In downtown London, a hooded young man stabs a pedestrian who bumps into him, then enters an Internet café. He calls up a list of six names on his laptop, selects the first one, Andrei Gorlovich, and presses "execute." In Bulgaria, Gorlovich scores some drugs and returns home to his prostitute girlfriend who is in need of a fix. Suddenly an armored figure bursts into the house and fires a blast that purees Gorlovich. Later, under questioning by the police, the girlfriend reveals that the killer was "the American Man of Iron…."
In New York, Iron Man is engaged in combat with the Crimson Dynamo, an easy task now that Tony Stark has been bonded to the armor by the Extremis Virus. While beating on his foe he engages in boardroom maneuvers, conducts lab research, and bids in an auction. Iron Man hurls the Dynamo out of the bank and into a construction site where the villain seizes a hostage. Shellhead takes him down with a repulsor blast, causing the villain's heart to stop. Tony applies several shocks until the heart resumes beating. The Avengers then arrive and Captain America voices his disapproval of Iron Man killing his enemy even though he was able to revive him. Iron Man doesn’t care; he jets off to a meeting with Nick Fury aboard the Helicarrier. Before he arrives Dum Dum Dugan expresses concern to Fury about how Tony’s personality has changed since Extremis and he may be out of control. Tony arrives and defends himself to Fury, citing his expanded powers as the reason he can handle all superhero emergencies single-handedly. But Fury questions him about a project called Argonaut, and Tony denies knowing anything about it, even when Fury knows he is lying. Tony returns to his lab where he continues his mystery project involving robot armor and a plan to win the war against crime and evil….
Elsewhere in London, the hooded youth opens his laptop in the seclusion of a movie theater rest room. He selects the second name on his list, Dennis Kellard—and locks on his target as Kellard is boarding a plane in Paris….