When Demons Wail!

On a trip to Washington, DC to answer to a Senate committee that is accusing him of selling substandard equipment to the government, Tony Stark has a nightmare in his hotel room. In it, Iron Man is being attacked by winged demons as a reptilians woman looms over him. Tony wakes up and wonder if the dream was brought on by the mysterious attacks on Iron Man, his coming senate hearing, or his conflicting feelings for Marianne Rodgers. In the next room, Marianne is also having a sleepless night. She has been plagued by strange visions of danger looming over Tony Stark that have to do with Iron Man. Due to these premonitions, she has grown to dislike Tony’s bodyguard. Realizing that she needs Tony in his life she goes to his room and the couple find comfort in one another.

Meanwhile, the mysterious Mr. Klein watches the latest news reports about the damage done to the Capitol Building. This was done by his operatives but one Senator Ernest McJavit is blaming it on Tony Stark, fellow businessman Ben Crandal, and Iron Man. Accusing them of damaging the building to take attention away from their own senate hearings. Pleased with how things are going, Klein contacts his next operative a man named Miklos who also goes by the name Soulfather. Miklos is ready to test his newfound powers. Having made a connection from the energy of the Earth itself, Miklos is able to transform his body into pure energy, giving him a near infinite level of power.[1]

Back in New York City, Jasper Sitwell continues to recover from a gunshot wound. While his doctor tells him to take it easy, the SHIELD agent forces himself to get out of bed. He manages to stand for a few minutes before toppling over. When the doctor says that he should regain 99% of his mobility in time, Jasper won’t settle for anything less than perfection.[2]

The following day, Iron Man has agreed to meet with Ben Crandal, the owner of a construction company that is also facing similar accusations as Tony Stark. As he flies to this meeting, Tony thinks about how he and Ben went to college together and wishes his old government ally, Harrington Byrd hadn’t retired from politics.[3] However, this turns out to be a trap to take Iron Man into custody. Crandal, fearing repercussions from the Senate hearing made a deal with Senator McJavit to help capture Iron Man. Before taking the Avenger into custody, McJavit accuses Iron Man of being an anarchist. While Iron Man is being locked up, Mikas appears before Marianne Rodgers. When she tries to run away from him, Mister Klein’s operative manages to put her under his control just by touching her.

Waiting in his cell, Iron Man assures McJavit that he’ll clear his name and be free. That’s when he suddenly sees an image of Marianne being terrorized by Mikas. In this vision she resembles his the lizard woman in his dream. With no other choice, Iron Man busts out of his cell and goes looking for her. As the authorities race off to try and capture him again, Senator McJavit pulls out a communicator and contacts Mister Klein. He reports that everything is going to plan. As it turns out this is one of Mr. Klein’s robotic servants and now that his mission is complete the machine immolates itself to eliminate any trace of its existence.

Meanwhile, Iron Man suddenly finds himself teleported to a strange neither-realm where Mikos has taken Marianne Rodgers. Seeing that his woman is in some kind of hypnotic trance, he attacks Mikos directly. However, the villain assures Iron Man that it is futile since he draws his power from the very Earth itself. The brawl sends both men falling into a nearby tarpit where Iron Man hits Mikos with a high energy repulsor blast. Thinking his foe defeated, Iron Man pulls himself out of the muck. The battle has taken its toll on the hero and his power is about to run out. When he reaches Marianne he finds Mikos — no worse for wear — standing by her side. Exhausted from his ordeal, Iron Man then collapses to the ground.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Soulfather, Marianne Rodgers, Jasper Sitwell, Mr. Klein,

Continuity Notes

1. Mr. Klein comes from a distant future. Klein was sent to the past to ensure certain events came to pass, such as making Daredevil partner with the Black Widow, see Daredevil #79-84. What Klein and Baal are trying to accomplish is never really explained. Their future exists as an alternate reality, the Daredevil entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 identifies it as Reality-71778.

2. Jasper was shot in Iron Man #34 and has been recovering ever since.

3. Harrington Byrd was once a critic of Iron Man’s relationship with Stark Industries but soon became one of Tony’s staunch government allies, as seen in Tales of Suspense #46-47, 53, 66, 68-77, 81-85, 89, and Iron Man #10. Although this story states that Byrd has retired, he appears to have come out of retirement when he appears again in Iron Man #99-100.