Three men enter the D.R. Cole Slaughterhouse. Two of them turn and inject their partner with a mysterious chemical called Extremis. The man falls to the floor in incredible pain – a strange physical change slowly overtaking him.

A couple of days later at the FuturePharm Corporation, Dr. Aldrich Killian, a man responsible for stealing the Extremis chemical, commits suicide. Killian's boss, Maya Hansen finds the body upon walking into his office.

At Stark Industries, Tony Stark meets with controversial documentary film producer John Pillinger. He agrees to discuss much of his company's past involvement in the weapons industry. Tony reveals to John his involvement in the development of seedpod "cluster" bombs that were used against Al-Qaeda rebels in Afghanistan prior to the first Gulf War. It was during an inspection tour that one of Stark's own bombs detonated, sending a piece of shrapnel into his chest, nearly killing him. By the end of the interview it becomes clear that Pillinger is trying to paint Stark as some kind of war monger.

Later, Stark receives a message from an old girlfriend, Maya Hansen. Hansen tells Tony that something bad has been happening at FuturePharm. Tony dons his Iron Man armor and flies out to meet with her.

All the while, the man who had been injected with Extremis continues to mutate.

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