Iron Man (1998 series) #9

Black Widow crouches over the dying Tony Stark after his beating at the hands of hired thugs. She uses her stings to shock his heart into beating again. He asks for his armor and, despite her insistence he needs a hospital, she dives for his briefcase and retrieves it; again she warns him but he insists on suiting up to go after his enemy himself. As the seriously injured man flies erratically over the Paris skies, he reviews his history with the Mandarin (for the benefit of latecomers), having to switch on autopilot to sleep….

In New York, Rhodey is helping Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts clear out the bugs put in by corporate spy Doreen when Natasha calls and fills them in on Tony’s condition. Nat next calls the Avengers and Vision is cold to her (surprising Scarlet Witch, Firestar, and Justice) but he promises to send all available Avengers to the spot indicated by Iron Man’s locator chips….

Iron Man awakens in Russia’s Ural Mountains to see a war going on: assault vehicles manned by mercenaries are battling the Russian army led by the Winter Guard, Russia’s superhero team, consisting of Steel Guardian (formerly Red Guardian), Vanguard, Sibercat, Darkstar, Vostok, Fantasma, and Powersurge (formerly Surge). Shellhead talks to the heroes, informing them that the Mandarin is behind this current skirmish and they respond that they can’t spare anyone to help him, so he continues on his quest. And then above the clouds the Armored Avenger sees a massive flying battle station, shaped like a mile-long dragon. It fires on IM and he fires back but he is weakened and in way over his head—and then the dragon swallows him. He walks though the darkened interior until he comes face-to-face with the Mandarin, who unleashes several attacks—explosive, electrical, pressure, and finally confining cables—and Iron Man is overcome. The Mandarin notes “I had expected this to be more difficult….”