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May
Year 1 |
A black convertible Jaguar zooms down the California freeway. Driving this fine piece of machinery is a man who knows more than a little about making fine machines of his own- Tony Stark, millionaire industrialist as well as the Armored Avenger Iron Man. He thinks, "This is it. For the first time since I returned a few of weeks ago, I'm finally going to face one of my oldest friends, Jim Rhodes. I wonder how he'll react- the last time he found out I wasn't really dead when he thought I was, he didn't take it too well." (see Iron Man #289- Understating Matt)
After taking the appropriate exit, Tony's Jag pulls into the parking lot of the administration building of a small airport. Boldly emblazoned on the side of the building is "Rhodes Air." Tony reflects on how nice it is to see his old friend enter business for himself, but remains curious as to why he's apparently given up the life of super heroics he had seemed to grow accustomed to. He enters the building and approaches the secretary.
"Tony Stark to see Jim Rhodes, please."
"Mr. Rhodes is expecting you. His office is down the hall, go right in."
"Thank you."
As Tony reaches the door, he steels himself for whatever greeting he might receive. He walks in, and Rhodey is sitting behind an oak desk. He stands and walks over to Tony and shakes his hand. Rhodey has a confused smile on his face, and asks, "Tony, it's really you? What happened? When I heard you were back, I didn't know what to make of it."
"Well Rhodey, I don't know what to make of it myself. My memories are kind of sketchy...." Tony goes on to recap what he knows of recent events, such as his adventures in the Franklinverse and his missing memories from the Crossing era. "Whatever happened to me, I think Kang may be responsible. I had this strange dream in which he was torturing me." (as seen last ish- recappin' Matt)
"Yeah, Kang was behind alot of trouble for the Avengers and Force Works," Rhodey replies. Then he thinks, "Could he be behind Tony's reappearance? Somehow, this feels like Tony. Still, I thought that was really Tony when I fought Iron Man shortly before his death (as seen in War Machine #22- fist-fightin' Matt). Maybe I should keep a close eye on Tony- make sure its really him."
They go on to discuss other things, such as Rhodey's abandoning of his War Machine identity (in Tales of the Marvel Universe- footnote-happy Matt) and his founding of Rhodes Air. When their conversation concludes, Tony leaves, happy to know his friendship with Rhodey is still salvageable. Rhodey, on the other hand, is full of mixed emotions. He is thrilled that his oldest friend is apparently alive and well, but suspicious that this may be a doppleganger.
Later that day, Tony returns to Stark Enterprises headquarters in Sillicon Valley. He receives a call from Murphy, his security chief. "Mr. Stark, we've got a problem with the monorail system."
"What is it? We just modified that last week according to my new designs."
"Yessir. It's... well, one five yard section of the rail's been melted."
"When?"
"It must have happened last night, sir. We discovered it when we got here this morning."
Tony realizes that the melted equipment in Experimental Lab Two (remember last ish?- Matt again) was no accident. He thought it was too much of a coincidence that Spymaster break into a lab where machinery had malfunctioned that same day... could this mean Spymaster was soon returning to finish the job he had begun two days ago? Or is the work of someone else? "This definitely sounds like the M.O. of one of my other foes...." thinks Tony.
His thoughts are interrupted by the intercom. "Mr. Stark, Mr. Alvarez is here to see you."
"Send him in."
Felix enters, a concerned look on his face. "Tony, SE is in trouble. We're already stretched thin from the buyback of the company from Fujikawa. The destruction of E-Lab 2 has delayed an important project. None of our other projects have delivered yet, and we tapped out our credit lines when you changed priorities on the projects Fujikawa had in place to introduce new projects. We're beginning to run low on cash."
"Blast! I was afraid something like this might happen. E-Lab 2 was so close to bringing us results... we could be ready to introduce new products in a few days if it weren't for that 'accident.'"
"You suspect foul play?"
"I think there's more to it than meets the eye. Anyway, Felix, with our lines of credit gone, what do you recommend we do for cash?"
"There's certainly been a lot of consumer confidence in SE since it was announced you were taking back over. I think we should tap into that and issue stock."
"Make SE a public company? I'm not sure I like that idea!"
"Well, Tony, if we issue bonds that'll be more debt that we really don't need. You could retain the majority of the stock for yourself, and retire the issued stock later if you wanted."
"You may have a point, Felix. Let me give it some thought, and I'll get back to you."
But Tony's thoughts wander from SE's financial situation to the apparent sabotage. "Whether or not Spymaster sabotaged E-Lab Two and the monorail, he didn't get the files he wanted. He'll be back for them, and I'll be ready."
That night, in the central computer banks of Stark Enterprises, the Spymaster slips past various security devices on his way to the SE mainframe. He thinks, "Stark's got some of the best security in the world, but it's not good enough to stop Spymaster. I've deactivated all the security devices and fooled the main system into thinking they're still operating. Now I can get those files and Iron Man will never know I'm here."
Spymaster approaches the mainframe. He downloads the files and starts to leave. As he exits the central computer room, he hears an electronically altered voice behind him. "Going somewhere, Spymaster?" Spymaster whirls to see a black metallic form with red eyes glaring at him. It's Iron Man in his stealth armor! "I've been waiting for you. Don't rush off just yet."
Spymaster whips a pistol from his holster. "You're not taking me, Iron Man!"
"You don't expect that to stop me?"
Spymaster laughs and aims at the ceiling. A blast of energy brings a section of the upper floor down on top of Iron Man. "Just what I needed! Another repair bill!" thinks Iron Man. "I wore this stealth armor in order to hide from Spymaster while keeping all my security systems active so he wouldn't suspect a trap. Unfortunately, it's not as strong as my regular armor because of all the extra stealth equipment." It takes Iron Man only a few extra seconds to breaks free from the rubble, but those seconds are all the Spymaster needs to get a head start on Iron Man.
As Iron Man exits the building, he sees Spymaster rocketing skyward with a jetpack. Iron Man lifts off in pursuit. "I've only got a limited number of repulsor blasts I can use in this armor. I've got to get close enough to make them count," he thinks. Iron Man zooms in close and disables Spymaster's jetpack. As Spymaster goes down, a small rocket shoots out of his pack and streaks toward the horizon. "I must have disabled his weapon system as well," he reflects.
Spymaster manages a safe landing. He quickly discards his damaged jetpack and pulls a billy-club sized metal rod from his waist. Clicking a stud on the side, the club extends and begins crackling with energy. Iron Man touches down near Spymaster but keeps his distance, trying to analyze this new weapon. Suddenly, Spymaster sends a blast of energy from his staff. The blast knocks Iron Man down. "Maybe wearing this armor wasn't such a good idea after all! That blast was powerful enough to short out some of my systems!" Before Iron Man can recover, Spymaster is there, thrashing Shellhead with his powerstaff. Hairline cracks begin to form on Iron Man's armor. Iron Man manages to a glancing repulsor blast that sends Spymaster back, causing him to drop his powerstaff. Iron Man takes advantage of the situation by pounding Spymaster with everything he's got. Spymaster rolls with several of the punches, and attempts to return the favor. His blows cannot affect Iron Man, even with damage to his armor. They continue to struggle. Iron Man finally manages to place his palm on Spymaster's forehead. He channels the little remaining energy into his weapons system, and discharges a low-level repulsor blast, which knocks Spymaster unconcious.
Spymaster regains conciousness only minutes later, but he has already been handcuffed and is about to be placed inside a waiting armored transport vehicle. As he is placed in the vehicle, he turns and sees Iron Man standing near several police officers. Spymaster shouts, "You lost, Iron Man! I sent the disk with the information I came for in that rocket I fired when you shot me down! My employer got those files, and I'll be out of prison before you know it!"
Iron Man laughs. "You're wrong Spymaster. Mr. Stark knew exactly which files you wanted after your last attempt. The files you downloaded off the mainframe were planted just for you. Whoever your employer is, he's in for a surprise."
At that moment, on a mysterious ocean-going vessel in the Pacific, Spymaster's disk is handed to his mysterious employer. "Excellent," he whispers as he inserts the disk into his computer. He loads the files, and suddenly an executable program begins. On the screen flashes "Stark Enterprises presents the officially liscensed Iron Man video game!"
"Well, it appears Anthony Stark thinks he's outsmarted me. Well, the game's not over yet...."
Next Issue: The identity of the sabotuer is revealed and Tony has to make a business decision! 'Till then, face front True Believer!
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