switching the lights on his helmet on, he moved cautiously further into the building, the crunch of broken metal and shattered wood under his feet his only companion.

-HPIM—

Zeke frowned as they moved through the deserted halls of the facility. "I don't see how this is helping us to kill Stark," he groused, glaring at the woman as she walked ahead of him. With each passing moment, he found himself trusting his new ally less and less. It was clear she wasn't just doing all of this to help him. Masque had her own agenda. He just wasn't sure what that was. The assassin chuckled, the sound muffled and disturbed by the masque.

"Killing someone like Stark isn't going to be easy, you know. That suit I gave you won't last forever. We'll need the blueprints to make more arc reactors to power it. Besides, there's plenty of things in this building that could kill Stark, assuming my intel is correct. And I trust my sources". Zeke snorted.

"I don't want it to be easy," he told her firmly, glaring at her back, "I want to feel the life leave him as I wrap my hands around his neck".

"Then you're a fool," she stated calmly, tilting her head back slightly to regard him, "that armour of stark's is the most powerful weapon in human history. You can't just beat him to death. We have to fight smarter, not harder."

"Besides", she continued, turning her attention back to the doorway in front of them, "killing Stark isn't enough for me. I want to destroy him. Destroy his legacy".

-HPIM—

He and Luna sat on the loveseat, his arm around her shoulders. He chewed slowly on an apple as they sat, watching one of Harry's vast movie collection. The preparations for the party were finished, and Edwin had disappeared a while ago. Taking advantage of the situation, the pair were doing their best to spend time together. It was nice. Simple. Luna smiled, tilting her head up. If there was one thing about the wizarding world he didn't miss, it was the entertainment. Never a fan of quidditch, he had adjusted easily to late nights on the couch watching TV or movies. His people really could learn a lot from their muggle counterparts, Neville Longbottom mused.

"Happy birthday, Nev. Again". He smiled, tilting his head down. She stretched her own up to meet him in the middle, and their lips gently pressed together. As they pulled apart, his arm still around her shoulders, they heard the front door opening. Hermione stepped through, placing her keys in the bowl on the kitchen bench as she smiled at them.

"Harry still in Taiwan?" she asked.

Neville nodded. "Yeah. Afraid so".

She sighed, plopping down into the chair next to them. As she did so, there was a slight beep from the elevator. Neville glanced up, grinning as Edwin stepped through. The smile slipped from his face at the look on the older man's face. "What is it?" he asked.

Edwin glanced at the girls, before looking back at Neville. "Could you join me downstairs?" Neville nodded, standing up as he walked towards him.

"What is it?" he asked, as the elevator doors closed with a ding.

Edwin glanced at him darkly.

"I fear I have unravelled the mystery of Madame Masque".

-HPIM-

They found themselves standing in a gargantuan underground chamber. Killing the guards had been easy. Getting through the reinforced metal doors had been the difficult part. Taking pride of place in the centre of the chamber was the massive arc reactor. Under normal circumstances, with the power running, it would have been awe-inspiring, a massive ring of light, crackling with prominences of sheer energy. Masque strode further into the room. "What are we looking for?" he asked warily.

"We need as many of these explosives as we can carry," she replied. Ignoring him, she grabbed up several tightly sealed nuclear warheads. Placing these on a carry trolley, she continued gathering more material. He stared at her, slowly moving towards a pile of miniature arc reactors stacked near one wall. There was something off about this woman. Something he couldn't place.

-HPIM—

With the schematics of the building downloaded by JARVIS, it was easy to track down Masque and the stranger assisting her. The reactors and the rest of the weapons arsenal would have been placed in the secure bunker beneath the main facility. No doubt that was what they wanted. So that was where he was headed.

Sure enough, as he moved lower and lower, deeper into the compound, there were more and more signs. Soft voices carried up towards him from below. Spots of blood splattered along the floor and walls. Then came the bodies. They were sprawled in front of the now sealed door to the inner bunker. He stepped forwards, entering the security codes to open the door.

-HPIM—

Her phone was buzzing like mad as she sat on the love seat, staring after Neville as the elevator descended, waiting for him or Edwin to return. Pulling it out of her pocket, she blanched at the sight of the message. The tests she had done for Harry had returned with results. She hastily leaped to her feet heading for the front door. She heard Hermione calling her name and shouting for her to wait.

"Sorry," she called over her shoulder, "doctor-patient confidentiality".

Apparating into the surgery, she ran down to the nurse's station.

"You've got results for me?" she asked. The mediwitch nodded, handing her a piece of folded parchment. Unfolding it, she read quickly, face paling with each word.

-HPIM—

Behind them, the doors opened with a hiss. Tilting her head up at the sound, she smiled. Her right hand descended towards her waist, withdrawing her gun from its holster. Stane had also stopped what he was doing, turning towards the door way. "Hello, Stark" she stated calmly. Heavy footsteps resonated against the metal floor behind her.

"Masque. Who's your friend?"

She turned to face him. "This is Ezekiel Stane. He has as much reason as I to want you dead. On that note, how are you feeling?"

"Tired. Of your shit". He replied. She chuckled darkly.

"No," she replied, tossing the arc reactor in her hand in the air aimlessly. "I think you'll find that's the rare neuro-toxin I coat a few of my bullets in. Including the one that hit you in Germany". With that, she activated the reactor, tossing it towards Stark. Spinning on her heel, she drew the gun, firing at the reactor as it dipped through the air near the 'hero's' armoured head. The bullet slammed into the reactor, which exploded, throwing the metal-clad vigilante back. She smirked, approaching him silently. Kneeling down, she peered at him through his cracked visor.

Reaching down, she pulled it off of the helmet, tossing it off to the side. Stane smirked, moving towards the pair. She pushed the gun barrel first between Stark's eyes. He stared at her impassively, despite the fear she knew he had to be feeling. "Don't worry," she whispered softly, as though comforting a lover, "I'm not killing you Tony. I don't want you dead". Stane glared at her, shoving her with his armoured hand.

"What?" he snarled.

Stark chuckled, "You really want to rely on this freak?" he asked. She smiled.

"He does have some uses. Perhaps not many, but some".

"See," he replied, "I wasn't actually talking to you". She frowned, staring at him in shock. Hesitating for several seconds, she placed the gun back against his forehead. From beside her, she heard Stane's stilted voice.

"No," he stated slowly, "I don't think I do". A blast of energy struck her hand, sending her pistol flying from her grip and skidding across the metal floor. She turned to glare at her former partner. He glared back; arms extended towards her. His arc reactors glowed faintly, ready to fire once more.

"Stane. What on earth are you playing at?" She snarled.

"I wanted Stark dead. I'm not interested in playing with my food. You think I'm going to let you steal my vengeance?!" With that, he fired both his repulsors at once. She leaped back, flipping twice to avoid the blasts. Grabbing the gun beside her, she fired several shots towards Stane. The first struck the ground between his feet. The second and third whizzed past his head, and the final struck him in the hand.

He let out a hiss and gripped the bleeding fingers. She smirked, levelling the gun between his eyes. The grin turned to a snarl at the sight of Stark slowly staggering to the door beyond Stane's shoulder. She fired a shot towards the console beside the door, which slowly began to close. Stark let out a groan. "You're not leaving yet, hero". She told him simply.

"On that at least, we agree," Stane muttered. With a frown, she quickly assessed her options. Against one of them, she had a chance. But both at once? She didn't like her chances there. Without a second's hesitation, she broke into a run, leaping off the ground and kicking Stane in the side of the head as she dropped once more onto the ground and ran towards the doors. She strode past the limping billionaire, taking a shot towards his exposed face. The bullet missed, yet the shot slowed him down, giving her the time necessary to escape.

Removing the controller from her pocket, she slammed her thumb against the central button. The doors slammed closed, and she felt a burst of heat blowing against her back through the steel and lead.

-HPIM—

The bullet whizzed over his head, mere inches from slamming into the back of his skull. He took a deep breath, glancing back at the dazed Stane behind him. Masque rushed through the door ahead of him, which slammed shut with a high sharp noise like thunder. He heard a strange clicking noise behind him, the room shook as though in an earthquake, and in an explosion of heat and light, Harry Potter knew no more.