Power, Part 2: Villains

Tony Stark and his girlfriend Rumiko Fujikawa were invited to attend one of the ultra-exclusive parties thrown by the enigmatic Max Power. There they discover the reason why these parties are so hush-hush: Max Power is handing out a designer drug that endows its users with temporary superpowers while they experience a sense of euphoria and inhibition.

Fearing someone might get seriously hurt, Tony slips away to changes into Iron Man. When he tries to get the party under control he is attacked by Rumiko who has gained the powers of Absorbing Man. In her drug induced state she blames the hero for the problems that she has been having with Tony, unaware of the fact that Stark and Iron Man are the same person.

While Iron Man tries to fight through the crowd of drugged up superhumans, Max Power gathers up his things in order to make an escape. That’s when Iron Man is struck into the air so hard he smashes through the roof of the warehouse the party is taking place. This allows the party goers who developed the ability of flight to escape through the hole. When Max Power tries to escape, he inadvertedly let the rest of the party goers out as well. Not seeing Rumiko among those who have fled, Iron Man goes inside to look for her. When she attacks him again, she absorbs the properties of a disco-ball, making her incredible fragile. Iron Man tries to reason with her before she shatters herself. Luckily, the drugs have a limited potency and eventually, Rumiko’s powers wear off and she collapses from exhaustion. Iron Man realizes that the others will soon lose their powers, putting the fliers at risk of falling to their deaths. Luckily, the fliers remained relatively close together that Iron Man is able to save them.

While Iron Man is busy, Max Power discovers that his car was trashed in the rampage. He then orders the valet to give him the keys to another car. Unfortunately for Max, he makes the mistake of taking Tony Stark’s limo a car that has a tracking device that Iron Man can follow. Worse, Max is held up on the Brooklyn Bridge by a number of his his party patrons who lost their powers in the middle the road and are now blocking traffic. Iron Man then arrives and orders Power to get out of the car.

Unwilling to surrender, Max Power downs a bunch of his pills, gaining the powers of Havok and Cyclops all at once. By this point, Iron Man has figured out that Max has been stealing DNA samples from other superhumans, and orchestrated a recent bank robbery to steal a sample from Speedball. Power then knocks Iron Man into a school bus, knocking it into the tracks for the B Train. The hero was able to get the train out of harms way but this leaves him open to attack. Using super-human strength, Max Power knocks Iron Man into his own limo. There he finds Max’s briefcase full of DNA samples. He decides to use them against Power and pelts him with samples of telepath DNA.

The sudden flood of mental voices drives Max completely mad and he unleashes a powerful mental blast that sends both him and Iron Man crashing to the ground. Recovering from the jolt, Iron Man then demands to know what Max Power has done to his mind.

Meanwhile, in Littletown, Nebraska, a meteor crash lands in a farmer’s field. It is witnessed by an elderly couple that is passing by. The woman tells her husband — Bufford — that it was probably an alien baby sent to Earth from a dying world. Bufford is reluctant to do so but his wife continues to harangue him until he drives up to the crash site. They find something alive in the crater, but it sure doesn’t look like any kind of baby to Bufford. His wife doesn’t care an insists they bring it home. When they get there, Bufford decides to take the “baby” down to the basement when his wife becomes concerned with the neighbors discovering their new discovery before they can come up with a believable cover story. When she goes down to scold him for having such a stupid idea, the “baby” suddenly starts emitting a strange energy.[1]

… This story continues in Maximum Security #1.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Max Power, Rumiko Fujikawa

Continuity Notes

1. This is spores taken from Ego the Living Planet. These were sent to Earth by the Kree in the hopes of turning the planet into a new host body for the living planet. At the same time, they are convincing the Galactic Council to name Earth a prison planet to seal off the entire solar system. This is all part of a grander scheme where the Kree will siphon power from Ego and rebuild their empire. See Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet #1, Maximum Security #1-3 and Avengers (vol. 3) #35.

Maximum Security Reading Order

Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet #1, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #22, 23, 24, Iron Man (vol. 3) #32 33, 34, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #23-24, Captain America (vol. 3) #36, Maximum Security #1, Thor (vol. 2) #30, Uncanny X-Men #387, Black Panther (vol. 3) #25, Captain Marvel (vol. 4) #12-13, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #21, Iron Man (vol. 3) #35, Bishop the Last X-Man #15, Maximum Security #2, Thunderbolts #45, 46, 47, Marvel Knights #6, Gambit (vol. 3) #23, X-Men (vol. 2) #107, X-Men Unlimited #29, Avengers (vol. 3) #35, Maximum Security #3