Iron Man

Chapter 1: Sometimes they come back part 1

The memories were so fresh even after all these years... Tony Stark could still feel the fear, could still taste the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. A tiny sliver of metal rested dangerously close to his heart. He had worked so feverishly, building the metal shell that would not only overthrow the Asian warlord who had kidnapped him but also preserve his own life. Until that terrible day, he'd been a youthful, arrogant genius -- born into a life of luxury, a silver spoon in his mouth. But he was reborn inside the cold gray armor of Iron Man... He became something more. He became a man with something to fight for. A hero.

The years had brought many changes to him since, curing him of his medical condition and bringing numerous alterations and improvements to his armor. But one thing had always remained -- the cold, keen knowledge of how quickly a life could be snuffed out. Every day was precious and had to be seized. Be it in the boardroom, the lab, or in battle with the Avengers, Tony Stark never backed down. He always pressed forward, seeking victory under any circumstances...

In this case, he was trying to maintain his balance on a wakeboard. The harsh Hawaiian waves were difficult to maneuver, especially on this type of board. It was much smaller than a surfboard and required different techniques to master. Tony crouched lower, barely avoiding a splashdown.

On the beach, Monique Chambers squealed with delight. She was a young fashion model that Tony had met at a fund-raising benefit for the Maria Stark Foundation. She was attractive and pleasant to be with, though no one would mistake her for a rocket scientist. She ran towards Tony as he emerged from the water. "You were fantastic! I thought you said you'd never been on one of those things before!"

Tony laughed as Monique gave him a big hug. "I haven't. It's not too difficult, though."

"Hah! You wouldn't catch me dead on one of those boards." Monique slid an arm around Tony's waist as they moved back towards their towels. "You really are amazing, Tony... Is there anything you can't do?" The young brunette flashed her stunning green eyes in his direction, bringing enough innuendo to make most grown men weak in the knees.

Tony Stark, however, was made of sterner stuff. He dropped down onto his towel and returned the gaze. "Actually, I've been known to fumble the ball on occasion."

Monique reached over and retrieved the mixed drink she'd set down earlier. She took a deep sip and offered the glass to Tony? "Want some? It's really good."

Tony glanced away. He could smell the alcohol and it was very enticing, to be sure. A recovering alcoholic, Tony found it was the little things like this that turned out to be the hardest battles. "No thanks, Monique. I prefer my bottled water these days."

A small chime caught Tony's attention and he turned to lift up the portable computer he carried with him at all times. Flipping the lid open, the monitor flared to life. The Stark 

Solutions logo appeared, with the message "Incoming Message for Tony Stark" emblazoned across the bottom of the screen.

"Do you have to bring that thing with you to the beach, Tony? I thought we were supposed to be having fun..." Monique pouted and turned to look at the ocean.

Tony didn't bother answering her. Monique was fun and diverting, but there was no chance of a relationship between them. The image of Pepper Potts emerged on the screen, her freckled face drawn tight in concern. "Tony?"

"I'm here, Pepper. What's wrong?"

"There's a problem with your cousin Morgan -- He was injured last night in a break-in at his home. They're keeping him in a New York hospital for observation."

Tony's face dropped. Morgan Stark was the family's black sheep, a man who had squandered all of his personal fortune numerous times. As a result, he'd fallen in with the underworld on more than one occasion, having only recently attained a high-ranking position in Stark-Fujikawa. "How bad is it?"

"He's going to be okay, but he's some pretty serious burns."

"Burns?"

Pepper nodded, his eyes studying Tony's face for signs of concern. Long ago, she'd loved him with all her heart... and in some ways, she still did. "He says that the break-in wasn't of the usual variety. The assailant was looking for you... And he called himself the Melter."

Tony stood up quickly. "I see. I'll be back as soon as I can, Pepper." He cast a quick glance at Monique, seeing her stunned reaction. "I'm sorry but I have to head to New York -- Family emergency."

As he moved back to the hotel, only one thought kept going through his mind : The Melter was dead, killed by the death-dealer known as the Scourge. Whomever had claimed his name couldn't possibly be the original -- but it seemed that they had also picked up the first Melter's hatred of Tony Stark. All too many people seemed to share that feeling these days.

The small figure moved into the cemetery stealthily, casting glances about himself to make sure that he wasn't being followed. He wore a small costume that made him resemble a living chess piece and his head was shaved bald. His dark, greedy eyes lit up when he came to the grave that he sought.

"Soon, my master, you shall live again... You have my word of honor." The diminutive man reached out to run his fingers across the letters on the gravestone. "All that was yours before shall be yours again..."



Iron Man flew towards the hospital, his mind drifting over the events of the past few days. His armor's artificial intelligence handled most of the minutiae of flying for him, allowing him to concentrate on the problems at hand. In recent weeks, he'd clashed with a revitalized Count Nefaria, the new War Machine, and the Doomsday Man

. Those battles, along with his continuing crusade to help Carol Danvers, aka Warbird, overcome her alcohol addiction, were making him weary.
See Iron Man '99; Annual.
In Iron Man v3 # 19-20.

This took place in Avengers v3 # 15-17.

He came to a smooth landing atop the hospital building, using the new voice-activated system in his armor to peel the suit from his body. "Disengage." The armor folded itself up neatly, hanging in the air awaiting his next command. Normally, Tony would store the suit in the trunk of his car but he'd flown the whole way under his own power. "Cloak."

The armor shimmered, refracting light around itself until it was invisible to the naked eye. The Iron Man armor was in continual upgrade and this new feature was just the latest. It was similar to the old system in the so-called "Silver Centurion" armor that he'd worn in the past, but with many improvements.

Moments later, Tony entered Morgan's room. The elder Stark lay in his bed, his right arm and leg heavily bandaged.

"How are you doing, Morgan?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. I'm glad you could come." Morgan placed a hand over Tony's and squeezed. "The bigwigs at Fujikawa are promising to hire private investigators to find the scoundrel."

"You told Pepper that he was looking for me..."

Morgan nodded, looking away. "Indeed. You'd think after all this time I'd have earned a few stalkers of my own, wouldn't you? Alas... I was having an after-dinner drink and standing on the balcony. I purchased one of your old penthouse suites while you were gone and I was just thinking of how I could revitalize the place when I heard a strange humming sound. This Melter fellow literally blew my front door apart. He actually thought I was you at first, I think. Very strange fellow, kept raving about how you'd ruined his family."

Tony blinked. "His family?"

"That's what he said. Make any sense to you?"

"Not really. I know that the original Melter was a man named Bruno Horgan. He was a business rival of ours until he went bankrupt following a government investigation that revealed he was using faulty materials. He used one of his inventions -- a malfunctioning radar device that could project a beam of liquefied iron -- to become a costumed villain. He's dead, though, killed by a madman called Scourge."



Morgan shrugged. "Apparently, Tony, the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated."

Carol Danvers wanted a drink so badly... She shivered slightly, standing in the kitchen of her Seattle home. She wore only a thin nightgown and stared hungrily into an open cabinet. Inside was a bottle of whiskey -- what her grandfather would have called "rot-gut." It was nasty, strong stuff and she'd hidden it inside for just such a night. She reached a trembling hand for it, stopping just short of it.

She knew Tony was right and that she had a problem, but she also felt she had a right to a drink every now and then. Growing up with a father who'd felt that women had a place and the military wasn't one of them, she'd had to fight for everything she wanted. Finally getting into NASA, she'd become a target of supervillains everywhere because of her association with the Kree hero Mar-Vell, finally becoming a hero herself. Since then, she'd lost her memories, had her powers altered several times, and suffered every indignity possible.

Carol grabbed the bottle and brought it down, setting it on the counter. Just one sip couldn't hurt, could it?

The image of Tony holding her in his arms came to her suddenly and powerfully. He'd been down this same road himself, she knew... With a strangled groan, she fired an energy blast at the bottle. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces, the alcohol running in rivulets to the floor.

Carol staggered back, clenching her fists. "No... I'm stronger than this. I'm stronger than this."

Tony Stark stood outside the Stark-Fujikawa headquarters, ignoring the throng of reporters nipping at his heels. Fujikawa was going to be showing off their update of Plato -- an artificial intelligence created by Tony himself during his Force Works days but recently upgraded by Suzi Endo -- and had invited many of their rivals to the show. Tony had originally planned to send one of his employees but in light of the Melter situation, he was in attendance himself. If the Melter was targeting Tony, then he'd put himself out in the open to draw him out. Better than to put more innocents in danger.

"Mr. Stark -- How do you feel about Fujikawa making money off of your creations?"

The question brought Tony back to reality and he turned to face the reporter who'd asked it. "I have no problem with Fujikawa generating revenue off things that rightfully belong to the Stark portion of their corporation. As I said after my return, I don't plan to regain Stark Enterprises in any way. If they can improve upon the original Plato design, I salute them."

The follow-up question was lost on Tony as a sudden movement on the rooftop of a nearby building caught his attention. Standing there, in broad daylight, was a man wearing the Melter's costume. It was almost too much to believe -- Tony had seen this public appearance as a long shot at drawing out the new Melter, not something that would actually work.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but something's come up rather unexpectedly."



Virginia "Pepper" Potts stared at her computer screen, a frown on her face. She hated days like this, when Tony was off risking his neck and Happy away working at his new job as the community outreach manager. It made her feel useless -- and alone.

Since her divorce from Happy, she'd thrown herself into her work in hopes that she'd find meaning there. She did find it, to an extent, but there was something lacking. Pepper glanced over at the framed photo of Tony on the wall and realized suddenly what exactly it was that was missing from her life.

She missed being loved. It was simple as that. She knew that Happy would take her back in a second, but that felt like taking a step backwards -- admitting that the things that had gone wrong in their marriage were, in some way, her fault.

A telephone call thankfully saved her from further thinking along those lines. "Stark Solutions. How may I assist you?"

The voice that came through the receiver was feminine, which wasn't that surprising since Tony got a large number of female callers. "I need to speak with Tony Stark on an urgent matter of business."

Pepper recognized the voice almost immediately, her eyes growing cold in response. "Ms. Bain? I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark is in New York at a Fujikawa showing and cannot be reached. Even if he were available, he has no interest in speaking with you."
Sunset Bain is the owner of Baintronics and the mastermind behind the creation of the new, evil War Machine.

"I see. Well, inform him that I'm sorry I missed him in New York. Pressing business has taken me elsewhere, I'm afraid. Do tell him, however, that I have some interesting news that I want share with him. It concerns Fujikawa's holdings on the Stark companies. If he wishes, he may contact me at 555-0675."

"I'll be sure to pass that on, Ms. Sunset. Good-bye." Pepper cut the connection, her eyes flashing. Tony had suffered through more terrible luck with women than any man alive, she thought. What he really needed was a woman who actually gave a damn about him and not about his money...

Iron Man circled the rooftop, his new cloaking feature hiding him from the Melter's gaze. As long as Tony didn't access any of the armor's weapons systems, he could remain invisible forever.

The figure before him was somewhat shorter than Bruno had been, with a more slender frame. The costume and equipment, however, were unmistakably that of the original Melter.

Iron Man landed behind the Melter, fading into view. He had his hands raised, ready to fire his repulsors when needed. "Looking for someone?"



The Melter jerked around and Iron Man noted quickly that the man before was young, in his early twenties at the latest. "How -- ? You're good, Iron Man. I'll grant you that. I take it you're here to defend your master?"

Iron Man grunted. "Mr. Stark has never harmed you -- What kind of grudge do you have against him?"

"That's something for me and Mr. Stark to work out for ourselves! Now, I'm sure you're familiar with this, aren't you?" A beam of destructive energy flared out from the belt-mounted melting unit.

The ray struck Iron Man's armor full-on. It had numerous different settings, but the most deadly was the one that the Melter was using now -- instead of projecting actual heat, the unit instead sought to weaken the molecules of the target. The target literally broke down into nothing.

Warning signs flashed all over Tony's viewscreens. ARMOR INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. RECOMMEND TRANSFERENCE OF SPARE ENERGY TO DEFENSE SYSTEMS. Tony okayed the transfer, backing away from the blast.

Iron Man fired twin repulsor-beams at the Melter, blowing the rooftop in front of him to bits. The villain went down on his back with a cry.

"Who are you, kid? You're not good enough to take me on like this..."

The young Melter brought himself to his knees with a sneer on his face. "Maybe you're right, Shellhead... Maybe I'm not good enough..."

Iron Man's armor warned him a split second ahead of time that a rear attack was imminent. He dove to his left, the brunt of the energy beam missing him. It was still enough to send Iron Man down, his energy reserves flooding his armor to keep it going. With a groan, he looked up into the face of an older man wearing the Melter's original costume, including cape.

"I see you've met my son, Iron Man... How fitting this is. He and I will kill you together and then we'll get our revenge on Tony Stark for all that's done to us!"

Inside the helmet, Tony Stark looked on with pure shock. That voice, the mannerisms... "Bruno Horgan? But... You're supposed to be dead."

The original Melter threw back his head and laughed. "Dead? Oh yes, I am supposed to be dead, aren't I? A pity you won't get a chance to learn the truth behind my sudden resurrection!"

This time, two beams of energy struck Iron Man.

ARMOR INTEGRITY DEGRADED. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL. REPEAT : ARMOR INTEGRITY-- SQUAWK (bzzt)