Battleground: Pittsburgh!

Iron Man and Wonder Man find themselves defending a foundry from a powerful creature named Inferno. The being of molten metal was once a worker named Joe Conroy, who was knocked into one of the vats of molten ore by a co-worker. Thanks to a chunk of Urur metal that Joe used as a keychain, he was reborn as Inferno and has gone on a rampage to avenge his death, which was covered up as an accident.[1]

Fearing reprisals from Inferno, Tim Turpin — the man who murdered Joe — races to his boss, Vince Paretta to asks what they should do. Vince hands Tim a gun just as Inferno comes crashing into the office. When the weapon has no effect against the monster the two men flee for their lives. Inferno chases after Tim and follows him onto a nearby barge moored at the dock. Burning away the rope, Inferno causes the barge to drift down river. Tim is trapped because he doesn’t know how to swim. As it approaches a nearby bridge, Tim tries to jump overboard, but gets crushed to death when the barge crashes into one of the bridge supports.

By this time, the rest of the Avengers arrive on the scene in response to Wonder Man’s distress signal. By this time, Inferno has wandered onto a highway causing a massive traffic jam. Among the stalled cars is Vince Paretta who is trying to escape. As the Avengers clash with Inferno, Vince learns that the monster is reason for the hold up and abandons his car to flee the scene. The Avengers try to stop Inferno, but the monster is too powerful. Seeing Paretta fleeing in a taxi, Inferno holds the Avengers off by melting the asphalt and following after him. With the Avengers on its heels, Inferno wrecks a nearby commuter train to slow them up. As expected, the heroes stop to rescue the passengers trapped in the burning passenger cars.

Meanwhile, Vince Paretta gets to his apartment in the Mount Washington area and begins packing up a bag so he can skip town. As it turns out, he was using his foundry to launder money for the Maggia. He had set up an illegal gambling pool and since he kept this a secret from the mobsters, he had Joe Conroy murdered out of fear that Joe’s gambling losses would prompt him to tip off the police or the mob. That’s when Inferno comes crashing in through the window. When the monster holds out its hand, showing the chunk of Uru metal that Joe Conroy used as a keychain, Vince realizes who Inferno really is and pleads with the monster to spare his life.

That’s when the Avengers finally catch up and, after hearing Paretta’s confession, Captain America vows to make him pay for his crimes. Seeing that Paretta will face justice, Inferno stops his attack and walks into the river to end his tortured existence. As it’s existence come to an end, Inferno’s final thoughts are of the wife and child it is leaving behind.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Vision, Wonder Man, Beast, Ms. Marvel, Falcon), Maggia (Vince Paretta), Inferno, Tim Turpin

Continuity Notes

1. The chunk of Uru metal that Joe used as a keychain was a scrap of the Asgardian metal that was left behind when Thor used the foundry to repair his hammer a few years earlier in Journey into Mystery #120.