Sleek silver curves.

Dangerous fists with the strength to bend steel.

Glowing yellow eyes that could project devastating beams of force.

All that and more gleamed in the mirrored reflection, revealing the new robotic body of Jocasta.

After Iron Man's signal had gone dark nearly an hour before, Jocasta had sprung into action. She discarded the idea of contacting the Avengers, remembering the way Tony had balked at the idea. But something would have to be done... and there would no outfitting Happy or Pepper in armor this time. Nor was Jim Rhodes on hand, ready to fly into action as War Machine.

There was only Jocasta, ready and willing to go save the man she... loved? The word sent a flurry of electrical impulses through her neural net, stimulating a number of responses. Something akin to nervousness was quickly followed by euphoria.

Once upon a time, she had been created as a mate for the murderous robot named Ultron. Creating Jocasta with the mental patterns of Janet Van Dyne, Ultron had failed to take into account the heroic spark that lay within her. She had betrayed him, leading to a long period of self-discovery and confusion for her. In the end, she'd become an Avenger, but she had never truly felt welcome. She was always different, apart from the others....

But not anymore. Existing side-by-side with Tony had given her a strength of purpose, a confidence, that she had always been lacking.

The features of her face twisted slightly as she experimented with smiling. She thought it made her look quite pretty. Hopefully Tony would think so.

Jocasta moved outside the Stark Solutions building, her internal sensors still locked on the location where she'd last sensed Iron Man. Rockets housed in her feet and legs propelled her upwards.

Hang in there, lover. I'm coming.

Maria Stark had been a lovely woman, with a regality that set her apart from those around her. Sometimes she would sit with him, stroking his hair and laughing every now and again at his childish attempts to amuse her. Those were good times, times that still warmed his heart even in adulthood.

There were far different memories of his father, Howard Stark. An alcoholic with a temper, Howard had driven his son far too hard, far too early. It could be argued that without his influence, Tony never would have flourished or peaked so soon, but there were nights that Tony wished his childhood had been different. Perhaps he wouldn't have turned out to be quite the same success that he had, but it would have been a fair trade-off for intimacy with his father.

"Such a poor little boy," Morgan Stark whispered, scorn lacing every word. He was dressed as the Black Lama, watching as Tony Stark lay in a fetal position on the floor, his every memory being rummaged through by Morgan's telepathy. The Lama sat in a chair, a glass of brandy in one hand and a cigarette in the other. "Let's move on, shall we? What about that love life of yours?"

Tony moaned, a small line of spittle trailing from his curled lips to the floor. Images of past lovers filled his brain, so powerful that both he and the voyeuristic Morgan could remember the scents, the emotions and the physical sensations of their various encounters. "Get out of my head," Tony hissed, struggling to maintain some sort of privacy. He felt Morgan shove his defenses aside, lingering on the sex that Tony and Rumiko had shared in Aspen.

"She's quite beautiful. I'm glad she's recovered from Arno's assault*. Perhaps I'll pay her a visit myself... it'd be easy enough to mentally convince her she loved me and not you."

(*Back in issue 28)

"Go to hell," Tony said, trying and failing to regain some control over his body.

"I wonder how she'd feel if she knew about the torch you still carry for Whitney Frost," Morgan continued, ignoring the outburst. "Your one true love, that one."

Tony didn't respond to that, because in his heart of hearts he knew it was true. Rumiko was special, that was true... but the passion he felt for Whitney was unsurpassed.

The Black Lama drained the last of his brandy and stood up, setting the  glass on the floor. With a laugh, he kicked it towards Tony. It stopped just in front of his face, revealing that one tiny drop remained. It oozed out on to the floor.

"So you're one of those recovering addicts, aren't you?" the Lama asked. "But you and I both know that you'll always be a drunk... all it takes is one little taste for you to fall off your pedestal."

Tony grimaced as he felt Morgan reach into his brain and take control. Though the act disgusted him, Tony felt his tongue snake out, wavering in the air above the brandy.

"Lick it," Morgan whispered, enjoyed the spectacle.

Tony groaned but felt himself drawn ever closer to the liquid. His tongue darted out against his will, swiping across the floor. The brandy burned warm against his throat as he swallowed it down. He shivered in disgust. "You sick bastard," Tony whispered. "And to think I once felt sorry for you."

That erased all traces of the Lama's smile. He rushed forward, kicking Tony hard in the face. "You don't have to feel sorry for me! I'm better than you! Do you hear me?" Again and again he repeated the kicking action, until Tony's face was a bloody mess. "Do you hear
me?!"

"Uh... boss?"

The Lama whirled about, panting. With his hair disheveled and his eyes wild, he looked insane. Forcing himself to calm a bit, the Lama stared at the somewhat shaken form of Firebrand. "What do you want?"

"We have a visitor. Steeplejack ran her through the computer and found a match. An Avenger -- Jocasta."

Pepper walked unsteadily towards her husband's bed, dressed in her hospital gown and with a small bandage on her forehead. She hated hospitals, with their intermingled smells of sickness and disinfectant. Ever since she'd been a little girl, she'd been frightened of the places, had fought teeth and nail to avoid having to visit them. Since becoming Tony Stark's friend, however, she'd had to become much more familiar with them. It seemed that one of their coworkers or friends was always injured for one reason or another....

That's not all Tony's fault, she reminded herself. He tries to do the best he can and those of us who love have just the bad luck to be in the path of his enemies. Happy stared at her husband's body, putting a hand over her mouth to choke back a sob. Happy had always been a big man with broad shoulders and an easy strength about him. Now, he looked pale and fragile.

The door behind her opened, making her jump. She relaxed a bit when she saw Rumiko Fujikawa standing there, looking a bit embarrassed. Tony's current girlfriend was stylishly dressed and was holding a small vase of carnations. "I'm sorry," Rumiko said, lowering her eyes. "I was just coming to leave Happy some flowers."

"That's really sweet of you," Pepper replied, wiping at her eyes. "This is the first I've seen him since the attack. He... he's looking worse than I expected."

Rumiko looked over the wires and tubing that seemed to cover Happy's body. "He's going to be fine. Tony's already sent for specialists." Setting the vase down next to the bed, Rumiko wrapped her arms about herself. "Had a strange call from Jocasta. I couldn't really sleep afterwards."

Pepper jumped at the change in subject, glad to have something to distract her from Happy's condition. "What did she say?"

"I think it was the equivalent of 'stay away from my man.'"

"What?"

"She wanted to know what my intentions were with Tony... and she implied that she'd be a better match for him than me."

Pepper's mouth fell open. "You're joking."

Rumiko shook her head, staring at the ceiling. "I wish I were. I know what it sounds like... heck, I feel stupid even bringing it up... but I think she's in love with him."

Pepper pulled up a chair next to her husband's bed, sitting down and taking his hand. "Wow. Have you talked to Tony?"

"He's not answering."

"That's not like him. You don't think Jocasta's screening your calls to him, do you?"

"Hadn't even thought of that," Rumiko admitted. She laughed self-consciously. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't burden you with my problems... not when Happy is--"

"I appreciate you being here," Pepper said. The emotion in her voice made it clear to Rumiko that she meant it. "Happy and I don't have many friends outside of Stark Solutions. And with Rhodey away... well, I could use you to lean on. If you don't mind."

Rumiko smiled softly. "Not at all."

Jocasta landed outside the same warehouse that Iron Man had visited only hours before. She found that the doors were still nothing more than crumpled husks of metal and strode through them imperiously. Her sensors indicated that four individuals were inside, lurking in the shadows. Three men and one woman, all bearing weapons that were primed for action. <There is no need for such stealth,> she said, raising her voice so that it echoed in the warehouse.  <I know that you are here.>

"Yeah? Then did you know this was about to happen?" A green and yellow clad figure that Jocasta recognized from the Avengers' files stepped forth. Steeplejack raised a gun and fired a stream of red-hot rivets at Jocasta. The first struck her left shoulder and embedded itself deeply within. The rest missed their mark as Jocasta began to run towards him, dodging them. She possessed a personal force field that could have withstood the barrage but she also wanted to test this new body of hers, see how it held up in combat.

Steeplejack emitted a small squawk of alarm as Jocasta bore down on him. Before he could react, she connected with a backhanded blow that nearly took his head off. He flew through the air, bouncing loudly off one of the walls.

"Holy crap," a woman whispered. Jocasta turned, her eyes crackling with energy and saw that the rest of her enemies had emerged: Firebrand, Man-Bull and a female Enforcer. Each of them stared at Jocasta with something akin to fear on their faces. Though they'd been outfitted with the identities and powers of deadly villains, they had never before been anything other than cannon fodder, something for Iron Man and other heroes to smash through before facing the true threat... but now they had an Avenger staring at them with fury etched on her metallic face.

Firebrand was the first of the villains to recover his bravery. With a shout, he launched another flame attack at Jocasta, exhorting his companions to join in. Man-Bull lowered his head and charged, trying to be careful to avoid the Enforcer's bullets as he did so. He slammed into something hard and unyielding before he reached his target, however -- for Jocasta had at last raised her force field. The impact sent Man-Bull staggering back, shaking his head to clear it. Jocasta took the opportunity to blast him with her eye beams, taking him out of the combat entirely.

Jocasta saw her force field buckle somewhat as the Enforcer moved closer, firing her pistols at almost point-blank range. The former Avenger allowed the field to drop, realizing that the bullets would do minimal damage to her outer covering. She gripped the Enforcer by the shoulders, lifting her up and tossing her away like a rag doll.

Firebrand realized that things were most definitely not going his way. He turned away from Jocasta, sprinting towards the door. Jocasta watched him go, not bothering to stop him as he activated the rockets attached to his belt and fled the scene. She couldn't help but wonder how the Black Lama felt about his soldier abandoning the fight.

She didn't have long to wonder.

The Lama stepped into the warehouse, his hood drawn up, hiding his features. "Very interesting," he murmured. "I wasn't aware that you were so... mobile... these days."

<Where is Tony?> Jocasta asked, running every high-level scan she could on her foe. To her surprise, she found a genetic match very quickly: Morgan Stark. Tony had informed her that there was a connection between Morgan and the Lama, but she had never suspected it would be quite so close....

"He's unavailable," Morgan replied. "Did he send for you? I'm surprised. I would have expected the Avengers... not whatever you are."

<I'm his friend.> Jocasta readied another burst of energy from her eyes. <If you've harmed him, I swear you'll pay.>

"You sound very concerned... for a glorified toaster."

Jocasta unleashed an optic blast but it never reached its mark. Morgan Stark's body was protected by an invisible field of pure mental energy and Jocasta's attack fizzled out against it.

The Black Lama raised a hand, sending a wave of telekinetic force at Jocasta. It slammed into her so hard that her torso was ripped free from the connectors to her legs. Her lower limbs remained rooted to the floor while her upper half flew through the air, smashing right through the wall. Morgan made a fist in the air, pulling the remains of the wall down atop Jocasta, smashing and crushing them into a tight ball around her. "Even the machines love him. It's disgusting." He strode through the wreckage, looking down at the remains of Tony's companion. The only part of Jocasta that could be seen was a small section of her face, covering one eye and part of her mouth. The mouth flickered and sparked with anger. "Still with us, lovely?" the Lama asked, smirking beneath his hood.

<Tony *squawk* *whirr* will kick your *frizlzle* ass.>

"Nasty thing, aren't you? I'm surprised Tony doesn't have some sort of adult filter on you, with the way your mouth works." The Black Lama leaned down, preparing to deliver a coup de grace, when he was brought short by the sound of movement from behind him. He glanced back, expecting to see Firebrand returning, tail between his legs. Morgan wouldn't punish him too severely -- he understood all too well that discretion was the better part of valor, after all.

But it was not Firebrand who shambled towards him, looking like a bloodied escapee from a George Romero film.

It was Tony Stark, his face a ruined mess and his armor sparking here and there as failsafes began to fail. Iron Man raised a  shaking gauntlet, pointing the repulsor at his cousin. "You shouldn't kick a man when he's down, Morgan. Now get the hell away from her."

Iron Man didn't bother waiting for the Lama to reply -- his repulsor ray slammed into Morgan, cracking a rib and sending him hurtling away, where he landed face down on the ground. He stirred slightly after landing and Tony knew that there was still more to settle between them. Before he continued the battle, though, he had to check on Jocasta.

He fell to his knees before her, pulling away pieces of metal that had embedded themselves in her body. "You shouldn't be here," he whispered, his words slurred by blood and torn lips.

<*fzizile* I had to come *crackle* You needed *fzzizle* help.>

Tony tried to smile but couldn't. His face wouldn't function quite right at the moment. Instead, he patted her head and rose unsteadily back to his feet. He'd fix her back at the office... for now, there was work to be done.

Iron Lad flew through the sky in his silver and red armor, the companion robot named Lex strapped to his back. Lex was basically a stick-figure design and could collapse down to something the size of a small knapsack. When in his "travel state," he rarely spoke, instead using taking advantage of the opportunity to rest and recharge his energy cells. The youth inside the armor didn't mind the quiet at all. It gave him time to put things into perspective... dropping by the hospital and seeing Pepper had really disturbed him. In the aftermath of that, he'd decided that the time had come for him to confront Tony Stark.

Which led him to Stark Solutions.

Iron Lad used his boot jets to angle himself onto the roof of the structure. He felt nervous and uncertain -- coming back in time had been enough of a risk. But actually confronting Stark? That seemed to be pushing things too far... if the other members of the Force Guard knew what he was up to, they would expel him on the spot. Altering history created divergences, which further weakened an already unstable timestream. That was one of the worst crimes a member of the Guard could commit... and yet here he was, about to do it himself.

With shaking hands, he reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a face that bore more than a passing resemblance to that of Tony Stark, though it was without the trademark facial hair. It only made sense, after all -- for his name was James "Jimmy" Stark, heir to the legacy of Iron Man. In his own time, Jimmy's father was retired from adventuring, instead focusing on winning a second term in the White House. It was Jimmy who donned the armor and adventured alongside the Force Guard, a team who functioned as the spiritual children of the Avengers. Iron Lad was famous the world over, as were his teammates: the Whizzer, Thor Girl, the Vision and Vagabond.

But things were not right in his world... there was a sickness, an evil, that had taken root in the early 21st century. In time, it had grown in power, eventually seizing control of Asia and threatening the West. The Mandarin had become the most dangerous man in existence, constantly engaging in verbal warfare with his old foe, now the President of the most powerful nation on Earth. Iron Lad and his allies had clashed with the Mandarin's forces again and again, never claiming true victory.

And then Iron Lad had fled into the past. It had come after a particularly painful episode in his life -- his mother, Pepper, had finally succumbed to cancer. The chance to come and see her again had proved far too powerful a temptation. He'd lurked in the shadows for a time, finally moving forward when she'd nearly died at the hands of Firebrand... and now he was going to take the final step into damnation. He was going to confront his father and warn him. Warn him about what the Mandarin was doing, even now.... warn him that within months, China would fall beneath the madman's heel.

Jimmy ran a gauntlet through his dark hair, which had a way of standing up no matter how hard he tried to smooth it down. He walked over to small door that led down into one of his father's private offices, but just before his hand touched the knob, he caught sight of a sudden movement in the skies above. He glanced up and noticed a winged creature soaring towards Stark Solutions. It was mammoth, with bat-like wings that spread out from a scaled body. A long neck ended in a reptilian head and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

"Oh, no," Jimmy whispered. "It's one of his dragons." Iron Lad rocketed upwards, knowing that he stood no chance one-on-one with one of the massive beasts. In his own time, these things served as the heart of the Mandarin's army -- but Jimmy thought they were months away from making their public debut. Had he somehow altered history already? Was his mission to save this timeline from all that death and destruction doomed from the start?

Iron Lad moved to intercept the great beast, but the creature had already opened its mouth and spewed forth a cloud of smoke and flame. The attack crashed down atop the Stark Solutions building, setting off a series of massive explosions. Iron Lad was grateful that at this hour virtually no one -- except for a few security guards -- would have been present. But the destruction of the building was still chilling to behold.

"Boy," the dragon rumbled, his voice sounding ancient and full of power. "You bear garb similar to that of our enemy." The warning was obvious in his voice and Jimmy steeled himself for what was to come. Heat from the burning wreckage below caused his armor's cooling units to kick in.

"I'm his son," Iron Lad declared proudly. He readied his repulsor blasts, his rising adrenaline making him almost eager for battle.

The dragon seemed surprised, for his eyes widened. Then he laughed, sounding dismissive and cruel in equal mixture. "Then tell your father that this is but a warning, one given only because my master considers Tony Stark to be his greatest rival and the closest thing to an equal that he has in this world. The Mandarin has declared war on his enemies -- and none shall survive."

Iron Lad watched as the dragon whirled about and began to leave. He started to give chase but held back. He was outmatched in terms of power and there might be survivors down below....

Making up his mind, Iron Lad flew downwards, throwing himself into the flames and wreckage. He didn't know where his father was, but when he returned, Jimmy had no choice: the time for explanation had come.

The Black Lama struggled to his knees, coughing. Every move hurt his injured ribs and caused him to moan. He looked up to see that his cousin was bearing down upon him, hatred blazing in his eyes. "It doesn't matter what happens here today. You're dead." He reached out with his telepathy, but found himself surprisingly rebuffed.

Tony reached down and snatched the Lama up into the air, holding him aloft by his collar. The hood that usually hid Morgan's features fell back, revealing a pasty face with too much flesh hanging off the bone. His was a soft body, ruined by too many years of wasteful eating and drinking... not fat, but certainly lacking the toned look that Tony sported. "Stay out of my head, Morgan."

"What have you done?" the Lama asked, confused as to how his cousin could suddenly become impervious to his attacks.

"Think about it. You rummaged through my memories, didn't you?"

Morgan's eyes narrowed. "The nanites*. You activated them."

(*First shown in issue 31)

"That's right," Tony replied, the heat rising in his brain. He felt flushed but good... better every minute, in fact. The nanites in his bloodstream were rebuilding the damaged tissues, flooding him with adrenaline. "I'm going to make sure you're locked up, Morgan. And I'm going to tell them to throw away the key."

Morgan snarled, drawing back his hand and then jabbing forward. His fingernails scraped across Tony's eyes, causing Iron Man to lose his grip. The Black Lama landed on his feet, staggering away from his cousin. "You didn't listen to me, Tony. I told you it doesn't matter what happens today. You're dying."

Iron Man felt a sudden chill go down the base of his spine. There was something in Morgan's voice that made him certain the villain wasn't teasing -- or making idle threats. He sounded certain. "What are you talking about?" he asked, blinking away the stinging tears that had resulted from Morgan's attack. His face was filling back out, smoothing away the wounds as the nanites worked their magic. He had been warned not to overuse them, but this seemed like as good a time as any to call upon them.

Morgan laughed coldly, throwing himself forward. He wrapped his hands around Tony's throat, squeezing with all his might. Tony grunted, grabbing his cousin's head and driving it back. "The Legacy Virus*," Morgan wheezed, straining. "It damaged a section of your brain. It's been eating away at you for months, but was aggravated by the Scarecrow's fear toxins**."

(*Tony was infected during the Apocalypse: Ageless Fury crossover. **See issue 30 for the resolution of the Fear Toxin storyline)

Tony ground his teeth together for a moment. "I'll find a cure for it... or maybe the nanites will be able to fix it."

"They would have already -- if it were possible. The nanites can only correct things that seem anomalous since they were introduced. A pre-existing condition like the brain injury is deemed 'normal' because that's all the nanites know."

"I'll reprogram them."

Morgan shook his head. "Of course you will." He summoned another telekinetic barrage, plucking up every piece of shrapnel from the ground surrounding them. These he threw at Iron Man, aiming them directly at his exposed skull. "If I let you live long enough, that is."

Iron Man activated his suit's force field, which put a tremendous drain on his armor's resources, but which was definitely needed now. He generated a pulse burst, which slammed into Morgan, sending him reeling. Tony tried to put his doubts about his brain damage to rest, wanting to focus on ending his cousin's threat... but it was difficult. The heat flashes he'd experienced recently, the oft-times he'd beheaved irrationally while fighting Arno Stark and Obadiah Stane... so much seemed to make sense.

The Black Lama, meanwhile, was in a world of pain. He lay face down on the ground, moaning. His telepathy had given him a profound edge before, but now that Tony was immune to mental attacks, the tide was once again tilted in favor of Iron Man. Morgan sat up, summoning the Globe of Power to his side. The Globe could teleport him away, could get him to safety where he could regroup and--

As soon as the golden globe appeared, Tony sent a powerful repulsor blast slamming into it. The globe shattered, even as Morgan screamed in fury. A shard of the globe shot forth, slamming into Morgan's flesh, embedded between his eyes. Blood poured from the wound and Morgan swayed on his knees before falling over to the side, two words passing his lips before he fell into unconsciousness. "...kill you...."

Iron Man cradled Jocasta's head in his hands, sitting against the side of the warehouse. He felt tired now that the nanites had stilled within him... a deep exhaustion that filled his soul. "Morgan says I'm dying, J."

Jocasta no longer responded. She'd been silent for a very long time, staring mutely up at Tony's blood covered face.

"I'm not going down without a fight," he continued, as if she were listening to his every word. "If the Avengers can't find a cure, I'll turn to Doctor Strange. And if he can't do anything, I'll look on other planets." He cast a glance over at his cousin, who lay still and defeated. "Because I'll never give up. That's the kind of thing that separates me from people like Morgan."

Tony glanced to his left, shielding his eyes from the rising sun. An Avengers quinjet was arriving, kicking up dust and debris as it settled to the ground. Iron Man had called them a few moments before, telling them only that he'd been injured and he needed assistance in restraining several captured villains. I've been a jerk way too often, he mused. To Rumiko, the Avengers, Happy and Pepper... even Jocasta. That's going to change. I promise.

NEXT ISSUE: Stark Solutions is in flames, Happy is in a coma and Tony's got one heck of a surprise waiting for him at home... join us for "War is Coming," a special prologue to the return of the Mandarin!

Author's Notes

Things won't get any easier for Tony over the next few months. I'm going to take him down some dark paths before he reaches the light, but feel secure in the knowledge that there is a plan at work. Bear with me.

One of my goals with this storyline was to restore some of my favorite villains (albeit with new people in the costumes), so you got a new Firebrand (who will be back before you know it), another Melter and a reworked Black Lama. With the exception of the Mandarin and Obadiah Stane, Iron Man's always had a shortage of good villains -- I hope that the Black Lama can now be counted amongst them, at least in the Marvel 2000 universe.

Iron Lad and his allies in the Force Guard will have an interesting role to play in this title -- I  hope I'll be able to keep you guessing as to what I have planned.

Keep in touch,

Barry Reese