Vegas Bleeds Neon, Part 2

Tony Stark has come to Las Vegas to assist Saige Kaufman — a private eye — investigate the disappearance of conspiracy writer Mo Stanton. The case somehow ties into Marc Vicus, an eccentric casino owner and obsessive collector of Howard Hughes memorabilia.

While staying at the Big V hotel, a strange alien substance has infected and assimilated Tony’s Iron Man armor. It attacks Stark in his sleep. Unable to match the creature, Tony gambles that his self-destruct sequence still works. Luckily, it hasn’t been assimilated and Tony is able to blow the creature to bits. He contains the remains of the creature just as security arrives on the scene.

Tony tells them what happened and figures out how the alien substance got into his room. He assures them that he can clean the remains without the other guests finding out. However, he tells them that after his exerpeince tonight he better get that meeting with their boss, Marc Vicus.

The following morning, Saige Kaufman meets with Tony at a stripmall on the outskirts of Law Vegas. After hearing how Tony was attacked the night before, Saige offers to let him stay in her room for the duration of the case. Tony is waiting for the arrival of a new suit of armor he had been developing that will be useful against the threat he faced the night before. The suit was designed for space exploration for impact rich environments such as comet tails, asteroid fields, and the like. To demonstrate how it works, Tony has Saige throw a rock at the suit. In doing so, she knocks off a number of tiles from its surface. These tiles are instantly replaced by a miniature kiln that produces new panels on the fly. The suit can also be protected by a field made of the tiles.

The pair then head to a mobile lab that Tony assembled to examine the substance of the creature that attacked him the night before. The creature is comprised of nanoplasm, a blood like solution filled with microscopic machine organisms. Suddenly, Howard Hughes angle is no longer a red herring. Tony reminds Saige about the Howard Hughes design that she first sent to him, it seemed like Hughes was trying to recreate this neoplasm based on the scientific knowledge of the 1950s.

Soon, Tony heads back to the Big V casino for his meeting with Marcus Vicus. First he meets with Gerald Fleury, the head of security. He explains how the strange alien substence broke into his hotel room the night before. Fleury wonders if this wasn’t the work of one of Iron Man’s foes, like the Ghost, or Spymaster.[1] When asked if Tony wants the police to get involved, but Stark says he wants to keep it between them. When Tony goes up to Vicus’ room he is amazed by the Howard Hughes collection. Tony then begins asking questions about why Vicus came to Las Vegas, and questioning the legacy of Howard Hughes. This changes Vicus’ tone, and he suggests that, for his own safety, Tony should probably leave Las Vegas.

What Marcus was unaware of was that the sunglasses Tony was wearing were specially made to monitor his biometrics. Looking at the results later with Saige, they determine that Vicus became stressed when Tony started asking questions about why he came to Las Vegas. This gives them a place to start looking. Investigating Marcus Viscu’s land purchases they note that he first bought a plot of land that was originally owned by Howard Hughes. Curiously, the site was reportedly where a UFO was said to have crash landed in 1954. However, that claim was quickly walked back by the government.

Tony suits up as Iron Man to investigate the area as it is their only clue. Iron Man’s scanners detects a series of tunnels underground. Blasting his way through he finds a strange structure made out of the same neoplasm that attacked him. Using his panels to ward off infection, Tony rigs the place to explode. That’s when he hears a voice call out and finds Mo Stanton. He has been infected by the alien parasite and transformed into a technorganic being. He Iron Man to leave him to die as he is infectious. He reveals to Stark that Marc Vicus is infected as well and as a primary host for the alien parasite is planning to infect all of Las Vegas. Tony refuses to let Mo stay and die.

Cutting him loose, he tries to get the two of them out of there alien ship. When the bombs go off the tunnel collapses on them. Tony manages to use his repuslors a hole the surface world. Before Tony can get them out, Mo coughs up one of the parasites that skitters up Iron Man’s arm and infects him as well….

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Saige Kaufman, Mo Stanton, Marc Vicus

Continuity Notes

1. Gerald Fleury asks if Spymaster is still around. There have been a couple of Spymasters over the years. However, none of them have been seen recently at the time of this story. They are:

   • The original Spymaster who first appeared in Iron Man #33. He hasn’t been seen since Iron Man #231. He’ll pop up again in Dark Reign: Made Men #1.

   • Mark Sharen, tried to replace the original. He only lasted one mission before his death in Iron Man #220. As of this writing (April, 2023), he is still considered among the deceased.

   • Nathan Lemon: Took over the Spymaster identity in Iron Man #254. He was last seen in Iron Man: Bad Blood #4. He was reportedly killed in Iron Man: Inevitable #2.

Topical References

• This story centers around memorabilia that once belong to Howard Hughes. Hughes was a business magnate that was also a record-setting pilot, film star, and engineer. He was one of the most influential people of his time. Later on in life, he moved to Las Vegas and revitalized the city. In his later life he became an eccentric recluse until his death in 1975. As he is a historically significant individual and the story focuses on his legacy, references to him in this story should be considered factual.

• Tony is depicted driving a 1957 Ford Thunderbird into Las Vegas. This is an intentional choice. The vehicle is commonly associated with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, particularly his 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, which was adapted into a film in 1998. Since this is an intentional choice of a classic car, something that wealthy people collect, this wouldn’t be considered a topical reference.

• Tony name drops the Bellagio and the Mirage. This should be considered topical references as casinos in Las Vegas could go out of business, change ownership, or change their name completely.

• Tony recognizes one of the items in Marcus’ collection that he lost an eBay auction on. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world auction website.