Now, as an apocalyptic war looms on the horizon, our heroes have battled their way across occupied Europe in order to reach Castle Doom, to confront the one man most responsible for it all...

MV1 PROUDLY PRESENTS AN ALL-NEW IRON MAN EPIC...

THE SHOWDOWN WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

The Invincible
IRON MAN
#380

by Van Plexico

"ENDGAME"

High above Castle Doom, Iron Man and Mon-Dria battled savagely against an army of pseudo-Iron Men.

From the barked orders the armored attackers exchanged, Iron Man had rapidly figured out that these were not robots at all, but likely Latverian soldiers--the cream of Doom's crop-- outfitted with armor very similar to Iron Man's own traditional suits, albeit colored dark gray and green.

These men were very well trained.  Efficient.  They worked well together as a team. They were brutal.

And there were dozens of them.

Repulsor blasts sheared the air all around; Mon-Dria had to exert every bit of her newfound ability to dodge what could possibly be lethal blasts.  She performed pirouettes and dives and still more remarkable maneuvers as energy beams knifed all around.  In the rare moments when she could slow down, she unleashed blasts of her own at Doom's armored troops.  So far, she'd knocked a half-dozen of them out of action, but still the rest pressed the attack.

Iron Man's repulsors smashed into two more of the enemy, even as he whirled and fended off three attackers who'd gotten behind him.  "This is no good," he growled to Mon-Dria via the comm-link she wore in one ear.  "The only thing keeping us alive so far is that there are so many of them, they're getting in each other's way."

"Agreed," she replied.  "But what can we do, other than fight?"

"We have to even the odds somehow..."  His sentence trailed off as he whirled about again, just in time to fend off the swinging fists of two more attackers.  He retaliated with a barrage of repulsor fire, driving his foes back.  Again, more of them pressed in from the other sides.

Responding to a mental signal, his armor displayed a semi-holographic display before him.  His sensors reached out, studying Castle Doom, far below, in great detail.  He couldn't help but notice a vast, underground chamber, revealed by his deep radar.  Doom had constructed a complex bigger than four Superdomes underground, adjacent to his Castle.  As he watched the readouts in his peripheral vision, he kept up his barrage of fire, pushing Doom's Iron Men back.

"How are your power reserves?" Mon-Dria inquired breathlessly.

He spared a tiny moment to glance at his indicators.  "Fine-- this armor has a much higher capacity than the Space Armor I had on before."  But will even this much power be enough?  And if we even get past these guys... what awaits us below?

At that moment, a pair of repulsor beams caught Mon-Dria in mid-flight, and, with a cry, she tumbled down, her arms flailing.

Blast it, Tony thought, but it was only a matter of time till one of us took a solid hit...

Turning his back on his own foes, he rocketed down toward the tumbling form of his Kree companion, foes hot on his heels.  Mere dozens of feet above the roof of Castle Doom, he scooped her up and immediately lofted into the sky again, gunfire from the Castle ringing off his armor.

"Unnnhh--" she twisted her face, opened her eyes.  "Thank you.  I--I am fine."

Iron Man had no real choice but to accept this and let her go-- he could scarcely defend himself, let alone fight, while carrying her.  As she zoomed back into battle, he glanced back down at the Castle, noting the location of two enormous doors, horizontal, laid into the ground, just above the complex he'd detected.  What is Doom up to?  Then--  We're wasting time here-- as Doom wants it.  We have to get inside there.

Looking back up, he felt anger and hatred wash over him--the Latverian Iron Men had surrounded Mondy on all sides, and were blasting away at her.  With a cry of fury, he rocketed into their midst, fists flying, repulsors firing.

It was as much a battle frenzy as Iron Man had ever allowed himself to feel.  The new armor seemed to respond to it, and his responses, his reflexes, felt faster than ever before.  His power levels grew higher and higher, this new armor somehow almost siphoning away power from the green and gray forms around him.  

Realization seemed to dawn on the Latverians all at once.  One moment they were cocky, pressing their attack on their two targets-- the next, they were falling back, as one after another of their ranks fell to Iron Man's fury and tumbled down out of the sky.  Though his armor took numerous hits, the metal shredding away and melting in many spots, he pushed on, never letting up for a moment.

Encouraged, Mon-Dria summoned up her remaining strength and renewed her own attack.  Together, the two heroes turned the tide at last.  In a flurry of furious battle, they decimated the ranks of Doom's troops, carving them up and laying waste to the entire battalion.  

They paused only for a moment, to assess the situation, before turning their attention to the Castle.  Without a word between them, they descended toward the home of Victor Von Doom.

***

The last few members of the Castle Guards fell back, running for cover as Iron Man's repulsor blasts and Mon-Dria's cosmic energy raked at them.  Reaching the huge, elaborately carved doors to Doom's sanctum, the Guards seemed to weigh whom they feared more, and reached a group decision.  They charged back toward Iron Man and Mon-Dria--

SHRAAAAK!!!

--only to be hurled against the wall by a broadly-targeted repulsor blast.

Iron Man stepped forward, his armor severely damaged but still functioning as well as could be expected.  Silently he raised both arms, hands extended upward, palms out.  The twin repulsor ports glowed, flared, and unleashed a barrage of energy.

The doors to Doom's sanctum crashed down.

"By all means, do come in."

Iron Man knew the voice.  He stepped over the wreckage of the doors, Mon-Dria following closely behind.

"Well, well.  Is it truly you, then?  Tony Stark's lapdog?"  

Resplendent in his gray armor and green robes and hood, Victor Von Doom, the villain men called Dr. Doom, peered down at them from his iron throne. 

"Where have you and your master been hiding, these last two decades, lackey?"

"It's a long, long story, Doom.  Rest assured, if I'd been able, I would have challenged you long ago."

Behind his metal mask, the Latverian monarch laughed softly.  "Indeed."  He did not move, but his dark eyes studied them closely, moving from Iron Man to Mon-Dria.  "And who is your female companion?  I was not aware of any Kree on-planet at this time..."

"That's not important, Doom.  What is important is that you stop this insanity.  You and Magneto have the world on the brink of annihilation!"

"Not annihilation!  Victory!"  He gestured to a display screen on a side wall.  "You see the ranks of Doombots just completed in the adjoining facility. These Doombots represent the pinnacle of Doom's brilliance!  They will march into Russia and smash Magneto's army once and for all!"  He clenched his armored fist and shook it as he continued.  "And then-- then, they will seek out any others who harbor super powers-- be they mutant or otherwise-- or even the possibility of them.  They will cleanse the earth--purify it-- of perhaps 90% of the currently-living population."  Behind his mask, he smiled.  "But those who remain will be worthy--worthy of the rule of Doom!"

Iron Man clenched his fists.  "You can't do this!"

Doom glared down at him.  "Who are you, little man, to think to dictate to Von Doom?"

Iron Man reached up slowly and flipped up his faceplate.

"Stark.  As I have long suspected," Doom stated flatly.  "This means nothing.  I know not how you have eluded Doom for so long--but by coming here, you have placed yourself firmly in my hands."

Iron Man gritted his teeth in anger.  There was never much reasoning with Dr. Doom, even in his younger days.  But this Doom-- this was an older, more cynical, even less merciful Doom than Iron Man had known before.  Could this Doom be so far gone along his current path that he would not even consider the horrific consequences of his plans?  "Doom--listen to me.  Mon-Dria and I-- we are not supposed to be here.  We're from the past--from twenty years ago."  Though it galled Iron Man, he had to try it, had to ask.  "All we ask is the use of your time machine, to return ourselves to our proper time."

"To the past?  Bah!"  Doom stood, taking one step down the dais, still looming over Iron Man and Mon-Dria.  "You cannot be allowed to travel into the past, knowing what you now know."  He scoffed.  "You cannot be given the chance to change history and possibly deprive me of my ultimate triumph."

Iron Man was incredulous.  "You'd destroy most all the world, just to defeat Magneto?'"

"Fool!"  Doom strode regally across the dais.  "Magneto is no threat.  He sits there in his Kremlin, powerless, cowering behind the legions of former mutants--laughable fools-- who still believe in his fantasies.  They whisper encouragements in his ear, even as his empire crumbles and falls into my control."

"That's not quite how--"

Doom continued, heedless.  "His great cause--the triumph of mutant-kind-- is lost!  There is no more so-called 'homo superior!'  There is only one world--one humanity--one Doom!"

Mon-Dria leaned toward Iron Man.  "This man is insane," she whispered.

Doom continued.  "And as for Magneto's so-called empire-- it is a house of cards.  One solid blow from my forces and his vaunted Red Army will collapse!  The whole rotten thing will come crashing down around him!"

Doom strode regally across his dais.  "Then--then the rest of the world will have no choice but to swear complete obedience to me--to Doom!  Monarch of Latveria, emperor of Europe and America, and savior of the human race!" 

Doom cackled with glee, his voice rising to a crescendo.  "Mine!  Mine is the vision, the will!  Only one man could have encompassed both the destruction of the mutants and super-heroes, and the salvation of humanity!  ONLY DOOM!  DOOM THE FIRST!!"

Iron Man had heard enough.  He brought up both arms and leveled them at Doom.  

SHRAAAAK!!!

Twin repulsor beams lashed out, smashing into the Latverian dictator's armored form and driving him back into the reinforced concrete wall of his bunker.

The arch-villain pulled himself out of the rubble, dusting off his green robes.  "You-- you dare strike Doom??"  He strode forward, twenty additional years of life seeming to have had little effect on his mobility and strength.  "Taste the fruits of your folly, then!"

KA-ZAKKKKK!!!!!

Bolts of lightning flared from Doom's gauntlets and smashed into Iron Man, even as he sought to dive out of the way.  He crashed into the wall and lay smoking for a long moment, as Doom gloated over him.

Seeing Iron Man starting to rise again, Mon-Dria launched herself into the air and circled around Doom, blasting him from behind.  The evil monarch stumbled forward at the blow, but moved much more quickly than the Kree woman had expected he could, and grabbed at her leg.

"Ahh--no!"  She dropped to the stone floor as Doom held her by the ankle.

"Hmmm... some sort of nega-bands, perhaps?  As were used by your late countrymen, the two Captains Marvel?  Perhaps they could be useful..."  He began to pry at the band around Mon-Dria's leg.

She lashed out with both hands, breaking Doom's grip and sending him staggering.  "Apologies, but, much as I've wanted to be rid of those, I don't think they should fall into your possession."

Before Doom could regain his footing, Iron Man pulled himself up from the floor and swung a roundhouse punch, again sending Doom flying, this time to land with a crash against his dais.  Instantly Iron Man poured on the repulsor fire, his new armor somehow still able to give him massive amounts of energy, despite its rapidly deteriorating condition.

"I have suffered this indignation long enough!"  Doom rolled away from the last of the repulsor blast and charged into Iron Man.  As he did so, he directed another barrage of lightning blasts at Mon-Dria, keeping her back.

Smashing into Iron Man and forcing him back, Doom brought up his fist, laying Iron Man low with a savage blow.  Whirling, his green robes flying, Doom fired one single blast of electricity, nailing Mon-Dria head-on as she attempted to close the distance again.  With a groan, the Kree woman fell to the floor, unmoving.

Doom whirled again, reaching out and grasping Iron Man by the helmet even as he sought to rise.  

"Acck-ngggghh!"  Inside his armor, Tony struggled to break free, but Doom's grip was unshakeable.

"You are still as much the errand boy as ever, iron fool.  Not for some employer, but for the common masses of humanity who believe themselves to be the equal of Doom."  He squeezed harder, actually beginning to crush the helmet around Tony's head.  Sparks flew from between Doom's dull-gray gloved fingers.  "Now, you will learn.  You will learn to show the proper respect to your master.  You will learn that none may oppose Doom the First and live!"

Iron Man choked and gasped.  He seemed to be trying to form words, but could not.  "Nnnnn.... Ghhh...."

"Your time is nearly done, Stark.  By some fluke you survived years beyond your comrades--but that oversight will be corrected TODAY!"  

"Nggghhh.... Rrrrr..."

"In mere moments, my Doombots will launch!  My triumph is complete!"

  Rrrrrrrrrruuuuu..."

The fingers tightened further.  The armor sparked and sputtered, losing its thickness in places and reverting to the cloth-like form it had held before Tony donned it.

"...Ruuuuumikoooo!"

Inside his helmet, the speakers crackled to life.  "I'm here, Tony--right above the castle.  I've been trying to blast through these huge doors in the ground--I figure they're pretty important to Doom--"

Tony gasped.  "Y--yes!  De--destroy them--the chamber beneath them--everything!"

Doom's eyes widened.  "With whom are you speaking?"  Startled, he relaxed his grip just a bit.

"Tony?  B--but, that's what I was going to tell you!  I can't get through them with the ship's guns!  They're too strong!  I--"

Doom squeezed harder again, lighting flaring from his gauntlet into the helmet.  As the last sparks flew, as Tony's knees gave way, he gasped--"FIND A WAY!!!"

Tony Stark's vision darkened, the blood pounding in his ears.  Some measure of time passed-- though, looking back later, he would never be able to tell just how long.  Was it seconds?  Minutes?  He would never know.  But the pounding in his ears was so loud he could hear little else.  As such, he felt, more than heard, an enormous THUD, followed by... explosions?

The vicelike grip on his helmet vanished.  Choking, he stumbled forward, falling face-down to the stone floor.

Gasping for breath, he heard a clanging sound and realized something was raining down on him--hail?  It fell everywhere around him.  No-- pieces of the castle!  The roof was collapsing!  What--?!

He pulled himself to his knees, looked around.  Doom had raced across the throne room to a bank of equipment and was frantically working at something.  Looking the other way, he saw no signs of Mon-Dria.

"NOOOO!!!"  Doom smashed his fists down onto his computer console.  Whirling, he glared at Iron Man, his bloodshot eyes visible behind his mask's rectangular openings.  "Some sort of aircraft has crashed into my facilities!  The Doombots have been destroyed!  If not for the shielding on this castle, we would all be dead as well!"

Iron Man blinked.  Then he understood.  Picking up his helmet, he shouted into the comm link.  "Rumiko!  Are you there?  Rumiko!!"

Nothing.

"You will pay dearly for this, Stark!"

Doom charged across the room, electricity flaring from his gloves.  

Iron Man, his fury overwhelming, met him halfway.

The two armored titans clashed.

Fists flew.  Massive blows fell, one upon the other.

The walls shook.  Chunks of stone, dislodged further by this titanic struggle, rained down on both combatants.

Still they fought on.  Lightning blasts and repulsor rays exchanged damage.  Blood splattered freely from both men.

By all rights, Iron Man's armor should have given out first.  It was already heavily damaged, while Doom began the battle relatively fresh.  Yet Iron Man's armor was the most advanced he'd ever designed, the sophistication of the components he had built apparently boosted by his exposure to cosmic energy. *

[*See IRON MAN #377 --interrupting-the-battle-Van]

Somehow, both men remained standing, both armors continued to deal destruction, both titanic figures continued to smash away at one another, until at last the Latverian monarch staggered, reeled, and... fell back!

"...No!  I cannot fail!  I am Doom!"

Iron Man smashed again and again at the weakened Doom.  Inside the armor, Tony's fists felt raw, but he didn't let up a bit.  All his anger, all his frustration at what Doom had done to the world-- and his newfound fear of what had become of Mon-Dria and Rumiko--welled up and expressed itself into one of the most savage whippings Iron Man had ever administered.  He forced Doom back, ever back, against the wall, and then lashed out at him with all his strength, splintering armor, shattering metal, and smashing away even the mask that covered Doom's hideous countenance.

The last blow fell.  Doom crumpled into a heap, unmoving.  Iron Man stood over him, gasping for breath, bleeding from cuts and gouges too numerous to count.  With the last of his strength, he raised his head to the sky and screamed his rage.  Then, he collapsed to the stone floor beside his vanquished foe.

"Wow."

Iron Man looked up at the sound of the voice.

Mon-Dria stood before him, and beside her--

--"Rumiko!"  He grinned.  "Are you--?"

The Japanese woman looked a bit banged up as well, but--"I'm okay."

"How--?"

Rumiko patted the Kree woman's shoulder.  "Mondy caught me."

Mon-Dria shrugged.

"Caught you?"

"Yeah.  I...bailed out."

Tony struggled to figure out what she was talking about.  "You mean-- that explosion, that crash-- that was Mondy's ship--?!"

Rumiko nodded, blushing.  "I hated to do it, but... you did say, 'find a way!'"

Tony struggled to his feet, stumbled forward, and hugged her tightly.  "You did just fine."  He grinned at Mon-Dria.  "And so did you."  He reached out and hugged her as well.

"You can say that because it wasn't your ship," Mondy growled, but she smiled playfully and shrugged again.  "It wouldn't have fit in the time machine anyway, I suppose."

Tony nodded.  "And speaking of which...!"

After stripping away the last of Doom's armor and restraining him securely, Iron Man and the others searched for the time machine.  It wasn't hard to find, and, moments later, the two visitors from the past stood before the platform.  Tony met Rumiko's eyes, and sadness washed over him.

Before he could even suggest anything foolish, she cut him off.  "This is my time," she said softly.  "Where you are going, there is another Rumiko Fujikawa-- a younger, much more naive one-- but one full of potential, and of promise.  Perhaps great things await her.  It doesn't matter.  All I know is, I must remain here." 

She met Tony's eyes.  "But--if you are successful--my life will have been very different.  If all of this is prevented, then... who knows what will have become of me?"  She smiled wanly.  "In any case-- you must go now."

Tony nodded.  "All right."  He looked over the control panel, studied it a moment, then changed the settings carefully.  "Here's what you need to do."

Moments later, Iron Man and Mon-Dria stepped onto the platform, as Rumiko moved behind the controls.

"Good bye, Mon-Dria.  Good luck, Tony.  It was good to have known you, if only for a little while."

The distortion effect washed up onto them.  The ruins of Castle Doom wavered, swam in their vision.  Rumiko, smiling sadly, waved one last time, and Tony returned it.

Their stomachs did flip-flops.  Just before they vanished from this time and place entirely, Iron Man thought he saw, through the hole in the roof, a wave of aircraft crossing overhead.  Magneto's forces?  Is he attacking now?  And--if Doom has automatic countermeasures, they'll be firing.  It could well be the end of everything... unless we can change it all...

The time distortion effect took them, embraced them, hurled them away.  They tumbled, fell, fell...

...and landed.

The time distortion effect faded.  They stood on solid ground again.  But... where?  And--when??

Tony looked around.  Skyscrapers.  People.  No missiles flying, no giant robots.

Mon-Dria smiled widely.  "I think we did it!"

Tony unfastened his helmet and pulled the dented and cracked thing off his head, barely avoiding removing chunks of flesh along with it.  "Yeah," he replied, "I think we... we..."

He collapsed at Mon-Dria's feet.

Next:  POINTS OF DEPARTURE

BUT-- the story of Dr. Doom's world is not over!  Did Iron Man, Mondy, and Ru really change the past?  Will Doom's empire still come to be?  And--what exactly is in store for the entire human race, in the decades and millennia to come??
The answers to all those questions can be found in IRON MAN ANNUAL 2001, on sale now!!

SOCK IT TO SHELLHEAD!
Send mail to: vplexico@bellsouth.net

Wanna know a little behind-the-scenes secret, true believers?  Originally, way back when I plotted it, the villain for this story was to be revealed as a future Henry Peter Gyrich, masquerading as Doom in order to further his own plans for eliminating Magneto and the mutants and super heroes of the world. (In keeping with the B5 titles, the name of this issue would have been, "The Face of the Enemy," as Gyrich was unveiled at the end.)  But after Fabian Nicieza went there in print first, in THUNDERBOLTS, I quickly retooled the villain of this story into Doom himself, and tried to make up for the lack of a twist ending by giving you the biggest, baddest, knock-down, drag-out slugfest between the two I could come up with.  What say you, readers?  Did you like this version, or would the other have been better?  I await your judgment.

Now, on to the letters!

Jason Trenner writes in:

I've loved your run on Iron Man (why can't the comic be more like this?).
Epic Space battles and Iron Man vs. Dr.Doom(keep this up when Iron Man gets back to the present). I also have a few questions:

1. Will War Machine be part of the supporting cast?
2. Will Iron Man rejoin the Avengers(East or West teams)?
3. Will Dr. Amazing make any appearances?
4. Will Iron Man fight Holocaust?
5. Will Iron Man fight  Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man sooner or later?

Keep up the incredible work!

It Never ends!

Hey, thanks very much for the kind words, Jason! Yeah, I'm sure it's seemed like this storyline would NEVER end! Ha! But, actually, I'll be taking my leave of regular writing duties on IRON MAN at the conclusion of next issue. Have to let the next writer in line have his shot--and since it's Ralph Angelo, I know Shellhead's in good hands. (Don't forget the Annual, though-- it's all mine!)

And to address your points in order:

1. I plan on being back on this book once Ralph's year is up, and I don't foresee using War Machine. I'm not a fan. (I like Rhodey just fine as Rhodey. Though you'll note I did get him married off, at least in one possible future!)

2. What group Iron Man belongs to is, I think, up to the AVENGERS writer. And I haven't been that since 1997...

3. I don't plan on using the good Doctor, no. But I like what Scott's done over in AVENGERS.

4. Holocaust?

5. I love both those armored baddies, and you can be pretty sure you'll see them once I'm back on the book! I plan on a really big ramp-up to IRON MAN #400-- and you just KNOW who the villain will be for that storyline!

Final thoughts this month:

Here we are at the end of the Long Road that began way back in IRON MAN #370.  Eleven issues to take Tony out into space, and bring him back to a world not his own.  How many guessed that Dr. Doom would be the ultimate villain of the piece?  Not many, I suspect.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on not only this issue, but the whole storyline as it stands.  So write in.

And don't forget to check out IRON MAN ANNUAL 2001 for the epilogue to this 11-issue extravaganza!  And thanks as always for reading.

--Van Plexico

Atlanta, Georgia
June, 2001

Story © 2000 - 2001 by Van Allen Plexico