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December
Year 1 |
Iron Man scours the skies over Los Angeles. "No sign of any of the Raiders. The police weren't able to pick up Raider-1 (after Iron Man's brief run-in last issue - Matt). The others must have found him first. Oh well, they'll turn up sooner or later. I've got to get back to New York. Not only is today Avengers meeting day, but hopefully Hank and Dr. Kincaid will have my test results. And maybe I'll be able to figure out just what the purpose of Titanium Man's weapon was." (see #342 - Turnage x 2)
Later, Tony Stark flies towards Manhattan in his personal Lear jet. As he gazes out the window at the endless sky, he ponders the events of yester- day's shareholder's meeting. "I had a feeling Justin Hammer's been behind everything I've gone through since I regained Stark Enterprises, but I had no idea he had accumulated as much stock as he had. After the meeting, I noticed him approach other shareholders. No doubt he's trying to acquire even more shares. Felix has been keeping an eye on the market and investors do seem to be losing some confidence in SE. I think Hammer may have finally overplayed his hand, though. In fact, I'll soon have him right where I want him!"
Upon arriving at Avengers Mansion, Tony proceeds directly to Dr. Kincaid's office. "Tony, come in. Jarvis told me you were on your way. Let me call Dr. Pym, so we can discuss the results."
A few moments later, Henry Pym arrives. "Hello Tony."
"What do the tests say, Hank?" inquires Tony.
"Well... I think we'd better discuss this in private, Tony. Dr. Kincaid, if you'll excuse us?"
"Certainly."
Keith Kincaid leaves the two gentlemen alone in the room. Hank pauses a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Tony, I think we may be on the verge of discovering what happened to you during the period before we went into that alternate reality."
"You mean when someone who appeared to be me betrayed the Avengers, went on a homicidal rampage, and died only to be replaced by a teenage version of myself from an alternate timeline?" Tony says with a mixture of disgust and curiosity.
"In a nutshell, yes. I wish we had thought to run these examinations sooner, but...."
"But you didn't want me to feel like you didn't trust me?"
"Tony, we've been friends for a long time. I'm going to level with you. Some of our teammates have been... how can I put this... less than convinced you were the genuine article."
"Well, I honestly can't say I blame them, after everything that happened."
"I want you to understand, some of us who have known you longer never had any doubts we've been dealing with the real Tony Stark. I don't know, call it intuition, but deep down there was a feeling of 'rightness' about you. Captain America and I were able to convince the doubters to keep their speculations to themselves until you'd recovered your full memories."
"Which I still haven't."
"Yes, but as I said, these tests reveal a great deal. As I told you yester- day, we found traces of energy attached to your DNA. It appears to be some sort of fading chronal energy. The degree of deterioration of the energy indicates that you'd been pulled through time or to an alternate timeline around the same time as Iron Man appeared to be controlled by Kang."
"Yes! I've had a recurring dream where I'm being tortured by Kang. I thought it might be my repressed memories... could Kang have replaced me with some sort of duplicate?"
"I'd say it's very possible, but we really don't have any way of knowing for sure."
(Here the editor would like to suggest you be on the lookout for those answers beginning in Avengers #415 - on sale next month! Now back to our regularly scheduled issue.)
"Were you able to learn anything about the Titanium Man's weapon?"
"Well, as you know, I'm no weapons expert. All I've been able to determine is that the weapon generates a localized field that appears to duplicate the Onslaught effect."
"So either the weapon didn't work, or somehow this chronal energy shielded me from the effect?"
"That appears to be the case."
"Thanks, Hank. I'll take the weapon back to California with me for further study. Meanwhile, I'd better change to Iron Man and get to the meeting."
Elsewhere in New York, a young man and a bum sit in an alley.
"So, howya doin' today, kid?" the bum inquires of his young companion.
"Fine, Joe. I'm kind of hungry, though."
"'Ey, don' worry 'bout it. We'll git sum stuff in a bit. Still don' remember who you is?"
"No, Joe. I can't remember anything, except... a mansion?"
"A mansion? You sure? 'Cuz sometimes I think about mansions, but that's just my 'magination."
"I don't know... I pretty sure this is a real memory. But I can't remember where it is, or what it really looks like."
"Ah, don' worry 'bout it, kid. Let's go find some grub."
Meanwhile, just outside of Los Angeles James Rhodes sits in his office at Rhodes Air. He has no chartered flights today, and since it is Saturday, his employees all have the day off. He wishes that he could take the day off too, but he's behind in his paperwork. He finds it hard to focus on his work, however. He keeps drifting back to the Stark Enterprises share- holders' meeting, and the conversation he had with Tony afterwards...
Rhodey's reverie is broken by the sound of someone knocking on his office door. "It's a good thing I decided to open up the office today. Looks like someone may need to charter a flight." He walks to the door, and upon opening it finds himself in for a rather unpleasant surprise. "Justin Hammer! And I see you've brought your enforcer with you."
"Please, Mr. Rhodes," Hammer smiles at him. "Mr. Scarlotti is my bodyguard. I know you're aware of his somewhat disreputable past, but he's turned over a new leaf. I believe in giving second chances."
"Whatever you say, Hammer. What do you want?"
"Well, you're certainly not one for pleasantries, are you? All right, then, we'll get right down to business. I'd like to purchase your interest in Stark Enterprises. I'm offering you twice current market value."
"I don't think so, Hammer. Go find someone else to play your power games with."
"Come now, Mr. Rhodes. Surely a small business like yours could use the extra funds. After all, opening up your own business can be quite a risky proposition these days. You never know what might happen."
"I'll be sure to remember that. But I'm not interested. If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."
"As you wish. Good day, Mr. Rhodes." Hammer and Scarlotti exit, leaving Rhodey to ponder the situation.
That night, Iron Man patrols the skies over Los Angeles. "Well, today was certainly productive. If nothing else, I've got some clues to my missing memories. Maybe I'll find out some more when I study Titanium Man's weapon. But that can wait for tomorrow. Right now, I just need to relax. It's not often I really get to enjoy the freedom my armor gives me."
BEEPBEEPBEEP!
"And it looks like I won't get to now! My proximity alarms going crazy! What-?"
Iron Man's question is answered by the devastating force of Raider-3's shatterguns. Iron Man falls 50 feet before his stabilizers correct him.
He turns to see all three of the Raiders hovering above him. "Guys, this is getting old. Why don't we just save ourselves the trouble and you surrender before you do something you'll regret."
The Raiders remain silent. Suddenly, Iron Man's systems begin failing. "What's happening? I'm losing power!" He plummets towards the streets below. "I'm gonna hit hard - if I can't stop my fall, even with my armor I could be hurt! And that's if I don't land on a bystander first!"
Jim Rhodes locks up his office at Rhodes Air. He walks across the parking lot, whistling a tune. As he unlocks his car, he hears a step behind him. He whirls to come face to face with Blacklash.
"Evening, Mr. Rhodes. You and I need to discuss business."
Next Issue: At last! The conclusion to the Justin Hammer storyline! See you then!
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