TALES OF SUSPENSE #39 PT 1
Our story begins in a secluded area somewhere in the U.S. defense perimeter, at a closely guarded building, the laboratory of Anthony Stark! It is 1963, and the USA was fighting in Vietnam while communists reigned "behind the iron curtain!"
Inside the building, Tony Stark began to show off his newest invention.
"You see General," said Tony, "My tiny transistor increases the power of this small magnet so tremendously that it will open that locked vault!"
The General looked at the vault at the other side of the room, then at Tony, and said, "Oh, come on now, Stark! That just isn't possible!"
"Think so? There! I've switched on the transistor! It's energizing the magnet!"
The vault door began to bend outward. "The door!" exclaimed the general. "It's beginning to buldge!"
"Naturally," smirked Tony. "My transistors are SO powerful that they can increase the force of any device a THOUSANDFOLD!"
The steel vault door then split in half with a loud "CRACK" and sped for the magnet.
"Now do you believe the transistors I've invented are capable of solving your problem in Vietnam?" asked Tony.
"Stark," replied the General, "After what I've just seen, I'm ready to believe ANYTHING!"
Yes, it was an amazing demonstration, but now, let us learn more about the man whose genius made it possible! Let us learn more about Anthony Stark, the one who is fate to become...Iron Man!
Anthony Stark... Rich... Handsome, known as glamorous playboy, constantly in the company of beautiful, adoring women. Yes, Anthony Stark, both a sophisticate and a scientist! A millionare and a bachelor, as much home in the laboratory as in high society. But this man seems so fortunate, who's envied by millions...is soon destined to become the most tragic figure on Earth! For our tale really has its beginnings halfway around the world, in a South Vietnam jungle, menaced by Wong Chu, the red guerrilla tyrant!
Soldiers of Wong Chu would march into villages and take them over. Then, after taking everyone prisoner, Wong Chu would challenge the strongest men to fight him. if they won, he would free their village and move on. if not, the village would be his! Desperate to save their villages, the strongest natives accept the warlords challenge. Naturally, Wong Chu always won, and not alaways honorably. Those who defeated him were shot and killed...and the village was taken anyway!
Wong Chu just flipped a man over himself and delivered a chop that knocked the man out. Wiping the sweat from his face, the warlord turned to his loyal soldiers, who were no more than deviants, murderers and mercenaries loyal to him.
"It is over!" said Wong Chu. "Now let us plunder the town! For none can stop Wong Chu!"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the jungle, Tony Stark has bravely flew to Vietnam to test his new transistors in the soldiers' mortars to help them defeat Wong Chu and his red guerillas. A soldier explained to Tony that they are outnumbered, but could beat the reds if they had heavy artillery, but none can be transported through the jungle! Tony's transistors will fix the problem.
"Thanks to your inventions," said the soldier, "Our mortars are no longer larger or heavier than flashlights. our men can carry them anywhere!"
"Take cover!" yelled another soldier. "There's the enemy! You'll see your guns in action now, Mr. Stark!"
Everyone crouched down in the thick underbrushed as a few figures armed with guns walked towards them. Within moments, mortars fired everywhere, and the red soldiers who were advancing then fled away from the powerful explosions!
"Just look at the reds retreat!" yelled a soldier. "Stark, your weapons are everything we hoped for!"
"That's why I'm here," said Tony Stark. "To make sure they work as planned. If not, I'll fix'em on the spot!"
"The reds never knew what hit'em!" yelled a soldier.
A few minutes later, Tony Stark and the soldiers adavanced through the jungle. But the jungle holds a thousands perils! Some natural, some man-made, and tripping over a small, concealed string leads to explosions...and DISASTER for Tony Stark!
"A booby trap!" yelled Tony. He fell to the ground and everything went black. The last thing he heard was gunshots and the sound of a man's footsteps getting closer.
He had been approached by a red Guerrilla soldier. "Yankee Civilian still alive," exclaimed the soldier, in messy English. "Him maybe important government official! I bring him to Wong-Chu, maybe get reward!"
Tony Stark was then brought to the most recently Red Guerrilla-controlled village, where Wong Chu was planning his next attack.
He was startled when one of his soldiers lay down Tony Stark on a cot in the room. Wong Chu looked at the remnants of Tony's suitcase, and examined the papers within. "His papers reveal he is a famous Yankee weapons inventor!" exclaimed Wong Chu. "How is he?"
"Bad" said the soldier. "Much shrapnel near his heart! Impossible to operate! Cannot live longer than a week! In a few days shrapnel will reach his heart..then he will die.. Nothing can save him!"
"Bah," muttered Wong Chu. "We can use his genius! Wong Chu will trick him into spending his last days on Earth working for us! Is he strong enough now?"
"Yes," replied the soldier. "He can work until shrapnelr eaches heart!"
Tony Stark had already woken up, but was pretending to be unconscious. he was hearing everything they had said!
Only one week, thought Tony. Wong Chu will lie to me, tell me I will be saved, or something. But I can't! However, my last act will be to defeat the terrorrist scum!
TO BE CONTINUED...