Synopsis
In #1 Iron Man fought Unicorn, amongst other things, and the villain claimed to be serving a god. Last issue ended with Tony Stark in hospital after fighting some more villains. Unicorn was in the same hospital and his god sent him after Stark again.
But this issue opens with Unicorn in costume (as opposed to a hospital gown) in the rain in Oklahoman countryside. He calls to his god and gets hit by lightning.
We then get a lot of scenes with a voiceover. We see Iron Man hovering over New York. Breaking a robot opponent in half. Getting hassled as Tony Stark because his AI rights stance (the Iron Man 2020 event) is causing parts of the Internet to refuse to work. Then IM fights Gladiator (not the Shi'ar 1) followed by Night Phantom and then Madame Masque. He drops in on a junior school in costume at break time but gets told off by teachers for disrupting their routine. Then he finds Melter who's melted his car. He casually KO's the villain and carries him up into the sky and drops him. (This is possibly where he was in the 1st scene, and the others are flashbacks.) He jets down and saves him at the last second.
The next thing we know he's at a Burger Hut, unshaven and dishevelled and wearing bunny slippers. The voiceover was apparently him talking to himself at the counter saying he doesn't know what people want him to be and do. No-one ever gives him any thanks, and he doesn't know why he doesn't just stop worrying about everyone else and just do whatever he wants. Then the burger-guy brings him back to reality and he orders something. But he has to make it takeout as he realises it's 3:45 in the morning and he's supposed to be catching a plane.
Next he's on the plane with Patsy Walker. He's travelling coach to see how ordinary people live. (He's still rich and probably still has his own plane but he's not using it.) Their conversation lets us know that the Melter incident was 2 days ago. And Unicorn wasn't after Tony last issue (I misread the scene). He just escaped from hospital, dived into the East River and hasn't been seen since. Stark is going to see Fuller Teilhard (#1) who wants to use lightning as a clean energy source, and he invited Patsy to accompany him. Tony's financed him because he thinks it might work, but in his current mood he still thinks the public will find a way to question his motives. Patsy wonders why he cares about public opinion and Tony says it's because he's much more famous than she is.
Patsy Walker blows up at him. (She's famous for being the inspiration for a load of teen comics, and later for being Hellcat.) She says since coming back from the dead she's more concerned about things that really matter to her. Tony tries to steer the conversation back to himself by reminding her he's been dead too. But she points out *he* didn't commit suicide (Hellstrom: Prince Of Lies #14). Now he actually listens as she says you don't recover from something like that, and she is constantly aware of a dark side of herself in her head. Then she puts on her headphones to ignore him until they get to Oklahoma.
Some hours later Iron Man descends to meet Teilhard in 10,000 acres of high-tech lightning rods. And Fuller tells him there are 57 other sites around the globe (and it's months since #1). After a technical explanation of how it works, IM remarks that the Stark label has been taken off all the equipment. Fuller says he didn't want anyone to trace the ownership of the sites. And a very large lightning strike incapacitates the armoured hero.
Now we see Teilhard backed by old IM-foes Blizzard and Controller as well as Unicorn. the master-villain says he's going to use the lightning sites to gain the power of a demigod. But this is only a step towards becoming *the* God. And Iron Man found him once before (original Avengers #176) so he won't let that happen again.
But then Hellcat slams into the villains with a truck. She helps Shellhead up and they start fighting the 3 disciples, who spout about having been chosen by their god. However Teilhard ends the battle with a lightning blast from his hand, and names himself Korvac as he leaves the 2 heroes dying on the ground.
Tony's armour restarts his heart with its built-in defibrillator. But it seems Patsy may not be so lucky.