Having deduced that Iron Man and Tony Stark are the same man, the Mandarin has come up with a way to ruin his foe, by doctoring photos showing Stark associating with members of the Chinese and Russian military. News hits the presses while Stark is out on a date with Janice Cord, and the two are forced to flee a swarm of reporters trying to get the scoop on if Stark is a traitor.

Returning home and changing into his Iron Man armor, Stark tries to use his channels as a member of the Avengers to try and get some leeway so he can clear his name, but not even the president can help him. Stark then gets a call from Mei Ling telling him to meet her to help clear his name. However, this turns out to be a trap as the Mandarin has tipped off SHIELD of where Iron Man plans on appearing.

Iron Man is forced to flee Nick Fury and Jasper Sitwell, however his armor is damaged while fleeing and he is forced to sneak into one of Janice's fathers old labs to repair his armor. As Tony Stark he runs into Janice who is coming to look at the lab once last time before selling it. He tells her to give him a chance to clear his name, however she is too confused to give him an answer at that time.

Returning to where he is supposed to meet Mei Ling, Iron Man breaks into the Oriental shop there and finds Mei Ling all right... in the company of the Mandarin. The Mandarin sicks giant robot sumo wrestlers against Iron Man, who easily destroys them, however before he can do anything else Iron Man is blinded by blasts from the Mandarin's rings, who hopes to unmask his foe before he kills him.

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