Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #26
Haunted, Part 6
Iron Man has been investigating the death of an Initiative cadet. The trail has led to his sanity being question and put on administrative leave. However, he hasn’t given up and just discovered that the murder was to cover up the fact that the Mandarin was trying to recreate Extremis and use it to wipe out 98% of humanity.
Before leaving to confront the Mandarin, he gave order to Dum Dum Dugan to mobilize SHIELD and go to Nebraska.[1] However, he is overruled by Maria Hill, who doesn’t believe that the Mandarin is still alive, and thinks that this is more proof that Tony Stark is out of his mind.[2] Dugan argues with her and insists that Tony Stark is telling the truth and she knows it too. He tells her that the fate of all humanity rests on her next order. After thinking about it for a moment, Maria tells the others to proceed with Dugan’s orders.
Meanwhile, Iron Man has already arrived at the Prometheus Corporation to confront the Mandarin. His old foe is glad to see Stark has managed to put it all together, but scoffs at the fact that he has come wearing such an obsolete suit of armor.[3] In fact, the Mandarin is able to shrug off its repulsor blasts now that he has his Ten Rings of Power fused to his spine. He then triggers the fire alarm. This activates the sprinklers, which allows the Mandarin to amplify his electrical blasts and begins thrashing Iron Man with electrified punches and kicks.
As Iron Man tries to keep the Mandarin busy, Maria Hill has called together a team to come up with a plan. She wants to know what they have that can prevent the airborne version of Extremis from being released. Gaffer suggests that they use a Starktech Event Horizon Devicce. It is a nuclear capable weapon that unleashes a 5 kiloton blast. Upon detonation it also activates a gravitational field in the epicenter. Once the explosion reaches its intended radius, the gravitational field causes it to collapse on itself, essentially creating a clean blast free of radiation. The only concern is how the government will respond to this device being used on American soil. Dugan says they’ll cross that bridge when they get there.
The battle between Iron Man and the Mandarin is not going so well for Tony Stark. The Mandarin has full control of his body and the power of his rings and Tony is stuck using old armor. He shrugs off all the attacks and trashes Iron Man. Having had his fun, the Mandarin knocks Tony down with a blast of black light. He then grabs Maya, wishes Tony farewell and teleports away, wishing Stark and his siblings the best. Tony doesn’t know what the Mandarin is talking about until he is swarmed by Extremis enhanciles. With the situation getting out of control, Iron Man radios SHIELD and orders them to drop the EVH on Prometheus immediately, regardless of his own safety. Maria Hill does as ordered, but with great regret. As Iron Man tries his best to get free from the blast.
After the bomb has gone off and the blast retracted by a mini-black hole, Maria orders a scan of the area for any sign of Tony Stark. She is informed that there are no life signs located in the blast zone.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Maya Hansen, SHIELD (Maria Hill, “Dum Dum Dugan”, Gaffer), Mandarin
Continuity Notes
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.
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. Readers have known that he was alive all this time back in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #15.
Tony was forced to go on medical leave in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #23. This included a anklet that blocks his Extremis abilities making it impossible to interface with his current suit of armor. As such, he has been forced to wear an older model. This suit is the Model 4 armor first built in Iron Man #85.
