St. Mary's Hospital

Tony Stark rushed out of the elevator, still dripping wet from the heavy rain he'd encountered on his way to the hospital. He spotted Rumiko in the waiting room and moved to join her. "How are they?" he asked without preamble.

"Pepper's out of surgery. She's got serious burns over part of her body but they're using that liquid synthetic flesh you invented to close the wounds."

"Good. And Happy?"

"He's in a coma, Tony. They're afraid he might have suffered permanent brain damage."

Tony stood there without speaking for a moment, until Rumiko wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her. He accepted the embrace but did not truly return it. He was seething with anger... once again, someone close to him had suffered simply because they knew him.

The Next Morning

Pepper smiled wanly as Tony entered her room. "I look awful, don't I?"

Tony sat on the edge of her bed, clasping her hand in his own. "A little pink in places but the liquid flesh is setting nicely. You're going to be cute as a button when you get out of here."

Pepper looked away, blinking away tears. "They told me about Happy."

For a long time, no one said anything. They'd gone through a lot together, both of them growing and maturing over the years. If things had gone differently, it might have been the two of them getting married instead of her and Happy. But Tony knew that things had worked out for the best... until now. "I'm going to get back at them for you."

She looked at him in amazement. "That's always your answer, isn't it? Someone hurts you so you hurt them back, twice as hard." She closed her eyes. "It's not going to bring Happy out of his coma. You know that, right?"

"I have to do something."

"Because you're not like the rest of us, are you? You can't accept that sometimes you just have to sit and wait... and let God sort it out."

Tony frowned, stung by the hurt that lay behind her words. "You want me to let them get away with this?"

A single tear ran down Pepper's cheek and she turned away from him, burying her face in the pillow. "I want you to stay with us, Tony. Be our friend. Let your Avenger friends hunt the bad guys down. Please....."

Tony took a deep breath, considering her request. The Avengers could certainly handle the Black Lama... but it was his fight. His friends who were being made into targets. What if they were to turn their attentions to Rumiko next? Or Jim? Besides, the west coast branch was still recovering from the whole Force Works affair*...."I have to stop them," he repeated.

(*See the  Avengers West Coast vs. Force Works limited series)

"Of course you do."

"I think Morgan's involved in this. It's some sort of personal attack against me."

"Well, the world does revolve around you, doesn't it?"

Tony didn't reply. He hoped that Pepper was just lashing at out him because she needed to vent over Happy's condition, but he couldn't shake the feeling that things had changed all around him and he hadn't noticed until it was far too late: Rhodey was gone, Happy was in a coma, Pepper was angry with him... only Rumiko seemed stable in his life right now.

When all this was done, he'd have to buy her something nice.

Dallas, Texas

The young black man ignored the blood that streamed into his left eye, stinging him so badly that he could see nothing. He continued applying pressure to the neck of the man he was grappling with, while men and women screamed in bloodlust.

With a final shove of his body, he felt his opponent's neck snap and the body abruptly went limp beneath him. Standing tall, the victor raised both hands skyward, accepting the praises with relish.

"Congratulations, Benjamin." The Black Lama's voice boomed through the arena, drowning out the crowd. Benjamin had no idea where the Arena's founder hid himself, but it well known that he never missed a championship bout. "Come forward. To the center of the arena."

Benjamin staggered forward, nearly tripping over the corpse of his opponent. His heart skipped a beat as a green and yellow costume materialized in the air. A hard hat, a specialized gun and a bag of rivets lay on the ground. "What's this?" he asked, disappointed that he hadn't gained the costume and name of someone he actually recognized.

The Black Lama sounded amused when he answered. "I give you a new life, Benjamin. From this day forth, you will be known as -- Steeplejack!"

Benjamin picked up the gun and nodded. It was better what his opponent got, that was for sure....

The new Firebrand stood beside the Black Lama, both of them watching a monitor where Benjamin was examining the spoils of victory. "What a loser. Steeplejack. Good Christ."

The Black Lama turned towards Firebrand, his eyes shining slightly beneath his furred cloak. The two of them were in an office located several miles from the Arena. For safety reasons, the Lama never stepped foot in the Arena. "Not everyone can have an identity as coveted as yours."

"Damn straight." Firebrand preened a bit in his red and yellow costume. It fit like a second glove, showing off a trim physique honed through years of physical activity. "Firebrand won the War of the Supervillains*. Right?"

(*Back in Iron Man v1. # 69-81)

"Yes. He did. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there." The Lama moved past him, striding towards the door. "You did well on your mission. the harm done to Happy and Pepper will eat away at him."

"Um, yeah... and who exactly is our enemy? Iron Man? Or Stark?"

"Both. Neither." The Lama stepped into the next room, Firebrand at his heels. "I have plans that are far greater than mere revenge... but revenge is a necessary first step. Iron Man has been a thorn in my side for far too long... and if left alive, he would no doubt stand in my way again."

The two men came to a stop before the quiet, still form of Morgan Stark. Tony's cousin was obviously dead, lying in a heap atop a cold pallet. 

"Want me to dispose of him?" Firebrand asked. He didn't feel satisfied with the Lama's answers about Stark, but he'd seen what happened to people who pushed the Lama too hard. They ended up just like Morgan Stark...

"No need." The Lama lifted up Morgan's head and, before Firebrand's astonished gaze, opened up a small flap of skin. He pressed a small switch and then stepped back, motioning for Firebrand to do the same. 

The body of Morgan Stark began to break down, the skin oozing away from hard metal. That, too, began to smoke, slowly turning into some of gray-tinted ooze.

"What the hell?" Firebrand whispered.

"An LMD... a Life Model Decoy. For a time, the world had to believe that Morgan Stark was just as he had always been. A weak-willed drunk desperate for money. But he achieved too much free will. He even wrote a book." The Lama laughed. "But the time for such lies have passed." The Lama turned to face Firebrand, his eyes blazing beneath his hood. "I had thought that the Melter might begin my right hand. That he might lead my growing army of supervillains. But he failed me."

Firebrand stood up straighter. He'd worked for the Red Skull once, learning to sense the mood swings of a psychopath. It had kept him alive in a line of work that was fraught with danger... and he sensed now that something good was coming. "I'll never do that, sir."

"That's why I'm placing you in charge of my forces." The Lama reached up and pulled back the hood hiding his face. "And it's time you knew the truth."

"Sir?" Firebrand whispered, confused by what he saw.

The Lama smiled. "Call me Morgan."

Rumiko listened to the recording, telling her that Tony was unavailable but that he'd call her back if she left a message. She hung up without doing so, feeling guilty for the anger that burned within her. She'd just returned home from talking to Pepper and she'd found it difficult to fathom that Tony would leave his friends alone at a time like this. What if someone came gunning for them again? Why was he so damned arrogant that he couldn't call upon the Avengers for help?

Because this is his territory, she mused. I love him, but he's like an animal sometimes. There's Avengers business and Tony business and he tries damned hard to keep them separate.

Rumiko sat down at her kitchen table, turning on the laptop computer she used for work. She had neglected her duties to her grandfather as of late, but she did take seriously the fact that she was heir to Stark-Fujikawa. As she tried to force herself to look through several business files, Rumiko noticed that her monitor was flickering a bit. Biting back a curse, Rumiko started to check the power switch when Jocasta's image appeared onscreen.

<Greetings, Rumiko.>

Rumiko stammered out a reply, a bit unnerved by seeing the robot's face so unexpectedly. "How are you doing this?" she asked.

<I could explain it... but it isn't very important in the grand scheme of things.>

Oooookay, Rumiko thought. "What can I do for you?"

<We need to talk.>

"About...?"

<About Tony. About what your intentions with him are.>

For a moment, Rumiko just stared. Was she imagining it or did Jocasta actually sound jealous? She was based off the thought-patterns of a real woman, or so Tony had said... but surely she was just a machine? "What exactly do you mean?"

<Do you love him?>

"... Yes."

<Then you deserve to know that Tony isn't the kind of man to settle down.>

Rumiko felt herself growing angry. "Where do you get off--?"

<I'm only telling you the truth. Tony needs someone who can be at his side in the most dangerous of situations... not someone who will have to be protected.>

"Now you wait a damned minute," Rumiko shouted.

Jocasta's image flickered out of sight, though her last words seemed taunting in nature. <I'm sorry, but Tony needs me. I'm sure we'll talk again later.>

Rumiko stared at the screen, fuming. "That mechanized bitch," she whispered.

Iron Man blew the doors right off the warehouse. He strode over the wreckage, his armor's sensors scanning his immediate surroundings. According to the papers he'd found in McFelty's office this was one of the locations he and his partner had used to store the various weapons and costumes they'd collected from dead supervillains. Tony checked on his cousin's activities on the way to Dallas -- in addition to writing his tell-all book that was due in stores any day now, Morgan had also gambled away almost $500,000 in Las Vegas in the last week. But, strangely enough, someone using Morgan Stark's credit cards had also been in Dallas at the same time....

<Tony?> Jocasta asked.

"Did you find anything?"

<Move to your right fifteen meters. Then scan downwards.>

"Bingo," Tony said. There were multiple life forms and some heavy-duty electrical readings below the ground. "This must be the arena that the Melter told me about. Looks like luck is with us today."

<Should I contact the West Coast Avengers now?>

"Let them know what I'm up to but don't request their aid just yet. Keep them on standby."

<You really shouldn't blame yourself. Happy knew the risks he took by working with you.>

"Thanks, but you and I both know the truth. My friends are sitting ducks, just waiting for madmen like Stane or the Lama to take them out. I want you to re-open the PLATO files, cross-reference them with my recent revisions to the Chaos Theory protocols. It might be time to take the fight to my enemies... before they strike."

<The proactive approach didn't work very well the last time, Tony.>

"The original Force Works failed because I didn't invest the time in the group that I should have -- and the whole Crossing business just muddied the waters even more." Iron Man knelt, placing his palms against the surface of the floor. He unleashed two powerful repulsor blasts that shattered the concrete, revealing a passageway below. "I'm going in, J. Radio silence, please."

Iron Man crept through the hall, following the sensor readings. Several twists and turns took him past a large combat area -- thankfully empty -- and a number of barrack-like apartments. The complex obviously stretched for miles and had to have cost many millions to build. The entire time, Tony kept reliving the small glimpse of Happy that he'd gotten at the hospital. Pepper's words had troubled him so much that he'd had to look in on Happy to convince himself that he was right to leave them alone. Seeing the frail form of his friend had hardened him to the deadly work that had to be done.

Chanting brought him up short. A door marked "arena" lay just ahead and Tony opened it slowly, peering out. Several hundred men and women, most dressed very expensively, sat on bleachers that surrounded a circular fighting area. Right now, two women wearing yellow jumpsuits were fighting with swords, each of them bearing bloody scars from past victories. An announcer urged the crowd ever louder, reminding them that the winner of this bout would face someone named Deadly Sharon for the right to wear the costume of the Enforcer. 

If I act quick enough, I can take out the lights and send the place into darkness. I'll be able to function fine, but no one else will --

A throbbing pain behind Iron Man's eyes made him groan. This was the third time in recent days that he'd felt it... the first had been right after he'd activated the nanite solution in his bloodstream. Could Jocasta have missed something in her scans afterward?

Before he could ponder the bizarre situation, something slammed into his back, knocking him straight into the arena. The combatants both stopped what they were doing, confused by his sudden arrival and the crowd alternately hushed and cheered louder, unsure whether or not this was part of the show. 

Iron Man shook his head to clear it, noticing exactly who it was that had struck him. The fellow wore a costume that resembled the Green Goblin's, only with the green portions of the suit dyed black. He rode atop a modified Goblin Glider, making Tony wonder if the group here gave any consideration to whether or not the 'dead' villains ever bothered to come back. "You made a mistake, my friend." Iron Man opened up a localized E-M pulse, shorting out the electrical components of the glider. The Black Goblin crashed to the ground, breaking his arm.

A wave of flame washed over Iron Man, making him glad he'd improved the armor's heat defenses after his battle with the Melter. Someone in the Firebrand costume was coming towards him, flanked by new versions of the Man-Bull and Steeplejack. The latter fired several red-hot rivets at Tony, who deflected them with well-timed repulsor blasts. 

"The Lama was right -- he did sense your arrival. And I thought he was nuts for wanting to come back here." Firebrand held up a hand to stop his allies from attacking. "You're outclassed, Shellhead. Want to surrender?"

"Are you the one who nearly killed those two employees of Stark Solutions?" Iron Man asked.

"That was me. I always do good work." Firebrand held up a hand, generating a small burst of flame. "So... surrender? Or would you rather I cooked you in that tin can of yours?"

"Your predecessor was a man named Gary Gilbert. He was dangerous and smart... if he hadn't had a run of bad luck and some low self-esteem, he could have been one of the deadliest foes I ever faced." Iron Man pointed a glove at the new Firebrand. "You're nothing but a pretender to his name."

"Oh, you wound me," Firebrand laughed. "My name's Greg Torrance and I was side-by-side with the Red Skull when he built a criminal empire. I once fired a bullet at Captain freakin' America. And now I've got my own power -- and I know how to use it!"

Both men attacked at the same moment, repulsor blast meeting flame burst. Steeplejack fired as well, his rivets slamming hard into Iron Man's side. Tony gritted his teeth against the pain, noting that Man-Bull was charging hard, as well. Iron Man flew upwards, propelled by his boot jets, and fired a concentrated burst of energy from the center of his chest. This attack was far more powerful than his repulsor beams but also drew upon Iron Man's deeper power reserves. Man-Bull cried out, stumbling to the ground.

Iron Man watched as the crowd began to realize the danger they were in, fleeing towards the exits. Tony would have loved to have caught them all, but the Lama was the important one -- and his superpowered minions. Firebrand's jets carried him airborne as well, leaving Steeplejack to continue emptying his arsenal at Iron Man. Tony ignored Firebrand, choosing to take out the villain below. He flew towards Steeplejack, taking several rivets to the face plate. Tony walloped Steeplejack so hard that the man tumbled head over heels into a nearby wall. 

"Shellhead, stop running from me!"

Iron Man whirled about as Firebrand flew towards him, flame dancing about him. Tony waited until he was in range and then pointed both palms at the villain. "First rule of villainy -- if your gimmick is fire, be prepared when your enemies pull out the extinguisher."

Before Firebrand could respond, Iron Man's gauntlets projected a stream of fire-retarding gel. The sticky substance wrapped around Firebrand, clogging his jets and dousing his flame. With a cry, the villain fell some twenty feet to the floor of the arena. 

Iron Man felt a momentary sense of satisfaction. It was rare these days that he took on multiple foes at once -- it felt damned good to cut loose. Especially against the guy who had nearly killed Happy and Pepper.

"Bravo!"

Iron Man looked to a side entrance, where the Black Lama had emerged.

"Do you know," the Lama continued, "that this is actually the first time I've ever stood in this arena? Men and women die for me here, but I've never once looked up at the crowd the way they do?"

Iron Man landed in front of his foe, seething with anger. "Who are you? You're sure as hell not King Jerald*."

(*The original Black Lama, the mastermind behind Iron Man v1 # 69-81)

"You're right about that, Tony." The Black Lama laughed as he saw Iron Man stiffen at the use of his real name. "I know who you are, yes. I know more than you'd ever imagine. Not all that long ago, I was a broken man. I sent agents against a teenager who had stolen your empire. My empire. When they failed, I made new friends... including Mr. McFelty. Together, we began collecting objects of power... things that might help us gain the power we deserved. While I did this, I sent an LMD out into the world to hide my true activities."

Iron Man shook his head. "My God, it is you, isn't it? Morgan?"

The Black Lama nodded, removing his hood. Ignoring the question -- for the answer was now obvious -- the Lama continued, "And guess what found its way into my hands one day? How it came back to this Earth, I'll never know... but there it was: Jerald's Globe of Power."

"The Globe drove Jerald mad. Do you know that?" Iron Man tried to calculate the odds that a well-timed repulsor blast could drive the Globe from Morgan's hands, but to his surprise Morgan began laughing.

"Removing the Globe from my possession would not weaken me. And yes, I just read your mind." Morgan tossed the globe into the air, where it vanished before Tony's eyes. "It changed me. Made me stronger. Gave me telepathy, mind blasts, more power than I'd ever dreamed of. But it's a fickle thing. Easily bored. It craves action... so I allow it to watch the arena and it's satisfied. In return, I get all that I want."

"So it's too late for you, isn't it? You're just as crazy as Jerald was."

"I'm not crazy," Morgan replied, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "This is one time where you don't have the upper hand, Tony. Even if you pull off a miracle and win today, your life is in shambles. There are accusations in that book my LMD wrote that will leave Stark Solutions under a lot of scrutiny. You've been so busy playing hero that you've overlooked some criminal activities going on right under your nose."

"Bull."

"You'll see soon enough. And we haven't gotten to the fact that your friend Happy is in a coma...."

Iron Man raised a gauntlet. "That's enough. You're either going to surrender or I'm going to take you down. Hard."

The Lama sneered at the threat. "No. I'm going to take you down. Hard."

Tony cried out as a mental blast cut through his armor's defenses, slicing through his brain like a knife through butter. Iron Man fell to the ground, blood spurting from his nose as he hemorrhaged.

The Black Lama strode over to his fallen foe, years of jealousy making him twist his mental blade all the more savagely. "I'm going to take your company, Tony. I'm going to have the fortune that should have been mine. Payback. Is. A. Bitch."

The last thing Tony saw before he fell unconscious was Morgan raising his foot... and bringing it crashing down atop Iron Man's helmet.

The rain was coming down hard, but the young man in the silver and red armor paid it no heed. He kept his silent vigil outside Pepper's hospital window for well over an hour before he finally relented, accepting the fact that there would be no further attacks on her. He was grateful for this, though a part of him ached to attack someone, to lash out at a physical foe.

He flew upwards, carried aloft by his boot jets, and landed smoothly on the rooftop. Sure enough, his robotic companion -- a gray-colored 'bot named Lex -- was waiting for him. Lex looked like he'd been dreamed up by someone in the 1940s, envisioning the 21st century. He was chrome and steel, with little flourishes here and there that served no practical purpose.

"You shouldn't be out here in the rain," the boy chided. "You'll rust."

<You are the one who should be inside, master. It does you no good to be in this place, in this time.>

"I have to try and change things... You should have seen her. She looks so young."

Lex made the mechanical equivalent of a sigh. <We should leave, master. If Iron Man were to return and see you....>

"Let him!" the young man cried petulantly. Energy snaked out from his right gauntlet as his repulsor blast charged up. "Maybe it's about damned time that Tony Stark met Iron Lad!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

NEXT ISSUE: It Falls Apart concludes as Iron Man confronts the Black Lama! Plus: More on Iron Lad and Jocasta's personality... quirks... begin to cause problems for Tony.

Author's Notes

The best issue of my run so far, I think. I'm getting more comfortable with both Iron Man and Marvel 2000 with each issue, so hopefully the sky's the limit in terms of how good this series can be. Next issue will wrap up my first storyline and hopefully leave the Black Lama in a position where he can become one of Tony's premiere villains.

Down the road... Iron Lad (hint: he's not Kang this time around), the Mandarin and a new villain named Kestrel.

Keep in touch,

Barry Reese