Iron Man #258

Issue Details

Synopsis

Tony Stark has just completed S.E.'s first combat training center, complete with artificial landscapes. Rhodey operates a remote-control treadmill robot in combat scenario against two Iron Mans. The treadmill viciously slams one of the Iron Mans into the pavement and backs up while the second Iron Man flies over to examine it. While the two targets are distracted, the treadmill lifts up a piece of concrete flooring and slams it down on top of the second Iron Man. Iron Man burrows downward and comes up behind the treadmill, where it hoists it up and slams it into the ground. The training situation is over and Iron Man I appears to be the victor. Rhodey exits from an outside control room and begins talking to Tony. It is revealed that that one of the Iron Mans is actually just an empty suit of armor operated by remote control. But more amazing is the fact, that the Iron Man that won the battle was actually the remote. Tony was the Iron Man who had been flattened by the treadmill. Tony is happy with the results because it means that a remote control Iron Man can easily fool people into believing that it is the real Iron Man. Rhodey and Stark go to wash up and Tony complains about a mysterious pain that he has been experiencing in his right shoulder. But this more than just a mere muscle spasm. Miles away, a businessman named Kearson DeWitt smiles over the success of his most recent scheme against Tony Stark. Some time later, Tony receives a message from Mrs. Arbogast. She tells him there is an emergency brewing at Nuke U, S.E.’s nuclear research facility. Tony dashes off to change into Iron Man. Arriving at Nuke U, one of the employees is terror-stricken and complaining of a huge ghost. Iron Man flies into the facility to investigate. Pencil-thin lasers begin carving steel beams that drop down on top of Iron Man. He flies around various pieces of debris, but the lasers keep working slicing a huge section of ceiling, which comes crashing down on him. Iron Man blasts it into smaller pieces with his repulsors. Flying deeper into the facility, he finds that the Number One reactor is dangerously close to overloading. He finds that the coolant pipes leading to the core have been severed. He shuts down the reactor and then flies off to do the same with reactors number Two and Three. He quickly seals off Reactor number Two. As he flies down the "zoomway" towards the third reactor, a large portion of the inner chamber comes crashing down on him. Striving to blast his way free, he hears a haunting voice taunting him. As soon as he clears away enough of the debris, he finds that his foe is none other than the Titanium Man.