"You've fought Howard Stark your whole life, and now you can't even measure up to his son!"
Obadiah's words had been echoing in Professor Yuri Petrovich's ears for days.
Professor Yuri stood alone in the warehouse of the Aeas Security factory. The lights were off, but a single beam of moonlight slipped through the skylight, landing perfectly on the massive silver-gray behemoth standing silently before him.
It was a hulking, rugged steel beast, covered in thick armor and bristling with enormous firepower.
It loomed in the darkness, making Professor Yuri look like an ant that could be crushed with a flick of a finger.
But Professor Yuri felt no fear toward this steel giant, because it was his creation.
Using the suit Tony Stark had built in that Middle Eastern cave—brought back by Obadiah—as a prototype, Professor Yuri Petrovich had crafted this new armor.
He desperately wanted to don the suit himself and go head-to-head with his old rival Howard Stark's son, Tony Stark. But gazing at the dark energy port on the armor's chest, Professor Yuri let out a sigh.
Even pushing himself to the limit, he could only replicate and upgrade the cave's Mark I suit. The energy problem, however, remained unsolvable.
The hollow space at the chest was reserved for the miniature arc reactor that Yuri could never hope to build.
This was the compromise he'd reached with Obadiah. He wasn't Tony Stark; he couldn't make a miniature arc reactor. But building a suit that could be powered by one? That wasn't too difficult.
Now the armor was finally complete. Professor Yuri stared at the massive suit with something close to obsession until the screech of tires on pavement outside snapped him out of it.
He tore his gaze from the silver-gray steel giant, quickly stuffed the pre-packed blueprints and documents into his backpack, and slipped silently out the back door under the cover of moonlight.
From the moment Obadiah had jabbed a finger into Yuri's chest and unleashed a tirade, Professor Yuri had been preparing to run.
"If I don't get out now, I'll be tied to Obadiah for good—sink or swim together," Professor Yuri thought.
Not long after he left, Obadiah—rushing over from Stark Tower—lowered his voice and shouted into the warehouse:
"Yuri? Yuri!"
His voice echoed through the space. Moonlight streamed through the skylight, and Obadiah's brow furrowed. There was no sign of Yuri anywhere.
Snap!
Obadiah pulled out his phone and dialed Professor Yuri's number. A crisp ringtone soon rang out in the warehouse.
He hurried over and found Yuri's phone carelessly tossed onto a toolbox.
Beneath it was a note. Obadiah picked it up. Nothing was written on it—just a crudely drawn but unmistakable middle finger, signed Yuri Petrovich.
Clearly, Professor Yuri had bolted.
"Fuck! F***ing Russian!"
Obadiah spun in place, unable to contain his frustration as he cursed at the empty air.
He'd rushed back specifically to have Professor Yuri Petrovich disassemble the miniature reactor, analyze its principles, and replicate it.
But with Yuri gone, finding someone capable of doing it in the short term was impossible.
Obadiah was suddenly caught in a dilemma—every move he could make now felt like the wrong one.
And right at that moment, a voice—amplified through a speaker and laced with a synthetic electronic tone—rang out over the Aeas Security weapons transport factory:
"Stane!"
Tony Stark, clad in his suit, arrived at the factory just minutes after Obadiah.
"When did Tony discover this factory?"
"How did he know I'd come here after taking the reactor?"
"His reactor was stolen—how is he here so fast?"
A flood of questions surged in Obadiah's mind, and the answers followed just as quickly.
Tony Stark had known all along that Aeas Security was under his name, knew what he was doing here, and even tonight's reactor theft had been a deliberate setup!
Obadiah's face twitched. He realized he'd likely stepped into a trap without even knowing it—every move he'd made had probably fallen right into Tony Stark's plan.
He was all too familiar with Tony Stark's voice from outside, but now it sounded alien, as if Tony had become a different person since returning from the Middle East.
"Obadiah Stane, you're surrounded. Put your hands up and come out of the warehouse…"
Tony's amplified voice continued to boom outside. A ruthless glint flashed across Obadiah's face.
"Thirty years. I carried him. I turned Stark Industries from a regular factory into a global arms dealer."
"Without my operations, this company is nothing. His genius only works because I make it work."
Obadiah clenched his fists and muttered under his breath. One hand held the miniature arc reactor; the other shrugged off his cumbersome jacket as he strode toward the silver-gray steel suit Professor Yuri had built.
"And now, with one sentence about shutting down weapons manufacturing, he thinks he can take the company for himself?"
"I gave him the company! I gave him everything! Now it's his turn to give it back!"
Obadiah climbed furiously into the cockpit and slammed the miniature arc reactor—stolen from Tony's chest—into the reserved energy port on Iron Monger's chest.
Hummm!
The massive silver-gray armor activated instantly. Its eyes blazed with terrifying white light. The steel beast came to life.
Hydraulic rods along its shoulders, legs, waist, and arms extended and retracted with the armor's movements, surging power coursing through its frame.
"Hahaha! Hahaha!"
Obadiah let out a twisted, exhilarated laugh from inside the cockpit and piloted the suit as it crashed out of the warehouse.
High above the factory, Tony Stark hovered in the air, clad in his red-and-gold Mark III suit.
He knew Obadiah was hiding in the warehouse below. The tracking system in the stolen arc reactor had pinpointed the location perfectly.
He'd tossed out a few trash-talk lines while waiting for Obadiah to surrender—or for the chance to storm in and drag him out.
Tony glanced toward a patch of shadows. For a moment, he could've sworn he saw Batman's silhouette.
"Jarvis, was that my imagination? I swear I just saw a shadow over there," Tony asked.
"Yes, sir, it was your imagination," the Jarvis AI replied. "There's nothing there."
Something felt off to Tony, but before he could dwell on it—BOOM!—a massive steel figure smashed through the warehouse wall.
Iron Monger had arrived.