Danger Deep

Iron Man is called out to a location off the coast of Greenland in the middle of a powerful storm. He has been asked to come out on an important mission for SHIELD. Director Nick Fury is on deck and he asks Iron Man if he knows what to do. The Avenger recounts how his “boss” Tony Stark was visited by Jasper Sitwell who asked for Iron Man’s help recovering a downed submarine. It is precariously on the edge of a five thousand foot drop into a deep trench and time is of the essence to recover it.

However, now that he is before Nick Fury, Iron Man demands to know whatever they didn’t tell Tony Stark. Fury says that the submarine is highly classified. Iron Man’s job is to access the submarine. Rescuing any of the crew is the concern of SHIELD. Iron Man doesn’t like the sound of this, but Fury reminds him how much business Tony Stark gets from SHIELD and they could cut their contracts and leave his “boss” in quite the lurch.

Iron Man doesn’t much like it but he doesn’t have much of a choice either. He soon dives into the water and begins descending to the ocean floor below. After fending off some hungry sharks, Iron Man finds the sub. It is shaped like a manta ray and clearly not one of Stark’s designs. Iron Man also notes that it has inches of sediment on it, a tell tale sign that it has been down there far longer than SHIELD was letting on. Fury reminds Iron Man that details are classified, but Iron Man is getting upset from all the lies he has been fed to get him down here. He is even more annoyed when he discovers that this submarine has Hydra markings.

When Fury tells him to come back up, Iron Man pretends that there are problems with his radio so he can investigate further. Using a sonar device, Iron Man detects a pounding noise coming from inside the ship. Ignoring Fury’s orders to abort, Iron Man goes in side to rescue whoever might still be trapped inside. Fury assures Iron Man that there is no need to do this, but can’t speak freely about why. However, once inside the submarine, the radio signal cuts out for real. Searching the partially flooded submarine, Iron Man discovers that the crew is all dead and something stripped all of the flesh from their bones.

Soon he is attacked by whatever “it” was. Although it has a human face, the creature has a large slug like body armed with multiple tentacles. The initial ambush knocks Iron Man into the hull of the ship, causing it to teeter over the edge of the trench. Needing to get out right away, Iron Man unleashes a full blast from his repulsors to drive the creature back. Luckily, he is able to get out of the sub just as it tips over the edge and falls into the deep trench.

Once back aboard the ship, Iron Man demands answers from Fury. Nick tells him that they had intercepted Hydra intel about the submarine. It was part of a something called Project: Scylla, a genetics experiment to engineer a human being that could survive the deep underwater. It got out of control and Hydra abandoned it. Fury figures the creature went dormant after it killed the crew. Regardless, he is certain that Project: Scylla couldn’t survive the extreme pressure at the bottom of that trench. Fury would be wrong about that as, at that moment, the creature is crawling out of the wreckage.[1]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Jasper Sitwell, Sharon Carter), Pepper Potts, Rumiko Fujikawa

Continuity Notes

1. Oh no! What menace will Project: Scylla cause now? In case you haven’t figure it out, this is the creature’s only appearance to date as of March, 2023.