Abduction

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**"Abduction"** if the first episode of Iron Man Origins Series in the United Universe.

## Logline

When Tony Stark is assigned to give a weapons presentation in Afghanistan. His convoy is attacked by enemy combatants and is taken captive.

## Synopsis

In Las Vegas, Tony Stark is about to receive the Apogee Award. A presentation documents Tony’s life story: the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark, Tony is a child prodigy, who built his first circuit board when he was four years old. His first V8 engine when he was six, and graduated summa cum laude from MIT when he was 18. His parents, Howard and Maria Stark, were killed in a place crash in 1991, and when he was 21, he became CEO of Stark Industries, where he’s been to this day.

Col. James Rhodes prepares to present Tony the award, but Tony is not in attendance. The company’s Vice-President and Howard Stark’s friend, Obadiah Stane, accepts the award, on behalf of Tony instead. Rhodey later finds Tony playing in a casino. On his way out, a reporter named Christine Everhart approaches Stark with some questions regarding the ethics of his weapons business. Stark asks Happy Hogan, his bodyguard, if she’s worth the time, to which Happy says, “She’s blonde”. Stark deflects her questions with some swift quips and the two end up spending the night together at Tony's oceanfront house in Malibu.

The next morning, Christine is awakened by a voice on a computer monitor. It's J.A.R.V.I.S., the artificially intelligent program responsible for running Tony's house and his research lab. Tony’s assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Potts, greets Christine and tells her that a car is waiting for her outside where she can go wherever she wants. Inside the car, Christine is greeted by Stark’ Pepper helps Tony catch up on some business before Tony heads out to the airport where his plane awaits. In flight, Tony talks with Rhodes, who is unhappy about Tony's lax attitude, but Tony tries to get his old friend to relax. Before long they are drunk and leering at the flight attendants.

Tony and Rhodes arrive at a military outpost in Afghanistan to demonstrate his company's latest project: the Jericho, a super-missile system. After the demonstration, Tony gets a phone call from Obadiah and they are both pleased that the demonstration went well. Tony opts to ride with another convoy, instead of riding with Rhodes. During their trip, he jokes with some members of a convoy who seem to be genuinely amused by his persona and his flamboyant public image. Suddenly, the convoy is ambushed. The soldiers fight to defend themselves but are quickly killed. Tony flees the Humvee, and tries to reach Rhodes’ convoy. Moments later, a missile lands nearby and explodes, but not before Tony sees the Stark Industries logo painted on it. Large amounts of shrapnel are lodged in Tony's chest despite the body armor he wears. Tony is captured and recorded on video by the terrorist group known as the Ten Rings.

Much later, Tony regains consciousness in a cave. His chest is hooked up to a strange device. Another captive, Dr. Ho Yinsen, who recently won a Nobel Prize, explains that he operated on Tony but was unable to
remove all of the shrapnel. Yinsen created a device -- essentially an electromagnet powered by a car battery -- that will keep the remaining fragments from shifting and causing further damage to his heart.

Back in the United States, Obadiah Stane attends a meeting with high-ranking officials of the Unites States Armed Forces to discuss Tony’s abduction. Rhodes volunteers to lead the search and rescue but Stane angrily denies and blames Rhodes of what happened.

The next day, Rhodes prepares to fly out of stateside to search for Tony while Pepper and Happy look from afar.

**In a post-credits scene**, the Ten Rings’ leader, Raza, is seen talking to a man on the phone. The man tells Raza that a search party from the United States is on its way.