Haunted, Part 8

The Mandarin has gotten access to an airborne version of Extremis that can wipeout 98% of the world’s population. Now it is a race against time to try and stop him before he unleashes this deadly weapon.

Secretary of Defense, Jack Kooning, has decided to take matters into his own hands because he was duped into helping the Mandarin. With the aid of a Myanmar militant named Xang Kong, he is flown into China aboard a cargo plane smuggling drugs into the country.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark has been brought before the United Nations to answer to why SHIELD unleashed a nuclear weapon in Nebraska. He tries to convince the assembly of world leaders of the threat posed by the Mandarin and Extremis. He asks them to trust him despite the lack of evidence to prove his claims, he reminds them that one of the reasons why the late Captain America fought the Super-Human Registration Act was to prevent government bureaucracy from interfering with their effectiveness as crime fighters.[1] He asks them not to prove him right and let him do his job.

By this time, Kooning has met up with a sniper team and they have set up operations outside the Mandarin’s base of operations. The target is meditating out in the open, apparently unaware of their presence. As Kooning lines up his shot, he watches in horror as the Mandarin’s eyes suddenly open. That’s when a bolt of lightning streaks across the sky and hits the roof of the building. As Kooning tries to make sense of what just happened, he sees something moving toward their location at great speed. It’s the Mandarin, and he uses his Ten Rings of Power to turn Jack’s team into stone. Jack pulls his sidearm and tries to shoot the Mandarin. However, he has also used his powers to animate some nearby terracotta warriors to restrain him and chop Kooning’s head off.

Back in the United States, the UN has called a recess as its members decides Tony Stark’s face. While he’s waiting, Tony meets with Dum Dum Dugan and Maria Hill aboard the helicarrier.[2] They have gotten info on all of the Mandarin’s business holdings. However, there are over 400 in China alone, and it will take time to narrow down which one is possible. That’s when Tony gets a message that the UN is ready to seeing them again. Maria and Dugan join him to hear the council’s decision. The three of them are shocked when they are found guilty of terrorism and that Stark is guilty of violating sections of the Super-Human Registration Act. They are to be arrested immediately, and Stark sent to Prison 42. When this announcement is being made, Dugan gives gives the code word the room is suddenly flooded by SHIELD agents.

Stark demands to know what’s going on and Dugan says he is just following orders, reminding Tony that he ordered him to play dirty like Nick Fury.[3] While the SHIELD team secures the room, Dugan helps Tony escape through a secret tunnel that Fury had installed in the UN building years earlier. As he escapes, Val Cooper demands to know who is in charge. Maria Hill says she is since Cooper just fired Tony from the job, she assumed immediate command. Dugan then leads Tony to a secret escape hatch that will shoot him out to the other side of the East River. Unfortunately, the mini-sub needed was borrowed by SWORD and never given back. However, Dugan has something that Tony can use instead — his old suit of Silver Centurion armor.[4]

As Iron Man heads to China, he notices a heat signature coming from the An Hu Po State Psychiatric Facility in Nei Monggol Province, China, where this all began.[5] Following the signature, Tony smashes into the prison where he finds Maya Hansen in one of the cells. At first she doesn’t believe its him until Stark takes off his helmet and kisses her. She tells him that the Mandarin managed to trick her into unlocking the programmed cell death in Extremis that would prevent it from becoming an unstoppable virus. Once he’s gotten all the details he checks in with Dum Dum Dugan. The authorities still think Tony is inside the UN Building, buying him some more time. Dugan also reports that word came in that Jack Kooning was killed in Hopeh province try to assassinate the Mandarin.

Iron Man cross-references this with businesses in the region owned by the Mandarin’s alter-ego, Tem Borjigin. There are over 40, and as Tony tries to figure out which one it could be, he is once again shown a vision of Ho Yinsen and his son.[6] They once again tell Tony to look to the clouds for answers and Tony finally realizes what they mean. There is one climate modification company called I-Clime Incorporated. He catches the Mandarin off guard tries to separate him from his Ten Rings of Power by cutting off his fingers. It’s only then that he discovers that the Mandarin has cybernetic hands and that the rings are actually fused to his spine.[7] Iron Man gets in close and takes a savage beating just so he can snag six of the rings and rip them right out.

The Mandarin then reveals that the missiles — over 200 in 42 launch locations — have just been launched and in moments they will seed the planet with Extremis, as far as he is concerned, Tony has lost. Iron Man unloads all of his weapons into the Mandarin, knocking him out. However, Tony realizes that there is a way to destroy the virus through a weakness in its nano delivery system, but he’ll need the full power of Extremis to do it. However, he is wearing an ankle bracelet that dampens his powers. With no other choice, Tony uses his armor’s on board lasers to cut off the heel of his foot so he can mentally connect with the missiles. He succeeds, and changes their trajectory, making them fly up into the jet stream where it is so col the nanites are destroyed, rendering Extremis harmless.

Refusing to accept defeat, the Mandarin tries to unleash Extremis by punching a hole in a tank of the stuff in the lab. Quickly, Iron Man unleashes cryogenic foam which freezes everything in the room, freezing the Mandarin and solidifying Extremis. With the danger over and the Mandarin defeated, Iron Man allows himself to collapse from exhaustion.

Tony is woken up hours later in his apartment when Dum Dum Dugan opens the blinds to let the sun in. Thanks to his Extremis enhanced healing, Tony’s body is on the mend, its even regrowing the part of his foot he amputated. Since he’s been out of it, the Mandarin’s plot has become public knowledge. The world is hailing Tony Stark as a hero for saving the world, the US government is dropping all charges, he has been reinstated as Director of SHIELD, even the Chinese want to award him a medal. When Dugan asks how Tony feels, the exhausted hero tells him he feels great.

Meanwhile, at a maximum security facility in Bejing, the authorities have sealed away the Mandarin’s rings. They also have his body, which has become encased in a massive scab, a tell tale sign that his exposure to Extremis is transforming his body. However, when scientists cut through the scab with a bone saw it crumples revealing that it is just an empty shell of the man it once contained.[8]

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, SHIELD (Maria Hill, “Dum Dum Dugan”), Mandarin, Val Cooper, Norman Osborn, Maya Hansen, Buck Richlen, Xang Kong

Continuity Notes

1. Steve Rogers fought against the SHRA primarily in Civil War #1-7. At the time of this story, everyone believes that Captain America was killed when he was gunned down in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, Steve Rogers was unmoored from time, as will be revealed in Captain America: Reborn #1-5.

2. The man here who appears to be Dum Dum Dugan is actually an Skrull spy. He has infiltrated SHIELD as part of a planned invasion of Earth. See Secret Invasion: Prologue #1 and Secret Invasion #1-8.

3. Fury was the former Director of SHIELD. He went AWOL following the events of Secret War #1-5. Everyone believes Fury went underground because his involvement in an unauthorized invasion of Latveria was uncovered. In reality, Fury discovered the Skrull plot to invade Earth and is working to stop it, as will be explained in Mighty Avengers #12.

4. This suit of armor was created by Tony in Iron Man #200.

5. Iron Man led a team on an unauthorized mission into Chinese territory to find a terrorist named Karim Najeeb, unaware that he had been killed and used for a trap set by the Mandarin. See Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #15-18.

6. Ho Yinsen helped Tony build his first suit of Iron Man armor and died in Tales of Suspense #39. His son was recently killed after he tried to eliminate those he blamed for his father’s death. See Iron Man (vol. 4) #7-12.

7. The Mandarin lost his hand and his original rings following his last defeat in Iron Man (vol. 3) #10, that his hands were severed wasn’t revealed until issue #53 of that series. The Mandarin had a new set of rings fused to his spine in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #17.

8. The Mandarin survived of course. He’ll turn up again in Invincible Iron Man Annual #3.