Machine Man: Difference between revisions

Making it across town on his boot skates, Machine Man prevented the theft of the ostentatious religious artefact and subdued the men of the Satan Squad, including [[Snake Marston]] and [[Hammer Harrison]]. He then turned his attention to the criminals' waiting helicopter, from which Baron Brimstone pushed Pamela, whom they had taken captive for carrying out her own investigations.

 

Machine Man detached his left arm to catch Pamela, negating gravity for her safe descent. Boarding the helicopter, he defeated the remaining henchmen and, though he was once again subjected to a blast from Sol-Mac, managed to electrocute the entire craft using its own power source, stunning the villains. After dismantling the Sol-Mac and transferring the helicopter into police control, Machine Man returned to check up on Pamela, for whom he feels strangely concerned for. He found no time to address his confusing emotions, as his failure to establish radio contact with his detached arm told him that it had been stolen from the immediate vicinity. {{storylink|Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad!}}

 

Regrouping at his and Peter's apartment, Machine Man paced, troubled, as Peter and Gears bickered over their next course of action. He reacted poorly to Gears' suggestion of building a replacement arm: he's a person, it's ''his'' arm, and he wanted it back. Gears excused himself to work on a device to help and, ignoring Aaron's suggestions of enjoying some Billy Joel or Johnny Carson, Aaron donned a trenchcoat and fedora and his the streets.

 

After aimlessly walking for hours, Machine Man happened across a pub called [[Molly's]], which he suspected had underworld connections. Inside, he was approached by [[Bear Benson]], but the man fainted at the sight of the living robot's extending arm. A vengeful [[Gorelick]] attempted to mash him with a chair, but Machine Man's punch in self defence threw the thug across the bar, trigging an all-out bar fight. Although tempted to ease his frustrations by cutting loose, Machine Man decided he was finding no answers, and he made his escape by overloading the pub's electrics and plunging it into darkness. Skating home, he admitted he was no Jim Rockford.

 

 

Madam Menace was called away on business a short time later, and Machine Man took the opportunity to overload the electromagnets and break free, subdue his [[Madam Menace's henchmen|guards]], and re-trace his arm's radio signal. This took him to a ship out in New York Bay, where he was attacked by the combined forces of Menace's henchmen and those of her anarcho-terrorist client, [[Zarkoff]]. Fully enraged, Machine Man made short work of the assembled men, many of whom were tossed overboard during the fight. Once he realised Zarkoff had abandoned ship, Machine Man detected another signal on his boosted receiver, but he was too late to escape the ship's detonation. After recovering from his disorientation and realising that no-one else was caught in the blast, Machine Man continued his search, and he located Menace's sample case underwater. Though joyous at the reunion with his left arm, Machine Man remained pensive, disturbed by his loss of control, and he was left brooding over the uncertainty of Madam Menace's survival. {{storylink|Arms and the Robot!}}

 

===Legacy===