Interlude II: Showdown in the land of Enchantment
2019
Harry sat in the chair, staring into the swirling coffee in the cup Edwin had placed in front of him. With a yawn, he grabbed the cup and stood slowly, taking a walk in the direction of the infirmary. Walking past the elevator, he opened the door to the stair well. The longer walk would give him time to think. They had lost, all of them. Badly. None of them had really been prepared for it; they were so used to coming out on top, regardless of the challenge. Now, half of all life was gone, and those left – including the Avengers themselves – had to come to terms with the new status quo. Strange had sacrificed himself, holding Thanos off for the others to escape. It still hadn't been enough. He'd still beat Harry within an inch of his life and stolen the soul stone from Warlock. They had no idea what had happened to Stephen; maybe he had been killed by Thanos. Maybe the titan had let him live, and he'd been taken in the snap. Like so many others. Like Penny, and Neville, and Hermione.
He stepped into the hall off the infirmary, finding Steve standing outside the room. The super soldier glanced up when he approached, smiling sadly. "Harry," the older man whispered softly, pulling him in for a hug. Harry fell into his friend's embrace, finally allowing the tears to flow freely. "I'm so sorry about Penny. I know she was like a daughter to you." Harry nodded, rubbing his eyes as they pulled apart and clearing his throat. He winced slightly at the lines around Steve's eyes; the old veteran had lost too, and suddenly, Harry was hit with the realisation that – as usual – no one had thought to ask Steve Rodgers how he was feeling.
"How are you holding up, Cap?" Steve frowned slightly, glancing at the marble floor beneath them. "Hermione and Bucky – it's still raw. I can't believe they're gone." Harry nodded sadly in agreement.
"I know what you mean, pal", Harry told the other man, "I still keep expecting her to walk in and wack me around the head". Steve laughed softly, lowering his eyes to the shield at his feet, following the hairline fractures the power stone had made when he'd stood against Thanos alone. Harry shook his head. Maybe if they'd been there together, if the team hadn't been fractured, they could have stopped him. Maybe none of this would have happened. He glanced into the infirmary, at the blonde sitting in the chair facing away from them, and the raven-haired man lying on the bed.
"How are those two holding up?" he asked Steve. Steve let out a low sigh.
"Not great. First, they lose their entire family, then their home when Thanos went after the Mind Stone, then half the people after he finally got it. And to cap it all off, they both almost killed him and both failed". Harry nodded slowly. He patted Steve on the shoulder gently as he walked past. Somehow, he thought grimly, tear stains still wet on his cheeks, he knew the super soldier would be ok. Even with the strength and speed, that had always been Steve's greatest power; his ability to pick himself up, dust himself down, and leap back into the fight. Still, he had to look after the other hero; Hermione would have wanted it that way. He couldn't let his best friend down, not again.
"Try to get some sleep, yeah?" The super soldier never replied, merely returned to gazing at the shield.
"Harry," he called suddenly. He turned around to regard the other man once more. "I'm not giving up. The fight's not over yet." Harry grinned at his friend.
"Good. Cause I could do this all day." Steve shook his head with a small smile. Despite the brevity, both men knew Harry was just putting on a brave face. This fight was already over; the Avengers had lost the day.
He stepped into the infirmary, wincing at the look on Thor's face, and the Dark marks around Loki's neck and the dark red blotches near his stomach and chest. "How you holding up, you little goth?" he asked, clapping Loki on the shoulder as he spoke. Loki glanced at him tiredly.
"Potter," he wheezed, "where in Hel's name were you?"
"I would like to know the answer to that too, Friend Harry" Thor spoke up. Harry winced.
" Off-world. Getting the crap kicked out of me by Thanos. I'm sorry about what happened to the Asgardians. I know it can't feel good – "
"You think you know how this feels? You have no idea! We lost twice! We lost everything!" Loki screamed. Harry sighed.
"Actually, I do know how you feel. Penny's gone." This time, it was the brothers' time to wince. They'd both liked the young hero. Thor gulped.
"Did Thanos? She's not – "Harry shook his head.
"He didn't kill her. She turned to dust in my arms on the ride back to earth," again, tears sprung up in his eyes. "There was nothing I could do to help, except tell her she was okay. My little girl was terrified, and all I could do was sit there and lie to her!" Rage overtook the sorrow, and he slammed his fist against the wall.
Thor stepped forward, pulling him into a one-armed hug. As the three remained there in companionable silence, Harry was reminded of his first encounter with the brothers.
-HPIM-
2009
Harry stepped into the lab, forcing a cup of coffee into Edwin's hands. The old man glanced up gratefully as he took the hot drink and Harry sat next to him. Edwin yawned slightly, shaking his head. "Thank you, sir". Harry nodded, the pair getting to work once more.
"How are you feeling?" Edwin asked cautiously. Harry shrugged.
"Better now the Toxin's gone." Edwin nodded thoughtfully. He frowned.
"That's odd" he murmured softly. Harry raised an eyebrow, glancing at his friend and former mentor.
"What?" They were working on getting JARVIS back online. Harry desperately hoped there was nothing wrong with the AI. He'd become a permanent fixture in their lives, and losing him would be difficult to cope with. There were times when JARVIS felt like a part of him.
"Look here," the old man replied. He pulled up the data on the screen in front of Harry. Reading through it, the young wizard frowned when he spotted the anomaly.
"Someone's been playing around with Jay's software," he muttered softly, staring in shock at the gaps in the coding.
"Indeed. If I had to guess, someone has taken the software in an effort to reproduce JARVIS' AI. It's not much. Small enough that, unless we were looking for it, we would have missed it." Harry nodded.
"We'll improve the file security, encrypt the data again, and get him back online. I have a few ideas as to who might have done this. There's a certain shield agent at the top of that list." Edwin nodded, though he frowned thoughtfully.
-HPIM-
Two weeks later, Harry received a call from Dean Thomas, who he hadn't been expecting to hear from for a while. "Go for Stark," he stated, ceasing the welding he was working for the MKVII.
"You near any of your hi-tech gizmos?" his friend asked. Harry grinned.
"I can be. Why?"
"Hack into the video feeds on my phone, and check this out; really cool." Harry frowned, but gave JARVIS the order anyway. A feed of a strange temporary facility popped up. He was staring down at a strange sight; a hammer, buried in the earth, with a long handle with a strap on one end and the other end half buried in the rocks. Harry snorted.
"You wanted me to look at someone's oversized work hammer? On that point, why do SHIELD even care about this thing?"
"Because it's not from Earth."
"Wait. What?"
"It's alien. Also, it seems like it's got some weird ass Excalibur-type deal going on. Nobody can pull it out. Some massive blonde deuce came in earlier and tried. My boss has just taken him to a 'cell' for interrogations. Biggest bugger you ever saw, and he couldn't even make this thing budge.
"Sir,", JARVIS piped in, "Mr. Thomas is not alone. My scanners are picking up another life form. Its vital statistics are unusual however".
"Visually scan the room for me bud". Sure enough, within moments, he was staring at a tall man with black hair in a green suit, tugging at the hammer. He pulled once on the strap, then stopped, turning to regard Dean.
"Well, No one can make it budge," Harry replied, "but your friend down there's certainly going for it."
"What do you mean? This isn't a joking matter".
"I'm serious Dean. There's someone down there. Looks a bit like me actually, though he's dressed like a Slytherin. He's watching you right now."
"You're shitting me?"
"Nope. Stay put, l think I better come out to check things out." Hanging up before his friend could answer, he ran to the garage, grabbing his briefcase suit as he went. Tossing the suit onto the backseat, he leaped into his red and gold Ferrari F430 and sped off into the city streets.
-HPIM-
It was the middle of the morning by the time he pulled into a makeshift carpark outside a SHIELD facility in New Mexico. He leaped over the side of the car, grabbing the suit off the back seat as he went. Slipping on his sun glasses, he jogged up to the facility. He tapped the side of the frames.
"JARVIS, you there?"
"Yes, sir", came the velvety reply.
"Good. Dean said something about some blonde trying to take that hammer. You want to 'borrow' whatever files SHIELD have on this guy for me?" within seconds, the inner lenses of the glasses displayed a name and date of birth, as well as an occupation.
"Donald Blake, says here the guy's a Doctor? Run background on this guy, find out what you can."
"Mr. Stark," called a voice from further in the facility. Harry glanced up. A shield agent with light brown hair wearing purple leather and a quiver on his back approached, smiling amicably at him. "Dean and Nat have both mentioned you before. Clint barton – Hawkeye. Thanks for coming out." Harry shook the offered hand.
"They never actually mentioned you." Clint laughed, placing a hand over his heart.
"How could they not?" he demanded, pretending to be outraged, "I'm only the most important, handsome, successful, and brilliant SHIELD agent there is." Harry snorted as they walked through the facility.
"Humble too, huh bird boy?"
Barton shrugged. "I do my best." Harry laughed.
"Sir," JARVIS spoke urgently, "I have run background on Donald Blake. Until five days ago, the man did not exist. It is an alias, clearly invented for the stranger that attacked the SHIELD Facility to retrieve the artefact." Harry frowned.
"Thanks Jay." He turned to the agent beside him, "Where's this big blonde guy Dean mentioned?"
"Gone. They released him last night." Harry sighed before nodding.
"Mind if I have a quick look at the artefact? Running a few quick tests might help me pinpoint a point of origin or work out what it's supposed to do."
"Sure", Barton replied, "This way." Harry followed him towards a large central area, the same he'd seen on the view screens when Dean had rung him. The mud displayed signs of some sort of fight near to the hammer's resting spot. Barton stopped near the edge of the square as Harry stepped downstairs and moved over towards the hammer. He knelt in the dirt before it, scanning it with his glasses, before moving in a circle around it, taking photos from various angles.
"Have a look at this for me," he told the AI, "see if you can tell me anything interesting about our little friend here."
"The hammer is not made of any material on the periodic table. Initial scans suggest that the metal would be excellent for absorbing and storing energy, and would act well as a conductor for runic magics, such as those used in the Iron Man armour. It seems to be a more efficient alternative to Goblin Silver." Harry nodded.
"Well, that's interesting, isn't it?" He muttered softly, speaking to himself. He glanced up at the sound of alarms blaring around the facility. Barton frowned, placing a hand on the bow hanging at his back. Harry broke into a run, jumping up the stairs as he went. The two men rushed towards the entrance. "Into the car," Harry shouted, diving into the driver's seat as he spoke. Clint nodded, jumping into the passenger's side as Harry tossed the suit back into the rear passenger's seat. He slammed a foot on the gas, driving towards the nearest town.
"How do you know where to go?"
"Follow the smoke and the screams," he replied grimly. They came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street, staring at a large metallic figure with a man in green and black leather and a golden spear in one hand standing on its shoulder. On his head was a golden helmet with backwards sweeping horns. Harry stared at the raven-haired man. It was the same one he'd seen trying to retrieve the hammer.
"Not one of yours, then, I take it?" Harry shook his head.
"Not unless Edwin made a new one without mentioning it to me," he replied. The two stood side by side. The stranger glanced at them, disappearing from the robot's shoulder with a flash and standing in front of them.
"Stand down mortals," he snarled, "this fight has nothing to do with you."
"Yeah, sorry, but I've never been one for standing down, Reindeer games." With a snarl, the other man flicked the spear like a staff, sending a blast of green magical energy colliding into Harry's chest. He let out a groan as he slammed against the ground. Clint fired a shot, knocking the helmet off the stranger's head as the arrow slammed into the robot, exploding on impact. The sorcerer snarled, leaping at the archer, spear thrust forward. The agent rolled out of the way, sweeping the legs out from under the stranger and striking him across the mouth and chin with the bow.
Harry grabbed the suit out of the back of the car, dropping it on the ground, and stepping on the activation switch. The suit assembled around his body, beginning with his feet, legs, and arms, and finishing with his chest and head. Launching himself into the air, he fired several missiles towards the stranger, who raised his hand, conjuring a shimmering green bubble around himself. The missiles exploded against the shield, harmless as the shield disappeared. The stranger charged at him, swinging the spear as he went. The blade struck him in the shoulder, scratching the armour as it went.
Pain struck him as the blade pierced the skin of his shoulder. He let out a grunt, driving his fist into the other man's face. The stranger snarled as Harry repeatedly punched and kicked, digging the spear in deeper. A blast of energy shot out of the tip of the spear, knocking him into the ground. Barton leaped on the other man from behind, kicking him in the back and knocking him to the ground as he stood between them, jamming an arrow into the sorcerer's back as he went. The arrow exploded after several tense seconds, knocking him to the ground. The other guy grinned sadistically.
"Now it's fun then", he spun through the air, kicking Barton in the side of the head. The archer staggered backwards, firing an arrow into his assailant's shoulder as he whacked him once more with the arm of the bow. Harry fired a repulsor blast at him from behind, sending him crashing into the dust. He leaped once more to his feet, sweeping Clint's legs out from under him with the spear as he went. Thunder arced in the sky above them, and rain pelted down upon the ground. A small group of people stood huddled around something or someone lying on the ground as the rain fell harder. The other man plunged his spear blade first into Barton's shoulder, twisting it as he withdrew the blade and kicked the injured arm. Clint let out an agonising howl. The stranger glanced at the sky above them, frowning as he did so. He turned to Harry, bowing low.
"My cue to leave, I'm afraid, man of metal. Don't worry though, I shall leave the destroyer for you to play with." Harry frowned, lunging at him as he vanished in a flash of rainbow light. The Gryffindor swore, turning towards the hulking metal behemoth. It launched a massive golden burst of energy from a cavity opened in its head. Grabbing Clint, he flew out of range of the blast, depositing the archer on a roof.
"Got any more of those explosive shots?" he asked. The other man nodded.
"Good. Keep them coming." With that, he shot into the air, firing repulsors at the machine, which swatted at him as he flew in and out of reach around it. Still the rain poured ever harder, and lightning now split the skies in large, violent arcs, like daggers plunging through the air. A final blast of lightning slammed into the ground, splitting the street, and the behemoth staggered towards the ground, falling forwards. Harry pulled away from it, dodging just in time as a flying hammer shot past him, towards the crowd of individuals standing further back along the street. Another blast of lighting struck near them, causing the group to leap back. Standing in the centre was a tall blonde man clad in metal armour with a red cape and a helmet with swan's wings jutting out the sides. The man shot into the air, spinning the hammer in his right hand as he went. He soared towards harry and the destroyer like a ball out of a cannon. "Out of the way, man of metal" he bellowed. Harry obliged, landing on the roof next to Clint as the archer gawked at the scene in front of them.
"What's going on?"
Harry stared at him incredulously. "You're the superspy, bird boy".
"Yeah, and you're the genius, chrome dome."
"Touché". The blonde slammed into the destroyer head first, tearing a hole through its chest. The machine staggered backwards, falling to the ground with a sickening metallic thud as it lay in a cloud of dust. As it fell, several SHIELD cars pulled up on the outskirts of town, and the blonde man, landing to speak with the people on the ground, made his way out to greet them.
"Cavalry's here. Late". Clint muttered beside him. Harry nodded, staring at the scene before them.
"What do you say we go find out what the hell is going on?" Clint nodded, and allowed Harry to grip him by the elbow as he took off.
-HPIM-
"You are guardians of Midgard," the blonde was saying to Dean and another shield agent beside him as they approached, "if you return the items you borrowed –"
"Stole" interrupted a woman standing behind him, the blonde continued, ignoring her but for a pat on the shoulder.
"- From Jane and Erik, then you may count me as your ally from today."
"Of course," Dean's co-worker replied, smiling, "You'll get everything returned to you. And I'm sure the director will be happy to know you're on our side." He told the blonde.
"Oh yeah," Harry replied, "join up with SHIELD, we have great benefits. And if we can't tempt you with honey, we'll just blackmail you instead." They turned to look at him. A young woman next to the other woman stared at him in awe.
"Is that Iron Man?" she murmured softly. The old man at the back, no doubt 'Erik' nodded.
The blonde smiled, stepping forward, "Man of Iron. You are also a defender of Midgard?" Harry nodded.
"Earth's my jurisdiction. Who are you?"
"Thor Odinson. Prince of Asgard."
"As in the Norse gods?" Clint asked. The old man nodded.
"You get used to it. Eventually."
"I doubt that" Harry replied.
"Thank you for your aid. For now, I must return home and put an end to my brother's schemes. When I return, Man of Iron, I hope you can welcome another into your 'jurisdiction'".
"As long as you're a friend, and I'm pretty sure you are."
Thor nodded, stepping back. He turned to the brunette, and Harry didn't really understand their conversation. Something about a bridge, with a bit of flirtatious banter mixed in.
As the rest left, Barton glanced at him.
"Is your life always this weird?"
"Pretty much, yeah".