After returning from Afghanistan, Tony began researching the second generation of the Mark Series.
He holed up in his underground workshop, working day and night, but ran into plenty of problems along the way.
For instance, the thrusters were so powerful that he smacked his head against the ceiling, while the Pulse Cannon's recoil sent him crashing hard into a wall...
Still, Tony was a supergenius through and through. In just a few short weeks, he had the brand-new Iron Armor taking shape: the steel-silver Mark 2.
To test the armor's capabilities, Iron Man flew out of his luxurious Malibu mansion and into the sky.
He flew and flew, carried away by his own pride. After savoring the thrill of flight, Tony grew more and more cocky and kept climbing until he reached the stratosphere.
The temperature up there was freezing. The armor quickly iced over, and in the blink of an eye he was frozen solid. Luckily, the system rebooted before he could fall to his death, and he narrowly escaped disaster.
Tony identified the problem and decided to improve the Iron Man armor by replacing its shell with an advanced alloy used in military satellites. Then he gave it the classic red-and-gold paint job, marking the birth of the Mark 3.
But he had never told anyone about these things, because after returning from Afghanistan, he no longer knew whom he could trust. William's remark had shocked him.
"It gets cold up there. Be careful not to catch a cold." The man had been teasing him about the Iron Armor icing over. How could he have known about that?
"Damn S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony was sure S.H.I.E.L.D. had been spying on him. He was about to confront William when he realized the man had vanished without a trace.
Tony looked at the photos in his hand. No, he had to put a stop to these backroom arms deals!
"I was such a fool to believe you." Tony tracked down Obadiah and held up the photos, demanding, "We've been making arms deals behind my back, haven't we?"
Obadiah took a deep breath, put an arm around Tony's shoulder, and said gravely, "Tony, do you know who opposed you coming back to the company? It was me."
Tony's expression froze. Obadiah was an old friend of his father's, and after Howard died, he had devoted himself to helping Tony manage the sprawling Stark Industries.
In the past, Obadiah had been like a father to him. But Tony was clever, and after returning from Afghanistan, he had sensed that something was wrong. He had caught a whiff of conspiracy!
Afghanistan, a war zone
The deafening artillery fire made the ground tremble. Gunshots echoed all around, and people were screaming everywhere. This was a war-torn region scarred by conflict. Ruined buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, everything lay in shambles, and flames raged across the landscape.
Armed militants had attacked the area, and no one had come to stop them. Anyone who dared resist had been slaughtered. The defenseless civilians were herded together, awaiting their death sentence.
"God, please save us!"
Just then, a shrill sound tore through the air above, and a blur came plummeting from the sky.
It was a person—or, more precisely, someone wearing armor. Red-and-gold armor covered him from head to toe. His eyes glowed, and a blue power source sat in the middle of his chest.
The thrusters on his suit roared with power, kicking up a tremendous gust as he landed on the ground like a god descending from the heavens!
"Rat-a-tat-tat..." The armed militants were startled and hurriedly opened fire, but their bullets only clanged against the armor's metal shell, leaving not even a scratch.
He was punched into the air, flying backward like a kite with its string cut, before crashing onto the roof of a ruined house.
This man was Tony—or Iron Man, as he could be called. After learning about his company's arms deals, he had flown here in his Iron Armor to put an end to it all himself and wipe out the armed militants!
The Mark 3 had powerful Arc Pulse Cannons built into both hands, a devastating Unibeam in its chest, and six-barrel mini-cannons mounted on its shoulders. It also carried micro-missiles, infrared countermeasure flares, and more.
Faced with the invincible Iron Man, the militants had no means of fighting back.
The militants around him launched a wave of attacks, but their bullets couldn't penetrate the armor.
The Pulse Cannons in Tony's palms roared, killing one enemy after another with each blast. Even those who tried to threaten him with civilians were taken down by the mini-cannons.
He hadn't realized the Iron Armor was this powerful. Just as Iron Man finished off the enemies around him and prepared to take off, a tank in the distance aimed at him and blasted him out of the sky with a single shot!
The downed Iron Man crashed to the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. The enemy thought he had been taken out, but before long, the iron-clad figure climbed out of the crater.
"Boom!" The tank fired again, but this time Iron Man was ready. He leaned slightly to one side, and the shell whizzed past him.
He raised his right arm, and a micro-missile shot out. With a sharp ping, it seemed to pierce the tank's heavy armor.
Iron Man turned around and walked forward without looking back. All around him was silence, broken only by his heavy footsteps.
"Rumble!"
Suddenly, a deafening blast erupted. The tank exploded with a roar, turning into a huge fireball as fragments rained down from the sky like scattered petals.
Iron Man's arrival had terrified the militants out of their wits. Without those photos, Tony would never have learned about any of this. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind it all was mopping the floor at a fast-food restaurant.
"William, what exactly did you say to Tony Stark yesterday?" Coulson asked curiously.
Coulson had gone to great lengths to arrange a meeting with Tony. His hair was practically falling out over it.
But that was just Tony's personality. What could you expect when his father was Howard and he was the president of Stark Industries?
Coulson hadn't expected William to handle such a tricky task so easily.
William had first found the reporter who was sleeping with Tony and taken the photos from her in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s name. Then he had shown the photos to Tony.
At first, Tony had looked merely a little angry. But after William quietly said something to him, his whole expression changed.
He had looked utterly disbelieving. What could William have said to shock him so much?
William smiled. After all, he knew the movie's plot. He knew the reporter would find Tony, and he knew the joke about Iron Man freezing in the sky.
That knowledge was an advantage. He had his own reasons for helping Coulson, since Coulson would play a pivotal role in both the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. later on. It could only help to get on his good side.
Besides, he wanted to meet Iron Man up close. Sure enough, Tony was exactly as he remembered: arrogant, conceited, and radiating an air of I'm handsome and irresistible.
"Actually, I don't mind telling you." William stopped mopping and pointed to his chest. "I reminded him to exercise regularly and take care of his health!"
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