"What is this?"

Stephen and Peter stood with Tony in Tony's workshop in the Avengers Compound and stared at a piece of clothing that the doctor held magically in the air. It was mostly black and dark grey but on the chest and back ran white stripes in intricate patterns. Also, there were white stripes along the undersides of the arms, and the gloves had white palms, which created a stark contrast to the dark materials of the rest of the suit.

Above the center of the chest sat a golden glowing dome, that looked very much like the housing unit for Tony's nanites. Tony tapped it with two fingers, and it began immediately to transform. Within seconds, it had changed into a copy Tony's latest Iron Man armor, but with different colors, because it retained the colors of the suit underneath – dark grey metal with mat silver patterns on the chest and back. Except for the golden gauntlets.

Peter looked confused. "Wait, where did you get it from? Did you wear it all the time underneath your other clothes?"

"I have magic pockets." Stephen grinned.

"Wow! Like the handbag of Hermione Granger?" Peter marveled.

Stephen rolled his eyes. "No, I was kidding, it's not magic, It's Pym Particles. I shrunk the suit to fit it in my pocket."

Tony eyed him skeptically. "Hank Pym gave you access to his shrinking technology?"

"Yes. It took a while, but eventually, he had to admit that Tony is not Howard Stark. We convinced him to sign the New Sokovia Accords, and in exchange, all charges against Pym and his associates were dropped. Tony and Hank are working together since. Great minds that push each other to unprecedented intellectual heights."

Tony shook his head. "Weird."

Stephen grinned. Fondly, he ran a hand over the suit in front of him. "But it doesn't work like the suit of Ant-Man. It's not able to change the size of a person. It shrinks itself for better storage, but in its core, it is a modified model of the Mark L Iron Man Armor."

"Modified? How exactly? Aside from the colors and the shrinking, I mean."

Smiling, Stephen traced the lines on the chest plate with his hand. "All its electronic parts are specially shielded against magic."

"Why would anyone go through the effort to do that?"

"Because otherwise, the wearer tends to fry the circuits when he casts a spell. I know that. Had some quite painful accidents because of that."

"So, 'The wearer' means you, I suppose?"

The doctor nodded slowly.

"Nice thing, no question. But why are you showing it to me?"

"I've never worn it in a fight. Tony had no time to complete it."

Tony stepped around the armor to look at it from all sides.

"Looks complete to me..."

Stephen followed him. "The thing is: Because of said specially shielded circuits, Tony didn't manage to fully integrate the A.I. into the suit. See, in the last months, he didn't have the time to tinker on a passion project like this, we were busy to reintegrate the Rogue Avengers into the team."

"So, you want me to look into that?"

"I would appreciate it."

Out of a drawer on the wall, Tony pulled an instrument which he attached to the chest plate of the armor.

"Oh... That's odd." Tony tapped on the display of the gadget.

"What is odd?"

"There is something saved in the memory storage. It looks a bit like the patterns of an A.I., but not quite."

Stephen frowned. "Maybe Tony progressed further than he told me."

"It's not connected to any of the systems of the suit; it's just saved there." Tony looked up. "I could try to connect it. Shouldn't be a big deal."

"Yes, please. Go ahead."

With a nod, Tony started to tap again. Shortly afterward, the nanites of the suit retracted into it their housing unit.

"Rebooting..." Tony mumbled.

The armor formed again over the undersuit. This time it moved on its own accord. It looked around; then tentatively it lifted the arms and gazed at the hands.

"Is this normal?" Peter asked.

Tony shook his head. "Shouldn't move unless you give it a command..."

When they spoke, the head of the armor turned toward them. "Tony? Pete? ...Stephen? Is that you?" It stepped back until it hit a wall, then it dropped on the ground. "Please, help me! I don't know how to get out of here!"

Stephen's eyes went wide. "Bats? Ist that you?"

"Yes, Doc. Who else should I be?"

"Who's Bats?" Tony interrupted.

"Bats is our dog. He's a ghost, and he can talk," Peter explained.

"You have a talking ghost dog?"

"That's a kinda long story..."

Stephen knelt down and gently started to pet the armor. "He vanished two weeks ago. We thought he... moved on. Obviously, we were wrong." To the suit, he said, "How did you get in there, Bats?"

"I was looking for a good place for a nap, and it smelled so nice in here. Later I noticed I couldn't get out."

"Those specially shielded circuits seem to have trapped your ghost dog, once he was inside," Tony mused.

Peter also knelt down by Bats' side. "We have to get him out of there!"

"How? Should we call an exorcist?" Tony suggests.

"No! We're not going to harm Bats!" Stephen roared.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to get him out of there without damaging the armor or him. He has to stay there for the time being."

Stephen rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Great! Now I have an armor possessed by a canine ghost."

With a shrug, Tony tapped something into his tool. "I could make that work..."

"What do you mean?"

"Why program an A.I. from scratch, if you have something very similar, that already likes you and follows your commands? You know, like a dog."

Confused, Stephen looked at him. "What do you mean?" he repeated.

"It seems your dead dog is an energy-based entity, that possessed your suit. Obviously, he is already able to control it – he moves, he has access to the sensors of the armor and the voice output systems. All I would have to do is to integrate him properly into the operating system and hook him up to the internal databases." He pointed towards the armor. "If this really is a proper Mark L Iron Man armor, Bats'll be practically a shapeshifter, once I'm done with him."

"Wow! Did you hear that, Bats?" Peter asked excitedly. He looked at Tony. "Can you program some dog-like shapes for him? And modify the sensors, that their output feels more doggish?"

With a soft smile, Tony answered, "I'll try my best, Kiddo."

"Can I help?"

Tony stared at Stephen as if he was asking him for permission to allow it.

The doctor just shrugged. "Your lab, your decision."

"Okay, Kiddo! Grab a hammer and a screwdriver we're doing advanced software engineering now!"

Laughing, Stephen turned to Bats. "Is this okay for you?"

"Yes, Doc. I trust Peter and Tony."

Stephen patted the helmet again and whispered, "Good boy." To Peter and Tony, he said, "I'll leave you to it, then. I have some preparations of my own to do."

With a nod, he left the room.