"Ultimate Iron Man" #4 follows Tony Stark, shortly after befriending Rhodes, getting in a scuffle with bullies where they try and force Tony, feet first, into a lit furnace (having been lied to earlier that Tony would not be harmed by this action) that burns and destroys the lower half of his body and nearly leaves him dead. The altercation is interrupted by Tony's friends, causing the bullies to run away. Normally an injury like that would kill a normal human, but his friends watch, stunned, as Tony's body begins to regrow itself (and eventually regrows completely back to normal as if it never happened). Discovering that the bullies were following orders from an unknown individual, Stark's father decides, for their own protection and to put their skills to better use, to enroll Stark, Rhodes, and Nifara (another of Tony's friends), who witnessed the attack and were all of genius-level intelligence, into the Baxter Building program, a school for above genius intelligence. Also enrolled in the school is Obadiah Stane, the son of Zebediah. Shortly after their arrival, Stark witnesses Obadiah murder a pair of students and then make it look like an accident, but is unable to prove it. This incident hardens Stark's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit, with Rhodes and Nifara helping him develop it.