Tony Stark handled the interception with remarkable restraint.
He never fired a shot.
Instead, he treated the encounter like an impromptu race.
The two Air Force pilots, unfortunately, interpreted his enthusiasm somewhat differently.
They responded with cannon fire and missiles.
The contest ended badly for them.
Tony slammed on the brakes in midair.
One pursuing F-22 failed to avoid the sudden stop and collided with its wingman.
As the damaged fighter spiraled downward, Tony abandoned the race entirely. He rescued the pilot after his parachute became tangled, then accelerated into the distance before anyone could thank him.
The military drew its own conclusions.
Whatever the unidentified flying object was, it had chosen to save an American pilot instead of finishing him off.
That suggested friendly intent.
More importantly, admitting that an unknown armored flyer had humiliated two frontline fighters over American airspace would have been a public relations disaster.
So the official statement blamed the loss on mechanical failure.
It was the simplest explanation.
Probably the only explanation anyone would believe...
Officially.
The American public had a long history of distrusting official explanations.
Had the government admitted that an unidentified flying object had entered U.S. airspace and shot down a fighter jet, the conspiracy theories would have multiplied overnight.
Alien invasions.
North Korean superweapons.
Secret government experiments.
The apocalypse.
Within days, hardware stores would have sold out of bunker supplies, supermarkets would have run out of bottled water, and no amount of official reassurance would have convinced people to calm down.
The more the government denied the rumors, the more determined some people would become to believe them.
It was a cycle with no obvious solution.
Fortunately, none of that happened.
Tony made it home safely.
The public remained blissfully uninformed.
And bottled water stayed cheaper than gasoline.
Unfortunately...
The story wasn’t over.
Agent Phil Coulson had already heard about the incident.
Unlike the military, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence network gave him a much clearer picture of what had actually happened.
He still didn’t know the identity of the man flying around in powered armor.
Everything else, however...
He knew.
Including the fact that every Jericho missile in the terrorists’ possession had just been destroyed.
His first thought was immediate.
That can’t be a coincidence.
He had barely begun investigating Stark Industries’ suspected weapons trafficking.
Now the primary evidence had exploded.
Someone was cleaning up.
The only remaining question was...
Who?
Over the course of his investigation, Coulson had narrowed the list of suspects to three people.
Only three individuals inside Stark Industries possessed both the authority and opportunity to divert Jericho missiles into terrorist hands.
Tony Stark.
Obadiah Stane.
Pepper Potts.
Tony naturally had the authority.
As CEO, he could approve virtually any shipment.
Ironically, that also made him the least likely suspect.
He had personally been kidnapped by the same terrorists.
And moving the missiles himself would have drawn enormous attention.
Still...
Coulson refused to eliminate him entirely.
Sometimes the most obvious suspect hid in plain sight.
The second candidate was Obadiah Stane.
Howard Stark’s longtime business partner wielded enormous influence within Stark Industries.
Unlike Tony, he remained deeply committed to the weapons business.
He had openly opposed Tony’s decision to shut down the company’s weapons division.
His motive alone made him highly suspicious.
The final possibility was Pepper Potts.
Tony trusted her implicitly.
She knew his schedules, approvals, and internal procedures better than almost anyone.
If someone wanted to forge Tony’s authorization, Pepper was one of the few people capable of doing it.
At this point, Coulson almost wanted to gather the three of them into one room and declare,
"The culprit is one of you."
After examining every lead available, however, the picture became much clearer.
Tony and Pepper gradually fell off the suspect list.
Everything pointed toward Obadiah.
Unfortunately...
Suspicion wasn’t evidence.
Stane had covered his tracks with the skill of a man who’d spent decades navigating boardrooms and backroom deals.
There still wasn’t enough to arrest him.
If the suspect had been an ordinary criminal, Coulson might have taken a more aggressive approach.
Bring him in.
Polygraph.
Interrogation.
Sort out the details afterward.
Apologies were cheaper than allowing a terrorist conspiracy to continue.
But Obadiah Stane wasn’t just anyone.
He couldn’t be arrested on instinct alone.
Evidence was essential.
Ironically...
The man who had hidden every illegal shipment so carefully had neglected one very basic precaution.
His personal computer wasn’t even password protected.
Pepper, already suspicious of his behavior, copied the files with embarrassing ease.
When Stane realized what she’d done, he knew time had run out.
He activated his contingency plan immediately.
First, he ambushed Tony using a sonic weapon.
With Tony paralyzed, Stane tore the arc reactor from his chest and left him to die.
Then he climbed into his own Iron Monger armor and set out to eliminate Pepper before she could expose him.
At almost the same time, Coulson received the copied files.
Leading a S.H.I.E.L.D. team, he moved to arrest Stane at his secret manufacturing facility.
Instead...
His agents found themselves fleeing for their lives from a giant suit of armored steel.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Tony survived.
And he arrived just in time.
As Iron Man and Iron Monger tore into each other outside, Coulson ducked into a nearby vehicle and activated the secure communications terminal.
Nick Fury’s face appeared on the monitor.
After listening to Coulson’s report, Fury asked a single question.
"Who do you think wins?"
Coulson considered the available data.
"Based on everything we’ve recovered, Stane’s armor is superior."
"It has greater strength."
"Heavier weapons."
"And Tony’s suit isn’t even fully charged."
Fury’s expression darkened.
"So Tony’s going to lose."
Howard...
I may have failed your son after all.
"Then why aren’t you helping him?"
Coulson looked down at the pistol on his hip.
"Sir..."
"My team is armed with .45-caliber sidearms."
He hesitated.
"I’m not sure you’d call that helping."
Against a walking tank, they might as well have been throwing pebbles.
Fury immediately realized the problem.
Sending Coulson’s team into the fight would accomplish nothing except increasing the casualty count.
"The local police can’t handle this."
"The National Guard won’t arrive for at least two hours."
"Our own tactical units need nearly one."
By then...
There might only be a body left to recover.
Even Coulson was out of ideas.
Then inspiration struck.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card.
Looking at Fury, he said,
"Director..."
"I may know someone who can help."
"I’ll need your authorization first."
...
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