Synopsis
Rebel attacks Tony in the skies over Manhattan. Stark uses his armor to scan his opponent and cross-checks with O'Reilly's medical records. They are a perfect match. It's not a clone or an impostor; it's actually Rebel back from the dead.
"Iron Man" contacts Liz Ross and instructs her to get Pepper Potts to safety while he handles the latest attack. Ross tries to calm Pepper down when she refuses to cooperate but is struck by the hysterical woman. During the scuffle Ross' helmet is knocked off, revealing that she is bald and has large cancerous growths on the left side of her face. Although she does not explain herself, this is a result of her exposure to the gamma radiation (issue #1).
Downtown Manhattan: Jennifer Walters is kidnapped by the Hulk, who has apparently escaped from the gamma reactor. Hulk tells his cousin that his skin burns and he knows that she'll help him. She naturally agrees.
Tony and Rebel continue to fight until Tony's armor can establish a psionic lock with Rebel's. He takes control of the armor and immobilizes him and begins to beat him mercilessly. He soon stops himself when he realizes that Rebel's armor should have identified Happy's bio-signature. There's no way that he could make that kind of mistake.
This is a setup in which he was supposed to kill Rebel. He promises to find out who did this and why.
Characters: