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July
Year 1 |
All of Wall Street is abuzz. Coast to coast, the headline of every major newspaper's financial section is the same: "Stark Enterprises Goes Public! Major Stock Offering Announced!" Brokerage firms are deluged with calls from investors who are eager to get a piece of the action as early as possible. It seems as though the entire business world is bursting with excitement over Stark Enterprises' announcement- except for one man. That man is Tony Stark, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Stark Enterprises as well as the Invincible Iron Man. Although it was his decision to offer stock to the public, it is a decision he is not entirely comfortable with.
As he sits in his office at Stark Enterprises' Silicon Valley headquarters, he ponders the situation. "Issuing stock almost cost me my company once (see Iron Man 128-129 - Helpful Matt) and I don't like the possibility of that happening again. Of course, I plan to retain 51% of the stock for myself, but the thought of others having their hands in my company is still a little unsettling. Perhaps if I remind myself it's good to have the public watching me a little closer.... Enough of this. I've got to get ready to go back to New York. The day after tomorrow is Saturday - Avengers meeting day. I'll head over there this afternoon and tour the Long Island facilities tomorrow. It'll be good to spend a day at my old stomping grounds. Plus, I'll have a chance to unveil my new power source to the public, which should increase interest in SE stock even further."
Just then his intercom buzzes. "Mr. Stark, you have a call from a Ms. McAllister."
"I'll take it." Tony picks up his phone. "Jen? I was hoping to hear from you. Have you given my offer any thought?"
"Yes I have," she replies. "I'd love to come work for SE. I've given Datathink my notice. I'll be ready to start in two weeks."
"Excellent! It'll be great to have you aboard."
Following the conclusion of their conversation, Jen feels slightly troubled as she sits at her desk in her Datathink office. "I feel kind of bad not being totally honest with Tony... if that is Tony. I guess that's the main reason I'm taking this job, really. When I told my old friend from Worldwatch, Jim Rhodes, about this job offer he encouraged me to take it. He's not sure if this Tony Stark is the genuine article, and he wanted me to help him find out. (Which you already know if you read last issue - Matt) All in all, it is a bit exciting. If he's not really Stark, then who is he?"
We leave Jen to ponder that question as we head to a by-now familiar office. Standing in front of the desk of the mysterious figure we've seen the last few issues are the Raiders: three mercenaries in blue and gold armor who have battled Iron Man before. The figure speaks. "You Raiders encountered Iron Man while under the employ of Edwin Cord and failed. However, I have upgraded your armor and your weaponry. Do you believe you can defeat Iron Man if I give you another chance?"
"Yes sir," replies Raider-1.
"Then you had best be prepared. I want you to go to New York. Tony Stark will be inspecting his Long Island facilities tomorrow, and I have heard through my sources he plans to unveil a new power source there in order to boost confidence in SE even further. I want you to seize it tonight and bring it to me."
"New York? But Iron Man operates in California! He won't be in New York if Stark's not," argues Raider-3.
"Stark is heading to New York today, you idiot. Besides, Iron Man is frequently in New York on Avengers business. If you do your job well, you won't have to battle him. However, you must be fully prepared for his presence. Now leave. I want that power source in my hands tomorrow."
Later that day, Tony Stark arrives in New York aboard his private Lear jet. He spends the remainder of the afternoon at Avengers Mansion shooting the breeze with the Beast and Hank Pym. That evening, he dines with Ling McPherson (a no-prize to the first true believer who recognizes Ling- Too-Lazy-To-Explain-It Matt). Tony returns to the Mansion to retire for the evening. As he relaxes in one of the spare quarters, his Avengers I.D. card pages him. It is the Vision, who is on Monitor Duty this evening.
"Stark here."
"We've just received a report of a possible explosion at Stark Enterprises' Long Island facilities."
"A possible explosion?"
"The report indicated there was a loud noise followed by what sounded like a wall collapsing. The authorities are already on their way. Should I assemble a team to investigate?"
"No, Vision. I'll check this out myself. It may be an experiment that went bad, or it may be nothing at all. I'll contact you as soon as I ascertain the situation."
Tony swiftly dons his armor and within minutes is flying over the same facility he called home for many years. "My recent run-ins with Spymaster and the Melter have convinced me someone's out to get me. Could they have heard about my trip to New York and decided to attack me here?"
Meanwhile, the Raiders are emerging from a rather large hole in the wall of one of the research buildings on the SE campus. Raider-2 is holding the purloined power source Stark has developed. "Raider-3, that was stupid! We'll be lucky to get out of here unnoticed! I told you Raider-2 could get us in without attracting attention!" Raider-1 scolds.
"I'm sorry! I just had to try out my new shatterguns!"
"Will you two shut up? Let's just get out of here!" Raider-2 interjects.
"You're not going anywhere!" announces Iron Man, who now swoops into view.
"Here's your big chance to test those new shatterguns, Raider-3!" advises Raider-1.
Raider-3 unleashes the sonic power of his shatterguns. Iron Man is jolted back by the force of the blast. "His weapons have been improved. Still, he's not powerful enough to damage my armor." Iron Man begins attacking the Raiders with his repulsors. Raider-2 blocks the blasts with his energy shield while Raiders 1 and 3 take to the air. Raider-1 begins firing his wrist blasters in laser mode at Iron Man. "His lasers are almost as power- ful as the Melter's beam, but the modifications made to refractory coating are working fine. Radar indicates Raider-3's trying to sneak up on me - I'd better activate my avoidance program." As Raider-3 opens fire with his shatterguns, Iron Man's onboard computers initiate a sequence which auto- matically keeps him away from Raider-3's blasts. However, Raider-1 is not so lucky and is knocked out by a wild shot from Raider-3.
Iron Man attempts to take advantage of Raider-3's momentary confusion, but Raider-2 grabs Iron Man and begins siphoning Iron Man's power. "I've learned from our past encounters, Iron Man! I don't use the energy net any more - I can now siphon your energy directly into my armor!"
"He really has learned from his mistakes! I can't reverse the drain process like I did to his net before (back in Iron Man #226 - Drained Matt). Perhaps I can overload him by increasing my power output!" Iron Man begins to do just that, and it quickly becomes apparent that his strategem works. Raider-2's systems begin to short out, and he is knocked unconscious.
Iron Man flies Raider-2 to the ground, and spots the power source laying on the ground where Raider-2 had left it. Raider-3, who had attempted to revive Raider-1, eyes the power source at the same time. Iron Man quickly turns and fires his pulse bolts with deadly accuracy at the shatterguns on Raider-3's wrists. As the pulse bolts travel the distance between the two, they gain enough strength to utterly destroy Raider-3's weapons, forcing him to surrender.
Iron Man returns to the mansion. There he is greeted by the Vision. "Iron Man, I saw the news report of your battle with the Raiders. Why didn't you contact us for backup?"
"Sorry Vizh, the battle was over so quickly I didn't have time. The Raiders have never really given me a hard time. I knew I could handle it myself."
As Iron Man returns to his room, the Vision reflects that it was logical for Iron Man to handle the Raiders alone. Still, the Vision wonders how truly committed Iron Man is to the Avengers. Then he begins to ponder the question that has been on the minds of several of his teammates..."Is this the real Iron Man? Or have the Avengers been duped again?"
Next Issue: We begin a three part epic which takes Iron Man to Germany and features the return of a classic villain who hasn't been seen in over 16 years! Miss it not!
Note from Matt: I noticed that the Raiders may be more obscure than I thought - they don't even appear on the Marvel chronology project! If you want to know more about them, Iron Man #s 145 and 226 get my highest recommendations!
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