Iron Man and
War Machine are investigating Vic's trashed apartment.
Rhodey's thoughts give us a potted history of the man. Vic was
Stark International's Security Chief (seen from
Iron Man v1 #132). In
#146-147 we learned that he was in witness protection from the mob. Vic stayed with Stark International when
Obadiah Stane took it over in
#172. He disappeared from the comic (after
#199) when Stark took his company back, and was seen still working for
Stane International in
#234. In
Punisher: The Prize graphic novel he lost an
IM armour in Mexico and destroyed it with help from
Punisher.
Jim also adds new-to-us information. Vic used to work in Military Intelligence and lately he'd used those skills as a courier transporting stuff for whoever would pay him the most, eventually working for Source Control. But we see that his latest consignment was
Mandarin's
Rings, which prompted him to try to contact Tony or Rhodey. But they both ignored his calls until it was too late.
They take traces from the scene back to Tony's lab to analyse. Already there is
Carl Walker (who uses the
Force armour) who is going to be front-man for the weapons buying. The results of the analysis indicate that Vic's killer was
Titanium Man. But it also shows that Mandarin's Rings were there. IM's AI
BOSS detects
TM inbound. Tony and Rhodey suit up to meet him. They don't want Carl to join them as Force because he's got to pretend to have relapsed to his criminal past. To that end Stark has reported him to the State Department as an arms dealer so he'd better get out of the US fast and head to Macau where Source Control is based.
The duo leave Tony's house to avoid
T-Man damaging it. The foe arrives and all 3 trade blows with their upgraded-since-last-they-met weaponry, plus plain armoured fists. Titanium Man is down but he shoots IM with the nerve gas
Compound 13 and then escapes. IM's filtration system doesn't keep it all out and Rhodey rips Tony's helmet off. Tony's still alive but in a bad way.
Rhodey abandons their plan in favour of rushing Tony to hospital.
Patsy Walker joins him at the bedside.
Captain America turns up and asks if War Machine would sub for Stark in the
Avengers for the duration. Jim Rhodes of course has to decline, and also refrain from telling
Cap what's going on.
In the next scene Rhodey is flying a plane over Macau where Walker is already buying weapons from Source Control via shell companies. Jim's making a recording for Cap in case it all goes very wrong. And Tony claims to be fully recovered as he leaves the plane in his stealth armour intending to steal the Rings.
Give that special marvelite a timely gift