Hey, Everyone! As I stated in my notes last chapter, I recommend watching the lead-in episodes of the series, as I will NOT be re-writing all of them. This one is a special case in that I have chosen it as the overlap to establish Duncan's presence in New York, and you should still watch the "Iron Man is Born" episode for Tony's full perspective, as I wrote this version mostly to Duncan's.

A big 'Thanks!' to my followers for the positive reviews on Chapt.1! Though no one caught the Easter Egg of the high school Duncan attended for his freshman year near Chicago as the same one from "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Beuller's Day Off".

As for "Guest": Seriously? Are you really that stupid? First you troll my story, then tell me to help your friend and try to threaten me/my profile & followers to do it? I haven't laughed that hard in MONTHS! Needless to say, the only thing I will be doing regarding your sorry attempt at online extortion will be to leave your so-called 'review' up so all my readers and followers can see just how pathetic you are.

Now, on with the story….

Chapter 2: Iron and Fire

("Prep-room" of the United Nations, New York City)

"No, Mom! No tie!", Duncan insisted, tossing aside the fancy silk tie his mother Margaret tried to put on him, replacing it with the braided leather bolo-tie with gold dragon's-head slide that he preferred. "If I hafta do this, I'm gonna do this as me, not some stuffed shirt!"

Margaret sighed in resignation. At least she got her son to take this seriously enough to wear the cobalt blue suit with green-tinted dress shirt she'd had specially tailored for him so he could 'wear' his wings like a cape. Duncan had brought out his 'full-kaiju' aspect to address the full Assembly of the U.N. on behalf of his father Belloc; King of the Kaiju. His wings 'cape' and horns 'crown' as symbols of his title of Crown Prince of the Kaiju Kingdom. However, his clawed toes prohibited normal shoes, so he simply wore his normal athletic sandals.

Having dual citizenship, Duncan had also met the President minutes earlier. Pres. Sanders thanked him for coming and offered him encouragement, looking forward to the young hybrid's address to the ambassadors and world leaders.

"You can do this, Duncan", Margaret told him.

"Thanks, Mom", he replied with a smile. Then the light over the door started blinking, signaling they were ready for him. "Here we go. Wish me luck."

He opened the door, and was escorted by security to the central stage of the Main Assembly and waited.

"And now here to address this august Body, we recognize Crown Prince Duncan Xerces Fafnir Rosenblatt of the Kaiju Kingdom."

Steeling his resolve, Duncan stepped onto the stage and walked confidently to the podium.

"Thank you, Secretary-General", Duncan spoke clearly. "Mr. President, Ambassadors, assembled Leaders of the World, Ladies and Gentlemen; I stand before you today to speak on behalf of my father Belloc, King of the Kaiju. It is our wish to discuss the terms of renewing the Kaiju/Human Peace Treaty and to open diplomatic relations with the potential for limited trade agreem…."

*BOOOOOMM!* An explosion outside rocked the building! A wave of dismay and fear went through the Assembly, as more sounds of battle were heard from outside. The Secret Service immediately surrounded President Sanders to protect him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please do not panic and remain in the Assembly Hall for your safety until further instructions!", a joint U.N. Security/SHIELD officer announced. "The exterior of the building has been assaulted by Hydra. Our Security forces and on-site SHIELD units have engaged and will hold them off until reinforcements arrive!"

Duncan growled as he spread his wings.

"Duncan! What are you doing?!", his mother called with concern.

"I'm not gonna just sit here when I can do something to help!", he yelled as he flew over the Assembly, through the rear exit of the room, and down the hallways toward the front of the building. He landed to see U.N. soldiers and SHIELD agents exchanging fire with heavily armed, green uniformed Hydra thugs outside the bulletproof glass panels, and holding their own despite being outnumbered….until the octo-skull mech slammed an oversized metal tentacle into the 3rd or 4th floor windows of the building in order to move into a better position! Bulletproof yes, but punishment on this level was far beyond the specs.

'Where the hell is SHIELD?!', Duncan thought to himself as he prepared to intervene himself. The octo-skull mech made to fire its main particle cannon at the defenders…..

…only to be skewered by a bright blue energy beam from a shiny red and gold figure that came streaking in from the sky!

"Iron Man", Duncan grinned as the mech toppled over. The Hydra soldiers all paused to look at the hovering newcomer with trepidation.

"ATTENTION, HYDRA GOONS! YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR? NEWS FLASH! IT'S NOT HAPPENING! SO DO YOURSELVES A FAV….", Duncan heard Iron Man through the reinforced glass thanks to the volume of his loud-speakers….until one of the Hydra morons was actually stupid enough to fire a rocket launcher at the armored hero! Iron Man dodged the projectile easily while the other Hydra soldiers began to fire their blasters at him. Iron Man fired a small missile of his own from his right forearm as he flew toward them; a missile that itself launched an array of mini-projectiles that spiraled out, each attaching itself to a weapon held by a Hydra agent; then exploding, rendering all the weapons useless and knocking them all out or on their asses! Iron Man then easily lifted a van two Hydra agents were hiding behind.

"Hi there", he said jovially, then blasted them unconscious with a low-level repulsor.

"Looks like Mr. Stark has this under contro….", Duncan started to say, when he heard five simultaneous concussive bursts, like launches, come from the felled mech! Five large green spheres landed around Iron Man, which then opened and converted into Hydra Dreadnought-Class combat robots!

"Target acquired. Designation: Iron Man. Destroy", the robots droned mechanically, activating their weapons and moving to converge on the armored hero.

*KEE-RESH!* The reinforced pane of glass shattered like the most delicate crystal as Duncan/Red Dragon smashed through it! He seized the drill-arm of one dreadnought and tore it off while it was running, then drove the still-spinning drill into the head of its former owner!

xXx

(SHIELD Helicarrier)

"Update", Director Nick Fury ordered.

"The Helicarrier is roughly five minutes out at this speed", Agent Maria Hill, the Deputy Director, replied from a nearby console. "Our local SHIELD units are under attack and unable to respond."

"That's five minutes too long, Hill!", Fury fumed. "You got any news that's actually useful for me?"

"I-I…", she stammered nervously, then heard something on her com-piece. "Sir, Iron Man and Red Dragon have arrived on the scene."

Nick Fury arched the eyebrow over his one good eye.

xXx

Iron Man was exchanging blasts with the three robots advancing on him, while Red Dragon wrestled another after kicking aside the wreckage of the first one he destroyed. His strength was far greater than the machine, but the robot's size and leverage balanced quite a bit of that advantage in such close quarters.

"Target acquired. Destroy", it droned, igniting the flamethrower in its mechanical mouth. The intense flames burned off the ripped suit jacket and shirt he was wearing, but Red Dragon himself was unharmed.

"Dumb robot", he smirked, then blasted it in the head with an even more intense stream of fire-breath, turning the face into a half-melted mess. The robot shuddered and sparked. Duncan grabbed its gun/fist arm in both hands and easily judo-threw it over his shoulder to slam the thing hard on the concrete. He looked up to see one of the other three down in the fountain and the last two protecting themselves from Iron Man's repulsors with energy shields.

"Hey, Iron Man, having fun yet?", Red Dragon joked as he tackled one of the Dreadnoughts from behind.

"Oh yeah! A real laugh riot! UGH!", Stark replied sarcastically as one of the bots grabbed and threw him into one of the U.N. armored vehicles. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?"

"These Hydra idiots interrupted my first address to the U.N. for my father", Duncan hissed sourly. "I was gonna thank them personally for the save, but you seemed to have it handled until they decided to break out these things. Well, I couldn't let you play with such cool toys all by yourself!"

"Yeah well, they did steal my tech to upgrade these RadioShack rejects. I usually prefer to go solo, but I don't mind sharing under the circumstances", Iron Man added, dodging a blast from a robots eyes.

"Then how about a good old fashioned game of 'kick-the-can'?", Red Dragon grinned savagely, drop-kicking the nearest robot into a repulsor barrage from Iron Man, sending it crashing into the damaged vehicles.

"Sounds fun…WHOA!", Stark replied, just as a dreadnought fired a round of missiles at the pair, forcing them both to take flight, dodging in and out through the row of flags flying outside the building. A combination of repulsors and fire-balls destroyed the missiles, just before a robot tackled Iron Man and a yellow repulsor blast knocked Red Dragon out of the air!

Iron Man exchanged blasts with one dreadnought, while Red Dragon absorbed the jet of flames from the flamethrower of the other, closing the distance between him and the brutal automaton. He got close enough to grab it by the arm just as Iron Man rocketed toward his target and did the same. The pair hurled the two robots at each other, causing them to collide thunderously in mid-air then crash uselessly to the pavement. Stark then landed on the junk pile, thrust his armored hand through the back of a robot and pulled out a power processing nodule bearing his company label.

"Mine!", he said with an edge of satisfaction, until a blast just missed him thanks to a shove from Red Dragon.

The last dreadnought began firing all its weapons at the two of them…until it was cut down and blown apart by several heavy blasts from far above them. The two heroes looked up to see the SHIELD Helicarrier finally arriving.

"Sure. Now you finally get here", Stark said sarcastically.

"I know, right?", Red Dragon agreed dryly, as a half-dozen figures wearing blue and silver mandroid armor dropped out of a smaller hanger-hatch in the starboard side and flew down to land in front of them. After 'sticking the landing', the leader stepped forward.

"Iron Man. Red Dragon. By the authority of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division", the armored agent began in the standard 'authoritative tone', "you are both hereby ordered to stand-down. I repeat; stand-down by order of SHIELD!"

"Unless you guys are here to thank us for doing your job for you, I'm not in the mood for this", Stark put simply.

"What he said", Duncan agreed. "Where the heck were you anyway? A full Assembly, and you weren't here?! Morons." He started walking toward the damaged front façade of the U.N.

"Where do you think you're going?", the mandroid squad leader barked.

"Back inside. I was addressing the Assembly when this mess started, Tin-Head", Duncan snarked, causing Iron Man to stifle a chuckle.

"Not so fast. SHIELD will need a statement from you at the least. As for you, Iron Man; you'll need to come with us."

"I don't think so", Stark snipped derisively as he had his on-board A.I. JARVIS scan the mandroid armor, to some interesting results. "That's some nice armor you got there. Who's your tailor?"

"That's classified!"

"Don't try to con me. Where did you get that armor?", Stark asked more forcefully.

"Back away, Iron Man!", the squad leader barked as he and his unit primed their weapons.

"I said where did you get that…LOOK OUT!", he shouted in warning and aimed his hands at the damaged dreadnought robot that up stood up from the vehicle wreckage behind the mandroids it had been lying in and prepared to attack them. The idiots thought the armored hero was attacking them!

"LIGHT 'IM UP!", the leader ordered, and they opened fired with their armors' blasters, unaware of the deadly danger behind them as Iron Man had to shield himself from their blasts…..until Red Dragon tackled them from the side, causing them to fall like bowling pins and ceasing their attacks while clearing the way for Iron Man to blast the robot with his uni-beam! The last dreadnought was blown back and exploded spectacularly!

The massive surge of energy disabled the mandroids. Drained of nearly everything he had left and down to one knee, it took a few moments for Iron Man's armor to reboot.

"…ok in there?", Red Dragon was asking as audio reactivated.

"Yeah, I just needed a sec to reboot", Stark assured him. Then he walked over to one of the groaning, sparking mandroids. "You all right? Good. I need to borrow that." With that, Stark removed the leader's helmet.

"Now what?", Duncan asked.

"Now I need to have a word with Nick Fury", Stark said with an edge.

"I think I'll join you. I have a few choice words for him myself", Duncan added as they flew toward the Helicarrier.

Forgoing the 'regular' entrances, Iron Man used a repulsor to blast into the bridge of the Helicarrier through the floor, with Red Dragon following him through the hole.

"You want to explain this, Fury?!", Stark said, annoyed, as he tossed the mandroid helmet at the Director's feet, then landed in front of him while Duncan alighted on the floor just in front of the hole they'd entered through. "You stole my tech!"

"Tony Stark!", Deputy Director Hill took a commanding tone, putting her weapon to the back of Iron Man's helmet, backed up by every agent on the Helicarrier bridge. "Step away from Director Fury. Now. You are under arrest. If he moves. Open fire."

"Really?", Duncan snickered, getting an annoyed glare from Hill, but he couldn't help it. Was she really that thick?

"Him, too!", she barked, and several agents turned their weapons on the visibly unimpressed youth.

"Stand Down, Hill", Fury ordered.

"But, Sir! They attacked the Mandroid unit…!"

"They saved them", Fury clarified. "And in case you forgot, they saved the United Nations from Hydra while we were on a wild goose chase. So, stand down!"

Reluctantly, Hill and the rest of the agents lowered their weapons and backed off.

"You used my inventions to make war-machines", Tony accused.

"Oh come on, Stark", Fury said flippantly. "You've been selling us weapons and technology for years. We just…..modified what you already gave us after you stopped building weapons for sale."

"*tch!*'Modified'?", Stark scoffed, then stepped right up into Fury's face. "Try 'twisted'! You twisted what I made! And then you let it leak to Hydra!"

"Come again?", Fury growled, NOT liking the implication.

"SHIELD got hacked, Fury, and you know it!", Stark accused, showing the nodule he'd removed from one of the Dreadnoughts. "Those Hydra Dreadnoughts are about two degrees off your Mandroids!"

"Those Mandroids have saved lives, Stark!", Hill put in sharply. "That's what SHIELD does. And when you withhold resources from us you're just giving the advantage to groups like Hydra!"

"You are not getting this, are you?", Iron Man half-chuckled. "Weapons don't solve problems. They only make problems worse."

"Wake up!", Fury snapped. "How exactly do you think our problems are gonna get worse? You've seen what's out there. The tech Hydra has. Super-villains coming outta the woodwork. Rogue kaiju popping up at random. Monsters like the Hulk. We need Tony Stark more than we need some armored vigilante. You can't do this alone!(*pokes Stark's chestplate with his finger*) You're only one man!"

"One of me is more than enough", Iron Man asserted confidently and turned to walk back to the hole. "I'll get my tech back on my own. By the way, there's about three dozen unconscious Hydra agents waiting for you down there. No need to thank me." And he dropped through the hole and jetted away.

"Sir, I….", Hill started, but was cut off by her boss.

"Hydra got into our systems. We have a leak. Find it, and plug it!"

"Yes, Sir", she replied, and ran to obey.

"And get me the Black Widow!", he called after her, before he turned to face the front of the ship again.

"Don't turn around yet, 'Director'! Iron Man may be gone, but you've got some business with me now", Duncan said firmly, to which Fury turned with a huff, and all the SHIELD agents now aimed their weapons at the young man striding toward their boss. "Where were you?! A Full Asssembly of the U.N. and you were what? Fishing for red herring off Long Island Sound?!"

"I don't answer to you, Red Dragon, and I will not be dressed down by a kid!", Fury fumed.

"Do your homework, Fury!", Duncan snarked. "I'm a U.N. Ambassador now. I was there when this went down, so I have every right to question where you were when we were attacked by Hydra!"

"Ambassador, huh?", Fury smirked, looking Duncan up and down, noting the lack of shirt and coat, plus the tears and burns to his pants. "Real nice slacks there, 'Ambassador'. Who's your tailor?"

"Don't patronize me, Fury!", Duncan snarled. "Col. Barnes at MEGTAF respects you. It's only for that I give you the benefit of the doubt. You're just lucky Iron Man and I were there to do your job for you!"

With that, the Prince of the kaiju back-flipped gracefully out the hole in the floor to fly away.

xxXXxx

A few days later, Duncan left the posh loft condo he and his mother had purchased and set-up for him overlooking Central Park. The building manager was a family friend who's discretion could be trusted. Today he was going to the campus of ESU for registration and a tour. He was to meet his 'guide' at an eatery near campus that was known for delicious Mexican food, American favorites, and brick-oven pizza cheap; so it was popular with the students. He arrived at the appointed time and sat at one of the sidewalk tables as the message said, and waited.

"Duncan Rosenblatt?", a female voice asked a few minutes later.

"Yeah, that's…me", he replied, turning to greet the person, only to be taken aback by her beauty. She was 5'4", though the heels of her sexy knee-high boots gave her another 3 inches. Long, wavy black hair half-way down her back in ringlets. Pretty smile with full, very kissable lips and bluish-grey eyes. Her complexion was a yummy cinnamon milk-chocolate, and her curvy 40JJ-28-40 body was practically poured into her sleeveless pink top and blue jeans. Her long nails were painted the same shade of pink as her shiny lipstick.

"Hi! I'm Lyra Verde", she smiled warmly, holding out her hand. "I'll be your ESU campus guide today."

"D'ah, yeah! Hi, Lyra! I'm Duncan", he stammered, taking her hand to gently shake it, blushing like mad. "This place looks great. I wouldn't mind coming back later after they open."

"Yeah, the food is fantastic", she grinned. "But let's get going. A lot to show you!"

"After you, pretty lady", he smiled.

"Flatterer", she smiled back, leading the way to campus.

As they got near the entrance, they saw a small drama unfolding….

"We've been together for more than two years, Lynn", a brown haired, fit guy said to the girl standing next to the slightly taller guy wearing an ESU letterman jacket. "You say I haven't done anything wrong, so why are you breaking up with me?"

"Look, Raph, you're sweet and you've been a great boyfriend, but I need a guy who's an Alpha; the kinda guy all the other girls wish they had and other guys wish they were. And you just don't got that in you."

"Besides, she's been bangin' me for a month anyway", the guy bragged. "So just go home to mommy, you little beta-bitch,"

"So that's what you really want?", Raph asked the girl, ignoring the 'Alpha'.

"Well duh. Yeah. Sorry, not sorry", she said.

"Okay", Raph said…..then slugged the other guy in the nose, turning it into a fountain of blood and knocking him groaning on his back to the ground!

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!", Lynn screamed, dropping down to her felled lover.

"I was raised to never hit a woman", Raph said simply. "I loved you, Lynn! You broke my heart. But I refuse to be the only one left on the ground bleeding from this break up. There's a difference between being an 'Alpha' and being an asshole. You both need to learn it."

With that, Raph went inside the ESU campus. Duncan picked up his pace to catch up.

"Hey, Dude! Hold up!"

"What?!", he snapped, turning, then drawing up short in surprise at Duncan's appearance. "Sorry, I thought you might be one of his buddies on the wrestling team."

"It's cool. I'm Duncan Rosenblatt, new student. And this is my Guide Lyra. We couldn't help but see what happened back there", he said as Lyra caught up with him and waved. "I just wanted to tell you that I think you handled that pretty well for the circumstances."

"Thanks. I'm Raphael Kafka. Psychology major, with a minor in general sciences."

"Really? I'm registering for Diplomacy and Political Sciences major with a minor in Archeology."

"Cool. Maybe we'll see each other around. Catch ya later."

xXx

The tour of the campus was informative, and Lyra made it fun and enjoyable as well. Duncan got to meet most of his prospective professors and other faculty he was likely to interact with regularly. Just one final meeting….the Dean. The Dean didn't normally meet every student that registered, but this was a special case, and he himself requested a meeting.

Lyra knocked on the well-polished oak door after the secretary let them through. "Come on in!", was the jovial reply. Inside was a smiling man in a light grey suit and tinted glasses with a steel-grey mustache to match his hair.

"Duncan, meet our Dean of Students; Mr. Lee", Lyra smiled.

"Please, just call me Stan", the man said, shaking Duncan's hand.

xxXXxx

Author's notes: One of my reviewers last chapter pointed out that I had(*GASP*) forgotten to do a Stan cameo. So I HAD to correct that oversight this chapter!

Plez no one jump down my throat for my choice to cast as President. This is a place to enjoy stories, not engage in political arguments, right?

And I present Lyra Verde! The soon-to-be love interest for Duncan. Yes, she is African-American. What happened to Jenna will be explored later.

Next Chapter; "The Breakout!"