Synopsis / Summary / Plot
In Fear Itself #4-5 recovering-alcoholic Tony Stark got drunk as a sacrifice to Odin. Odin answered, and Tony asks him for weapons to fight the Serpent and his hammer-wielding Worthy. Odin doesn't think Earth has any chance against the Serpent, but it will do as a holding action.
Odin takes Iron Man to Svartalfheim, and leaves him with a band of Dwarves led by Splitlip, who made Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Stark has some ideas for weapons, but Splitlip is more interested in the repulsor-powered generator in his chest. Tony tries to give the Dwarves an inspiring speech, but they say it's just keeping them from working on his weapons. (Though they waste even more time arguing with each other.)
In Seattle the Stark Resilient crew view the worldwide events, including the scene Iron Man left in Paris, where Grey Gargoyle/Mokk has turned most of the inhabitants to stone. And many of those statues have been broken. Despite her fear, Pepper Potts puts on the Rescue armour to help where she can.
In a flying Hammer Industries HQ, Justine Hammer can't get through to Detroit Steel (Doug Johnson) in Paris. (Mokk turned him to stone last issue.) She also can't get through to Gen'l Babbage in Washington. (Sin/Skadi's forces attacked the city in FI#3.) So she authorises daughter Sasha and a Detroit Steel Corps squad to go on a rescue mission to Paris.
Rescue arrives in Paris amidst the sea of stone. Her AI JARVIS directs her towards some life signs. However this is the Detroit Steel squad, ready to fire on anything that moves. And Mokk is watching them all.
Back in Svartalfheim Tony Stark tries to help the Dwarves, but in his drunken state he's more of a hindrance. He gets into a fight, and has even managed to pick up some of their runic swearwords. This seems to impress the Dwarves, and everyone has a drink because they work better that way.