Appearing in "Men and Machines"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- D.A.N.T.E. (First appearance)
- Beck (First appearance; dies) (Joins)
- Emil Stein (First appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Amir Cullah (First appearance; dies)
- Batroc the Leaper (Georges Batroc)
- Fixer (Norbert Ebersol)
- Nazis (Mentioned)
- Sleeper (Mentioned)
- Romhanyl (First appearance)
- Benny Tate (First appearance)
- President Bill Clinton (Mentioned)
- Tom Tojumi (First appearance)
- Nishimura (First appearance)
- Niki (First appearance)
- President George H. W. Bush (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Europe
- Spain
- France
- Germany (Mentioned)
- Switzerland (Mentioned)
- London, England (Mentioned)
- Budapest, Hungary (Mentioned)
- North America
- United States of America
- Florida (Mentioned)
- Minnesota
- St. Paul (First appearance)
- Texas
- Washington, D.C.
- United States of America
- Sidney, Australia (Mentioned)
- Japan (Mentioned)
Items:
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Uniform
- Iron Man Armor MK VIII
- D.A.N.T.E. Armor (First appearance)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Flight Pack
- Captain America's Exoskeleton (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- D.A.N.T.E.'s Headquarters (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Men and Machines"
On a yacht, Beck kills Amir Cullah. Immediately after the kill, he is abducted by the new terrorist organization D.A.N.T.E., who offer him an armor in return for his services as an assassin, which Beck promptly uses to destroy the yacht he had just come from.
Meanwhile, Captain America is fighting Batroc, just as elsewhere Iron Man battles Fixer. Right after the two Avengers win their respective battles , they are approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked to stop D.A.N.T.E. in their tracks. They are both informed to already be involved with D.A.N.T.E.: Iron Man because they are using offshoots of his technology, and Cap because one of the leading figures of the organization is Emil Stein, who he has fought on numerous occasions.
Both of the heroes accept S.H.I.E.L.D.'s request, although neither is aware of the other's involvement until both their investigations simultaneously lead them to Texas. There, several D.A.N.T.E. terrorists in armor blew up a computer-research facility after they stole some data. Iron Man and Cap team up to fight them. A few get away, however, and just as Cap was about to get valuable information from one of the terrorists he had defeated, the enemy's armor self-destructed.