Chapter 36: Ferry Ride & Presentation

"Why are you all still here?"

Harvey asked as he looked at the Dunphy's. They were all in his hotel room. Closing the door, Harvey saw everyone look at him worriedly.

"Luke told us you weren't feeling well." Claire said as she stood up from the edge of Phil's bed. "I don't think we could have left and enjoyed ourselves while you weren't feeling well."

"No… But we came here so Alex could go explore the expo!" Harvey said as he dropped his bag on the floor. "Alex?"

"Harvey, I've been having a lot of fun these past three days!" Alex told him as she walked up to him and held the side of his arm. "So I thought maybe we can take a break today; let's just grab some dinner. See the sights!

"Are you sure?" Harvey asked. 

"Yeah, it's fine! After all, tomorrow is our last day at the expo. I'm hearing Hammer Industries is having a surprise demonstration." Alex said as she looked at her phone. 

"Alex is right, let's worry about the expo tomorrow. As for today! I found a great restaurant in Long Island!" Phil spoke happily. "We can even take a ferry ride afterward! It should be an awesome time!"

"That sounds amazing. I need this after three days of the nerd con." Haley said with a smile.

"What do you say?" Luke asked him with a smile.

"What are we waiting for?" 

Harvey answered with a smile. The Dunphy's all cheered and stood up to get ready. Alex and Luke approached him after everyone else rushed to the bathrooms to change and prepare themselves. They both had worried looks on their faces.

"I told Alex what was going on." Luke whispered, a worried look on his face.

"Did… you do it?" Alex asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Yeah… Tony Stark is fine. He wasn't punished." Harvey told them. "It seemed I worried over nothing."

Alex let out a sigh of relief. Harvey could understand why. Stark is one of her idols, so when she heard about him targeting the man. She must have thought that her idol was actually a horrible person. Harvey still couldn't believe Stark scraped by the skin of his teeth.

"Are you okay, Harvey?" Luke asked.

Harvey nodded and smiled at his friend. It seemed he was being asked that question a lot. It could be time he made a change so his friends wouldn't have to worry about him constantly. 

"Yeah. I'm just glad things ended the way they did." Harvey said to his two confidants. "Let's get ready for dinner. I'm looking forward to it and the ferry ride."

Alex and Luke smiled and walked off to get ready. Harvey walked over to the room's balcony and stood outside. Breathing in a deep breath, Harvey sighed and looked at the city. Somehow, everything was coming together. He didn't have to punish Tony Stark's soul for the rest of eternity, and he helped his two new friends move on from something that could've ended in tragedy. Things were looking up.

"Harvey! Bathrooms free!" Phil yelled.

"Coming!"

•••

"Look! It's the Statue of Liberty!"

Haley said excitedly as she took a picture of the famous New York sculpture. They finished having dinner half an hour ago and were now on the ferry trip her dad had booked them all. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Turning around, she saw Alex, Luke, and Harvey discussing something. Frowning slightly, Haley felt a bit left out. She's been watching her siblings and Harvey for a while and noticed they shared some sort of bond with one another. Whenever Harvey came to her home, he always seemed to spend more time with them instead of her.

"Harvey!" Haley yelled as she waved at him.

She saw him look up at her and nod. In a few seconds, Harvey walked over to her with a smile. Haley loved his smile. 

"Yeah?"

"Stand right here! I want to take a picture of us with the Statue of Liberty!" Haley asked with a smile. "Unless you don't want to?"

"No! I'd be happy to!" Harvey waved and smiled at her.

Haley leaned closer to him and held her phone up to take a picture. Smiling, she took several photos and directed Harvey into different poses. She looked up at him and blushed when she noticed how close his face was. It would be so easy to lean in and...

"Harvey! Look!" Luke yelled as he pointed at something in the distance.

"What is it?" Harvey asked as he was about to walk over to Luke. But he stopped after his fourth step. "Oh! Haley, are we done?"

"Ah... Yeah! For now, at least." 

Harvey nodded and walked toward her brother. A pang of sadness flashed in Haley's heart. With a frown, Haley looked at the pictures she had just taken. As she swiped through the dozens of photos, Haley felt a smile rise on her face. They looked like a couple. Looking up, Haley saw Harvey lift Luke on his shoulders; they then walked on the ferry's deck. Alex was taking a picture of the two.

"Luke! Harvey! Be careful!" Haley heard her mom yell.

Haley laughed as she watched her father jog up behind Harvey and had Luke slide over to his shoulders. Luke now sat on the shoulders of Harvey and her father. The three smiled and waved at them. Lifting her phone, Haley took a picture of them. Her mom and Alex also took their own photographs. Eventually, one of the ferry's employees told them to stop.

Smiling, Haley walked over to her family and joined in on the group photos they were taking. Harvey tried to walk away from them all; it seemed he wanted to give them space. Haley sighed and grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She looked up at his face.

"Don't think we'll leave you out of the group picture!"

"Yeah, Harvey! Join in!" Her mom said as she held her phone up.

Harvey smiled and nodded. They then all scooted in closer and smiled; with a flash, one of the Ferry's employees took the photo. The employee returned the phone to her mom; Haley hurried in and looked at the picture. Her mother and father were on the left, and her father's arm was wrapped around her mom's shoulder. Luke and Alex were in the middle; Luke was holding bunny ears behind Alex's head. Finally, on the right, Harvey stood behind her. Haley looked down, surprised to see she was still holding his hand.

Haley smiled and closed her eyes. She decided she wanted more; being just friends with Harvey wasn't enough for her. Turning to Alex, Haley saw that she was showing Harvey the announcement about tomorrow's demonstration with that Hammer guy.

Alex scooted closer to him and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Alex looked happy; Harvey understood her sister more than anyone else outside their family. Could Haley live with herself if she stole Harvey from Alex? Could she look herself in the mirror if she broke Alex's heart? Whenever Haley thought she would make a move on Harvey, She was reminded that Alex was in love with him. Haley looked at the city and whispered.

"What am I going to do?" 

•••

[ ...Justin Hammer. His presentation will begin shortly in the main pavilion. ]

"I wonder what this guy has to show."

Luke asked as he looked at the empty stage up front. Turning to his left, he saw his family and Harvey sitting in their chairs. They were seated in the middle left of the event's seating. From left to right was Himself, followed by Alex, Harvey, Haley, his mom, and finally his dad.

"Whatever it is, it must be something they finished last minute." Alex spoke. "Justin Hammer did just spring this on everyone on the last second."

"I hope it's not another knockoff Iron Man suit demonstration." Phil said. "I sure hope that guy was okay."

Luke winced when he remembered seeing that in the news. Tony Stark hacked into the court's monitor during his court hearing in front of everyone and showed off the rest of the world's attempts at creating Iron Man suits. Unsurprisingly, they were all far off from making a working prototype.

"I don't think people are meant to spin all the way around, Dad." Haley said with an uncomfortable face.

"A weapons test?" Luke asked. Alex shook her head at his guess.

"It's unlikely. Given the current environment, that could be tricky and dangerous." Alex said as she looked forward.

Suddenly, the large monitor in the back displayed Hammer Advanced Weapons Systems. Music followed closely behind the title, and lights flashed on the stage. Pick Up the Pieces started playing on the stage speakers as Justin Hammer danced onto the stage. The audience started clapping for the man.

"Wow... this guy is kinda lame." Luke couldn't help but say.

"...Yeah." Harvey exclaimed.

After what seemed like forever, Justin Hammer reached the podium and smiled at everyone.

"Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Thanks for coming! Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad."

"This guy sure seems to be jealous of Stark." Luke heard his mom say.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed the headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a difficult problem. They are about to run out of ink." Justin said, only to receive a feeble applause from the audience. Coughing, the man moved on. Two employees rushed in and rolled the podium away.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer drone!" 

Justin declared in a proud tone of voice. Immediately, music started playing as a large section of the stage slid away. What rose from the opening were eight impressive drones.

"Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines!"

For each branch of the military Justin called, eight more drones slid up from the ground. They were all styled and painted to match their branches. They cut an intimidating and impressive sight when they were all on the stage.

"Yeah! Yeah! Woo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you." Justin yelled as he stood in front of all forty drones.

"That's actually really impressive." Alex said as she inspected the drones. "But there were never any reports of him working on these."

"Maybe they were meant to be a surprise?" Luke said.

"But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theatre of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"

"Is that?!" Alex stated as she leaned forward on her chair.

"I think it is." Harvey said.

"No way..." 

Luke said in shock. Slowly, an Iron Man suit painted black and grey rose from the middle of the stage. It was armed to the teeth with various weaponry. If Luke had to compare Tony Stark's red and gold suit and this one, he would undoubtedly guess that this one could pack a punch the other couldn't. Once COL. James Rhodes was on the stage, he saluted to the crowd. Shortly afterward, all forty drones saluted as well.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for…" Justin's sentence was interrupted when a low rumble sounded above the audience.

"What's that?" Claire asked.

Turning around, they all saw Tony Stark fly down to the expo. Following the man, he flew into the pavilion and landed in a superhero landing on the stage. Causing a loud clang to echo out through the audience. Everyone went crazy and started clapping. Stark then walked forward and stood next to COL. Rhodes.

"Is this part of the presentation?" Phil said as he looked on in excitement.

"I'm not sure..." Alex said as they all watched in confusion.

"There's a triangle on his chest now." Luke pointed out.

Justin then awkwardly walked in front of the two, cheering slowly. Luke saw Iron Man walk up to Justin and seemingly talk to him. From this distance, no one could make out what they were saying. Suddenly, Iron Man turned around and looked at COL. Rhodes. Luke felt a shiver down his back when the minigun that was on COL. Rhode's shoulder snapped forward.

"Uh, guys?" Luke asked nervously.

"Honey!" Luke heard his mom yell.

Iron Man stepped back as all the drones snapped their left arms up. Without pause, Iron Man flew off the stage and blasted upwards. A volley of machine gun fire was shot straight up at the fleeting Iron Man. The loud sounds of gunfire caused the audience to panic and start running away. The bullets shattered the glass ceiling panels, resulting in scattered chunks of glass to fall onto the crowd.

"Luke!" He didn't know who yelled out his name as he looked up at a large chunk of glass falling straight down at him.

The glass shattered to dust as a molten chain covered in fire slammed into it. Luke turned and stared at Harvey in shock. His friend stood on a chair while he continued spinning his chain in the air at incredible speeds, swinging it far and wide. Not a single piece of glass fell on any of the audience members.

"...Harvey?" Haley whispered.

Luke turned to look at his oldest sister and parents. Their faces were shocked as they stared at Harvey from their crouched positions on the ground. Harvey then pulled his chain towards himself and wrapped it around his chest. Several audience members also stared at Harvey's direction.

Harvey looked at them all with a severe expression. Luke couldn't believe it. Harvey just showed off some of his abilities to a crowd. Sure, he pulled up his hood, but his face was clear from the front.

"Wha-What's going on?" Claire asked as Phil held her.

STOMP STOMP

Turning around, Luke noticed only a few drones remained on stage. It seems that the majority of them and COL. Rhody all flew after Iron Man. The remaining drones on stage marched forward, Uncaring of anyone in their way.

"Luke, Alex. Lead Haley and your parents away from here and back to the hotel. NOW!" Harvey ordered as he stepped off the chair and looked at the advancing drones.

"Harvey... What?" Haley said weakly.

"GO!" Harvey yelled.

Luke shook himself out of his trance and grabbed Haley's hand; he then pulled her as he started running. Turning, he saw Alex grab their parents and run closely behind him. The rest of the audience seemed to get out of their shock as they too started evacuating. Luke turned his head slightly and saw Harvey pull his hood back; in a second, his head ignited on fire. The Ghost Rider turned to him and nodded.

As Luke and his family exited the pavilion, he heard Haley whisper to herself.

"All along, that was... Harvey?"