Flushing, New York.
At the Stark Expo, the main stage had been handed over to Hammer Industries for the day. The publicity touted a partnership with the military, and Justin Hammer had sent out a call to heroes far and wide... no, wait, he had sent invitations everywhere. As a result, quite a crowd had come to watch.
Although that damned Russian had screwed him over, leaving those so-called Iron Soldiers capable of nothing but saluting, Justin Hammer showed no sign of panic. He already had an Iron Man suit in his hands. Was he really supposed to worry about being unable to copy it?
Impossible!
He! Justin Hammer! Copying Tony Stark was what he did best!
Nobody understood Stark better than I did!
Justin Hammer danced his way onto the stage with a mess of random steps and began his performance.
As row after row of Iron Soldiers appeared on the display platforms, the audience grew increasingly excited.
But then Tony Stark appeared onstage in his new suit and instantly stole the entire spotlight.
"What are you doing here?!"
Mr. Hammer was extremely annoyed, assuming Tony Stark had come to disrupt his presentation.
Very soon, he was certain.
Tony Stark was here to make trouble!
Because the moment Stark arrived, all the Iron Soldiers, including Colonel James Rhodes in his Iron Man suit, began attacking Tony Stark.
Of course he knew Ivan Vanko was behind it, but if Tony Stark hadn't come, none of this would have happened!
"What did you say?"
Martin Lee, who was enjoying himself at a nightclub, received a call from one of his men.
"Iron Man and a bunch of Iron Soldiers are fighting on our turf?"
Martin Lee's mouth twitched. Lately, the world had become harder and harder for him to understand.