Synopsis for "The Empty Shell"

Chessmen -
Bishop (Orrick Rallison) (First appearance)
Knight (Raleigh Halward) (First appearance)
Rook (Sebastian Towers) (First appearance)

Stark throws the bottle of whiskey aside unopened and falls asleep. The next day Martinelli tells Stark that Stane is hosting a meeting of European businessmen in Switzerland, and expresses his concern that Stark looks really rough. However Stark yells at Martinelli and Mrs. Arbogast, then leaves for Switzerland. From the hotel he calls up Indries to say that he loves her, before heading out as Iron Man. He is attacked by a bishop and knight, counterparts to his previous foes, their fight endangering some tourists. Iron Man saves them, but is attacked again. Meanwhile, Stane and a rook hypnotize the businessmen at the meeting using their headphone mind control device. Iron Man defeats the bishop and rook and reaches the meeting as Tony, but when he tries to warn them that Stane is crooked the hypnotized group shout nonsense at him. Stark leaves, defeated. In Scotland, Rhodey is on the run from Stane's men. He tries to pick up a taxi, but the driver is shot, so Rhodey steals the cab. Stark returns to his office at Stark International, Long Island, to find Indries there waiting for him. She dumps him, calling him pathetic, then after he leaves dejected she calls Stane to tell him it's over; she is the queen in Stane's chess game. Elsewhere Stark picks up his discarded whiskey bottle and begins to drink.

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