Chapter 20: Iron Man 3!

The team had collectively decided that hitting the Sokovia base would have to wait. We already had a list of all the bases, and thanks to a virus Siri planted in their systems, any new base's location was sent to us immediately. So we decided to wait a few months, let them go to those bases, and then hit them one by one, leaving the Sokovia base for last. That way we can clear up Hydra root to stem without any branches being hidden.

So I focused on College some more, my mid terms were coming up, which I wasn't worried about. But I also had to go to Oscorp to socialize. Ugh, disgusting. Those people on my board were just plain disgusting. They didn't have any crimes on their rap sheet per se. But they let greed make their decisions for them.

In my free time, I started learning from the files Wakanda gave me. I learned how to make a furnace that could get hot enough to melt Vibranium. By making a few changes to it, I manage to make another furnace that will burn double that temperature, it should be enough to melt Praedium. But I'll have to find a ratio for the alloy too, but it'll come later.

For starters, I only make a small knife using Vibranium. It was not that sharp, because frankly, I'm a shit metal worker. But I'll get there. Venom had already absorbed some of the Vibranium we had, keeping the rest for our various projects, so I practiced manipulating Vibranium in my free time too.

It was not that different from manipulating Praedium, just felt easier actually. Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the metal or something. We had enough Vibranium in us that we could theoretically make a suit of armour with it, directly calling it on us. So I had started practicing with that, starting with arm gauntlets and leg boots.

Mixing Vibranium with Praedium to create an alloy was not going well. I had tried doing it by conjuring it, but they just sort of twisted around each other, not mixed like an alloy. So I shelf it for later.

September 28th, 2012:

I was afraid of this, but I cant deny it anymore. I need help, in this crusade against Thanos, or whoever the next baddy is. I called Peter here today and I'm going to tell him some of the stuff

Peter gets there at 6 PM, and looks at my serious face and immediately shuts down.

"What's up, Harry?" He asks once he's seated.

I sigh, turn to him, and say, "What I'm about to tell you will sound impossible, but I'm still gonna tell you. Do you trust me?"

Peter nods without saying anything, so I continue, "Before this universe was born there was nothing, as you know. When the big bang happened, the big singularity got separated into 6 aspects, each one controlling one aspect of existence. Space, Time, Reality, Mind, Power and Soul. Individually, the six aspects are powerful, but together, they are a different thing altogether. You could wish for something and it'll happen if you had all those 6 stones.

"These 6 aspects are spread throughout the Universe in the forms of small colourful stones. Ironically, Earth currently has 3 of them. Mind, Reality and Time. I'm telling you this, because in a few years, the being that sent Loki to attack New York is going to come here, in person, to collect those six stones. He wants to destroy half of all life in the whole universe. He wants to save the resources on our planets." I pause to collect my breath.

Peter asks me, "How do you know this?"

"In the future, in one of the timelines, I got in contact with all six of them. One by one, not altogether, thankfully. That somehow sent me a few of his memories. I don't know how, but I knew what was going to happen in few occasions ever since I was 6. I made sure some of the things didn't happen, like Dr Octavius was supposed to go evil, but I prevented it. Hydra was not supposed to be get caught so early. I'm trying as hard as possible to change things, while also not changing things. You get that?" I ask him, in return.

"Yeah.. If you change things too much, the butterfly effect will make it so you can't predict things anymore. But why tell me?" Peter says. He's smart, so he gets it.

I grimace, and say, "I'm afraid of screwing things up, by accident. I need your help to make decisions, Pete. I can't tell you everything, because frankly, some of the horrific things I saw were necessary for us to survive as a species in the future. But I want your help do determine what's not necessary and help prevent those things."

"Goddammit Harry! You can't just drop something like this on me!" Peter exclaims, understandably.

"I'm sorry, Pete, but I didn't know who else to trust. Siri tries, but she can't think like a human yet. And Venom is not exactly a role model when it comes to morals." I explain.

Peter snorts and shakes his head. He thinks for a bit and asks, "Is there anything that's going to happen, which we can change?"

I smirk and say, "I have just the thing for you, Pete." And I explain to him the plot of Iron Man 3 as best as I could remember. He listens to me, patiently and accepts. He probably thinks I'm crazy and won't believe me until one of the bombings happens.

December 22nd,2012:

The day I was both waiting for and dreading was here. Mandarin blasted his 5th bomb 3 days ago, at the TCL Chinese Theatre, catching Happy Hogun in the explosion. We were going to stop Killian from even kidnapping the President, and probably kill him.

"Siri. How's the hacking coming along?" I ask Siri. She was hacking into Killian's company and his private servers for the last 3 hours. It took time just to find a connection to those servers.

"I've found Aldrich Killian's private servers and will have access to it right about... Now. Do you want me to copy all the data?" Siri asks. Huh. That was fast.

"Uh yeah.. Do it. And look for the formula for the Extremis Virus. Put it on the task list." I say.

I pick up the phone and call Tony, "Stark." I say.

"Osborn, really not the time to talk, right now." He says blandly. I can tell it's affected him a lot.

"Which is why I called you, you fucking retard! Listen, that speech you just gave? Threatening Mandarin and giving him your fucking home address? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Wh-what am I supposed to do? He hurt my friend, Osborn. One of my only few friends. I'm not gonna forgive him for that." Tony says, determined. The idiot.

"How about you not give the address of the house you live in WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND as a challenge for starters? Have you actually thought about it? Your house could get bombed next, Pepper could get hurt, Jarvis will get hurt. Thought about that?" I shout at him.

"oh." Stark whispers, now probably horrified.

"Yes, oh! Get Pepper in a suit and send her someplace safe, to someone you fucking trust. Like Cap, or Rhodes or someone. They'll keep her safe. And don't fucking go attacking them alone, we're a team for a fucking reason Stark." I finish my rant. For a genius, he's really stupid.

"Um yeah.. Cap's busy with his butt buddy and Rhodes is in DC. I'm sending her to your house in a suit." Wait, what? I'm about to say something when Stark interrupts, "Keep her safe, Osborn."

"Goddam- hello? Stark you better not have cut the phone or I'll swear to God I'm gonna kill you, myself." I check the phone, he'd disconnected.

Goddammit Stark! I can't save your ass and protect Potts at the same time!

I call Peter and say, "Yeah, Pete? Get here please, Stark is gonna grow my hair gray." And cut the call.

Well screw it, he's gonna send Pepper in a suit, I'm gonna fucking study the shit out of the suit and build myself a better suit. Fucking Stark.

It takes Peter an hour to get to my house, and Pepper gets here 15 minutes after that. Fuck! That's fast! I'm definitely building one for me.

"Mr Osborn?" Pepper asks as soon as she lands. She was in a metallic silver suit, so probably a work in progress. He's built like a dozen of these suits anyway.

"Ms Potts. Please tell me Tony at least told you he was sending you here before doing it?" I ask, exasperated.

"Well.. yeah. He said I'm sending you to a safe place and told me to get in the suit." Pepper sounds confused, like how will I protect her?

I groan at that, typical Stark. I motion her inside and start going to my living room.

"You can park that thing wherever you like, except that spot," I point towards where Siri usually appears in her hologram, "And please, be seated."

Pepper removes the suit in a corner and sits on the sofa, Peter was in the lab so we were alone, uncomfortable, and she was probably scared. She asks, "Why did Tony send me to you?"

I raise my eyebrow at her and ask, "You saw what that idiot said to Mandarin?" Her lips thin immediately, and she turns away from me.

She says, "Yes, so I needed to get out of the house. But why you?"

I answer, annoyed, "Probably because he didn't have time to ask anyone else. I was shouting at him about his idiocy. I told him to get at least you out of the house, to someone like Rhodes or Cap. And he just says, 'Keep her safe, Osborn' and hangs up." I grumble the last part, fucking idiot.

"But.. but.. Oh... You're one of the Avengers, aren't you? Spider-Man or Venom?" She asks after thinking for a bit, widening her eyes.

I raise my eyebrow at her, wow she's smart. No wonder Tony made her the CEO. "I think I know why Tony likes you. You're smart and not afraid to say stuff. Impressive deduction." And it really was impressive. She got that just from Tony telling her that I'll keep her safe.

"Thank you. So, which one?" She asks again.

Instead of answering, I just will Venom suit into existence. She widens her eyes and nods dumbly. We sit in silence for a while, thinking, when suddenly I bring out the Berserker's Staff. Feeling stronger, I show the staff to Pepper.

"Ms Potts. This is an Asgardian weapon called a Berserker's Staff. It is dangerous, because it increases the strength of a wielder by a factor of about 10-20, depending on the wielder. I can't protect you at all times, so you are going to be carrying this staff with you." I say, but still keep the staff close to me.

I then look at her curious eyes, seriously this time, and say again, "Be warned, as soon as you touch it, it'll make you want to go Berserk. It'll bring out all of your bad memories right in the forefront of your mind and make you angry. Sorta like the Hulk, in a less severe way. So don't let anyone take it from you. I'll give you a crash course on how to fight with it and how to control your strength, but the rest is up to you." She nods, so I give her the staff. She holds it in one hand and immediately grimaces, feeling the strain, but controls it. A few seconds later and she's okay, so I nod and give her a wristband to call the staff back. She looks at her hands strangely, obviously feeling stronger.

"Are you sure, you want me to have it? What if you need the strength?" Pepper asks, still looking warily at the staff. Can't blame her really.

Instead of answering, I bring out another identical Berserker's staff, and raise an eyebrow in challenge. This absorbing and assimilating metals power is ridiculous. I could make as much Berserker staffs as I like, as long as I had that much of that metal in me. The one I had in my hand, had veins of Vibranium flowing through it, hopefully making it a little kinetic energy absorbent.

"I'm not letting you keep it. It's too dangerous to be let out in public. It's just until the whole Mandarin situation is over." I say and absorb it back.

"Oh. You can just make it out of thin air? That doesn't even make sense!" Pepper exclaims and starts walking around to clear her head.

I just shake my head and say, "Lady, you're in superhero business. It rarely ever makes sense."

I'm about to say something more when Peter comes running from the lab and says, "Harry! Oh. Hey, Miss Potts. Um crap. Harry turn on the news, quickly." Peter looks scared when he looks at Pepper. Thinking the worst, I turn on the news, it shows the attack happening on Stark's Malibu mansion, destroying it completely.

Pepper, who was standing, just drops down to her knees at the headline. "Stark Mansion bombed by The Mandarin. Tony Stark and girlfriend and CEO of Stark International, Pepper Potts presumed dead." She starts crying, without caring for our presence.

Oh crap! What do I do? I don't know how to handle women! Let alone crying women! I turn of the TV and slowly approach Pepper, I sit down next to her, right on the floor and put a hand on her shoulders. Peter looks sad too, Tony and Peter did get along really well. Science bros all of us.

"Ms Potts?" I call her out, she doesn't even notice. "Pepper!" I shake her to snap her out of it. I continue, "Pepper, how well do you know Tony?"

Pepper snaps out of it and answers, "I stayed with him for 3 years, so really well." Still sniffling.

I then ask her, "And do you think Tony could he killed by a few bombs? There's nobody that can kill Tony Stark, but Tony Stark. He's really stubborn, Pepper. He'll be okay, see. He's probably in hiding, preparing for Mandarin. Don't worry about it." I finish. I then turn to Peter and nod, telling him that I know that Tony is still alive.

Pepper sniffles, clearing her nose and stands up slowly, "Yeah, I need to hold a press conference. I need to tell them that I'm still alive." Will it be safe, though? What if Mandarin decides he wants her dead? Or what if Killian wants to capture her?

I shake my head and say, "Wait. We don't know if they want you dead as well. We can't risk them bombing us here. I'll connect you to Rhodes and you can tell him that you're okay. But telling Mandarin that you're safe is just stupid."

Peter nods his head and says, "Tony asked us to keep you safe. We'll keep you safe until he returns."

Pepper nods, accepting it and sits down on the sofa. I have Siri connect a call to Rhodes and secure the line, "Hello? Who's this?" a voice asks from the other side.

"Is this James Rhodes?" I ask, in return.

"Yes. Who's this?" He asks again.

"Yeah. Hi. I'm Harry Osborn. I have someone here who'd really like to talk to you," Saying this I just hand Pepper the phone.

"James! Hi, it's me, Pepper." She says, sniffling a lot less than before.

"Pepper? You're alive! Thank God!" Rhodes breathes out a sigh. Then he asks, now confused, "Why are you with Osborn?"

So she tells him everything about how Tony had her get in a suit and fly to me. How I'm hosting her and told her not to tell anyone that she's still alive, which Rhodes agreed with. I then had her give him my number if he needs to contact her, keeping Pepper's phone off and turning the GPS off.

I showed Pepper to her room and promised her to bring her something to wear tomorrow. MJ will have a field day doing the necessary shopping.

The next day I wake up at 5 and wake Pepper at 6. She'll curse me, a lot, but she'll be thankful for it. I train Pepper in using the staff properly and then in holding back her strength when holding it. It was a productive 2 hours. Pepper could already fight a little so she learned quickly.

Then asking MJ to buy Pepper some clothes and giving her a Credit card, I start studying the Iron man suit. It was amazing. The Hammer drones were nothing in front of the real deal. Thankfully, I understood it all.

I now knew how to build my own arc reactor, as well as the repulsors. Which were better than what Vanko had built. Soon I'll have my own suit, built from Vibranium and Praedium.

"Hahahahahah" I laugh out loud while lightning crackles.

"Holy fuck! That was an amazing timing!" Peter exclaims from outside the lab door.

"Thanks Pete. I practice a lot." I welcome Pete inside. I'm about to tell him the good news when the suit starts beeping. It's really low in voice, but my and Peter's enhanced hearing picks it up.

"Siri. Call Pepper down here and let her in." I say. Seeing that the message is probably from Tony, for her.

Pepper gets down to the lab, still wearing yesterday's clothes, and asks, "What's wrong?"

I gesture towards the suit and say, "It started beeping just now, like it has a message in the answering machine. It's probably private so I called you." I and Peter get away and let Pepper handle it.

Pepper approaches the suit and enters it, she's in there for about 3 Minutes after which she exits, silently crying. I can tell these are tears of relief so I don't say anything.

Pepper calms down after a while and says, "He's okay. He's staying at a safe house currently and repairing the suit." She sniffles and smiles.

Then she turns to me and says, "He also told me to tell you not to mess with the suit too much."

I huff indignantly and just shake my head. Of course he knew I'm gonna study the suit.

"So he's okay?" Peter asks, worriedly.

"Physically, yes. He's suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, so there's that." Pepper says, still smiling. She knows Tony will be okay, and frankly, so do I. He's Tony!

After that Pepper goes back to her room, to check the clothes MJ bought for her. So I tell Peter everything I've learned from Pepper's suit. He was excited too. Because he'd learned everything from Hammer drones and they were really inefficient.

After sparing for a bit, he goes home with MJ. They had moved in together a few weeks ago, which was good for them. Hopefully they'll wait a few years to marry. Bernard already keeps pressuring me to date, I don't want him to pressure me to marry.

The next day, I start working on the Extremis Virus. First, using the formula that I found in Killian's servers, I fabricate it. It was more a serum, and less of a virus, red in colour. By running stimulations I find that the virus would boost anyone's physical as well as mental prowess, making them stronger, faster and smarter. Maybe I'll take it too. I'll have to do a lot of tests first.

First I work on it for 2 hours and develop an anti-extremis that would neutralise the extremis in anyone's body, making the person essentially, normal again. Though if it'll affect their brain too, is anyone's guess. I'll have to run more tests.

This Serum might just be the cure for all things. Maya Hansen is a really smart woman. I should have hired her, damn! Missed opportunities.

I run compatibility tests on it and see that the serum is really compatible with my blood. Meaning I could take it right now and the effects will be instantaneous, as opposed to the few days the others have to wait. Probably something to do with the spider or the Oz-2. Can't say before any more tests.

I snap my head upwards, suddenly getting an idea. Why wait for Killian to make a move? Why not do it yourself?

"Siri. Call Peter and see if you can connect to Tony's suit by linking to this one. Also find out where Aldrich Killian is. I want him found before the morning." I order and turn to the computer where I could see Siri calling Peter, on a video call.

Peter's face appears on the screen, sleepy, and asks, "What the hell, Osborn? What do you want?"

"Huh. It's 2 PM only. Why're you sleeping? Never mind, Pete. How would you like to take down a terrorist? Before he causes any more terror." I ask Peter.

He immediately awakens completely and asks, "Why now? Why not before?"

I think and answer, "It honestly never entered my mind. Siri is currently searching for Mandarin, while also trying to get an uplink to Tony's suit. Hopefully he's still okay."

Peter sighs, and says, "Fine. Call me when you have Tony on-board." He then cuts off the call.

I groan and shut down the computer. Suddenly the suit in the corner beeps and a holographic image comes on my screen.

"Stark. You look like shit." I say, looking at Stark who really did look like shit. There was a kid in the corner trying to be inconspicuous, whom I look at once but ignore.

"Osborn. Why'd you call?" Tony asks, sounding really tired.

I go serious and say, "I found the Mandarin. I'm going to be inviting him to a meeting tomorrow. I'm going to be dangling a super soldier serum as bait to bring him out. I was going to have Venom kill him then. You ready to join in?"

Tony gets a determined look on his face when he answers, "I've been ready to kick his ass since he bombed Happy."

I shake my head and say, "It was not a bomb Tony. It was a person. They've developed a serum that can heal any injury, it's unstable though. Which causes explosions if the body does not accept it. Happy got caught in that."

Tony looks horrified. So does the kid. Tony asks, "How did you find out?"

I shrug and answer, "I saw that a Maya Hansen was in your house when it exploded, so researched her background. Found she works for Aldrich Killian. Both of these people you've somehow insulted in the past." I give him a look, and he rolls his eyes at me. "They started a company, AIM. Hacked them, found the serum they've made, Extremis. Found out that the Mandarin is just an actor while the real terrorist is Aldrich Killian. Developed an anti-serum for that Extremis. And then I called you."

Tony looks at me blankly with the kid copying him, and then says, "I'll be at your house at 12 AM. Now, can I talk to Pepper?"

I laugh and just have Siri transfer that call to Pepper's room.

After that, I call Killian's private number, which I found in AIM files. He picks up after 3 rings and asks, "Who's this?"

"Aldrich Killian? I want to make a deal with you." I start, with as much arrogance as I can muster.

"You have nothing I want, kid. And if you know better, you won't call again." Killian says.

I pause a beat and then ask, "Not even a stable Super Soldier Serum?"

Killian pauses and answers, "I'm listening."

"You have a serum I want. I have a serum you want. So, exchange?" I say, once again, arrogantly.

"How'd you know about the serum?" Killian asks, now angry.

"I have my sources." I smirk. He's in.

"Fine! Bring the serum with you to th- " Killian starts, but I interrupt him.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Your need is greater than mine, Killian. I could just release all these files telling me how you bombed America in the name of Mandarin to the public. So listen closely. Come to this address, at 6 PM tomorrow," I give him the location of one of my warehouses which is not in my name, "Bring however many people you like, but trust me, if you touch a hair on my shoulder, you'll be ruined." I cut the call. Hopefully he'll come alone, being all arrogant.

Then I start working on making the Anti-extremis in the form of pellets which will enter their bodies and work on flushing it of the serum.

That night at 11 PM, Tony gets home. Huh. He's early. I call Peter and tell him to come too. I tell them how I'm meeting Killian tomorrow at 6. And after scolding me for being reckless, they both start planning on what to do.

I just show them my Stealth plane and say, "You guys can stay in this plane, invisible, above the warehouse. If he starts attacking, or when it's time for us to attack, you get down."

They agree. So I show Tony the anti-extremis bullets I made that evening, which he adopts into his suit. I also give Peter a gun made for that, while also giving Pepper and Bernard two more guns, and also take the staff back from her. She happily gives it to me, thankfully.

Tony calls Rhodey and explains the plan, which he agrees to give backup as the Iron Patriot. We of course inform the team and Shield of the operation. But unfortunately, none of the team members were available. Cap was busy helping Bucky get his mind back, Barton and Widow were on missions, Banner was taking a break from New York and was busy traveling in Amazon. But Shield agreed to send backup if required in clearing the Extremis soldiers.

The next day, I go to the warehouse, purposefully taking a cab, at 5 PM and wait. Killian tries bombing the warehouse as soon as I enter, but one EMP blast and they were all duds.

At exactly 6 PM, Killian and 5 other people wearing suits enter the building. Tony whispers in my ears that there was a sniper on the building opposite to my warehouse, waiting for me to get out.

"So.. the bomb didn't work, did it?" I ask Killian, smirking.

"Osborn. Should have known it was you. Show me the serum." He totally ignores the bomb comment.

I bring out a case holding the original Oz Serum along with some additional features. It will work the same as a SSS for close to 5 minutes, after which the user will get sick.

I open the case and show him the blueish green serum. "Now. The extremis." I say and close the case.

Killian instead brings out a gun and aims it at my head. He leans towards me, and says, "You think you can threaten me? The one who bombed the fucking Iron Man? Me? The Mandarin? You know what I'll do, I'll kill you, then I'll bomb your Company. Then I'll find out everyone who you've ever been friends with, and I'll kill them, and their families." Saying this and still seeing me calm, he presses the trigger on the gun which I calmly lean to the right and dodge, and all hell breaks lose.

Tony Stark drops down from the ceiling along with Iron Patriot and starts firing at the Extremis people with the anti-extremis pellets, instantly knocking them out. Killian was somehow better than those thugs and dodges all the bullets and starts running towards me. Peter takes that moment to drop on him and starts attacking him. Killian could barely dodge, but he couldn't get one hit in.

Peter finally brings out a syringe from behind him and stabs Killian with it, knocking him out.

"What took you so long?" I ask Peter once everyone else is knocked out and webbed.

"Well I'm sorry for taking care of the sniper first." Peter snappishly answers.

"Never mind. Siri, call Shield and tell them to send damage control. They can take care of the rest of the aim themselves." I say shaking my head.

"Yeah. Speak for yourself. I'm seeing this till the end. These bastards hurt Happy." Tony says from beside us.

After the Shield Damage control crew gets there, and take all the Extremis Soldiers away. I go back to my house with Peter, taking the Jet back.

That night, we find out that all the Extremis enhanced soldiers were apprehended with the help of my anti-extremis, which I sold to Shield.

What? I'm a businessman. I ain't giving nothing for free.

I also find out they arrested Maya Hansen and Trevor Slattery, who were just casually watching TV in Killian's mansion. Both were knowingly working with a terrorist organisation, so they went in for a long time. And this time, it was without the President being kidnapped.

December 25th,2012:

The next day, I start working on the Extremis serum, to fix its side effects and to stabilise it. I don't want to blow up because it's unstable. Thankfully Banner was back in town again, so I send him the files too.

Banner calls me that night to tell me that he already fixed the issue and made a new antidote for the serum. I silently brood for about an hour before driving to Stark Tower. I had an idea.

"Tony! I have a wonderful idea to get rid of the shrapnel in your chest!" I say as soon as I get out of the elevator.

"How?" Tony asks, excited.

"The extremis! It will heal you up. Banner's fixed it up already so it's jot unstable anymore. If you want we can hit you with the antidote right after you're healed up! Though if I was you, I'd keep the serum in my body." I wink at him and continue on towards Banner's room to call him out. Tony was still thinking when I get out.

Already knowing his answer, Bruce and me set up the experiment and call Pepper to inform her of it, which she agreed to after 15 Minutes if shouting at us.

The procedure went perfectly. The shrapnel was sort of melted by the serum and expelled out of his body, and the hole in his chest filled out immediately. He had opted to keep the Serum inside his body so he's not useless without a suit. Which everyone agreed was a good idea.

I had to train him in getting used to the new strength, which was about equal to Cap's, only a little less. So finding out that the serum was good, I copied the files from Banner to study later. I'll have to test this serum for compatibility too. Ugh..

Thankfully this Mandarin bullshit was over. What's next? I open the Black Book to check what else is coming. Nothing much for about a year. The convergence will begin sometime November, so I'll have to be ready for that. But for now, let's sleep.