Somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean

Jim Rhodes woke to pain. Pain and an unfamiliar voice suspended above him.

"Mr. Rhodes? Mr. Rhodes, can you hear me?"

Jim opened his eyes and looked up into the face of a young, pimply-skinned Coast Guard medic. The glaring white lamp behind the kid's head hurt Jim's eyes, but he kept them open.

"My ship," he began his voice gravelly from little use. He wondered vaguely how long he'd been unconscious.

The medic's jaw clenched and he looked over his shoulder nervously. "Sir, your ship was sunk. There were... there were few survivors, sir. We were too late to save most of your crew."

"How many?"

"We pulled five of you out, sir."

Jim Rhodes closed his eyes and bit back a groan of remorse. His ship - the Washington Carver - had held a crew of nearly thirty.

"You're on the Coast Guard Cutter, Lifeline, sir. The captain would like a word with you when you're feeling up to it. Some of the reports we've been getting from the other survivors as to what happened are... garbled."

"That's a fact," Jim sighed. "If he's looking for an explanation that makes sense, though, mine is gonna disappoint him too."

The young man nodded, obviously reigning in his own curiosity. "I can put him off as long as you need, sir. For now, you rest. I'm going to duck out and get you some pain medication."

Jim nodded and, as the medic exited the room, closed his eyes again. He could feel the swaying of the boat beneath his cot. If you spent a little while at sea, it was easy to tune that motion out. It became so much a part of your world that you could hardly tell it was there.

Jim hoped he would get used to the pain of this failure as easily. Somehow, though, he doubted he would.

Tony Stark's Estate - Evergreen Island, Washington State

"How are you gonna tell me that was in bounds?"

The Avenger known as Wonder Man rolled his eyes at his teammate. "Clint, look at the impression in the sand. It was obviously in the line."

"It bounced there!" Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, insisted from his side of the volleyball net.

Wanda Maximoff threw her hands in the air. "Clint, you're being impossible!"

"Sticking up for your man and your team is one thing, Wanda, but don't let love blind ya! That serve was out. Tell 'em, 'Tasha," Hawkeye prompted, nodding at his doubles partner. The former Soviet spy known as the Black Widow put a hand wearily to her forehead.

"I can't believe I turned down a mission in Fiji for this."

Off to the side, Tony Stark chuckled and sipped from his ginger ale. The summer sun was high and Evergreen Island was getting some of the best weather of the year - which was good, since most of Tony's guests were in bathing suits instead of their 'work clothes'. He was glad he'd arranged this bash for some of the Avengers - those who knew his identity as Iron Man, in any case. Playing Earth's Mightiest Heroes had been crazy lately. Between Loki, the fake Ultron who'd trashed the mansion, and the roster changes,* everyone on the team needed some down time. He regretted not inviting Justice and Firestar, but since they thought Iron Man was just Tony Stark's bodyguard, inviting them to a casual party at his house would have been pressing his luck on the secret identity front.

(* See recent issues of M2K's Avengers--Russ)

"Tony," Steve Rogers said, stepping up beside him to watch the escalation of the volleyball argument, "you don't happen to have anymore beer handy, do you?"

Tony raised his eyebrows at the muscular blond man. "Sure. I'll have some more brought out. I didn't realize Captain America was such a heavy drinker."

Steve laughed. "He's not--I'm not. Thor, however, loves the stuff. He's gone through two kegs pretty much by himself so far... Look, I'm sure he won't care what kind it is, but he seems to have a strong attachment to the Beck's."

Tony grinned. "I'll see what I can do."

"That's it! If you kids can't play nice, I'm taking your toys away!"

Tony and Steve looked back toward the volleyball court. Henry Pym, the aptly named hero Giant Man, had grown to massive proportions and plucked the volleyball net out of the sand. Hawkeye railed at him while the Black Widow tossed the ball back over her shoulder and headed for the pool. At Giant Man's shoulder, the diminutive Wasp flew close enough to kiss her lover's grinning cheek.

"You tell 'em, handsome."

On the other side of the field, Tony and Steve watched Natasha walk by in her black bikini. Tony had been the Black Widow's lover at one time, and he suspected Cap had once had feelings for her too, back when Natasha was leading the Avengers. He looked at Steve, who gave him an embarrassed smile.

"I'll go see about that beer," Tony said.

The house was empty as he moved inside through the rear arcadia doors. It wouldn't do to have servants around to see Captain America with his mask off, after all. Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, had been invited along, but had opted to spend the time with his mother in New York instead. In any case, Tony wouldn't have wanted Jarvis working today, even if he were here.

"Jocasta," he said to the empty kitchen.

"Yes, Mr. Stark." The female voice came from the walls themselves. Tony Stark's home was one of the most technologically sophisticated buildings on the planet, and its mainframe was currently home to a former Avenger named Jocasta. For a long time, Tony had believed Jocasta dead-as dead as a robot shaped to look like a human woman got, anyway-but a scheme by a power-hungry harridan named Sunset Bain had resulted in Tony recovering Jocasta's consciousness and downloading it into his home's computer system. Tony had been piecing together scattered designs and specifications on her old body for weeks now, since he fully intended to build her a new one as soon as possible. For now though, she seemed perfectly happy where she was.

"Thor needs some more beer. Could you have one of the robots bring some out? He likes Beck's, so if we've got it, send that up."

"Already on its way. Mr. Stark, since the Avengers are here rather than at their headquarters in New York, I've taken the liberty of monitoring the newsfeeds along the east coast. I found something that might interest you."

"What is it?"

Jocasta got twenty seconds into her narrative before Tony was sprinting down the hall. Pressing a button on his watch summoned his armor, which unfolded from its pod form and encased him in the distinctive red and gold of Iron Man.

"Tell the rest of the Avengers to enjoy the party," he said. "Extend my apologies for the abrupt departure, too."

"Should I tell them where you're going?"

"No need. This isn't exactly a world-threatening emergency."

"Then why are you hurrying, Mr. Stark?"

The floor at the end of the hallway yawned open, and Tony dove through, following an underground tunnel to the ocean beneath his Cliffside home. A moment later, Iron Man burst from the waves and sliced a path through the sky, heading to the east.

The entrance to the ocean tunnel hissed softly shut, and the house was dark and quiet for a time. Then, an electronically synthesized voice whispered through the halls, so softly that if anyone had been around to hear, they might have believed they'd only imagined it:

"Tony..."

Carol Danvers finished her 30th lap in Tony Stark's pool and decided that was enough. Hefting herself out of the water and sitting on the concrete edge, she grabbed her nearby towel and proceeded to dry her long blond hair.

As the former Avenger known as Warbird, Carol had recently left the team due to... well, best to not dance around the matter, due to alcoholism. Her irresponsible actions, along with the desperate, unthinking denial of an addict, had almost killed several of her teammates. Even after she'd been removed from the Avengers, it had taken her a while, to accept her alcoholism for what it was, and Tony had-through his own similar experiences-had a lot to do with setting her on the path to redemption.* She didn't feel like she was ready to rejoin the Avengers yet-wasn't even comfortable just hanging out with them like this, actually-but she knew she'd get there eventually.

(* See Marvel's Iron Man vol. 2 #25--which our M2K series immediately follows--if you don't believe me--Russ' Anonymous)

But she didn't need temptation. So she did her laps and she stayed away from the open bar.

A soft hum from above drew her attention skyward, where she just caught a glimpse of Iron Man disappearing to the east. She frowned. She had seen Tony go into the house a few minutes ago, but couldn't imagine what could call him away so abruptly that wouldn't also warrant the attention of the Avengers present. She glanced around the yard. No one else seemed to have noticed. Most of the guests were still quibbling around the volleyball net. The Black Widow had been in the midst of diving when the armor flew over, and Cap was watching Thor tip the new kegger back like it was a moonshine jar. She'd been the only one to see.

Putting down her towel, she lifted herself the rest of the way out of the pool and walked across the lawn to the back patio. Maybe Jocasta knew what was going on.

The deck of the Coast Guard Cutter, Lifeline

Jim Rhodes leaned against the railing of the cutter that had rescued him from the sea and looked out over the clamorous waters of the South Atlantic. He'd been many things in his life. A Marine chopper pilot, a mercenary, a philanthropist, Tony Stark's personal pilot... hell, he'd even been a superhero, first as Tony's stand-in as Iron Man, then on his own as War Machine-but he thought he'd been happiest as a seaman, searching the ocean depths for lost treasures. He'd rediscovered a love for the open water that had lain dormant since his days in the Corps.

Now though, all he could think about were the twenty-four friends the water had swallowed. He wasn't sure he could go back to being a seaman after this.

"Rhodey."

Jim recognized the low hum of Iron Man's boot jets, and didn't bother to turn toward the just-arrived superhero. "Was wondering how long it would take you to find out about this."

"I just heard." Iron Man landed softly on the deck then moved to join his old friend at the railing.

Jim Rhodes looked at the man in the red and gold armor. There were some issues between the two of them that needed resolving, he knew. Once, he would have trusted Tony Stark with his life, then Tony had... lied terribly, put Jim through a lot of heartache for nothing. He honestly wasn't sure where they stood anymore.

"What happened, Jim?"

"I don't know.... Damn it, I went through this with the Coast Guard too. We'd been searching for an old Spanish wreck called the Santa Trelina for two months, and we'd finally hit pay dirt. She was nearly 300 years old, but still pretty much in one piece. I sent two of my best divers down to do a prelim, and they checked the ship over, found it to still be structurally sound. I was just about to order them back up to the Carver when we lost contact with them. And then... then..."

Jim closed his eyes against the sea breeze and pressed on. "Jesus, it was like something out of Jules Verne. It was a goddamn sea monster. It hit the Washington Carver less than a minute after we lost contact with the divers. It was all tentacles, and it tore the ship to pieces in less time than it took to tell."

"Tentacles? Like a squid?"

"Yeah, exactly like a squid... if squids were green and grew to the size of oceanliners, with skin tougher than the titanium my ship was built with. Yeah... just like a squid."

"Where did this happen?"

Jim pointed. "That way. About 10 kilometers."

Iron Man nodded. "Mind if I check it out?"

"Be my guest. You might have to run it by the Coast Guard, though. They're supposed to be pulling together an investigation."

"I already did. I contacted the skipper of this ship before I got here. Why do you think we haven't been interrupted?"

Rhodey frowned. "You've still got all the bases covered, don't you Tony?"

"Not even close," Iron Man answered. His boot jets fired and he lifted off the deck. "Be seeing you."

"Yeah."

The Atlantic Ocean

Iron Man skimmed the wave-tops where the Washington Carver had gone under. A quick sonar reading told him all he needed to know about the fate of Rhodey's ship and her crew. There was a submerged cliff about 500 feet down, and a misshapen object that he assumed was the Santa Trelina sat atop it. The Carver had missed this ledge, and was still plummeting into the depths hours after it had been sunk.

At a mental command, the orifices in his mask sealed themselves shut and the armor pressurized. He angled his flight path downward, and with an entirely non-spectacular kerplunk, Iron Man was beneath the waves.

The deck of the Coast Guard Cutter, Lifeline

Rhodey turned from the railing when he saw Iron Man dive the first time. He wasn't sure what Tony Stark was playing at... maybe he was just looking for trouble. In any case, Jim could do nothing about it at this point. His superhero days and capabilities were long behind him.

An invisible hand closed itself around his body, and had whisked him hundreds of feet into the sky before he realized what was happening. By the time he comprehended that he wasn't standing on the deck of the Lifeline anymore, the cutter was little more than a dark blip against the blue expanse below him. Rhodey shot, unprotected, into the heavens, passing into a low cloud and finally coming to a halt in the middle of it.

He sucked in a nearly insubstantial chest full of super-hydrated air and looked wildly around. He wanted to cry out in surprise and terror, but the air was so thin up here, and so wet, he just couldn't spare the breath. Stranger things had happened to him, he told himself, but couldn't, under the circumstance, remember just when.

An indistinct blob appeared in the cloud before him, becoming more defined as it approached. In less than a minute, Rhodey was faced with a large flying ship, roughly the size of a Manhattan city block. The ship's designs were a simple black and silver. Jim had never seen anything resembling it before.

A portal opened at the point in the hull nearest to him, and as Rhodey fought to stay conscious, a balcony projected out from this new opening.

"James Rhodes," a distinguished, baritone voice drifted out from the opening, followed closely by its owner-a powerfully built, middle-aged man in a black body suit, complemented by a form-fitting red and silver helmet and a long black and crimson cape. His head was surrounded by an oversized protective neckpiece that extended down onto his chest to create a simple pattern there. He reached the edge of the balcony and stood within 3 yards of where his captive hovered, considering him.

"What... what do you want...?" Jim wheezed.

"I understand you've had... difficulties with large, powerful sea beasts today. I wish to know more of them."

"Go... stuff yourself... old man. Who the... hell are you?"

The other man raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, apparently at the fact that Jim didn't know of him. "Why, I am the Master, James Rhodes. Master of the World, and currently Master of Your Fate. You would do well to tell me what I must know if you hope to ever return to the ship I took you from."

Rhodey looked around, considered his options, then nodded. What the hell? "It was a-a huge, green squid. Tore... tore through my hull like it was rice paper. Killed most of my crew. That's all I know about it... all I saw."

"Green, you say? Impossibly strong?"

Rhodey nodded, too winded from his brief speech to answer with words.

The other man nodded. "That's what I thought. Very well, Mr. Rhodes. Thank you for the information. I return you now to your ship." The Master turned back toward his vessel, and Rhodey felt a loosening of the hand that had held him aloft here. He realized what was happening and reached frantically for the lip of the retracting platform, but it was just too far away.

Rhodey plunged through the cloud and down into the open air, the sea seeming to leap up to meet him.

He realized his mistake as he spotted the Lifeline far below him. The Master-whoever he was-had promised only to return him to the ship. He had said nothing of how or at what speed. Iron Man might have saved him, but he was somewhere beneath the water.

Jim closed his eyes as death rushed up to meet him.

Beneath the Atlantic Ocean

Iron Man was nearly on top of the Santa Trelina before it came into view, his chest beam blasting a cone of light down his path of descent. Tony hovered near it for a few moments, then aimed the chest beam down into the chasm the Washington Carver was plunging into. Even at maximum wattage, the beam gave him little more than 20 feet of visibility at this depth, and the ship was much farther away than 20 feet.

His armor would crack and implode before he reached the Carver's depth. He had a model in his lab specialized for underwater work, but his lab was clear across the country, and in any case, he had no interest in examining Rhodey's ship.

He turned his attention to the wreck of the Santa Trelina instead, circling it, fixing his light on it. Rhodey had said the divers lost contact just before the giant squid attacked. What that said to Tony was that they were simply the first to run into it. It also meant that said squid had climbed through 500 feet of water to the surface and Rhodey's ship in less than a minute. Tony couldn't think of a single creature that could survive that sudden and drastic a change in pressure unprotected.

Something the divers had done had pissed the creature off enough to attack, and then to go after what it probably saw as their headquarters.

He approached the rotting wooden hull of the ship and found a breach in the side that he could poke his head into. He couldn't fit both his head and his chest beam through the hole, and the light seeping through the cracks wasn't sufficient, so he switched to infrared and scanned the interior. There was something... something warm but unmoving near the opposite wall. He pulled his head out and began to circle the ship, looking for another opening. He hadn't yet found one when something registered on his sonar as moving toward him at speed. Something fast as a torpedo.

Something big.

Iron Man did not waste time wondering at the blip's identity. He simply forgot the Trelina, pointed himself towards the air, and fired his jets at full power, rocketing up through the murk as fast as he could.

The blip on the sonar fell back for a moment then began to pour on the speed too, charging at him from below. Iron Man rerouted power from secondary systems and poured everything he could spare into the boot-jets.

The object was still gaining on him.

With less than a hundred feet to the surface, he realized whatever-it-was was going to catch him. It could match his best underwater speed and double it. There wasn't a chance of him outrunning the thing.

So he stopped, turned, and fired repulsor rays from both gauntlets in the direction the sonar said his pursuer was approaching from. The bolts of energy sliced downward, and Iron Man caught just a glimpse of Lovecraftian tentacles and a wide, gaping beak as the beams struck their target.

The creature paused under the assault. But just for a moment.

Iron Man shot upward again, carving a tunnel through the water until suddenly daylight exploded around him and he was in the open air.

The creature came up right behind him, traveling so quickly that it leapt halfway out of the water before splashing back down to the surface. Iron Man hovered at what he guessed was a safe distance, studying the thing.

Rhodey had been right. It was an enormous squid, with a rubbery green hide. It stayed submerged and glared up at him through the thin film of water with alien eyes that communicated an almost human look of frustration and rage.

"So what am I going to do with you now," Tony muttered. He couldn't just kill it, but he couldn't allow it to lay in wait here for more unwary salvaging operations.

He supposed he would have to go back and get his sub-sea armor after all. Then maybe he'd call in some expert help...

A green tentacle snaked out of the water below him and wrapped itself around his leg. He fired his boot-jets reflexively, but they couldn't compete with the monster's strength. God, he hadn't even seen it move.

That was the last thought he had before the monster squid pulled him back down into the sunless lands beneath the sea.

Next Issue: Iron Man drowns, Rhodey goes splat, and we re-title this book The Master of the World and the Big, Ugly Green Squid!

... Or maybe I'll think of something else...