Tony took a sip of his water, aware of the many cameras that were trained on him. He preferred intimate interviews to the larger press conferences, which is why he'd done as many of the former as possible lately. He was currently sitting in a small studio that was made up to look like a room of some fictional house. The woman seated across from him, long legs crossed before her, was someone with whom Tony had once spent a very pleasant weekend in Barbados with. Angie Simpson, star reporter for GNBC, flashed him another of her patented 1,000-watt smiles and waited for him to answer the question she'd posed.

"Well, Stark Solutions was a company I founded during a period of financial and personal trouble in my life. Since Stark Enterprises had been purchased by Mr. Fujikawa, I felt I needed to create my own company. It was difficult, but I've never been one to avoid hard work."

"But what exactly is the relationship between the two companies now that you have control of Stark Enterprises back?"

"Actually, I don't. Mr. Fujikawa owns 49% of the stock, I own 49% and his daughter Rumiko owns the remaining 2%."

"This is the same Rumiko Fujikawa that you're dating?" Angie asked, with a bit more than journalistic interest lacing her words.

"We have a relationship, yes."

"So with her percentage and yours, you have 51% controlling interest in Stark Enterprises."

"Rumiko has her own mind about things," Tony pointed out. "So, no. I don't have controlling interest. Stark Solutions is a publicly traded company in which I own 52% of the stock. It's independent from Stark Enterprises."

"Would you like to eventually merge the two?"

"I have no plans to alter my current relationship with the Fujikawas."

"And so it's Stark Solutions that's providing the funding for your current charitable programs?"

"Yes... and the Maria Stark Foundation, which is yet another entity in my portfolio." Tony leaned forward, trying to ignore the fact that he could see a good bit of Angie's cleavage and smell her perfume. Expensive stuff... both the girl and the scent. "I was hoping to tell everyone a bit about the programs I have in mind, actually."

"We'll get to that, I promise. But I did want to ask you about the drop in Stark Enterprise stock and the rumored takeover plans by Stephen Lords."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Lords is a convicted criminal, Angie. It's amazing that anyone would let him on the Stock Exchange floors at all. Besides, I own 52% of the stock. There can be no takeover."

"He could make life very difficult for you, couldn't he? And he's paid his debt to society, as his lawyers keep pointing out. Isn't that what our judicial system is about? Second chances?"

"Sometimes society forgives too easily," Tony replied, trying to keep his tone neutral. "And that's all I have to say about Mr. Lords."

Deathwatch strode through the room like a lion pacing through his domain. Black-shirted ninjas lined the darkened corners of the place, watching for any sign that their master wanted them to take action.

"Tell me. Again," he commanded, his eyes fixed on the frightened Hispanic kneeling before him. Pedro had served him faithfully for several years, but now the man's eyes were wet with tears and he was unable to meet Deathwatch's gaze.

"Please... it is like I told you. I don't want to do this no more."

Deathwatch reached out, gripping Pedro's chin in his fist. "Tell me."

This time Pedro winced as something jabbed into his brain. He knew the awful powers that Deathwatch possessed... had watched him shiver and shake like a man in the throes of passion as men and women died before him. But he'd never felt it himself... and it was almost too awful to bear. "I want to be good," he whimpered. "I have gone to confession and--"

Deathwatch snarled, roughly pulling Pedro to his feet and then slamming him into a wall. "What did he say to you?"

"Madre de dios," Pedro whispered. "He looked like a devil! A devil in leather and chains! His face..." Pedro shuddered. "There was no flesh. Only white bone, lit by flame."

Deathwatch said nothing, knowing full well what his old foe looked like. The images were burned in his mind's eye, after all.

"He used his chain to beat down the others who were with me... his weapon turned into throwing stars and... it was horrible! But finally he turned his attention to me. He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me off my feet -- said I should see my sins. Told me to do penance and--" Pedro wailed like a lost child, closing his eyes tightly as the memories rushed through him. He had seen every vile act he'd ever perpetrated, reflected back to him a thousandfold. "And then he told me to warn you. To tell you that he was coming. And that nothing you could ever do would protect you from his wrath."

Deathwatch stepped away, having already mentally dismissed Pedro. He'd known that Ghost Rider would come for him eventually... but it still seemed too soon. Was he ready to face him again? Ghost Rider had humiliated him time again, destroying the confidence born of a thousand victories....

"Sir?" one of the ninja asked, his voice low and respectful.

"What?" Deathwatch replied, barely even acknowledging the question. His mind was far away, on a battlefield of dust, blood, and death.

"What should we do with Pedro?"

Deathwatch paused, hearing Pedro take a sudden breath from behind him. The ninja were ready to strike, eager to kill... but to their surprise and disappointment, Deathwatch waved a hand. "Let him go. We have more pressing matters to attend to. Fetch me Hag and Troll!"

"I thought you did very well." Bill Foster walked quickly to keep pace with Tony as the two men strode towards a waiting helicopter. Foster had only recently assumed day-to-day control of Stark's business, focusing on keeping the company afloat while Tony rededicated himself to his charity work.

"That's kind of you to say, but I don't think the public will agree. Every time I try to turn attention towards our charitable causes, the press hits me with more details from Morgan's book... and then there's Lords." Tony pulled himself into the copter, settling down in the seat. He balled his right hand into a fist, staring out the window. "I've never enjoyed this sort of thing. Never."

Bill blinked in surprise, sitting across from Tony. "Really? Man, you faked it pretty well. You always came across as so calm and collected."

Tony relaxed slightly, a smile appearing on his handsome face. He glanced at Bill and shrugged. "I enjoy the celebrity aspect, Bill -- I won't lie to you there. But my first love was always in the lab, tinkering with the newest components to my armor or planning our next big technological push. That's one reason why I've brought you onboard. You have a way of handling people, making them feel comfortable with you... I'm going to need that. Because I'm planning to recede into the background a little bit. Focus on my philanthropy and the Maria Stark Foundation."

"And being Iron Man," Bill added.

"Can't forget that, can we?" Tony agreed. He reached under his seat as the helicopter took flight, retrieving a small briefcase. A thumbprint activation system caused the lid to spring open, revealing a red and gold set of armor, folded up far smaller than anyone would have thought possible. "I'm hoping to study this armor in depth," Tony said, running a hand lovingly over the armor's faceplate. "I picked it up during a visit to an alternate universe... it's got alien technology that's like nothing I've ever seen*"

(*Tony acquired this armor in the the classic Avengers/JLA crossover between Marvel 2000 and JLU 2001!)

"How long have you had it?"

"A few months, but I had it mothballed until that mess with Jocasta*."

(*Resolved in the Iron Man 2006 Annual)

"And she's back to normal now?" Bill couldn't help but feel his heart speed up as he asked the question. When he'd first come onboard the Stark operation, he'd seen Jocasta as a valuable resource... but the stories about her going insane and attempting to harm Tony had made him reticent to open up to her.

Sensing his friend's feelings, Tony leaned forward in his seat and lowered his voice. "She's fine. I trust her 100%. What happened wasn't really her fault... Mechadoom took some of her insecurities and played on them. That's all."

"Rumiko said that Jocasta was in love with you."

"J... has feelings for me. I can't deny that. But we're friends -- and she understands that I'm in a relationship with Rumiko. That's --"

The helicopter suddenly banked hard to the left, throwing both Tony and Bill across their seats. The open briefcase containing Tony's Iron Man armor spilled onto the floor, landing with a loud clang.

"Mr. Stark!" the pilot yelled from the front, his voice tight with concern. "There's something out there -- a pretty damned big something!"

Tony snatched up the briefcase, even as he stared out the window. At first he saw nothing... but then a massive wing blotted out his field of vision for a moment before moving away. It was a dragon... over thirty feet long and covered in dark purple-tinted scales. Iron Lad had told him that a dragon -- claiming to be in service to the Mandarin -- had attacked and destroyed the Stark Solutions headquarters, but this was the first time Tony himself had seen it. "Privacy screen," he whispered. A unit onboard the helicopter responded to his words, raising a thin plasti-steel barrier between the pilot and his employer. "Bill, hang tight. I'm going out there."

Before Bill could respond, Tony began clamping his armor into place. The alien tech made the process even easier than usual, because some of its component pieces were sealed within other parts of the armor, sliding out when the larger unit was clicked together. Within seconds, Tony Stark was gone -- and in his place was the Golden Avenger known as Iron Man!

Tony threw open the door and jumped forth, activating his boot jets when he was safely away from the helicopter. The dragon was circling back around, small jets of flame emerging from his mouth. The creature's slitted eyes narrowed when the armored Avenger approached. "Defender of the West," the dragon rumbled, its voice slicing through the heavens. "I bring you a message from my master."

Iron Man drew up short, hovering in midair. His weapons systems were armed and ready to go, but he was desperate to know what the Mandarin was up to... Iron Lad's words about the future implied that the madman was about to seize power in the Far East, but none of Tony's contacts in the area had detected anything of the sort. "I'm listing," he said, "but your master needs to know that I'm none too pleased with what happened to my business!"

"A surge sign of your decadence," the dragon hissed. "When faced with a challenge beyond your reckoning, your first concern is for the physical shell of your corporation." The dragon flapped his wings, rising slightly higher in the air. "My master invites you to join him at his palace in the heart of the Jade Empire."

"Can't say I'm familiar with the place -- did he send along a map?"

"Make your jokes, Westerner! You will not be laughing when the Mandarin dances upon your grave!"

Iron Man resisted the urge to insult the dragon or his master further. He needed information, after all. "Why would he invite me anywhere? If he thinks I'm going to wander into a trap, he's got another thing coming."

"The Jade Empire will arise within the next day or so -- watch your precious television sets and you will see! As for why you are being invited, it is because he has no fear of you... not any longer. You are nothing more than a speck of dust on the grand stage that is the Mandarin's to command!"

"After this Jade Empire 'arises,' I'll know where to go?"

"You will...."

"Good. Then I'd like you to carry a message back to your master for me. Will you do that?"

The dragon sniffed the air suspiciously. "I shall."

Iron Man rocketed forward, delivering a powerful burst of energy from his gauntlets. The energy blasts, forged from the science of the Thanagarians and the Martians, were capable of knocking even a Thunder God off his feet -- or so Tony theorized. He hadn't had the opportunity to test that quite yet, but there were sill enough lingering bad blood between he and Thor* that he wouldn't discount the possibility of checking it out eventually.

(*The two had an argument over the direction of the Avengers, resulting in a deep schism in their relationship -- check out old issues of Avengers and West Coast Avengers at Marvel 2000.)

The dragon reeled from the unexpected assault. He was unable to mount a defense, for Iron Man followed the repulsor blasts with a two-handed blow that knocked the creature out of the sky. He crashed hard into a nearby lake, sending up a huge cascade of water that then crashed back down upon him.

Iron Man flew lower, pointing a finger at the dragon. "Tell the Mandarin that if he threatens anything of mine again, I'll tear his head from his shoulders! Have you got that?"

The dragon stared up blankly, addled by pain.

"I'm going to be watching for this Jade Empire," Iron Man continued. "And once I know where it is, I'll pay him a visit -- and I'm not going to show him any mercy."

Iron Man flew away, seething with anger inside. He was tired of this seemingly eternal dance he and the Mandarin did, ever few years rising up to battle again.

This time, there's going to be a clear winner, he promised himself. I'm through playing games with these lunatics. With such dire thoughts running through his mind, Tony moved to rejoin Bill Foster, whose helicopter had set down less than half a mile away.

Pepper Hogan tried to steady her hands, but failed miserably. The cubes of ice in her glass kept clinking noisily against the side of the container. "I'm sorry, Rumiko... I must look like a frightened little girl."

Rumiko Fujikawa said nothing, allowing her friend to calm down. Pepper had arrived at Rumiko's penthouse almost an hour ago, eyes tinged red from crying, and had made little sense in the time they'd spent together since. Rumiko liked Pepper, admired the woman's inner strength and sense of balance, but she also knew that Pepper was going through a remarkably hard time -- her husband Happy had been seriously injured by the supervillain called Firebrand and was in a coma. Finally clearing her throat, Rumiko asked again, "Tell me again what happened."

Pepper sighed, placing a hand over her forehead. "I told you... I was at Happy's bedside when the phone rang. It was... it was him."

"Who?" Rumiko asked, settling back on the couch. Pepper seemed to be more rational now and as the other woman reclined in her own chair, Rumiko was struck by how much weight Pepper seemed to have lost. Fifteen pounds, at least... she looked haggard and worn.

"Happy!" Pepper screeched, sounding like someone dangerously close to the breaking point. She inhaled noisily and calmed once more before continuing. "I heard Happy's voice on the phone... but it was like he was someplace very far away. I could barely hear him."

"What did he say?"

Pepper stared at her, mouth falling open. "He's in a coma, Rumiko. Don't you think that's the key issue here? How could he be on the phone?"

"We're both friends with a man who flies around in armor, Pepper. I can believe someone in a coma can talk to you on the phone -- but what did he say?"

"He just said my name. That's all."

Rumiko rose from the couch and moved to stare out the window. The city lights were twinkling and off in the distance, she thought she made out the Iron Man flying across the horizon. "We should tell Tony."

"Tell him what? That I'm going crazy? Maybe I imagined the whole...."

Rumiko turned when Pepper's voice trailed off into silence. She gasped when she saw a spectral figure of Happy standing before his wife, looking concerned. "Happy...?" she whispered.

Happy Hogan ignored everything but his wife. When he spoke, his voice was broken up by static, as if he were making a long-distance phone call through a spotty connection. "You have to warn Tony," he said. "<ckrkskri> is alive. I don't know how but he <ckrksirksisk>. Tell him! I'm trapped in <czzkrizkzirk>."

Pepper sprang to her feet as the image began to fade. She reached out for her husband, but her hand came away with only air. "Oh my god... What's going on?"

Iron Man circled his home for several minutes, confirming what he suspected: it was under surveillance. A young man sat just down the road from the front gates that protected Tony's driveway, leaning against a parked motorcycle. The youth appeared to be in his twenties, with tousled brown hair and a sporty leather jacket.

Gritting his teeth against the continuing annoyances of the evening, Tony landed a small distance away and approached on foot, stepping up behind the stranger. "Can I help you?" he asked, his armor distorting his voice enough so that no one could recognize it as belonging to Tony Stark.

The stranger jumped, whirling about. Something in the way he moved made Tony think that this was someone who was accustomed to danger. "Sorry... I was looking for Mr. Stark."

"He's not home."

"My name's Dan Ketch," the young man said, offering a hand.

Despite himself, Tony found himself smiling beneath his helmet. Not many people offered to shake Iron Man's hand. "What business do you have with Mr. Stark, Dan?" Iron Man asked.

"He's in danger. The man who's trying to force his way into Stark Enterprises is a criminal named Deathwatch."

"I know. Apparently, he's paid his debt to society or some such."

"He's a killer," Dan replied, his eyes narrowing. "I've seen his actions first hand. My sister Barbara died because of his schemes."

"I'm sorry." Iron Man hesitated, feeling an odd sense of kinship with this young man. Something about him seemed so familiar... "Look, if you'd like, you can come inside and wait for Mr. Stark to come back. He's--"

"Get down!" Dan bellowed. He lunged forward, shoving Iron Man into the bushes. An energy whip of some kind lashed out through the air, narrowly missing them. For a moment, Tony thought it was his old foe Blacklash... but the two figures who moved into view were unknown to him. Both had pale skin and were dressed in skintight costumes, their eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, worn even at night.

"Who the hell are you two supposed to be?"

"Hag and Troll," Dan answered, speaking before the villains could respond. Flames began to dance about his skull, filling the air with a terrible stench. Dan grimaced at the pain, but said nothing, not even when the skin around his face seemed to melt away, revealing white bone.

Iron Man stood up, his senses reeling. Now he knew why the youth had looked so familiar... the jacket he'd been wearing was the same one worn by the Spirit of Vengeance known as Ghost Rider. "There goes the evening," he whispered.

"Get out of here, Avenger," the male villain -- Troll -- shouted. "Our orders are to take out flame-head, not you."

"Then your orders need revising," Iron Man replied. He took one step forward before a sharp pain in his chest made him stagger back. The female, Hag, was doing something to him... ripping out his essence, he realized.

"There shall be no death tonight!" Ghost Rider warned, unwrapping the chain he wore about his chest. He flung it outwards, slamming it into Hag's side and causing her to drop her assault on Iron Man.

Troll transformed his left arm into a whip-like thing that glowed with foul energy. This wrapped around Ghost Rider's neck, twisting painfully. "I've waited a long time to get revenge on you, freak!"

Iron Man channeled an energy blast at Hag, striking the woman before she could recover. Tony's chest still ached and he was in no hurry to experience it again. He moved forward, grasping the struggling Hag by the neck, lifting her off her feet. He discharged a small electric shock through his gauntlet, rendering her unconscious.

Ghost Rider, meanwhile, had drawn back his right fist and slammed it straight into Troll's nose. The sounds of bones cracking rang out loudly and Troll fell back, blood streaming down his face. The Spirit of Vengeance grabbed hold of him, pulling him close. "Experience the pain of your crimes," he hissed. The empty sockets where his eyes should have been began to glow and the Ghost Rider unleashed the full fury of his Penance Stare, forcing Troll to feel the force of his sins, echoed over and over in the depths of his soul.

Iron Man watched in horror as Troll began to scream in sheer horror and he reacted the only way he could, grabbing hold of Ghost Rider and wrenching him away from the defeated villain. "That's enough!" he shouted. "I thought you said there wouldn't be any killing!"

"There will not be! I was merely exposing him to the nature of his crimes." The Ghost Rider put a hand on Iron Man's arm. "Deathwatch will not stop until he has destroyed Stark... he is an inhuman monster."

Iron Man paused. "If I help you go after him... we have to make sure we find proof that he's still involved in criminal enterprises. Otherwise, people will accuse me of striking against Stark's business rivals."

"I guarantee you... he is evil."

"Think you can find him?"

Ghost Rider looked over Hag. "No. But she can."

Misty Summers stood outside the barren old shack for what seemed like an eternity. At thirty-two years old, with stunningly attractive features and a promising career at Feldmore Hospital, she seemed to have it all... so why had she driven for over four hours, to the middle of nowhere?

Even she couldn't answer that.

Ever since she'd begun working with Morgan Stark, her world had turned upside down. Blackouts... feelings of disorientation... terrible headaches... it all had begun to plague her. He's a telepath, she told herself. You should tell someone. Get help. He's manipulating you!

But then a sense of calm would descend and she would begin to move, carrying out orders that seemed comforting in their directness. Go here. Do this. It kept her from having to think about what she was doing.

Inside the shack, she heard the hum of machinery and the whisper of voices.

"We shouldn't have come here. Masque pays us good money. Morgan was a fruit loop," a woman said.

"Shut your mouth, Sunstreak. I don't do the Unicorn gig because I feel a sense of loyalty to anyone. I'm after cash -- just like you. And Morgan's got plenty of that."

"Hush, you two," a second woman warned. "Someone's here."

Misty pushed through the crowded interior of the shack, ignoring the many pictures of Tony Stark that lined the walls. They had all been defaced, with words like "traitor" and "bastard" written across their surface. In the back of the shack she found a small room with a circular table in the center. Around it were gathered three colorfully garbed individuals... the members of the deadly Stockpile: Joust, the Unicorn, and Sunstreak*. "Morgan Stark sent me," Misty said, her brain tingling.

(*The Stockpile appeared in Iron Man # 330-331, plus our own 35th issue!)

Joust grinned, looking at her from head to toe. "You're the new Calico?"

"I don't understand," Misty replied.

"You will," the Unicorn murmured. "And you're going to look really hot in the costume."

Both Sunstreak and Joust laughed at that. The Stockpile had been short two members for quite awhile now, as the original Calico had died on a mission and the identity of Brass -- once used by Morgan Stark himself -- had been abandoned.

"We better get you undressed so the procedure can begin," Joust said, reaching forward to unbutton Misty's blouse.

"Why... why are you doing this?"

"A better question is why are you doing this?" Joust teased.

Misty had no answer for that, either.

They appeared atop a building in downtown Seattle, each of them carrying a grim determination within their hearts. One of their friends had violated the prime code of their era... he had journeyed through time in order to alter history. Worse yet, the daughter of their arch foe, the Mandarin, had done the same -- arriving even further back in the timestream, so that she could aid her father with knowledge of the future.

The Whizzer, Thor Girl, the Vision, and Vagabond.

Collectively, they were the Force Guard... and they would stop at nothing to accomplish their task, even if it meant striking down a member of their own group.

Iron Lad had to be stopped.

"Do you have a track on his signature, Vision?" Vagabond, the leader of the group, shifted the shield she'd inherited from Captain America to her other arm. She was getting too old for this, she mused -- her every muscle ached.

The Vision nodded. "He is approximately eight miles from here... and in flight."

"Letstakehimdownhard," the Whizzer said, her every word coming so quickly that they were almost impossible to decipher. She wore a blue and yellow costume that resembled that of the original Whizzer, a stalwart hero from World War II. She had never been particularly close to Jimmy Stark, partially because he'd always been the favorite of the group's patron, President Tony Stark.

"Aye, though it pains me greatly... we should make haste," Thor Girl agreed.

Vagabond took a deep breath, hating that it had come to this... taking down one of their own ate away at her soul. "Let's do this," she said. "Jimmy's got to pay."

TO BE CONTINUED

In Iron Man # 38: Ghost Rider! Iron Man! Deathwatch! The battle royale of the century is here, leading into the all-new Ghost Rider series! Plus: the Jade Empire arrives....

Author's Notes

Alex Hayden gives us some feedback this month:

I just got finished reading issues 31 through 35 of your Iron Man series at M2K. I have to say I really enjoyed it so far. I've never been a big fan Iron Man, but I've recently come around to being a fan. I was a bit lost about the whole Scourge thing until I went back and read about him. I'm also a fan of passing on the mantle of a villain. I believe that a good villain shouldn't stay dead and here you're doing just that. All around you're doing a great job and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Thanks Alex! Sorry that the Scourge references threw you a bit -- I try to incorporate enough information to keep newer readers in the loop, but sometimes I drop the ball, I suppose. One of my main intents with the opening storyline was to bring back some of the old villains and give other writers an opportunity to do the same.

Keep in touch,

Barry Reese