Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Tony Stark and James Rhodes/Iron Man are having a chat in the home of Tamara and Tyree Robinson. Rhodey wants to know where Tony's been, and why did he disappear after telling him and Clytemnestra and Morley Erwin that he was going out to get some spare parts. Tony says he had to prove to himself that he could make it on his own.
Jim is worried about him. But also about what he's stirring up in this neighbourhood. He saw the gunmen that tried to disrupt the meeting last issue. Tony can just leave when he wants, but the folks around here will have to live with the consequences.
Tamara interrupts to say Tony might have to ask for help anyway. Over half the people at the meeting donated money, but they're still a long way short of enough to get Imperio Techworks up and running. And we saw last issue that no businessmen in Los Angeles will invest in Stark the bankrupt drunk. Rhodey suggests that Iron Man's boot jets give him a longer reach.
Later Tony and Tamara nearly share an intimate moment but they are interrupted by the arrival of the Fantastic Four's robot HERBIE. The voice of Reed Richards tells them that Iron Man has told him what's going on. He wants to make a large investment - everybody needs help from his friends. (We see Reed surrounded by the FF, currently with She-Hulk instead of Thing.)
But when Stark goes to get permission to use the nearby derelict factory he's told that there'll be a lot of hoops to go through 1st. And the guy privately admits to him that word has come from the highest levels that permission is not to be granted. This confirms the suspicions Tony had last issue that he's being deliberately obstructed. (We know it's The Pride, but Tony still thinks it's Obadiah Stane behind it.)
So Stark decides on direct action and reopens the abandoned factory with a bolt cutter. Strangely it still has working electricity. And he invites all the owners/workers of the prospective co-op inside.
Meanwhile Tokyo has been invaded by 2 giant monsters. 1 is Tim Boo Ba who has somehow expanded up from his microverse world. The other is the giant insect Grottu who the Japanese have unwisely released from their giant monster museum to fight him. Iron Man (Rhodey) turns up to save the day.
The Imperio Techworks factory is up and running! Producing the automated pillbox Tony and Tyree invented in #7-8. The people have agreed to work a week with no pay until the overseas orders come in. (The orders Stark lied about last issue.) But cautious Tony has also laid in supplies and bedding for a siege.
And he was right because the LA police surround the place in riot gear. But the arrival of TV news vans makes them hold back. Tony thinks that's a stroke of luck, but Tamara says she alerted them to the story. They finally get their kiss.
Geoffrey Wilder of The Pride rages at the LA Mayor because he was supposed to shut the factory down immediately. But the Mayor reminds him of their agreement. The Pride get control of the Imperio district as long as they guarantee its votes for him. But The Pride are losing control. And no amount of votes are worth the bad press if the police violently stop a predominantly non-Caucasian group from setting up a small business in their poor neighbourhood.
Tamara's brother Tyree realises he's left some of his meds at home. His madness returns and he hits Tamara before running out of the factory. Tamara follows him. But their minds are taken over by Alice Hayes of The Pride, 1 of the Outcasts couple of telepathic mutants. They are rendered unconscious and taken away by Frank Dean of the alien Colonists couple.
Tamara wakes to find herself separated from her brother and in the presence of someone she doesn't know is Geoffrey Wilder. He says they're using her as bait to catch Tony Stark. And afterwards they will sacrifice her to the Gibborim as they do every year with a girl from Imperio.