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April
Year 1 |
Tony Stark feels the pounding of his heart in his chest. It feels as if it's going to explode. He can't breathe. He tries to clutch his chest... but his hands are bound. He struggles against his restraints... what are they made of? He can't see them in the darkness. Suddenly, he realizes why his armor cannot snap whatever is holding him back. The armor has been drained of all power. Without warning, he feels a sharp pain in the back of his skull, and tries to scream. No sound escapes his throat. He hears footsteps. He strains to see the figure that approaches through the blackness. A small beam of light suddenly decends from the ceiling to the floor a few inches in front of his face. The figure leans forward into the light. Instantly, Tony recognizes the grinning armored form of Kang the Conqueror!
"NO!"
Tony leaps up in bed, covered in sweat. Slowly, he becomes aware of his surroundings. It is the house he has rented in Los Angeles while he awaits the completion of the construction of his new home. As he calms down, he begins to wonder about his dream. "I can't recall what happened to me before I was transported to that other world with the rest of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.... The Avengers told me they encountered another Iron Man who had fallen under Kang's control shortly before that. Could Kang be somehow responsible for my lost memories? Could my dream have been my memories trying to return?" Try as he might, Tony cannot recall any more details. He decides to attempt to return to sleep, but he cannot. Not only are his missing memories weighing heavily on his mind, but he has finally tracked down Jim Rhodes. He cannot decide if he is ready to face his old friend again, after all that has happened.
Now we flashback to one week ago, the day following Tony Stark's reclaiming of Stark Enterprises (as seen last ish - flashback Matt). In an elegant office, a shadowy figure peruses the front page of the financial section. The page is full of details on Stark's deal with Fujikawa and speculation on what effect this will have on the business world. The figure thinks, "I was ready to make a move to acquire Fujikawa and now Stark is back. This changes my plans. I suppose a proper welcome would be in order."
Now back to the present. Tony sits in his office, thinking about the adjustments he will have to make to his company in the next few weeks. Although administrative matters will consume a good bit of his time in the near future, he has begun work on some new designs he feels will have tremendous profit potential. As he begins sifting through his files on the key administrative changes made in his absence, his intercom buzzes.
"Mr. Stark, you have a call from security," his new secretary, Ms. Edwards informs him.
Tony picks up his phone. "Mr. Stark, this is Murphy, security chief. There's a problem in Experimental Lab Two. It seems one of the energy experiments went haywire and melted some important equipment."
"I'll stop by to inspect the damage shortly."
After deciding that the equipment needs to be replaced, Tony returns to his office and begins thinking about Jen McAllister (he met her last issue - society Matt) and her job offer to him. Of course, he knew at the time that he would be taking back his company shortly and had no intention of going to work for Datathink. However, he was intrigued by her courage and ambition. He then buzzes Ms. Edwards. "Ms. Edwards, set up a dinner meeting with Ms. McAllister at Datathink. Tell her I have an offer for her." He pauses, and then makes a decision he has been delaying for days. "Also, set up an appointment with Jim Rhodes."
The rest of the day passes uneventfully. That night Tony decides to get a little exercise as the Golden Avenger, Iron Man. He flies over the campus of Stark Enterprises, content that it is once again his. He decides to go to Experimental Lab Two to see if he can speed up the clean-up process. As he approaches the door to the lab, he hears footsteps inside. Using the scanners in his armor, he detects the heat signature of a human inside. Powering up his weapons systems, Iron Man bolts inside the room to find the Spymaster! Spymaster, who was standing in front of a computer terminal downloading files, spins upon hearing Iron Man's entrance.
"Iron Man! I can't say I'm completely surprised to see you here. In fact, I came prepared."
Spymaster throws a dozen small marble-shaped objects. One by one, they begin to detonate. The blasts do no harm to Iron Man, but they send debris and smoke flying through the air, making it difficult for him to see Spymaster make his escape through one of the windows. Iron Man quickly discovers that Spymaster has left the lab, and heads outside in pursuit. Iron Man spots Spymaster running across the SE grounds and swoops in to stop him. However, at that same moment Spymaster activates a remote- control minicopter waiting nearby. The minicopter is armed with four missiles and a laser cannon. As the minicopter swoops in, it fires two of its missiles. Iron Man's evasion program takes over his armor and he darts out of the path of the missiles, but they have locked onto him. Iron Man catches the missiles in his tractor beam and then explodes them harmlessly using his repulsors. However, the missile attack has served its purpose. The Spymaster has climbed into the minicopter and is attempting to make good his escape.
Iron Man follows and catches up with the copter three miles away from SE. As he prepares to disable the minicopter, it swings around and fires at him with its laser. "My refractory coating could take this all day, but I'm not in the mood for fun and games," thinks Iron Man. He blasts the rotors with his repulsors, causing the minicopter to spin wildly. As it falls to the ground, the cockpit disengages. The laser cannon fires high intensity blasts into the ground as treads extend from the bottom of the cockpit. The laser blast create a boring effect, and as the cockpit burrows into the ground the rest of the copter crashes into the ground near the hole. The remain missiles explode, igniting the fuel tank in the minicopter. Iron Man quickly extinguishes the debris of the copter and begins blasting away the dirt that had collapsed over the tunnel Spymaster had made. Once the tunnel is cleared away, Iron Man follows it until it resurfaces a few miles away. The cockpit/borer has been left, but apparently Spymaster had another vehicle waiting at this spot. He is nowhere to be found.
Upon returning to SE, Iron Man discovers that Spymaster had downloaded some files pertaining to the energy experiments that had been conducted in Experimental Lab Two. However, he did not have time to get several key files before Iron Man had discovered him. Iron Man thinks, "Spymaster won't give up, he'll try to get the rest of the files somehow. This time I'll be ready for him. It's strange that he wanted information on this experiment after the accident destroyed some equipment. Was that really an accident? I've got to get to the bottom of this."
Next: Iron Man sets a trap for Spymaster! Tony Stark comes face to face with Jim Rhodes (this time we promise)! Miss it at your own peril!
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