Chapter 2

It took Tony a little under six hours' flight time to reach snowy Antarctica. He surveyed the desolate surroundings via his helmet's heads-up display and asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to give him the lowdown on the area.

“Temperature: zero degrees Fahrenheit. Atmospheric conditions: currently snowing. Expected snowfall: six inches. Barometer holding st—”

“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” said Tony. “Scratch the weatherman bit. How about we start with signs of life?”

A brief humming followed, and J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke once more. “Approximately three point two miles southwest.

“Multiple heartbeats detected—”

Black Widow, Falcon, the scientists . . . and what else?

“—life-forms unknown. I'm receiving significant signal interference,” finished J.A.R.V.I.S.

“Don't tell me,” Tony continued. “It's the night of the living snowmen, right?”

“Impossible. It is currently four p.m. local time. And snowmen are not living entities,” J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.

Ignoring his armor's operating system, Tony activated his boot jets and unleashed a chemical thrust that propelled him into the air. He used his hand repulsors to stabilize and took off in the direction J.A.R.V.I.S. had indicated. The heavy snowfall made flying by sight nearly impossible, but his armor's navigation systems quickly took over. Tony zeroed in on a small clearing, where the burnt remains of a rectangular building, with portholes placed every few feet, stood on scorched stilts.

Outpost 13.

Tony's armored boots crunched through the snow as he approached the main entrance to the outpost. A chill crept up Tony's spine, and it wasn't from the cold.

No smoke, thought Tony. This fire happened at least a day ago. Immediately, his thoughts went to Black Widow and Falcon. Without the proper gear, surviving the harsh Antarctic environment even an hour is a challenge, let alone two days. . . .

As Tony approached Outpost 13, his audio sensors picked up a sound . . . distant and muffled tapping, gaining speed and getting louder, something—somethings—slamming into the metal interior walls with tremendous force. Suddenly, the door flung off its hinges and three large sled dogs burst from the entrance to Outpost 13. The canines barked aggressively and bared their fangs.

Their eyes glowed a sinister deep red.

“Whoa, nice doggies!” said Tony, holding his palms out toward the canines. “Uh, roll over! Fetch?” Where's a stick when you need one ? he thought, moving forward. Before he could take another step, one of the dogs jumped and slammed into his armor, knocking him down. Tony scrambled to his feet as another dog smashed his helmet with its giant front paws. Then the remaining dog started vibrating and shaking, and one of its large forepaws morphed into a long tentacle! The appendage wrapped around Tony's right arm and squeezed the armor so tightly that it started to bow and bend under the pressure.

“I don't have dogs, but they don't usually have tentacles, right, J.A.R.V.I.S.?” asked Tony.

“Affirmative, sir.”

At the speed of light, Tony sent a volley of repulsor blasts from his wrist gauntlets in all directions, causing two of the dogs to scatter behind the outpost, howling. Meanwhile, the third dog continued to squeeze Tony's right arm with its snakelike appendage.

“You can . . . let go . . . anytime you want!” said Tony as he held his left gauntlet right above the dog's limb and emitted a controlled repulsor burst from his palm. The dog let out a shrill squeal and uncoiled its tentacle from Tony's arm.

I'm beginning to see why Coulson was so worried, Tony thought. If this is just the welcoming committee . . .

The canines continued to change shape, growing in mass until they were nearly three times their original size, with eight tentacles each. They were greenish yellow in color, with glowing red eyes, and their mouths had barbed tongue-like projections.

As Tony struggled with his foes, he caught a fleeting look at a face gazing out from one of the outpost portholes. Then another. He looked again and they were gone.

Tony was only minutes into the mission, and the situation was deteriorating rapidly. Dogs that evolved into weird octopus creatures? He worried that these were the threats Black Widow and Falcon had faced. And could those faces he'd seen belong to some of the missing scientists?

Thinking fast, Tony fired rapid repulsor bursts at the ice mounds the creatures were using as protection, causing them to dive out of the way. Next he fired a blast at a metallic cylinder that extended from Outpost 13 into the ice below, ripping open an Iron Man–size hole. Then he activated his boot jets, thrust himself past the beasts, and soared into the cylinder.

“Finishing touch . . .” said Tony as a brilliant blast of heat issued from his armor's unibeam, sealing the cylinder from the inside.

“This was either a really good idea or a terribly bad one,” he said with a laugh. He proceeded through the cylinder and into the darkness below . . . alone.