Born to wealth, his inheritance more then just monetary, Tony Stark
received his fathers genius and business savvy, along with his mothers good nature and
common sense . Bolstering these with a natural talent for engineering, along with a will
of Iron, Anthony Stark became an even more accomplished businessman then his father. But
tragedy struck the young Millionaire, trapping him , he thought at the time, forever, in a
suit of Iron to match his inner resolve! Since then he has fought back against many trials
and tribulations, conquering every one like a shining knight of old. His steel mesh armor
acting as a weapon for good against the most hi-tech villains of all time! He is the
shining warrior of the future! The Golden Avenger! He is the one and only,
Iron Mans Gold and crimson form streaks across the L A skyline heading due east, when
suddenly he accelerates and angles up, towards the heavens. His mind drifts back to mere
moments ago, when in his secret identity of Tony Stark, inventor/businessman
,extraordiniare , he watched helplessly as his friend Jim Rhodes was reunited forcefully
with his long lost War Machine battle armor, then whisked away to the far flung future ,
at the hands of Zarko, the tomorrow man. A future thief who purloins the accomplishments
of others to put to his own use.*
*See last issue.
As Iron Mans newly minted armor reaches the edge of space, he arcs down towards the
Earth once more. Blistering heat turns his armor almost white from friction, but inside
his suit, Tony Stark pays it no heed. Again, even this maneuver reminds him of how many
times he failed Jim Rhodes . At one time Rhodey almost died in a suit of Iron Man armor
that was falling apart around him as he re-entered the Earths atmosphere. That adventure
left deep scars on Jim's psyche, but like all warriors, Rhodey overcame them.
Below Iron Man , New York city beckons, its night time sky lit up like the largest Christmas tree in the world. Inside his armor, Tony Stark smiles. This city has always had this effect on him, from when he was a little boy.
Some things never change.
With a roar of boot jets, Iron Man slows his descent. He left LA's skyline 13 minutes
ago.
"Time to pay a visit to four old friends." He thinks
Descending like a shooting star, Iron Man suddenly pivots in mid flight and streaks
across Manhattan , his sensor array warning him automatically of flight patterns of
everything from low flying planes to birds , deftly he avoids them all as he streaks
towards pier four. Landing with a minor "whoosh" of boot jets, he taps a door
buzzer, and is greeted almost immediately by a face only a mother could love. A mother ,
or a mason.
"Wha? Shellhead! What brings ya ta these parts ya walkin' garbage can?" The
Thing smiles as he lets his old friend in to the Fantastic Fours base of operations. The
Thing is a massive man, if he can truly be called that any longer. He stands over six feet
tall and half again as wide. His rocky , orange hide is as impervious to injury as Iron
Mans own armor, but it's Ben Grimms massive strength that is his most telling physical
trait. The Thing can lift well over eighty tons on an average day. His blows can turn
mountains to dust. He's feared by villains the world over, and yet , to his friends, he's
known mostly for the size of his heart, and not his biceps.
Within his armor Tony Stark also smiles. Ben Grimm has dealt with far more adversity in
life then most would see in any ten lifetimes, but he has persevered . Tony can only
wonder how he himself would have fared if his good looks were as transformed as the Things
were ,so long ago.
"Ben, I need to use the FF's time machine. A friend , War Machine, was taken
prisoner by an old foe, and stolen to the future. I managed to retrieve the temporal
coordinates before they faded*, but I have to get there as soon as possible."
*Again see last issue
The Thing nods his head, and begins walking, Iron Man follows, into the labyrinthine warehouse .
"Reed's out for the night wit' Suzie, and the Matchstick's gone to see the Knicks
kick Miami's butt at the Garden. But if ya need help, I'm yer man."
"At this point Ben , I think I'd rather take this one alone. Zarko made it
personal , and that's how I'd like to settle it."
The Thing steals a glance over his shoulder at Iron Man as they walk. "Zarko? The
Tomorra man? He's a joke. How'd he get the jump on you and War Mach?"
Iron Man grimaces beneath his helmet, "he came out of nowhere Ben, took us both by
surprise, and froze time around me, as he hustled War Machine away."
"Yeah," Ben agrees, "I c'n see why ya 'd want ta shut 'im down yerself
shiny pants. Well if you need me, let me know."
Without another word , Ben leads them into a lab that has only one device in its
center. A flat square upon the floor. Iron Man walks over to the control interface and
extends a probe from his finger, that downloads information into a computer. Instantly the
information is processed and the device hums to life. Iron Man walks upon the square, as
the Thing watches.
"Ben," Begins Iron Man,"If I don't return soon, contact the Avengers ,
and have them come looking for us."
As he speaks the square begins to rise up, and as it does Iron Man begins to disappear.
From the ground up. His legs fade first with the rising of the square, then his waist,
followed by his torso. Iron Man stares at The Things face as suddenly the square raises
above his head, and he finds himself instantly in another place, and time!~
Around Iron Man is a bleak, dreary landscape. The sky is grey and heavy, as a barren
plain beckons all around him.
"So this is the fortieth century" He thinks as he begins to take flight.
"This is the area that, according to the information I accessed from Zarkos temporal
field, he and Jim ended up in."
Iron Man heads due east, rocketing along , barely two dozen feet off the ground as
suddenly a klaxon goes off inside his helmet, and a HUD* appears on his eye lenses,
depicting incoming company.
*HUD: Heads Up Display
"Hhhmm, it appears Zarko knows I'm here, or those are automated defenses. Either
way , it's time this new suit got a workout."
Suddenly accelerating, Iron Man streaks towards his incoming foes, all armored, brandishing glowing energy weapons .
"According to my LD scan, there're people in there, but the armor doesn't seem
like something this era should develop, some of those systems seem almost....archaic by my
current standards, what is Zarko sending against me?"
As Iron Man approaches , the lead warrior fires a blast of energy from a mace he swings
over head, releasing the power buildup in an arc that slams through Iron Man' defenses
like a knife through butter, smashing him from the sky!
Bar-ROOOM!
"Unngh!" Shouts Iron Man through gritted teeth , "That's not going to
happen again. Some kind of kinetic energy discharge. The force was incredible! I felt like
I was on the receiving end of one of the Things punches"
As he thinks those words, Tony Stark is already defending himself, firing repulsers
that slam the lead warrior into the two behind him, as two more surge past. One hurls an
energy harpoon, that Iron Man swiftly rolls away from, as it ionizes the ground where he
lay an instant before!
"Okay gents, you want to play rough? Two can do that tango."
Suddenly the rounded cuffs on Iron Mans shoulders pivot upwards, until their ends , now
disconnected from the armor face outwards, one on each side of his helmet, aimed at the
hovering Iron Marauders and then they fire! A blistering stream of protonic energy , one
side firing positive, the other negative, engulf the entire group, and with a surging
explosion , drops them like so much dead weight!
Ba-KOW!
Once more Iron Man is airborne , rocketing towards the edifice in the distance the
Armored Marauders emerged from.
"Proton cannons worked perfectly," He thinks " Time to see if I finally
got the bugs out of the Stealth Mode too."
At a discreet thought, Iron Mans armor suddenly become invisible , to not only the
naked eye, but to all known forms of detection as well! His boot jets shut down completely
and the anti-grav pack on his back take over complete forward motion.
"Flights slower this way" He thinks to himself with a smile, "But right
about now Zarko is wondering where I am. According to my sensors he's bombarding the
entire plain around me with all sorts of energy, seeking to "See" me in one way
or another. To bad Tomorrow Man. Here comes trouble."
Inside Zarkos fortress, the Tomorrow Man runs to and fro , looking for all the world
like a round "Wizard of Oz" as he pulls levers and touches control panels.
"He's gone! How can that be? I should be able to detect him, my technology is
better then his by twenty centuries! What is he doing here?"
"You know what he's doin' here Baldy, he's here to bust your butt."
Zarko turns towards the sound of the voice, towards a frozen War Machine.
"Your friend won't save you War Machine, I'll freeze him temporally when he arrives here as I did you, and that fool Stark before. But first he has to get past my next line of defense, and this one he'll find unstoppable!"
Iron Man nears the fortress in his "Stealth" Mode, when suddenly, a huge
winged figure rises up from the moat surrounding the fortress, to flail about with wings
that slice the air like steel.
"Whoa! That's a Dragon of some kind. I've fought their type before, and I know
them when I see them . Luckily, he can't see me."
And at that point, the Dragon releases a blast of flame directly at Iron Man!
Fwoosh!
"Arrrg! He sensed me somehow. Maybe by smell , who knows? Time to go
"Visible" again and back to full power."
Instantly Iron Man re-appears as his power flows back into his main defensive and
offensive systems, as he does he fires a laser from his chest Uni-Beam, burning the giant
reptiles nose, stinging it.
"You!" Shrieks the flying Dragon, "The hated one! Long is the Dragons
memory, and Our hatred of you is still fresh from those centuries past. It will be my
honor to grind your carcass between my teeth."
Its fetid breath burns the air around Iron Man. As it speaks it inhales mightily
readying a massive blast of flame, meant to burn Iron Man to cinders, but as the behemoth
draws in his mighty breath, Iron Man suddenly aims both hands at the creatures open maw,
and fires his Pulse bolts, as the back of his gauntlets glow fiercely , the round circles
on them the actual Pulse Bolt projectors now.
Sha-Ka- KOWWW!
The Dragon drops to the ground, unconscious , as Iron Man continues on , shattering a
wall of the Fortress in one blow! As he does, a half dozen men run towards him, firing
blaster pistols that harmlessly careen off his refractive coating and force shield.
"Sorry boys, if "Scales" out there couldn't stop me, you have no chance."
Iron Man wades through them, punching through their minor body armor , and backhanding
the men into dream land, until finally, he fires his repulser rays through a wall before
him, turning it to rubble, as Zarko stands , next to an immobilized War Machine.
"I'm back Zarko, and I'm here to take my friend home. "
"You'll be taking no one with you Iron Man, in fact, you won't be leaving
yourself. I've decided that your wonderful armor will be mine as well. Perhaps you waded
through my time-lost warriors, but even you can't stop THIS!"
Zarko touches a flat panel to his right and a searing ray encompasses Iron Man
momentarily, to fade just as quickly.
"There Iron Man, you see? You are now frozen in time and space, as is your
partner. Though I have freed his vocal cords and allowed him to speak at times. You will
not have that luxury. It seems I must disassemble both of these wonderful suits to learn
their secrets. A shame I suppose. But with the loss of almost all the major tech of this
era during the long over Technology War of several years gone by, even your tech is useful
and can be made a profit from."
Zarko approaches Iron Mans still form, an energy blade glows in his right hand as he
aims it at Iron Mans throat.
"I suppose I'll have to cut that suit off of you to learn its secrets, no matter.
I hope your skin is as tough as your armor."
His hand begins to descend , as suddenly Iron Mans strikes upwards , shattering the
Tomorrow mans wrist like a twig snapping. The energy blade clatters to the floor, to glow
and spark.
"AAAAHH!" Screams Zarko painfully, as Iron Man grabs him by the front of his
shirt and lifts him effortlessly into the air at arms length.
"You didn't think I'd come here without being unprepared for you , did you Zarko?
Mr Stark analyzed your time displacement effect as soon as you left SE, and took the
appropriate measures to insure my safety. Now, myself and War machine are leaving here,
but first......."
Moments later, back in Pier fours time displacement warehouse lab, two armored figures
re-appear as the square slowly lowers to the floor. Ben Grimm stands at the controls.
"What th- Back already Shellhead? Butcha just left? What happened?"
War Machine answers for them both, "What does it look like Rocky? M'man Iron Man
saved the day, beat up the bad guy and left the future better off then when he found
it."
All three walk out towards the entrance to the FF's headquarters as Iron Man speaks.
"Though I don't think Zarko believes that right about now."
The two armored heroes laugh as Ben Grimm wonders what he missed. Meanwhile/when back
in the fortieth century , Zarko awakens and feels a hot blast of air on his entire body.
Shaking his head Zarko rolls over on the ground, as he sees a huge head staring at him,
its eyes slowly opening from a forced slumber. Instantly the eyes burn with recognition ,
as the dragon raises its mighty head and opens its mouth. "You !" Roars the
Dragon, it's head forty stories above the cowering man beneath it. My memory is long , and
your torment for enslaving me will be longer still!"
And Zarko gulps, hard...
Next: Moving Day!
Armored assaults! C/O [email protected]
Great Issue Ralph! I would never have seen Zarko the Tommorrow Man
coming in a million years, but he makes perfect sense. I love seeing Jim
heading toward the role of War Machine again, as he is still my favorite
Marvel Character. I can't wait to see where this is going! I love the
new armor as well. It's a nice look and the new adaptations are equally
good. Just keep up the good work and I can't wait to see the next
issue!
TJB
Thanks TJ! As always I'm glad to hear from you. I hope you enjoyed the new issue, which
was kind of an intro into the new suits powers (At least some of them).
Just read the newest Iron Man, Ralph. Very nice work
-- looks like you're getting more comfortable with the
prose storytelling approach. The new armor is
interesting and I'll send my regards to Kell for his
work on it as well. Rhodey getting back the War
Machine armor was GREAT and the high-point of the
issue. I never liked the alien armor and Rhodey
deserves a suit of his own (heck, I liked him as Iron
Man, too...).
Zarko, huh? Good luck -- he's always been second-rate
to me but I'll give him a shot here.
Nice job, Ralph.
Barry
Thanks Barry, I hope you like what I did with Zarko. I tend to think of him as a sort
of technology thief .
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