"Ding dong."
"An unclaimed item detected — Iron Monger Armor (40). Would you like to convert it into points?"
When Harry heard the cold, familiar voice, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.
"Convert," he replied.
The massive Iron Monger armor vanished instantly before his eyes.
"Remaining host points: sixty-five."
"Finally, points again," Harry said with quiet satisfaction.
"Hey! Harry, get me out of here — I'm going to suffocate!"
After a long silence, Tony Stark's impatient voice rang out.
"Hey! I said I owe you one!" he kept shouting.
"Clang—"
"Stop yelling, you sound terrible." Harry lifted the helmet of the Iron Man suit, revealing Tony's familiar mustached face. For some reason, that face gave Harry an odd feeling — the system hadn't responded when he touched the suit. The lack of that familiar notification made him uneasy.
"Hey! That's it? The great Tony Stark — voice ranked 'Most Magnetic' — deserves better," Tony complained, winking despite being unable to move.
Ignoring Tony's protests, Harry began dismantling the steel armor piece by piece, causing Tony to wince and grit his teeth.
"Oh! Take it easy, Harry!"
"Okay." Harry tossed away the final piece of armor and turned toward his flying skateboard, which hovered nearby.
"Much better," Tony said, rolling his shoulders once free.
"Hey!" he called out as Harry stepped onto the board.
"Where are you going?"
"Home," Harry said, guiding the board into the air.
"You saved me!" Tony shouted after him.
"Yeah — and I got paid," Harry replied, already rising higher into the sky.
"That little thing doesn't compare to my life, Tony Stark," Tony muttered under his breath, glancing down at the scattered armor fragments littering the ground.
...
Meanwhile, Harry steered his flying board straight back to the Osborn estate.
He shut off the board and dropped it in the yard before leaping lightly up through the open window of his room.
"Felicia," he called softly, spotting the graceful figure lying beneath the covers on his bed.
When there was no response, he exhaled in relief. Quietly, he slipped off his light combat armor, lifted the blanket, and climbed in beside her.
His body relaxed completely, his breathing settling into an easy rhythm.
"Harry," came a faint murmur in the calm of the night — then silence again.
...
The next morning, Harry drove to the Osborn Building — and was immediately surrounded by reporters the moment he stepped out of the car.
"Mr. Osborn, was that you who appeared at Stark Industries last night?"
"Mr. Osborn, do you know who those two Iron Men were?"
"Mr. Osborn! Mr. Osborn!"
The swarm of reporters blocked his way completely.
"Stop!" Harry barked, pulling off his sunglasses.
The crowd fell silent at once, microphones thrust toward him.
"I don't think you should be asking me about that," Harry said helplessly. Apparently, because of his involvement, the media's attention had shifted from Tony Stark to him.
"Mr. Osborn, if we shouldn't ask you, then who should we ask?"
The voice came from a sharp-minded blonde reporter who clearly knew how to press a story.
"Since it happened at Stark Industries headquarters, you should be asking him," Harry replied evenly.
"Mr. Osborn, does that mean the two Iron Men were new weapons from Stark Industries?" the blonde pressed further.
"Huh?" Harry gave her a puzzled look. "Didn't Stark Industries already shut down its weapons development division?"
"Uh—" The reporter froze, momentarily speechless.
"Alright, I've got work to do." The security team finally pushed through the crowd, creating a path so Harry and Felicia could enter the building.
...
"These reporters are insane," Harry muttered, tugging at his wrinkled suit.
"I thought you'd be used to it by now," Felicia said with a teasing smile, handing him a cup of coffee.
"Ha! Easy for you to say." Harry sighed, taking a sip.
Even as a billionaire and the head of Osborn Industries — the world's largest biotech and pharmaceutical company — there were still parts of this new life he hadn't gotten used to.
Watching his tired expression, Felicia smiled softly and sat down in front of him.
"It's pretty spacious in here," Harry said, glancing around the nearly empty office. Aside from his desk, there wasn't much — even Felicia's chair had been brought from her old office.
"Okay, I know what you're thinking," Felicia said with a knowing grin.
"By the way," she added, "Tony Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, called. Tony wants to talk to you — tonight, at his house. Are you going?"
"Something to talk about?" Harry murmured, setting down his cup and lacing his fingers thoughtfully.
If Iron Man himself wanted a meeting, it could only be about the Arc Reactor — the legacy of his father. That wasn't a problem for Harry; in fact, it might be another opportunity to profit. And if he went, he might also meet the famous Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury.
"Of course I'll go," Harry said decisively, anticipation glinting in his eyes.
"Got it." Felicia smiled and left the office to make the call.
With nothing else to do, Harry picked up the latest edition of the Daily Bugle.
"Oh, here we go again."
The front page wasn't Spider-Man this time, but a red-haired girl with glasses.
"Phoenix," Harry murmured, reading the headline and the name beneath the photograph.
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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