… What You Want

When a Coast Guard ship was sunk in International Waters, Iron Man (Tony Stark) was sent to rescue a bathysphere crew trying to recover its ship log. In doing so, the wrecked ship was pitched over a trench, sending Iron Man falling in with it. Luckily, his armor was built to withstand the oceans pressure this far down. He reports back to the Naval ship on the surface and lets them know he is still alive.

As he digs himself out of the wreckage he is warned of a bogy in his area. This is a giant octopus that wants to have Iron Man for a snack. Tony manages to escape this fate by transmitting the sound of baby sperm whale in distress, summoning adult whales to attack the massive octopus.

Back at the Stark Enterprises Christmas Party, Rumiko Fujikawa is annoyed that Tony went off as Iron Man instead of partying with her. This gets on Pepper Potts’ nerves, she tries to explain to her that saving people’s lives is what Tony Stark does, because there was once a time where he didn’t really give a damn.[1] This annoys Rumiko who tells Pepper that if she knows Tony so well, how can she not know that he was in love with her.[2] The two women then storm off in different directions.

Rumiko leaves the party all together and she walks until she ends up outside of a church in Lower Manhattan. She recognizes it is as the church that recently had a stone statue of an angel stolen. She runs into a girl named Angela, whom Tony brought to Haven earlier that evening. When talking about the stolen statue, Angela suggests that perhaps it was taken because someone needed it and that they might bring it back. Ru then notices that Angela is wearing the hat and gloves that Tony bought for her. She quips that Tony always knows what to get a woman. When Angela asks what Rumiko asked for, she mentions how Tony took her wish for a poinsettia seriously. What she really wanted was something expensive, but Angela suggests that she got what she needed. She scoffs at getting another soon-to-be-dead plant instead. Angela points out that Rumiko tries to keep her plants alive because she has hope. Rumiko finds this kid pretty optimistic despite her outlook on life. When she turns to tell her this, she discovers that Angela has somehow vanished.

By this point, Tony has returned to the Naval vessel and reports that there was a second ship that was sunk along with the Coast Guard. They playback the recording of the ship’s log and learn how the Coast Guard was intercepting two other ships just outside of international waters. Isolating the sound of the third vessel, they determine that it was an old North Korean submarine. This leaves them both wondering what an Iraqi shipping vessel and a North Korean submarine were doing so close to US shores and where the submarine ended up going. Getting a copy of the submarine’s sonar signal, Iron Man races off to find it before it can complete whatever mission it is on.

Back in Manhattan, Rumiko is still standing outside of the church thinking about what Angela said to her. That’s when a homeless man walks by wearing Angela’s gloves. Rumiko asks where he got them and he insists that he didn’t steal them. He said a little girl gave them to her. This has been a blessing for him since his hands are stricken with arthritis and keeping them warm in the winter has been difficult. Rumiko can’t wrap her head around the idea of someone giving away the only things they own. Overhearing her is the local priest, who tells her that Angela gave her gloves away because there was someone who needed it more.

What about the submariner? It’s full of religious extremists that are seeking to set off a nuclear bomb in the middle of Manhattan. As they reach the shores of New York City, their nuclear bomb has only a few minutes left before detonation when Iron Man finds them. Smashing his way into the submarine, Tony blasts his way to the nuclear weapon. Pulling it free, Iron Man scrambles to disarm the warhead before it explodes. With only seconds left, Tony pays to God that the bomb doesn’t go off. For a moment, the world holds its breath.[3]

The next thing Tony Stark notices he is out of his armor and walking down the street toward Rumiko. She is surprised to see him, and Tony admits that he doesn’t know exactly what happened. One minute the bomb was about to go off, there was a bright light and someone was pulling him away from it. That’s when he notices that Rumiko’s hands are cold as ice because she isn’t wearing gloves. When he asks her what happened to them, she says she must have lost them. As they walk past the church, they don’t notice that the missing angel statue has been returned.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Rumiko Fujikawa

Continuity Notes

1. Pepper mentions Haven, the group home for women that Tony created to help young women get off the streets. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #51-52.

2. Tony developed an attraction to Pepper years ago shortly after Tales of Suspense #45. His competition was Happy Hogan. Ultimately, Happy ended up winning Pepper over and the two got married in issue #89 of that series. It’s kind of odd that Pepper doesn’t seem to know how Tony feels about her since the two have shared their feelings for one another, most recently in Iron Man (vol. 3) #25. One could assume that Pepper is shocked that Tony still has romantic feelings for her.

3. We see a montage of people all over New York City at the moment the bomb is supposed to go off. Among them, we see Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts sitting at home. Both look miserable. The two have been struggling with their relationship since Pepper had a miscarriage in Iron Man (vol. 3) #54. She hadn’t told Happy that she was pregnant and has decided to keep it a secret after losing the baby. This secret has driven a wedge in their relationship.

Topical References

• This story is set around Christmas. Given that the holiday is part of the story, particularly the whole “Christmas miracle” plotline, it’s difficult to reconcile this story if you were to consider the holiday a topical reference. Christmas is one of those holidays that breaks the Sliding Timescale, see here for more information.

• Rumiko states that she was hoping for something expensive from Tiffany’s. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world business.

• When Iron Man catches the terrorists he quotes Mick Jagger, or more specifically the Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from the album Let it Bleed. This should be considered a topical reference.