Haunted, Part 5

The Mandarin has been posing as Tem Borjigin the CEO of Prometheus, has been manipulating Maya Hansen into recreating Extremis. He has gotten her to create an airborne version of the treatment however without a programmed cell death, it could spark a pandemic that will wipe out 97% of the human population on Earth.[1]

Unable to decode her designs and take the programmed cell death out, the Mandarin has turned to pressuring her into doing it for him. He tells her that the government is threatening to cut their funding unless she takes it out. Maya is distressed by this, telling him that she doesn’t want to see her creation being used as a bio-weapon. The Mandarin feigns understanding but reminds her of all the medical applications Extremis has and how many people it can save. She ultimately tells him that she’ll have to think about it. “Tem” says he understands, but reminds her that time is of the essence.

Meanwhile, not far away, Tony Stark has been investigating the death of a Initiative cadet. He has continued even after he was forced on medical leave. The death was tied into an investigation into why over 800 people have disappeared in Nebraska over the past year. With the help of the few allies he has left, Tony had determined that they were all test subjects because someone is trying to recreate Extremis, and that someone has to be the Mandarin. He is detailing his case to Doc Samson, the person who put him on medical leave. Jack Kooning, the Secretary of State refuses to believe that Tony is chasing ghosts.[2] This leaves Tony going up against the Mandarin alone with an old suit of armor, unless the anklet that dampens his Extremis abilities is taken off.

However, Samson isn’t entirely sure if this isn’t all some kind of delusion, and can’t risk taking it off until he knows for sure. This is especially because Tony has been seeing ghosts of some kind. However, Tony is certain he’s not seeing ghosts. They are indeed people that have died but it’s less like a hallucination and more like a dream, but he’s not asleep.[3] They always give him information that is spot on when it comes to whatever he is investigating. Samson finds this all fascinating and thinks he might have an explanation. Tony’s entire brain was rewired by Extremis so it can process data like a super computer. However, his mind still operates at human levels. He theorizes that there is too much data for his mind to parse through all at once, so these visions are his way of cutting through the noise and finding the important info. He believes that use of those who have died might be because he information is stored in the part of the mind we keep our guilt, pain, and regret. Tony doesn’t think he buys it entirely since he hasn’t seen everyone he believes is dead. Particularly Maya Hansen. Suddenly, it hits him why: Maya isn’t really dead.

Meanwhile, Maya has sneaked out of Prometheus and gotten to a payphone. She calls Jack Kooning and demands to know why they are trying to weaponize Extremis. He tells her that this he has no idea what she is talking about and tells her to start from the beginning and tell her everything. What she tells him is horrifying and he tells her that she is to return to Prometheus and act natural while he does something about it. That’s when Iron Man enters the office and demands answers of his own. Doc Samson is with him and when Kooning orders him to do something, Leonard refuses. However, when Tony dangles Jack over the edge of his balcony and threatens to drop him, Samson does step in. Jack is tossed on his couch where Samson begins questioning him. Using reverse psychology, Samson pretends that he thinks that Stark is wrong about Kooning. Seeing a photo of Jack with Captain America, taken years earlier, Leonard passes it to him and tells him that a good man would tell the truth.

As Jack Kooning tells Iron Man and Samson the truth, Maya has stolen a pass that gets into the secure labs at Prometheus. Hearing about Tem Borjigin, Iron Man connects the dots that should have been obvious: Jack had just handed over the secrets of Extremis to the Mandarin. At that same moment, Maya is discovering all the human test subjects that “Tem” has in the basement. She is confronted by the Mandarin who tells her that this was necessary as did all of this for the future of humanity. As Iron Man rockets toward Nebraska, he calls Dum Dum Dugan and tells him to mobilize and head to Prometheus.[4] However, just as Dugan is giving orders, Maria Hill enters the room and orders the other agents to stand down.

Meanwhile, the Mandarin explains his motivations for everything he has done. He spent the time since his last defeat in meditation where he looked into himself to learn why he had always lost. He thought of his ancestor, Genghis Khan and how he ruled a meritocracy.[5] It was one where the strongest survived and ruled together. At first, when first obtained the Malukkian rings of power he thought that he was supposed to become a ruler like Khan. He now realizes that this was a foolish dream. He now believes that he is supposed to usher humanity to the next step in its evolution. That answer is unleashing Extremis upon the world. While billions will die, millions will survive as perfect humans. He notes that Maya will live to see this future because she carries the DNA needed to process Extremis, while he does not. However, he is willing to sacrifice himself in order for this future to come to pass.

That’s when Iron Man comes crashing into the facility and tells the Mandarin that it’s time to fight.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Doc Samson, SHIELD (Maria Hill, “Dum Dum Dugan”), Mandarin, Harry Shearing, Jack Kooning, Maya Hansen

Continuity Notes

1. Maya Hansen invented Extremis some time ago, however she was forced to stop her work after it was learned that she allowed it to fall into the hands of a home grown terrorist, as seen in Iron Man (vol. 4) #1-6. She was given the offer to continue her work by Jack Kooning in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #18 and secretly brought to Prometheus. As seen in issue #21, they are faked her death to prevent Stark from looking for her when she went missing.

2. At the time of this story, the Mandarin is believed to be officially dead after his last battle with Stark in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9-10.

3. Tony started having these visions in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #21. He has seen people who have died or were believed to be dead at the time of this story. He mentions Gadget here, the Initiative trainee who was killed that same issue.

4. This is not the real Dum Dum Dugan, but a Skrull spy who was sent to infiltrate SHIELD ahead of an invasion of Earth. See Secret Invasion: Prologue #1 and Secret Invasion #1-8.

5. The Mandarin has claimed to be the descendent of Genghis Khan since Tales of Suspense #50. However, as we’ll learn in Invincible Iron Man Annual #1, this is all a delusion that he has entertained for years. The Mandarin is actually the son of a white opium addicted prostitute and one of her Chinese Johns.

Topical References

• The hotel that Tony Stark is staying at has a Triple A sign out front. This should be considered topical as this is a real world business.

• When talking about how old his armor is, Tony says it was “brand new when Bill was still hot for Hillary.” He is referring to former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. This is a reference to the many allegations that Clinton sexual assault and misconduct, particularly during his time as President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. The earliest allegations date back to 1978. Tony is wearing the Model 4 armor which first appeared in Iron Man #85, which was published two years earlier in 1976. As such, this should be considered a topical reference because it’s denoting the passage of time between publications as opposed to in universe. Per the Sliding Timescale, the creation of the Model 4 armor was 8 years prior to this story.