Aerial combat

Tony turned his head stiffly, his pupils instantly dilating.

A little girl in black robes was sitting on a broomstick, flying alongside him just a few feet away, the hem of her robes whipping wildly in the wind.

JARVIS suddenly spoke. "Sir, I have just detected a heat signature. There is a humanoid life-form to your right, approximately..."

"I can see her!"

Tony snapped under his breath.

"Sir, analysis indicates that this life-form is the one that touched your armor earlier..."

"All right, stop talking."

Tony felt exhausted. What the hell was there to analyze? One glance was enough to tell!

Even with the evidence right before his eyes, he still found it hard to believe.

A girl of eleven or twelve, dressed like she was cosplaying a cartoon wizard, was flying through the sky on a broomstick-and she had touched his armor?

Not only that, she had spent ages feeling it up, and he hadn't noticed a thing!

What a load of bullshit!

"Hi!"

Hermione waved.

She's even saying hello!

Taking a deep breath, Tony spent a full minute calming his scrambled mind before asking, "Who are you?"

"Hmm..."

Hermione poked a finger against her cheek and looked upward, striking a thoughtful pose.

"That's such a hard question to answer."

"Are you asking my name, my identity, or why I'm here...?"

All of the fucking above! Tony shouted inwardly.

"My name is Hermione Granger. I'm twelve years old, and I live in the northern suburbs of London. I'm a wizard, and I attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I get back to my dorm by eight every day at the latest. I don't eat sweets, and I occasionally have a soft drink. I go to bed at eleven and make sure I get eight hours of sleep. Before bed, I drink a cup of warm milk, then warm up with twenty minutes of spell practice. All my professors say I'm perfectly normal..."

Hermione began introducing herself.

What is all this nonsense? Tony was utterly baffled.

Hermione... That name sounds familiar. I think I've heard it somewhere...

And a wizard...

Wait!

Isn't she that S.H.I.E.L.D. precognitive Pepper Potts mentioned?!

Watching Hermione fly nonchalantly beside him, Tony felt his worldview begin to crumble.

Does magic really exist?

Even a genius like me needs a high-tech suit to fly. How is this little girl doing it?

"No..." Tony shook his head. "Magic absolutely does not exist. There's nothing science can't explain. I must be overlooking something!"

His gaze swept over the broomstick Hermione was sitting on, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

So that's it!

This broomstick must be some sort of secretly developed high-tech aircraft, deliberately disguised as a broomstick to fool people.

That explains the trick. I knew all this magic stuff was fake.

But some things still didn't make sense. They were thousands of meters up, traveling at least several hundred kilometers an hour. How could this little girl withstand such fierce winds, still talk and breathe so casually, and sound so clear?

And what technology had she used to hide her heat signature and turn invisible earlier?

Watching Tony mutter to himself like a lunatic, Hermione knew he was starting to lose it.

"Hello? Hello?"

Hermione waved a hand in front of Tony's eyes.

Tony snapped out of it and gave Hermione an appraising look.

"Are you an agent S.H.I.E.L.D. has trained since childhood? Government agencies really are bastards these days, making kids this young do their dirty work."

Tony sighed and said slowly,

"You shouldn't be doing this kind of work at your age. Pepper mentions you a lot, so she must really like you. Why don't you just quit that bullshit S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit? Stark Industries will cover your tuition from now on. Find a school and focus on your studies."

Hermione curled her lip in disdain. "S.H.I.E.L.D.? They couldn't afford to keep me."

Tony was about to say more when JARVIS, who had been silent for quite a while, suddenly spoke up.

"Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes is calling. It appears to be urgent."

Tony considered it, then said helplessly, "Put him through."

"Tony."

A voice came from the other end of the line. It was his friend, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes.

"Rhodey."

"What are you doing? Why is it so noisy?"

"Driving a convertible. Get to the point."

"A terrorist base was destroyed just a few kilometers from where you were held captive. Do you know anything about it?"

"Sounds like someone did your job for you."

On the other end, Rhodey sensed something was off and asked cautiously, "Are you sure there's nothing I need to know?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because there's something on my screen that's about to get blown out of the sky."

Barely had Rhodey finished speaking when a powerful roar came from far behind Tony.

"Sir, two F-22 Fighter Jets are approaching rapidly from behind," JARVIS promptly warned.

"Thanks for another late warning!"

Alarmed, Tony immediately accelerated, trying to shake off the jets.

A moment later, each fighter launched an object that rapidly closed in behind him.

"Incoming missiles!"

A huge, glowing red warning appeared on the armor's display.

Tony was just about to deploy flares to detonate the missiles prematurely when he suddenly remembered Hermione was still behind him. He immediately turned and flew back, intending to draw the missiles away first so she wouldn't get caught in the blast.

Watching Tony fly farther and farther away at supersonic speed, Hermione puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

You think you're so great just because you can fly fast!

Although the Nimbus 2000 was the latest broomstick model, its top speed was only two hundred kilometers an hour. That was quite fast, but it still fell far short of the Iron Man Armor.

Just as she raised her wand, preparing to trip Tony up a little, she saw him suddenly double back and wave a hand to one side, signaling her to move out of the way.

Hermione immediately realized something was behind her. She looked back and saw a missile rapidly approaching!

She didn't panic. After a moment's thought, she immediately understood why.

Tony must have been trying to escape, but he came back because he was worried about my safety.

Hmph, at least you have a conscience. For Pepper's sake, I'll give you a hand!

Hermione accelerated, swept past Tony, and moved behind him.

Seeing that Hermione was safe, Tony was about to leave, only to discover that the missile was already right on top of him, about to strike and explode. It was too late to dodge!

Fuck, you little brat, you've gotten me killed! Tony wailed inwardly.

The Mark III's defenses could barely withstand a tank shell. It could endure some of the shock wave from a nearby missile explosion, but there was no way it could survive a direct hit!

Fuck it, here goes!

Just as Tony braced himself for impact, he heard a shout from behind him.

"Protego!"

Tony whipped his head around. Hermione was following close behind him, a faint glow shining at the tip of her wand as a shimmering spherical shield instantly enveloped them both.