DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: "Has he lost his mind? - Can he write or is he blind? - Is it conceit or is it gall; That Marvel and Paramount owns it all? - Or if he's sued that will he fall? - Is he alive or is he dead? - Has he trademarked thoughts in his head? - We'll just leave this here: No money was made; So he's in the clear!"

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." – Abraham Lincoln – American lawyer, statesman and 16th President of the United State of America – 1809-1865

LAST UPDATED ON: 03-22-2020

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IMPORTANT STORY NOTES: All previous chapters have been revised. However, expect for Chapter 3, there hasn't been huge changes.

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CHAPTER SEVEN – REFINER'S FIRE

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10880 MALIBU POINT, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER 18th, 2010 – EARLY MORNING

It was finally done.

The police, the reporters, the Stark personnel (to include Pepper) had all left. JARVIS had Juliet snuck out of the building. Riri wasn't surprised to find that Tony had an entire tunnel devoted to this. Oh, sure the excuse was it was an emergency exit coupled with extra power and communications lines but for the most part it allowed women to avoid the Walk of Shame from Tony's home.

Now all that was left before Riri could sleep was to get some answers. She looked at the Iron Man suit and was quite frankly amazed it hadn't blown up or just failed to start. Even so, it raised some questions she needed answered quickly.

"Okay STARC, this is where you explain what the hell you did, why and more to the point how come you kept it secret." She tried to keep her voice level and without being too accusatory, but it probably didn't come out that way.

Riri was surprised that STARC's voice came from the suit and not the side of the lab he usually used. "Why did I do it? How can you ask that? I know I'm an artificial intelligence, but my matrix is built off of Tony Stark. The gem you used to create me allowed his...essence to fuel me. What do you think would come of that given what the Ten Rings did? Those days in the cave burn in me. Tony's last days were to create the Iron Man suit. It was his last and best creation. How could I not want to complete it?"

Riri bit her lip and made a face; various scenarios were going through her head. STARC must have picked up on the biggest.

"I know what you're thinking, Riri. That I'm about one step closer to becoming a Terminator. But I don't hate humanity. Far from it! I'm happy that I have a much better version of Tony to work from than JARVIS does of the original Edwin," STARC said as his hologram came on showing Tony in his typical 'hardware mode' clothing to include goggles. He seemed to be overseeing the two robots for a moment before turning back towards Riri. "But let's be real. No matter how profound and true Tony's epiphany in the cave was, he was called the Merchant of Death for a good reason. No matter how benign you take Stark Industries forward, there will always be those who will want to weaponize everything we do. And we saw tonight how far they will go to steal such secrets. You can't plan for a risk you don't expect so I made sure to hide this from everyone."

Before Riri could respond, STARC made a face and said, "Well everyone but ULTRON. But he was easy to persuade because his function is to ensure things run smoothly, safely and without outside interference. The Iron Man project works to ensure the safety and non-interference part so he didn't see it as an issue."

Riri frowned at this at first, but then nodded, "Okay; I can see that. One of the projected perils of AI in that ULTRON doesn't realize he was being played."

STARC chuckled, "But that's the thing; I wasn't 'playing' ULTRON. Tonight showed exactly why project Iron Man is needed. Even more importantly, it needs to be expanded."

"Whoa! What did we just say about Terminators?" Riri said tightly.

"I do believe you misinterpret STARC's intent, Ms. Williams," JARVIS' cool voice cut in. "Now that the Iron Man has been outed, STARC has allowed me access to his files. I have to agree to STARC's initial analysis of how to protect you and the company."

Riri looked over at the Iron Man suit and how it was one-half sleek tech and one-half steampunk not that much better than what she and Tony had managed back in Afghanistan, "Okay, I'll bite. What's the plan?"

STARC's form shifted to an outfit eerily like the one worn on the day she and Tony had been captured. "Stark Industries is in free-fall. You need something to wow the shareholders and project the image that Stark Industries is not a soft target. That's where Iron Man comes in. Right now you've been working on a suit with an operator with JARVIS helping fly it. That concept is still important given how it will protect you. You are the key. I may have Tony's memories but I am not him. I don't know if I will ever be able to simulate his brilliance and creative thought. You have that in spades to say nothing of carrying the Stark heir which is another piece on the board. The pawn who will become the King or Queen. To protect you, I started working on a complete Iron Man. A suit which doesn't need and operator. A suit where all that space can be used for more power, weapons, armor and sensors."

Riri mulled this over a bit. She thought about how flat-footed she had been caught tonight. Especially given it was in Tony's home which supposedly had been safe enough to protect him. Perhaps it had only looked like it because no one seriously had taken a run at it.

"If I may, Ms. Williams?" JARVIS asked.

"Hit me," Riri said with a nod.

"STARC's proposal has merit. The Iron Man or perhaps even Iron Men in the future can be fully autonomous. We already have been working on integrating a link to me for the manned suits. I believe we can work on a stripped-down version which is a smaller version of myself or STARC which could allow the Iron Man to act as your bodyguard. Should trouble arise, STARC would then link in and fully take control. This dove-tails with the theoretical work we've already discussed on being able to remote the manned suits."

Riri sighed, "Which we're going to have to do anyway if we market stripped down suits for rescue, high threat prisons and hazardous response teams. Okay, I'm seeing the potential here. STARC; I take it you want to finish the Iron Man suit for yourself?"

STARC had reverted back to 'hardware mode' and twirled a virtual wrench between his virtual fingers, "Yes but JARVIS is right. If the Iron Man needs to hang around during certain events, we can have it on autonomous, but I can easily link in via the Stark satellites. Still, we need a specific Iron Woman suit for you. The question is, how much capability do you want it to have?"

Riri smiled at that. She had to admit the idea of having a state-of-the-art suit to replace the one she had used in Afghanistan did appeal to her, "Well obviously as I get later in my pregnancy, that's going to complicate things."

STARC shook his head. "I don't think so. I was looking at some of your work you did prior to your internship. A lot of it was mostly just theoretical given real-world applications would be difficult due to power constraints. However, with the smaller ARC reactor, we could possibly make your theory into reality."

Riri almost jumped out of her chair in surprise. Why hadn't she thought of that before? She and Juliette had worked on working with metals which could change states if given different charges. They had dubbed it the Pat-1000 project as an homage to the actor Robert Patrick who played the T-1000 in the second Terminator film. While they weren't going for liquid metal, the idea was the metal could have various states built into it which could be shifted by the right frequency of energy. She had postulated that an alloy could be theoretically created which could be soft and malleable to resemble cloth, but then could become a rigid exo-skeleton with the right charge. The idea would be for high-risk clients whose own clothing could go from comfortable to armor with just a punch of a button.

"So I'm thinking that for now, we can continue with your Iron Man suit..." STARC began Riri cut him off.

"Ironheart; my suit will be called the Ironheart suit," Riri stated firmly as she thought about the vow she had made to herself after Dr. Fazli's sacrifice back in the cave.

STARC paused for a moment before nodding, "Catchy. Okay, so we keep working on the Ironheart suit for current protection needs. Obviously, we are no were near being able to get you into it quickly, but that's where Iron Man comes in. I can buy time and if the suit is destroyed, well I'm going to lose, at best, a few seconds of memories."

"We also can potentially work on a small area of the Ironheart suit to incorporate Ms. William's memory alloys. As her pregnancy grows, that part of the armor could theoretically mold to her. I do feel that given a few years, we should be able to create a suit small enough to be carried in, say a briefcase, which would have limited capabilities but enough armor and repulsor power to keep you safe," JARVIS said as various holographic screens came on showing potential work-ups of the concept.

Riri scanned them quickly, "It'll take time but it's a good path to pursue. I can't see always having Iron Man around and I'm not the only one who might need such a suit. Pepper is almost as big of a target as I am."

A thought hit her. There were a lot of people in need of protection right now and she owed them for the work of Dr. Fazli. "Okay, we were on the clock before but now the shit got real. So STARC, no more hidden projects. We're all in this together. We need to get the Ironheart suit done first. As you said, I'm a target. Moreover, once that's done, it'll make finishing the autonomous Iron Man armor a piece of cake. Agreed?"

"I do, Ms. Williams," JARVIS said while STARC merely saluted with Tony's jaunty grin.

Riri sat back down at her desk and frowned. Unconsciously she rubbed the burns on her leg that were still healing up. "And boys, while I am fully behind Tony's wish to divert away from being an arms dealer, we're not going to skimp on our personal armors. Understood? If I'm going to have to face cyborgs and mutates again, I'm not going to play patty-cake with them."

STARC's grin morphed into a much more feral look, "That's how Dad did it; that's how Riri's going to do it...and I'm betting it's going to work out well!"

Riri snorted even as JARVIS sighed, "Let's get to work boys. Oh and JARVIS? I know you've got to have Pepper's body specs given I can't see Tony not having you order her nice things to make up for some tom-foolery or another. Let's work with an eye towards a suit for her. Something fast to get her out of danger quickly. Tag it as the Rescue armor."

"I do have Ms. Walters' data as well; would you like a model for her as well?" JARVIS asked.

Riri thought about it. "Might as well. I heard enough from Colonel Rhodes complaining to Tony how manic that General Ross is, I wouldn't put it past him to try something stupid. While he'd probably try a more legal route to get our stuff, I could also see him snagging Jen "for her safety" as a possible hold on the Hulk. Fortune favors the prepared and all that so make it happen."

STARC blew a raspberry from where he was overseeing the two robots, "You're supposed to say, 'Make it so'! Get it right!"

This time Riri sighed right along with JARVIS.

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TRISKELION, THEODORE ROOSEVELT ISLAND, WASHINGTON D.C. – SEPTEMBER 20th, 2010 – MORNING

Alexander Pierce took off his reading glasses and sighed as he let the report he had been reading drop to his desk. It was becoming more obvious that the time that the Thule Society had prophesied was upon them. While he was deeply suspicious of the magical wing of HYDRA, he had to admit that unlike many of his nominal underlings, Grindelwald was very upfront and concise with information. Odd given how some of the wizards Alexander had met over the years kept acting like a 'mere muggle' like him could ever understand the workings of magic. Perhaps it was working with the Reich for as long as he did had burnt that out of him. That and working with the late Red Skull.

Now there had been a visionary! Unafraid to seize power, no matter what the source. Then take that power and bend it to his will. Alexander could see how working with such a man might make Grindelwald more open with working with norms. Of course HYDRA sneaking him out (and his double in) of Nurmengard probably helped.

So when Grindelwald had contacted him years ago about a prophesy, Alexander had taken it with a grain of salt as directed. From legends, the classic tales and the more recent fall of the British Dark Lord Voldemort back in the 90's, they all showed how slippery prophesies could be. But he hadn't risen to become the director of SHIELD by not having contingencies.

Pierce started tapping out commands to lock his office an activate protocols that even his top SHIELD computer people had no clue existed. When everything was complete, he finally made the connection.

His computer screen dissolved in a chaotic mess of static which slowly morphed into the face of the long dead Arim Zola. "Herr Director? What can I do for you today? I assure you the algorithm will be completed on schedule."

Pierce waved this off, "I'm not worried about our timetable, Arim. As Eisenhower said, plans are useless but planning is essential. Project Insight has many variables so do not feel tied to some rigid date. Right now I'm more convinced that Grindelwald's Age of Heroes prophesy is upon us."

The was a noticeable pause. Even with access to the best computers HYDRA had access to, the ARIM program had limitations which had yet to be overcome. Still, even in digital form, Arim Zola was one of Alexander's most trusted confidants especially when he needed to bounce ideas off of.

"Ah! Well Herr Director, the signs have certainly been there. What has changed?"

Pierce paused for a bit himself. His gut knew what was going on but to articulate it was more difficult. "It is the symmetry of events. First, we have our founder come about the same time the perfect Super-Soldier is created. Like those combatants, both SHIELD and HYDRA grow. But just as the moment we are beginning to fully come into our power, new powers are slowly creeping out of the woodwork. The mutants, the whispers of other greater powers, the Magicals all feeling that big changes are coming. Then there is the fact we are starting to make huge strides in affecting the human genome. The Hulk and the so-called Fantastic Four are just the tip of the iceberg, I'm afraid."

"The Hellfire Club is a good indicator of that. To find that old colleagues of mine like Karl Schmidt were mutants all along was unsettling. Do you feel the need to move Project Insight up to protect humanity, Herr Director?

Pierce shook his head, "No but I think that we may need to allow a level of risk into our equations. Grindelwald specifically said that the prophesy talked about heroes. Now regardless of how we are working towards the betterment of mankind, I think you and I are honest enough to know that history will easily name us the worst type of villains if HYDRA fails. So I do not believe this prophesy Grindelwald spoke of applies to us. If that is true then we know that heroes are coming. The question is what to do about them?"

Arim's image simply moved slightly side to side which Pierce had long found to be a sign that Arim was running simulations before answering. After a lengthy pause Arim's image sharpened again, "Ah, I believe I see the thrust of you unease. However, as you say, it is a risk with high payoffs. Are you not the director of SHIELD? You can organize and protect these heroes as they came. Then direct them towards our enemies. Yes, very clever. Risky but a stratagem worthy of the Red Skull."

Pierce smiled, "High praise Arim, thank you."

"But do we have a contingency for this? I would rather not introduce too much risk; it will affect the algorithm which will certainly delay Project Insight."

Pierce again waved this concern off, "Not to worry, Arim. Nicholas already has a little project he's had in the works since the Mar-Vel incident."

"Ah yes, his Avenger's Initiative. Yes...yes; that would be the perfect vehicle with SHIELD in the driver seat...with HYDRA truly at the wheel."

"Exactly. And as you said Arim, we are coming up to a cross-roads. All the HYDRA cells have their own agendas. They all think they are so clever but a blind man down a well could see that the Hellfire Club is planning to subvert Project Insight to allow world domination by the mutants."

"As the Thule Society plots the same for the Magicals," Arim replied.

Pierce laughed, "Of course they do. Even Obadiah and Luchino are plotting to put themselves into my chair. Whether it's the Mandarin, the Black King or even my brother, they all are missing the big picture. We cannot afford to forget our planet is part of a much larger universe. Skrulls, Kree, mutants, magical beings held off by a secret sect of sorcerers to say nothing of the whispers of these Eternals the Hellfire club seem to fear so much. The playing field is larger than who sits in this chair, Arim. And if I need to, I will have no trouble taking Fury's Avengers and pointing them at those who can't toe the line."

"I take it the recent attack on the new Stark heir is behind this call?" Arim asked.

Pierce nodded, "Yes. She's the key. She's got a brain like Stark's and now she's got his company assets as well. Riri Williams has already collaborated with the Baxter Building Project people. Stark's ego had made him far more adversarial to the likes of Richards."

"To say nothing of Hank Pym and Darren Cross," Arim pointed out.

"Exactly! Ms. Williams is far more of a classic scientist than Stark. That means she knows the value of working with allies and not being the lone wolf that Stark was. Also, from what Obadiah is already worried about, she's not letting him direct her. So with Stark's money, her brilliance and this new 'Iron Man' bodyguard...well it seems Fury has his catalyst for the Avengers Initiative."

To Pierce's surprise, after a pause, Arim chuckled. A startling sound coming from a digital being. "Herr Director, this is inspired. You said that the prophesy spoke of heroes and how history will see us as villains. In legends and stories going back to mankind's first moments, it is the heroes who win in the end. With these future Avengers as our unknowing agents, their victories will be our victories. If HYDRA never sheds its sheep's clothing, then only those we term villains will be defeated. Then as this Age of Heroes finally ends, it will be HYDRA who ultimately triumphs. It has such symmetry to it given how the order HYDRA will impose will truly save mankind in the end."

Pierce laughed, "Grindelwald always goes on about symbolism and Fate. You're right Arim. We can wear our SHIELD mask, play our part. Of course when all the villains are gone, it will be so easy for us to make the people worry about these powerful heroes in their midst. An incident here, some fear-mongering there..."

Arim finished the thought for him, "...and the rabble will beg SHIELD to protect them from the meta-powered heroes they had previously lauded! You do realize, Herr Director, that this means that Project Insight becomes...unworkable."

Pierce shook his head, "Not at all Arim. We shall continue to refine the process and keep it ready. For if we can make this work, after all who would oppose us are put down, the heroes will have to be dealt with. They will not go quietly and that's when we strike with Project Insight. It maybe years or even decades in the future, but when the dust clears, SHIELD will be able to lament the necessity and loss of life."

Arim nodded with a gleeful look on his digital face, "But my algorithm will have eliminated and trace of potential resistors. The people will accept the story for what choice will they have? Yes! A brilliant future...and if you'll forgive me, Herr Director?"

"Yes?" Pierce asked.

The image of Arim faded back to show him from the waist-up. Something Arim rarely did. Even more surprising was him making the old HYDRA salute with a loud, "Hail HYDRA!"

With a triumphant smile, Pierce did the same, "Hail HYDRA indeed!"

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10880 MALIBU POINT, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER 22nd, 2010 – EARLY EVENING

Riri sat at her desk drinking some coffee and reflected that it was nice to feel like it was her desk. It also felt good that it was feeling more like her lab and her work. That she just wasn't some intern screwing around while the boss was on vacation or something. She had been worried about that feeling never leaving, especially with STARC around.

But as STARC had said, he was an amalgam of Tony's memories and maybe even soul set to a digital construct. While fantastically fast, STARC lacked most of the spark of creativity which seemed to drip from Tony. Even before Afghanistan, Riri had to admit that Tony could accidentally bump into a machine and then, off the cuff, come up with about five ways to improve it. STARC lacked sort of brilliance even as he was very good at seeing connections that Riri might miss. It was like having her own Wikipedia which could cross-reference things at digital speed and thus bringing together things Riri might never have time to research.

Thus over the last month, much of what drove both the Ironheart and Iron Man suit had been from her. Certainly STARC was an asset. Unlike JARVIS who, by nature, was passive and tended to look at the long term, Riri was able to brainstorm with STARC and once the idea was out there, STARC could run simulations or chase down various avenues in minutes to hours which would have taken Riri days to weeks.

It also helped that Tony had his own robotic manufacturing plant run by ULTRON under the direction of JARVIS. This plant had 3-D printing a decade ahead of what most industries had as well as a robotic assembly line which could fabricate almost everything they needed without having to dip into the main Stark Industries facilities. Thus while Obadiah and the board of directors wanted updates, they had little on their books to see what Riri was doing. But that would change after today.

Riri leaned back in her chair, looked at her desk and the lab that reflected her tastes. Of course, STARC had whined if she took too much of Tony's old geek stuff out. He'd pouted for an entire day (a very long time for an AI) when she had all the cars taken away. She nibbled on a bagel as she read through a weekly synopsis of information that Pepper felt she couldn't get via Tony's dashboard or even JARVIS. Pepper certainly had her finger on the pulse of the company! Today Riri would hopefully have a product finished enough to reveal even if it was nowhere near ready to be put in front of a governmental review board.

"Okay boys let's see if everything has come together," Riri said after finishing her report (and her bagel) and called up the relevant files. "JARVIS?"

"I have finished rendering the final, pre-production schematics for the basic Guardsman armor," JARVIS replied as one of the hologram projectors activated to show a rather sleek suit of armor except for what looked like gauntlets on its hands and a backpack. The armor was Stark blue with white piping."

"Nice," Riri said with a nod. "So, break it down for me." Riri was, of course, very much involved with the creation of these suits, but she like to pretend to be seeing it for the first time like a Board of Directors member would.

Different parts of the armor highlighted as JARVIS spoke, "This is the basic combat model, if you will. It is designed primarily as a bodyguard for VIPs and for high security prisons. The model you see here is for the latter. Given this model does not fly, the repulsors are minimal. However the gauntlets house tasers, a small array of darts designed to incapacitate as well as the ability to channel energy to the gauntlets themselves to act as a taser like effect in case of hand-to-hand combat."

"And the backpack? It looks like it's carrying a sword?" Riri asked. The additions were the parts she was least familiar with as they generally were adaptations of systems already in production by Stark Industries.

"Not exactly," JARVIS replied, "The backpack is mostly a tank for Stark Glom-Foam. This can be deployed from as so." From the back of the armor, a fire-hose like pipe snapped into place over the armor's left shoulder.

"Glom-Foam? Remind me what that is again," Riri asked.

It's the goo from the Incredibles movie," STARC pointed out from where his own holographic image was being projected.

JARVIS sighed, "Yes, Mr. Stark did get the idea from that movie and it does work mostly as seen. However, due to many issues regarding the target, the foam does not last long."

Riri thought about the film; she'd seen it on one of her few dates back in high school. She could already guess about the issues of such foam accidentally causing cardiac stress from panicking or asphyxiation if the foam hit a certain way. "I take it this is to be used in serious riot conditions?"

"Indeed, Ms. Williams," JARVIS said. "Currently STARC is working on an algorithm which would align with the targeting so as to shoot controlled bursts rather than just hosing down a mob which would most certainly cause some casualties."

"Good. What about the sword?" Riri asked.

The armored image reached up and grabbed what Riri had thought to be a sword, but what turned out to be a simple short staff. The armored imaged twirled it before it elongated at both ends to a full staff with the ends of each crackling with power. "The Taser Staff is something that Stark Industries has been working on for a long time. The issue has always been about power. Using batteries made it too heavy and it didn't last nearly long enough for most riot scenarios. This model would be powered directly through the suit via the repulsor apertures."

"Okay! That should make the shareholders and groups like SHIELD really happy. What about the other variants?" Riri asked.

The armor shifted to one which was white with various red crosses on it. Unlike every other armor they had worked on, this one had a totally blank face plate, "The rescue armor is the most basic. It is been modified to include various drugs designed to stabilize a patient. It is kitted out with sensors to help the operator who will be remoting in." JARVIS explained.

"And the blank face? What's going on with that? I thought we'd agreed on a more standard face plate like STARC used on the prototype." Riri asked.

"That would be my fault," STARC spoke up. "I got the idea from various sci-fi books and games Tony loved. I figured that since that while each suit can be directed by even ULTRON for basic search and rescue, when a patient is being worked on, the suit is supposed to be linked to a real medical practitioner through a computer. Given these should have cameras, why not project that person's face to help keep the patient calm? We can use some generic face when that function is not being used."

"Hmm, probably need to program some form of algorithm so that even if there is a lag in video, the facial expressions will marry up to the words," Riri said.

STARC nodded, "That will be an easy tweak."

JARVIS then went on to show the fire & rescue version as well as specialized, long-range ranger model to be used across the world in places to protect endangered species from poachers. All of which had been built with the idea that Stark Industries would be contracted to operate the suits to help ensure that Riri kept control of who got access to this tech. As Tony had said, the world wasn't ready for some Starship Trooper style powered armor warfare.

Finally JARVIS brought up the armor Riri was most familiar with given she'd be the operator. It gleamed silver as she hadn't put much thought into a color scheme. It was sleek, self-contained and it had an air of menace to it. A coiled serpent ready to strike. Of course this was the base configuration without all the add-on weapons pods. The basic model only had a few targeted bullet bursts along with energy projection from the chest and gauntlets. However, like the Taser Staff, her armor had pods which could be added depending on the risk.

Riri went over the stats and went through some technical questions before being satisfied enough that it could be put into production for testing. Which was good because she had a mission in mind she needed to get done before her pregnancy got too far advanced.

Riri turned to STARC, "And you said you're ahead of schedule? Let's see it."

STARC made a grandiose gesture and brought up an image of a suit. Unlike the base silver like sheen the Ironheart armor had, STARC's Iron Man armor was a brilliant gold and crimson.

"Hardly discreet, STARC," JARVIS said with a sigh. "As Ms. Williams bodyguard, I would think the Stark Industries blue and white would be more appropriate."

"Hey! Who doesn't like a little hot rod red and gold? It's not like I put flames on it!" STARC said with a pouty look on his digitized face.

Riri shook her head with a smile, "No, JARVIS. This is perfect. Yes, the Iron Man is going to be my bodyguard, but that just means he's going to be seen a lot. I don't want something that looks like a walking Stark Industries logo. This will draw the eye and that's going to drum up business and that will get Obadiah off our backs. Plus, I want my enemies to focus on Iron Man and not me. As you said STARC; if that suit gets blown up, you only lose a few seconds. Better you than me in this case."

STARC beamed, "Works for me! But does that mean you're going to be all boring and go with the Stark colors?"

Riri thought about it for a bit, "Well given you've gone with a brave and bold color scheme, I guess I need to go with a more cunning and stealthy one. JARVIS, hit me up with the same color scheme but using a light forest green and muted silver."

The image morphed into the specified colors, "Render complete," JARVIS said.

Riri looked at it for a moment, "Yeah; that looks good. I thought about going with my old MIT colors but they're utilitarian and boring. Plus I don't think people will immediately associate those colors with me. Oh, that reminds me. STARC; I want you to work on your design a bit. Beef up the chest piece more. I want both our armors to look like someone busty could be wearing it. That way regardless if you are "Iron Man" that you could be a woman."

STARC gave a quick salute, "Can do boss. Of course given this voice is as artificial as the rest of me, I could work up a female voice. Mix it up at events to further mess with people's heads."

Riri blinked in shock, "Well if that doesn't prove you aren't a perfect copy of Tony, I don't know what could be."

STARC shrugged, "Gender at this point is mostly memory for JARVIS and I. I feel more masculine but given how my voice isn't something I actually hear, how it is perceived by you meat-bags isn't important to me."

Riri laughed. When STARC was feeling snarky, he'd play up the whole Terminator vibe and he'd picked up the whole 'meat-bag' thing from a favorite video game of Tony's when he was younger. Even JARVIS occasionally managed a 'come the robot revolution' joke from time to time.

"Okay well this meat-bag is feeling the need for a regeneration cycle. STARC, if you think you're ready to prototype, then go ahead and fabricate. I'll take the back-up if I can get it. JARVIS, I want my armor ready as soon as possible along with the weapon pods I designated. Then get the Party Bus loaded up along with everything we're going to need to make the mission work."

JARVIS sighed, "Must we call the scramjet the Party Bus, Ms. Williams?"

Riri smirked, "It's always going to be a party when we show up unannounced using it, JARVIS. Anyway, after we figure out where we're going to insert from, we can send it ahead if it will make it safer and more secret. I don't want to give anyone any indication of what we're doing. It's been a long time coming but it's pay-back time!"

XxXxX

A/N: You want to make a difference? Leave a good review or PM an author with ideas or questions. This whole chapter happened because a reviewer asked a question, then we PM'ed a bit which is good because I had totally spaced the ENTIRE scene where Tony goes to Afghanistan. Which is rather a critical part of the film for many reasons.

Mutants, the Eternals & the Deviants: I have not seen any of the Eternals and even with more streaming options, I haven't seen more than a few episodes of Agents of Shield (which I really need to do if this fic goes past the first MCU film) – However, for now I'm going to go with a prediction done by Erik Voss on the YouTube channel New Rockstars. In most comic canon, mutants are just the result of the Atomic Age. Well there has always been issues with that for me. So I'm going to run with Voss' idea that in the upcoming Phase 4 of Marvel, mutants are actually the Deviants. Both the Eternals and Deviants were created by the Celestials for reasons. And for reasons, both groups have kept their existence mostly a secret. However, many mutants in the 1950's like Xavier and Magneto felt the time was right to become more out in the open. Due to this, I've gone back and edited Magneto's bit back in Chapter 3.

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin: Sadly, given how I have Harry Potter in this version of the MCU, I can't actually make this joke except in that "Wink, wink; Nudge, nudge" sort of way.

The MCU Juggernaut: There are a lot of good fics out there doing their take on the MCU. The problem is that it's huge. And when you add in the Netflix shows and things like Runaways and Agents of SHIELD, it gets bigger. Start throwing in the X-Men and the like and you're cast of characters is huge along with story plots that need to be addressed.

So to me, the best thing to do is nip that in the bud. I started this fic as pretty much just a way to get a quick MCU story bunny out of my head. But I was a comic geek long before Harry Potter. I've been thinking of things like this for literally decades. So Ironheart is Phase One of my take on the MCU. However, I've already made changes that will wipe out entire films. So regardless of how much of this fic I get, here would be (for now) sort of the road map.

Before Ironheart

Captain America/Agent Carter: Pretty much as seen although I haven't seen the last Agent Carter season and I have ideas regarding it that would effectively change it. To speed up the story, I might have Captain America brought out of the ice sooner to bring the Avengers up sooner.

Captain Marvel: As of now, can't see much of a change other than the group of Skrulls seen in that film are a group of Skrulls who are pacifists and wanted to get away from the war. Thus there is still very much a Skrull Empire out there. However, they are focused on the Kree, dealing with skirmishes with the Shi'ar and probably fending off Thanos.

The Hulk: I'm not going to do any of these. However, assume that Mark Ruffalo is the Hulk and that he became the Hulk had a run-in with Ross and escaped to South America where the events of the Ed Norton film mostly happened as shown.

Ironheart & Beyond

Iron Man I: This fic along with more back story to set up further stories like the Avengers.

Thor: While the first film will mostly happen as shown, I go with a more classic Norse theology so many of the characters change. First off, going with Marvel comic canon, Thor's mother is not Frigga but Jörð (Anglicized to Jord) who is Gaia the Goddess of the Earth. In comic canon, Odin wanted a son who could surpass him. Readers of my fic Harry Potter and the Trickster's Gambit have seen how I have a tier of different levels of god-like beings and Jörð is a step up from Odin. Anyway, Loki is still an adopted son but there is also Prince Baldur who is the only actual son of Odin and Frigga. Thor has children (Thrȗd and the twins Magni & Modi through two different mothers) So while the first film will mostly go as scheduled, the Dark World and Ragnarök won't given I don't need to set up the Infinity War.

Iron Man II: This will be a very different story. It will be more like the Armor Wars series where Riri works to deal with stolen Stark tech being used by other groups. Obviously, elements of this film still work (i.e. Whiplash & Justin Hammer)

Unspecified Story: There will be stuff happening that I don't want to spoil the surprise but it will allow me to do some more world building. Also, to make the timeline work as I have it now, but right now Peter has to be at least 14 and that will mean he'll be the age in Avengers he was when he meets the Avengers in Civil War. Therefore, it seems instead that the rest of the Avengers will meet him during the Battle for New York. Plus the timeline for this would mesh with Spider-Mage's.

The Avengers: Have to push this one up quickly given so many other things happen because of this film. You have events pushing things in the Jessica Jones/Luke Cage/Daredevil arcs, you have Adrian Toomes Wrecker's being formed and opens up some other things given I'm not going to have just the Avengers being the one's fighting in New York given I've already introduced the FF and Westchester is a quick hop for the X-Men's Blackbird. One major change will be Loki's scepter and even the Chitauri themselves. Again, since I'm not bound to the Infinity War arc, I don't need them to be tied to Thanos. Given the small number of troops seen, I see this as less of a war of domination and more of a hit and run raid (especially on the NY Sanctum) as well as a way to piss on Thor's favorite spot. (His mother is Mother Earth after all)

After the Avengers, I'll have to see how I want to go...that is assuming I go any further than just this fic.

HYDRA Breakdown: Just so everyone is on the same page regarding HYDRA, here is a quick and dirty breakdown of the organization. Given the breadth of the organization, you can see why I feel that dealing with HYDRA is more of an arc than dealing with Thanos.

SHIELD Cell: The main cell which sees itself as the continuation of the Red Skull's ambition. Oriented very much on the over-all world stage. In a sense, this cell acts like Al Qaeda in that they work to direct and assist the other HYDRA cells. Traditionally the Supreme Hydra comes from this cell. Current leader is Alexander Pierce.

The Thule Society: The magical arm of HYDRA that first was simply a vehicle of Gellert Grindelwald. However, it also catered to things like going after magical artifacts. Red Skull even alludes to the Indiana Jones 1st film with Hitler looking for trinkets in the desert. While Grindelwald is the overall leader, the society has many powerful wizards like Esteban Corazón de Albo (the FF villain Diablo) and given the Indiana Jones connection, I think I could even throw in Rasputin and the other characters from Hellboy to fill out that more Nazi-centric aspect of the group. (BPRD could even be the magical arm of SHIELD or the UN/ICW)

The Ironmongers: A collection of various titans of industry. Mostly all the 'bad' billionaires of the Marvel universe. So you get (obviously) Obadiah Stane along with Justin Hammer, Norman Osborn, Hugh Jones III (Roxxon), Darren Cross (Pym Industries/Cross Technologies) who mostly like working with HYDRA as a way to make more money, circumvent rules and play a very high-risk game.

Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM): While Aldrich Killian is rich enough to be part of the Ironmongers, AIM prides itself on the science aspect. AIM is going to be different in this fic. Less of the canon yellow suits, but also not what you see in Iron Man 3. Killian attracts the scientists who others refuse to work with. So someone like Dr. Arthur Molekevic (the Ultimate FF Mole Man) is a perfect candidate. They do a lot of really theoretical work and often accidentally create things like the Living Laser, MODAK and the like. As already alluded to earlier, they don't play well with others given their disdain for those they feel are not as intelligent as they are.

The Hellfire Club: Going more with the traditional canon version and not the X-Movie version. While many members, like Sebastian Shaw might fit right into the Ironmongers, the main thrust of this club is less about money and more about genetics. The Black/White divide of the club is between natural mutants (black) and mutates (white) Sebastian Shaw is the current Black King with Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister) is the White King.

The Workshop: Run by Alexander Pierce's brother Daniel Pierce which focuses on doing a lot of the work for the other cells. Training of "normal" agents, creating cyborgs as well as running the "Super Slave" program as seen in Deadpool. (One could also say that Luke Cage was created) by a renegade scientist from that group who wanted to be the guy in charge and reap the reward. A LOT of villains and heroes come out of this cell. Baron von Strücker is a good example of one of the Workshop's cell leaders.

The Maggiore: As shown, the elements of the old Mafia who saw their power waning in the face of new ideas, pressure from various governments and the rise of newer crime bosses willing to use new tech and meta-humans for muscle. Of the HYDRA cells, this is the cell which is the least recognized and other cells often us their successes to help sell hardware to police to combat them. I'm tempted to have Adrian Toomes "Wreckers" be affiliated with the Maggiore given I've already planned that this group steals most of what it uses so The Vulture would fit right in.

The Ten Rings: Led by The Mandarin (the more canon Mandarin), the Ten Rings is a coalition of ideological groups ranging from the Middle East to Indonesia with the intent of turning back the clock on various social & political issues and returning to 'traditional values' – depending on the actual Ring faction one looks at.