In Shining Armor, Part 3

Iron Man (Tony Stark) is trapped in the distant year of 1002 AD. In the present, Pepper Potts has just sent Ellen Mallory, a noted archeologist, into the past to try and rescue him. When Happy Hogan returns late from lunch, Pepper is annoyed that he ignored her calls and showed up drunk.[1] He sobers up quickly when he sees what Mallory brough with her, a millennia old Iron Man helmet with a skull, suggesting that Tony died in the distant past. Her assistant, Martin Black, comments about how spooky Mallory was, saying that she was able to find important archeological digs as though she knew exactly where they were buried.

What they don’t know is that Ellen Martin was once a sorceress named Aislinn. Once venturing into the past, she merged with her past self and regained her full power. Tony managed to escape from her castle with the help of a soldier named Brann Mak Arn Mak Minyfordd Mak. Caught in a powerful storm, the pair sought refuge in a cave for the night. Its here that Aislinn used her magic powers to awaken a slumbering dragon that made the cave its home. The roars from the awakening beast wake up both Tony and Bran. Tony fends off the monster with sword, shield, and his strength enhancing armor. He manages to seize hold of the Dragon and pry up one of its protective scales so Bran can stab his sword into the monster’s flesh. This causes the dragon to blow up in a burst of flame. The death of the dragon sends feedback through Aislinn’s spell, causing her pain.

With the dragon dead, the pair return to the cave. While Bran cooks the dragon meat for food, Tony tries his best to fix his armor. It’s difficult without tools, but Tony gets most of the armor working properly. The only thing he can’t get working is the helmet, which controls many of its computerized systems like the repulsor rays and jet boots. Since Tony is already running low on power, that is a moot point.

The following morning, Iron Man and Bran make it to the Celtic Stones, where Tony needs to be when the 40 hours recall brings him back to the present. There they find Aislinn and her army there to steal Tony’s armor. Iron Man and Bran prepare for a serious fight. In the ensuing battle, Brand’s sword — the one needs to return to his king — gets knocked out of his hand in battle. Tony manages to recover it and tosses it back toward Bran. The sword imbeds in the side of one of the Celtic rocks, blocking the swing of an enemy’s axe. Although this saved Bran’s life, it allowed Aislinn and her captain to grab him and hold him hostage.

Aislinn orders Tony to surrender his armor, which he does to spare Bran’s life. Aislinn puts on the armor herself. She wants to hurt Tony for destroying her dragon, Bran takes credit. furious, she punches the rock with the embedded sword, shattering it with a single blow. She explains that her power greatly diminished in the centuries she has lived due to the modern advancement of humanity and the polluting of the planet. She intends to return to the present and unleash a dragon fire crystal to destroy all evidence and knowledge of Tony Stark’s time machine. That way she can return to the past and rule forever more without fear of someone coming back to stop her.

With the 40 hours recall about to trigger, Aislinn put on Iron Man’s helmet so she is brought back to the future. However, Tony never had a chance to fix the polarity of the helmet. So when the recall is activated, only Aislin’s body is transported to the future, decapitating her in the process. Devastated that his lover was killed, the captain of the guard takes her severed head and buries it under one of the rock, explaining how Iron Man’s helmet ended up in the present day.

Meanwhile, Pepper and the others were able to figure out what happened — thanks to Friday — and they send back a new suit of armor to transport Tony back to the present day intact. Tony bids Bran farewell and teleports back to the present. Upon his arrival the time machine begins to overload and Tony manages to shove Pepper and Happy out of the way before the device explodes. He explains how Ellen and Aislinn were the same woman, centuries removed. However, if the severed head found in the armor was Aislinn, it doesn’t explain how she could have survived these years to travel back in time. Pepper tells him that the past is past and to let it go.

Back in 1002 AD, Bran finally delivers the sword to his king, Uther Pendragon. He apologizes that the sword is stuck in stone, as he hasn’t been able to remove it. Uther says that it is just as well, he is certain that someday someone worthy will be able to pull the sword from the stone.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Aislinn, Martin Black, Uther Pendragon

Continuity Notes

1. Pepper and Happy have been having troubles since Pepper lost the baby she was carrying in Iron Man (vol. 3) #54. She hasn’t told him she was pregnant to begin with and has been cold and distant toward him.

Topical References

• When Pepper and Happy activate the time machine to return Tony to the present, Friday takes on the appearance of Slim Pickens in his role of T.J Kong, from the 1964 Stanley Kubric film Doctor Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb. She is reenacting the scene where Major Kong rides on the back of a nuclear bomb waving his cowboy hat around and shouting “Yee haw”. This isn’t necessarily a topical reference as this is considered a classic film.