Iron Man (vol. 3) #54
Book of the Ten Rings, Chapter Two
In the underground parking garage of Stark Enterprises, Tony Stark is shocked to discover that Ayisha Ashirov is still alive and is now a cyborg![1] She explains that she wasn’t killed in the battle with General Radanovich as everyone thought. When Iron Man blasted the vehicle with his uni-beam, it ended up collapsing on her.
Up in Tony’s office, she explains that she survived because of on board computer in the old suit of Stark built battle armor. It kept on injecting her with drugs to keep her alive and dull the pain. It then showed her how to repair her body using mechanical parts to replace the parts of her body that were injured in the battle. She couldn’t resist or else the suit would withhold the painkillers making her life an agonizing hell where she forced to lose what little of her humanity she had left.
Once she pulled herself free from the ruins, Ayisha was content observing her daughter sleep at night. However, one night she went into Merika’s room and sang to her as she slept. Ayisha’s father heard her and she had to flee before he saw what she had become. She realized that she could no longer live like this and smuggled herself into America to seek out Tony Stark’s aid. Tony asks what he can do she she tells him to stay away as she puts a gun to her head. However, the computer built into her armor refuses to allow her to commit suicide. She showed him this because she needs Tony’s help to end her life. Tony refuses to do this, thinking there must be some way they can remove the armor from her to keep her alive. Ayesha points out that if she survived such a process she’d be left crippled and the withdrawal from the drugs will drive her mad.
When he refuses again, Ayisha attacks him as savagely as possible without killing him in the hopes that it will push him to end her life. However, Tony doesn’t fight back and when she forces the gun into his hand he drops it on the ground. Fed up, she notices a photo of Pepper and Happy on Tony’s desk and decides that if Tony won’t kill her for himself, perhaps he will do it to save the life of someone he loves.
Meanwhile, in a monastery hidden in the mountains of China, a young man named Temugin has just learned that he is the son of the Mandarin and has been asked to carry on his legacy.[2] He has been given the severed hands of his father which hold the Ten Rings of the Mandarin. He meets with his sensei, Master Ahn to see what he knows about his past. The Master knew the truth about Temguin’s origins, remembering the day that his father brought him to the monastery. In fact, all of the training that Temugin underwent while living here was all in preparation for the day he took on the mantle of the Mandarin and carried on his father’s legacy to restore the Chinese dynasties of old. He wasn’t told earlier because Master Ahn believes there was no point as their philosophy is that one’s destiny is pre-ordained, the only choice is the path by which it is accomplished. Temguin reminds Ahn that his father was an evil man who committed grave crimes. The only wisdom the master can give his student is quoting Henry V, act 4, scene 1.
Back in America, Tony Stark has managed to drag his injured body to the briefcase where he stores his Iron Man armor. It quickly forms around him and he rockets off toward Pepper Pott’s apartment. He arrives too late as Ayisha has beaten Pepper into a coma. She tells Tony to direct the hate he feels to end her life and meet her at the “top of the world” in ten days time. Tony races Pepper to the hospital where she is rushed into the operating room. The lead surgeon is confident that they can save Pepper’s life, but they weren’t able to save the baby. Learning that Pepper was pregnant in such a way is devastating to Tony. By the time Happy is arrives, Pepper is out of the ER and is sleeping in a room. When Hap asks Tony who did this to Pepper, Tony chokes back tears and says this is his fault and he’s going to the top of the world.
Ten days later, Temugin has left with Po — one of his father’s faithful assistants — and is brought to the central operation where they have been developing Sleeping Dragon, a powerful and highly addictive drug. Temugin questions the logic of taking over the world by destroying it. Po says that sometimes sacrifices must be made.
At that same time, Iron Man has arrived atop Mount Everest where he assumes the Ayisha wants to meet him. While he waits he thinks about his relationship with her and Pepper. How Ayisha was so filled with hate for the government that ruined her land and took away her innocence. Pepper, on the other hand is one of his closest friends and someone he loves dearly. When Happy radios in to check in on Tony, he updates on Pepper’s condition. Sadly, she is still in a coma. That’s when Happy mentions that Pepper said she had something important to tell him when he got home from his business trip. He asks Tony if Pepper might have mentioned what it was to her. Tony knows that she was going to tell him that she was finally pregnant. He decides not to tell him what he knows as it would devastate Happy to find out this way.
That’s when Friday — Tony's new AI assistant — alerts Tony that she was able to figure out where Ayesha is going. It turns out, the suit has been forcing her to raid supplies of Sleeping Dragon, which is needed to keep her going at this point. She has since tracked down the primary source of the drug. It is being manufactured at a facility on the North Pole.
As it turns out, Temugin had their drug mules know the central location of their drug manufacturing facility in the hopes of luring Iron Man to their location. He is unaware that it is actually Ayisha who is coming their way. When Po reports that destroying Iron Man will come at the cost of their drug operation, Temugin says sacrifices must be made. When Po balks at this, Temguin grabs him by the throat and warns him not to question his orders as he will learn that Temugin is his father’s son in the most brutal of ways.
It is then that Temugin finally puts on the Ten Rings of Power previously worn by his father. Monitoring Iron Man’s approach, Temugin muses that while this destiny was forced upon him by his father, he will forge his own path.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Friday, Mandarin (Temugin), Po, Ayisha Ashirov, (flashback) Mandarin
Continuity Notes
Ayisha Asherov was a freedom fighter in a war torn Eastern European nation. Using a prototype suit of Stark build battle armor she was seemingly killed destroying a heavily armored Warwagon in Iron Man (vol. 3) #50. How she survived is explained next issue.
At the time of this story, the Mandarin is believed to have died in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9-10. The Mandarin is believed to be dead here, but he is actually rotting away in a Chinese prison and will turn up again in Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD #15.
