Welcome back, readers! I hope you enjoy the surprise villain that's coming up (he'll appear at the end of the chapter if you want to peek ahead). Enjoy!
While in the jungles of Africa, Tony Stark was out testing one of his weapons, used for fighting terrorism. He accidentally stepped on a trap and the following events led him to adopt the guise of...
The Invincible Iron Man! #11: Clearing the Name of Stark
Iron Man smashed his way into the cabin where Pepper and Mr. Tip were still frozen. They were already starting to thaw. The transistorized superhero speeded up the process by blasting away chunks of ice with his repulsor blasts. Within twenty minutes the detective and the secretary were freed.
"What happened?" Mr. Tip was in a daze, pressing one hand against his forehead. Pepper was in the same condition.
"Both of you were frozen by Blizzard. I came to your rescue, but unfortunately he and the Melter got away."
"Well, now I can get back to my precinct and think up some way of getting Tony Stark. Wait, you work for him, right?"
Mr. Tip and Pepper stared at Iron Man, who stood there for a few seconds before answering. "Yes, and I can assure you that Mr. Stark is innocent. The letter is an excellent forgery devised by someone vengeful.
"What do you mean? It's been checked over and over. It's fact now. Tony Stark hired two brutes to take out Mr. Hammer and never told you. You defeated the hired attackers, but Mr. Stark used you to throw the cops off the scent."
"Mr. Tip," said Pepper as she wrung some water out of her clothes. I agree with Iron Man. Tony Stark is a man of good morals and has been trying and succeeding in making our world better through the advancement of technology."
Mr. Tip thought a little and then delivered an ultimatum. "If Iron Man can find his forger, and with good proof, within seventy-two hours, we'll let Tony Stark go."
"I'll do it," said Iron Man as he set about to getting a new pair of rocket boots.
Stark Labs, Nighttime
A security guard looked at the security videos, searching for any intruder that might be trying to grab the rock. Security had been lower at the labs since a lot of attention was being put at Stark's office, meeting rooms, and mansion. There had been sixty-four guards here, but now there was forty-two. The guard looked away a little to grab a bag of skittles. When he turned back to the screens, he saw fizz and blurry pictures. He groaned and started fiddling with the equipment in the room.
"Hey, Ron, can you give me a hand here? My screens are acting dumb!"
"The same thing's happening here!" shouted Ron as he ineffectively pressed some buttons and flicked some switches.
"I don't like the looks of this," said the first guard.
Starks Lab Entrance
"They should be in a panic," said a masked man to his cohorts. "Move it!"
Forty armed men, ten in a truck, rushed for the entrance to the lab. The guard at the entrance waved at the truck to stop. He stopped waving when the leader of the group shot off his silenced pistol. The guard fell dead. The Mariner gang was soon smashing through doors with rocket launchers and the truck.
Guards and scientists leaped into action, firing at the intruders. Two villains fell while the rest fired back. A rocket hit a bridge and sent seven men flying onto the floor. The leader of the team and the other occupants of the truck got out and used their machine guns to clear a path. All of them except for one got further into the lab.
The Rock Chamber
Two security guards armed with rifles got ready while the scientists started moving the rock. They were too late. The costumed gang broke in, losing two men before they had killed or wounded the workers. Four of the criminals lifted the rock and soon they were running back to the entrance, blasting their way through more guns. Eventually they were gone in their trucks and cars. They had lost seventeen men, but they had succeeded. Their boss back at base would be pleased.
Stark's Mansion
Iron Man, a.k.a. Tony Stark, pored over some papers. Contract papers had been found in hammer and Anvil's pockets, both signed "Mariner Gang". This showed that the two villains had a motive for beating up Justin Hammer besides revenge: money. Iron Man sat down in a rocking chair and took his helmet off. The Mariner Gang had popped up recently, stealing all sorts of valuable scientific equipment. Tony opened up his laptop and wrote down every super-villain scientist he could think of: Diablo, Dr. Octopus, Dr. Doom, etc.
Any one of them would frame Stark and divert attention away from the rock, which Tony had found to be stolen. He looked over the contracts again and finally found an address. Hammer and Anvil had apparently got their jobs in the Bronx. Tony put his mask back on, recharged his armor, and set out as Iron Man to find the fiendish employers.
The Bronx
Iron Man landed on a rooftop and started snooping around. The address mentioned a small joint that had just opened up. He spotted it, the sing reading Finley's Burger House. Tony got out of costume and disguised himself as a raggedy man. He walked down some stairs and proceeded towards the restaurant. He entered and a bell went off. A bearded man behind a counter got ready to take his order.
"Welcome to Finley's Burger House. How may I help you?" questioned the waiter/chef.
"I'll have a medium soda and two quarter-pounders."
"Coming right up. Please have a seat." The man gestured towards some empty chairs along the counter.
While Tony was waiting, another man came in, ordering his meal and sitting down by him. The man was tucking a purple piece of cloth into a coat pocket. He had to be a member of the Mariner Gang. Tony decided to use a bold approach. "Hey," he whispered. "What's the boss planning?"
"Huh? You don't look like one of our guys. But then again, I only know a few of my buddies' faces since everyone loves the masks. We're all one huge gang, are we?"
"Of course." Tony was in luck. This man was very dumb. Most criminals were.
"Well, you know about the rock, right?"
"Well, duh.'
"Well, he's taking it to the Lagoon, some sort of exploration ship, to study it.'
Tony was about to ask for more information when he heard the cocking of a pistol. He turned to see a person in a trench coat and a short Hispanic man standing over him.
'What's the meaning of this?"
"I know about every member of our gang and you're not one of them," said the man in the trench coat, who was holding the pistol."
"Stoolie," hissed the waiter/chef.
"Maurice and whoever you are, come with us."
Tony and the dumb gang member were led outside into an alleyway. The short Hispanic man punched the disguised millionaire in the stomach and shoved him into a wall. The man in a trench coat knocked Maurice against the opposite wall.
"You idiot!" Next time you fall for a cop trick, I'll see that the boss learns about it!"
"I won't do it again, Rod. Honest!"
"You'd better not. That stoolie or cop must have found out that Hammer and Anvil were at the burger joint. Pedro, have you found any secret listening devices?"
"None."
"Then gut the snitch."
The Hispanic man grinned as he pulled out a knife.
"Wait!" exclaimed Tony. "Before I die, could you please tell me who your boss is? I want to know something!"
"I'll give you a clue," said Pedro. "He's blue, has antennae sticking out of his cap, and he wields an oversized weapon."
"Attuma?"
Pedro stabbed with his knife, but Tony managed to twist out of the way and flip over the villain. He grabbed the knife and stabbed Rod through the hand. Rod ran away as Tony slammed Maurice into unconsciousness. Rodney would probably get away and tell his boss about what happened. This required a necessary changing into Iron Man.
Another Alleyway
Iron Man saw Rodney take out his cell phone as he hid behind some garbage bins. He had to stop him before he even reached whoever his leader was. He fired a low-power repulsor blast, destroying the cell phone. The superhero then landed on his feet and knocked out Rodney with a hard punch. He quickly went on his way. Now he had a ship to catch.
Stark's Mansion
"Twenty-three hours," said Mr. Tip as he looked at his watch. "He's got two more days and an hour."
"I'll bet he's coming in on the jerk right now," frowned Hogan prior to taking a bite out of a sandwich.
"Not is his supposed framer is a smarty-pants, which I bet he would have to be," replied Mr. Tip as he took a sip out of his can of beer.
"Maybe a hypnotist made Mr. Stark write that note," said Pepper.
"Maybe, there are all sorts of creeps around. Well, I'll be getting some rest now, and no playing around with my watch, okay?"
"Don't worry," said Hogan as he continued his perpetual frown. "I ain't no thief."
Avengers Mansion
"What would you like, Master Iron Man?' inquired Jarvis as the superhero stepped towards the elevator.
"I need to get something from the arsenal room."
"Good luck, sir," encouraged Jarvis as he turned to clean some plates.
The elevator was fast and smooth and soon the modern day knight had recharged his chest plate, putting on a new blue suit of armor around his life-saving device. If he wanted to catch his framer, he would need to take a less usual approach.
The Lagoon
Two members of the Mariner Gang paced across the deck, their guns loaded.
"Hey, Chip, when do you think we'll leave port?"
"How should I know? The boss is really unpredictable, and call me G-5, not Chip."
"Alright, G-5. Say, what's with the ripples in the water?"
The two goons looked out over the harbor waters. True enough, there was a row of ripples moving in their direction.
"Holy smokes! A torpedo!" shouted G-5.
"Hit it before it reaches us!' yelled the other as he opened fire. G-5 did the same, but they were too late. An armored figure in blue armor burst out, using his fists to bowl over the guards. The shouting and shooting had gotten the other Mariners coming to the spot. Each one held either an AK-47 assault rifle or a harpoon gun. Iron Man became the prize target as bullets bounced off his gleaming blue carapace. He was knocked onto his back by two harpoons, grunting as the water-themed criminals swarmed over him.
He hit left and right, taking out many before he was able to rocket out of the pile. He fired repulsor blasts at the mound of fiends, sending half of them flying. His sensors then picked up something. He turned to see a heat-seeking rocket coming upon him. He flew around in random circles trying to lose it, until it finally exploded near him, knocking him onto the deck. That was too close to comfort he thought. He saw the man who had fired at him loading another rocket. The blue-clad hero raised his right arm and mentally ordered a small harpoon attached to a length of cable to be fired. The cable wound around the man's waist and he pulled, sending the villain sailing through the air and crashing into a pier.
Four more men jumped off of the lookout post and trapped Iron Man in a net. The superhero fired some repulsor blasts, shredding the net and conking out his assailants. A dozen goons rushed towards him, their machine guns chattering. The bullets bounced harmlessly off of our hero's metal-plated body and he used his magnetic devices to lift the weapons out of the hands of the gunmen. He then released another salvo of rays, sending the villains scrambling away.
"Time to make an entrance," he said to himself. He smashed through the closest wall and threw around the gunsels and goons inside the boat. He crashed some tables and used his magnetic devices to send silverware flying into people. After playing around with the criminals, he raced down a hallway and around a corner, stopping in astonishment. There was a large, vicious shark inside a tank right in front of him. The tank was made so that it was below the level of the floor. Before he could do anything else, Iron man was pushed into it by some Mariners, one of them falling in with him. The shark bit the goon and swallowed him in three seconds. Iron Man fired some cables and tied up the shark, but the fish bit through some of the material and lunged for the armored avenger.
Iron Man began wrestling with the predator, sending his left fist crashing onto the creature's head. The shark opened its mouth in anger and bit down on the modern day knight's left arm. Its eyes widened when some of its teeth cracked on it. Iron Man ended the melee by kicking the shark through some walls and into the harbor. It would be free and safe there.
The transistorized superhero got out of the tank, punching the rest of the surrounding men. He used heat sensors to look through the rest of the Lagoon. He detected a large red shape in the center. That's unusual he thought as he raced towards it. He entered a large fancy room with a large table. On the table was a lot of wine, meat, pies, and other such delicacies. A voice boomed out through some speakers on the four white walls.
"So you've been getting close, eh, Avenger? Well, you'll never clear the name of Stark! Prepare to meet your doom!"
Four long, computer-controlled guns, each one in a different corner of the room, popped out and started chattering away. Iron Man was bombarded by red lasers, which his sensors identified as atomic beams. Shellhead was knocked around by the guns' unerring aim until he took refuge under the table. Plates, glasses, and food were all ripped to pieces by the atomic beams and soon the table itself was getting full of holes.
"Thanks, my friend, for ruining a perfectly fine dinner," said the voice.
Most of the table exploded in a shower of splinters and the superhero was uncovered. Iron Man blasted at two of the guns with his repulsor rays, weakening them, but not destroying them. These things are unstoppable he thought as he ducked some more lasers. But if I can just aim my magnetic rays…
Iron Man managed to use his devices to crumple up a gun, but his magnetic rays were knocked out when they were hit by twin beams. The modern knight was bowled over. There were still three guns left. He activated his rocket boots. If rays didn't work, then he would use brute strength. He punched a gun, smashing its barrel. He then tore the rest of it out.
He charged another gun, but was stopped by a heavy volley of red light. He turned and unwittingly screwed up the gun's firing mechanism with his rocket boots. Iron Man grabbed a large board from the broken table and hurled it towards the damaged gun, watching it become a smoking piece of metal. Our hero was hit in the back by the last gun and fell onto stomach. He turned a little and fired a repulsor blast at the computer-controlled terror, doing little harm to it.
He activated his rocket boots again and used his left arm to take the brunt of the beams. He rammed the gun with his head and it fell apart. The temporarily blue avenger fell onto the floor and held his head. "Now that hurt."
Just as soon as he got up he heard some whirring in the walls. He prepared for another onslaught of remote-controlled weapons, but instead the wall opposite of where he had entered opened up. Before he could see what was coming through, something punched him in the stomach. He rolled onto his back and got up, his body aching. Once again he was denied a clear view of his opponent when something wrapped around his right leg and tripped him.
"You'll pay for ruining my evacuation plans, Iron Man," said the voice. Iron Man thought he had heard that voice at a meeting a few years earlier.
He was hit by metal one, two, three, four times before he was finally allowed to see his opponent, who grabbed his legs with a tentacle and held him upside down. The hero's eyes widened in surprise. He was facing one of the most dangerous men on earth, a man who was a genius and a powerhouse.
The man wore a pair of sunglasses and was wearing a tight green suit. His hair was certainly not in fashion and on his feet were two thick boots. His gloves were also fairly thick. He had four appendages sticking out of him, each able to extend and contract.
"Iron Man," growled the bespectacled man. "Meet the wrath of… DOCTOR OCTOPUS!
Next: Twisted in Tentacles!
Note: Dr. Octopus first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #3
