As the tale opens, Tony Stark is brooding about the fact that he arrived 22 minutes late in response to an Avengers distress call (last issue); the emergency response system is working perfectly, so that would indicate a glitch in the internal clock of the Iron Man armor—but then why doesn’t Tony remember that gap? His mind drifts back to the murder of his mentor Professor Ho Yinsen. And now two of the men responsible for Yinsen’s death have been murdered and Tony Stark is the chief suspect….
At CIA headquarters, Nick Fury addresses an assembly including the Secretary of Defense. He outlines the case against Tony Stark by showing film of Iron Man’s appearance at the scenes of the crimes and that the violence done was consonant with the weaponry known to be used by Iron Man. And since Tony was enhanced by the Extremis Virus, no one else is able to use the armor. Plus the Extremis Virus has been known to cause paranoia and hostility in its host…. Tony comes onto the screen, revealing he has been monitoring the proceedings and, while proclaiming his innocence, surrenders himself into custody until the peace summit is over….
Tony is locked up in Leavenworth Prison, the last maximum security penitentiary which is not operated digitally and therefore proof against Tony’s Extremis abilities, while the Iron Man armor is stored at Fort Knox. In London, the hooded killer selects the next two names on his list of targets and presses "execute." The Iron Man armor in Fort Knox assembles itself and flies through the roof…
…soon Iron Man is spotted over the Iraqi desert, heading toward the base of the next two targets, Zakim Karzai and Aftaab Lemar. The Armored Avenger single-handedly takes on the Iraqi military and wins. He seizes the two terrorists and flies as high as the unprotected human body can stand…and drops them. Iron Man lands and unmasks…revealing a shocked and confused Tony Stark.
Nick Fury reports Tony’s escape to the authorities, then gives the authorization to send the Sentry to stop him….