Iron Man #355

MV1 Presents: "Who Dares Wins!"
Plot by Matt Turnage and Steve Blair
Script by Steve Blair

Inventor, buisnessman, ladie's man, super hero. Gravely injured by an act of industrial sabotage, billionaire genius Tony Stark saved his own life by designing a life-sustaining shell -- the hi-tech armor that transformed him into the invincible Iron Man! Today, the world thinks Iron Man is an employee -- Tony Stark's personal bodyguard -- and in this dual role, he faces corporate intrigue and super-powered menaces. He's a modern-day knight in armor, fighting injustice wherever it rears its head.
Justin Hammer An old advisery of Tony Stark. Justin's company once riveled Stark Enterprises but it was soon surpassed thanks to Tony's brilliant skills. Hammer hates Tony and Iron Man for repeatedly interfearing in the criminal activities performed by his company.	Firepower Jack Taggert was a model soldier, dedicated, loyal and good at what he did. Because of his superb record he was selected to try out a prototype for a new government battlesuit, codename: Firepower. In his first mission he nearly killed Iron Man before losing the rematch, badly. He was disgraced and released from service. Vowing revenge he sided with Justin Hammer, who built a new suit of Firepower armor for him to use.
The Ghost A supervillain who has crossed paths with both Tony Stark and Justin Hammer in the past. He has the ability to become intangible and has limited control over machinery.	Stealth Armor One of Tony's first drastic modifications on his regular armor. The Stealth armor is crammed full of sophiticated jamming devices which make it invisible to nearly all forms of electronic tracking. However the prototype has no weapons due to the space needed for the stealth equipment.
Previously in Iron Man Having sorted out the mystery of his teenage counterpart, Tony Stark gets back down to business. Meanwhile, due to the 'disappearance' of Blacklash as a witness, Justin Hammer becomes a free man once more and vows revenge on Stark for getting him arrested. After aprenhending some crooks, Iron Man returns to Stark Enterprises to learn of Hammer's release. He vows to bring Hammer to justice using any means necessary. Later that day both a SE factory and a Hammer owned facility explode at exactly the same time.

"My god!" Tony Stark whispered, almost catatonic, as he surveyed the carnage that surrounded him. What was once an extensive manufacturing facility that employed just under two thousand Canadian and American citizens, was now a desolate wasteland, a glimpse of Armageddon. The rich fields surrounding the site now lay still and unfertile. The beautiful surrounding lakes were now a disturbing green colour. "Casualties?" Tony quietly asked, fearing the answer.

"Twelve dead, over thirty seriously injured." came the reluctant reply. "What could have happened?" Tony did not answer; he just wandered down the path that led into the grounds of the complex. Pushing through the plethora of sobbing people, he tried to get to the head paramedic inside the boundary fence. A large hand fell on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark but you can't go in there." Tony turned to see a small woman in a paramedic tunic. "We don't know what sort of fumes were released in the explosion. Only absolutely necessary personnel are allowed through the gate." At the mention of his name, a tall man ran up and punched him in the stomach. Tony fell to the ground, winded. He looked up to see the man looming over him. Something dropped onto Tony's cheek and he realised that the man was crying.

"Its all your fault." The man screamed. "You treat your workers like dirt, cut back on safety to line your pockets, you're all alike. Well now my Janice is dead and its all your fault! I don't know how you can live with yourself." Tony just lay in the mud and watched the man turn and walk away.

"My god!" Justin Hammer screamed. "What the hell happened here? Eh? Never mind. What's the damage?"

"I don't care about that." Hammer interrupted heartlessly. "How much is this going to cost me?"

"Well find out! Now!" Hammer's assistant scurried away, glad to escape his wrath. Justin Hammer turned away and walked back to his limousine. He entered the vehicle and produced a partially melted timing circuit from his pocket. He rotated the circuit and studied the stamp on the back, Stark Enterprises. He picked up his car phone and dialled carefully. "Mr. Taggert, I have a job for you."

By the time Iron Man reached Germany, Tony's sorrow had turned to rage. A sweep of the S.E. facility back in Vancouver had turned up evidence that the explosion was not an accident. What's more, the evidence, a timing circuit from the explosive device, had been manufactured by none other than Justin Hammer. Stark knew that this time Hammer had gone too far, he had crossed the line, and now he would have to pay. Tony zeroed in on his target as it appeared over the horizon, a solitary smokestack. Tony kicked in the afterburners and Iron Man sped towards the old structure. Seconds later he was directly above the huge chimney. He hovered for a few seconds before descending into the stack. Moments later, he found what he was looking for, a secret entrance into one of his many hidden laboratories. He entered quietly and removed his helmet. The air was stale but still breathable. He hadn't been here for years, this whole complex was built by the Nazi's and was harder to break into than the Vault. He flicked a switch and the machinery that surrounded him burst into life. He fully removed his armour and walked over to a locker that adorned the wall. Opening it, he found what he was here for, an early version of his stealth armour. He dusted it off and began to put it on. As he did so, his mind wandered back to the last time he was here (IM vol. 1 #152 - Steve). He quickly finished and uploaded the information he would need from the red and gold armour he had come here in. He also removed three small boxes from the armour and slotted them into tiny pockets in his stealth armour. The upload completed and the devices onboard, Tony switched off the machines and exited the complex. Once he had reached sufficient altitude, Tony turned up his boot jets and set course for the first of his intended targets.

About a mile from the German border, he detected a large object heading his way at incredible speeds. Sure enough, seconds later an object slightly bigger than Iron Man shot past him in the opposite direction, tossing him about like a rag doll in its turbulence. Tony wanted to turn back and identify the object but knew that he must press on if he was to hit his targets before daybreak.

Stark Enterprises Fully Automated NanoProbe Factory in Sao Paulo. All was quiet as the night watchman finished his round and prepared to knock off for the night. He had worked here, every night for the past five years. Therefore, he knew each machine implicitly, he knew their every hum and every whistle, could identify any of the machines by sound alone. However the sound he heard at that moment was definitely not made by the machines he had grown to know and appreciate. The roaring noise grew louder. The guard ran to the window and then stopped dead. He barely had time to open his mouth before the whole wall exploded. Next thing he knew he was at the other side of the room, looking out a gaping hole that most definitely was not there before. Through the hole a huge armoured man appeared. "Iron M-Man?" the watchman asked.

"No." the armoured man replied bluntly. "The names Firepower." and with that he turned and destroyed the nearest machine with a pair of chest lasers.

When he came to, his first thought was that someone had dragged him outside. Then he turned his head and realised to his horror that he hadn't been moved at all. The whole factory was in ruins. Nothing had been left intact. 'At least no-one else was in the factory' he hazily thought before he heard the sirens. Overcome with relief he allowed himself to lose consciousness once more.

Iron Man landed in the courtyard of Justin Hammers illegal weapons factory in Vietnam. An hour ago, Hammer had three such factories in the country, now just one remained functional. Tony was appalled at how Hammer manipulated the locals. They were treated as little more than slaves, working long hours for virtually pennies. By now the operation had become routine for Tony having done it twice before in the last hour. A quick punch knocked down the front door. Small taps from his gauntlets took care of the few guards. The workers didn't care who he was so they didn't try to stop him. He marched straight into the computer core room and attached the last of his little miracle boxes to the master computer. Immediately circuits fused and components melted. Within seconds the whole network was down, lights went out and the construction line stopped. Next stop, the manager's office. The safe presented little difficulty for him. He ripped off the front with little effort and poured the cash from inside onto the workshop floor before dropping the safe and leaving the jubilant workers to their hard-earned pay. 'That's just the start' Tony thought as he set course for Germany to reclaim his regular armour. 'That should set Hammer back for months, but I'm not stopping here, this time I'm going to make sure he's shut down for good'. He set the armour on auto-pilot and was pondering setting up permanent armour stashes around the world, considering how handy the old stealth armour in Germany had been when he hadn't had time to go back to his main lab, when he heard the news of the attack on his factory in Brazil. 'Oh no.' he thought, 'the description of the assailant matches the object that nearly collided with me over Germany. I knew I should have stopped it when I saw it. Not that I could have done much to it in this weapon-less armour. Hammer has to be behind this damn him. This requires drastic actions.'

Jack Taggert reached Justin Hammer's hidden laboratory in Russia approximately two hours after the destruction of the S.E. factory at his hands. 'That was the most fun I've had in a while.' he thought, 'I can't thank Justin Hammer enough for rebuilding and improving my armour after my last encounter with that criminal Iron Man.' (IM vol. 1 #230 - Steve) He slowed and prepared to land on the laboratories heli-pad. He was just about to land when a volley of pulse bolts hit him square on the chest. He looked up to see the red and gold Avenger approaching, weapons blazing. Firepower took off once more and the two fought over the crisp white Russian snow, unaware that they were both being watched.

Faraway, a single figure stood, watching the grand battle on a monitor in front of him. He laughed aloud with delight. "Aha ha ha ha. All goes well. Soon the fools, Stark and Hammer, will destroy each other. Then they will finally learn the price for angering the Ghost!"

NEXT ISSUE: Can Stark and Hammer put aside their differences in time to stop the Ghost? Or will they destroy each other before they realize who the true culprit is?