Chapter Twenty-four:

One week later…

"Watch your back, T!" Rhodey urged from the safety of the Comm. Chair as he observed Killer Shrike lining up for a shot. Iron Man whirled about, repulsors blazing. The flying villain nimbly dodged the blasts. Tony's distraction gave Unicorn another opportunity to attack.

"Arg! Is it me, or are these guys really annoying today?" Tony growled as the duo forced him to seek cover behind a stack of shipping containers.

Rhodey wisely kept his mouth shut. In his humble opinion, Tony had been in a foul mood for days now, ever since he had tried to track down Gene at the antique shop only to find it boarded up with a 'For Sale' sign hung on the door. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of Gene Khan or his more sinister identity since the day he had reclaimed his birthright from Zhang.

Privately, Rhodey had been hoping that fighting Unicorn and Killer Shrike would help alleviate his best friend's mounting frustration at the situation, but so far it only seemed to be pissing him off more. Maybe it was because the two henchmen for hire had been hijacking a shipment of Stark International weapons, weapons that Tony hadn't even known existed until this point. Whatever the reason, Tony's dark mood just seemed to be getting worse. He was just glad Pepper wasn't here to see it.

"Rhodey? I know you're busy and all, but how about a little help here?" the superhero asked, sarcasm audibly dripping off every word.

James Rhodes rolled his eyes. "You know, just because Gene's gone doesn't mean you have to channel his attitude," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, the high tech microphone picked it up.

"What was that?" Tony demanded.

"Uh, try throwing some of the crates at them for a distraction."

The teen hero snorted derisively, but complied. Mentally, Rhodey chided himself for being preoccupied with his own thoughts. He straightened in his chair, determined not to allow his attention to slide any more. His promise to himself was almost instantly broken, however, when the armory's intruder alarm sounded.

"Rhodey? What was that?"

James had no time to answer; a ball of fire smashed into the Comm. Center's monitors, sending him sprawling to the floor. Covering his head with his arms, he crawled behind the nearest lab table.

He was under attack! Maybe he could make it to the Iron Man storage chamber and don one of Tony's spare suits? His brain temporarily frozen in panic, Rhodey couldn't remember whether or not the other prototypes were fully functional. He could hear more destruction; the armory's alarms fell silent. Cautiously he peeked over the top of his sheltering table.

Black armor reflecting the jumping sparks of electricity, the Mandarin pulled his fist out of one of Stark's hard drives, the one that contained his data on the Makluan rings. Bits of wire and circuitry clung to his clawed gauntlet as the Mandarin jerked his hand free. The smell of ozone swiftly filled the air. The glowing eyes searched the room, as if looking for something else to destroy. Rhodey was trapped between fear and outright anger.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, partially rising from behind the table. The large dread-knight turned to face him. Although quailing on the inside, Iron Man's best friend stood firm. Then a small corner of his mind reminded him that the Mandarin looked the same no matter who donned the rings. So instead of being the smug Chinese teenage brat that needed a good telling off, it was perfectly possible that the Mandarin in front of him was an evil, old Chinese man who would be more than willing to kill him.

"Gene?" he asked tentatively, ready to duck for cover. The Mandarin remained silent for a tense few minutes, then lifted both hands up to pull off his helmet.

"It's me, Rhodes," the Chinese teen announced as he revealed his face.

Feeling more confident, James rose to his full height. He refused to be afraid of the boy in front of him; scary, super-powerful armor or not. Righteous fury, stoked by Gene's actions, took over.

"What is wrong with you?! Tony's out there fighting criminals; he could get seriously hurt without my help, and you destroy my only means of communicating with him?!" Rhodey gestured wildly at the still-smoldering Comm. Center.

Gene's face was a frozen mask of indifference. He looked as bored and detached as he had whenever Rhodey, Happy and Pepper had gotten into a basketball discussion at school. Even though he had removed his helmet, he was still every inch the Mandarin and the other boy felt a few remnant prickles of fear running up his spine.

The armored teen gave the destroyed Comm. Center a disinterested glance. "Stark is in no danger."

"How do you know that? Killer Shrike and Unicorn are class 'A' rogues who work for… the highest… bidder." Brown eyes widened as Rhodey made an intuitive leap. "It, it was you; wasn't it? You hired them to hit that warehouse. You did it to get Tony out of the way, so you could come here and do this."

A vague ghost of a smile flitted across Gene's face. "His ability to track my rings is… inconvenient. And let's just say that those two owed me a favor."

James felt part of his anger dissipating. If the Mandarin had hired the two villains, then chances were that he had given them specific orders to not harm Iron Man, only to keep him busy as long as possible. But to do this while Tony was gone…

"It's over, isn't it? You're drawing a final line in the sand and daring Iron Man to step over it. You're going to go back to hunting the rings, and if Tony gets in your way…" he trailed off. No. Gene was a skilled actor, a master of masks and deception. But because he had watched his interactions with Tony, Rhodey knew better than to accept this apparent callousness at surface value. He tried a different tract.

"You know that won't be enough. It's like you said at the Temple of Wisdom: Tony chases the rings because it's the one part of Howard Stark's dream that he can still follow. Do you honestly think he'll give it up just because you broke a few of his computers? Tony will have this place up and running again in a few days; this will only make him more determined."

Gene had been staring at a point somewhere to the left of Rhodey's head. His black brows furrowed down ever so slightly; the only outward sign that he had heard the other teen at all. Slowly, tiny cracks in his mask appeared. His eyes narrowed, his lips thinned and his gaze shifted down to his own right hand. "I think you might be right," he finally admitted with a sigh.

"Why are you trying to end your friendship? I don't buy the cold act; you and Tony were… are too close for this."

Gene's gaze remained locked on his ring-bearing gauntlet. "I did not think you were this naïve, Rhodes. The Mandarin does not have friends. Now that Gene Khan is the Mandarin, he does not have friends either. Besides, Stark's usefulness to me is at an end."

"Bullshit."

Gene's gaze slid sideways, Rhodey's uncharacteristic swearing made him raise a brow. "I suppose along with trashing the place, I could hurt you. That would get my point across."

Rhodey shifted his weight involuntarily backwards. Gene had spoken so matter-of-factly that he couldn't tell if the other boy was actually serious. To cover his body's reaction, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and attempted to appear unimpressed. "Hurt me and he'll chase after you even harder."

The vague smile flitted across Gene's face again. "Hmph. You may be right. Tony's mothering instincts are different from yours, but just as annoying. And his loyalty to those he considers his friends is astoundingly simple-minded. Unfortunately, his pursuit of me would also be… inconvenient. So…" With one smooth move, Gene pulled a ring off his gauntlet. He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments, then tossed it in Rhodey's direction.

Caught off guard, the other boy only barely managed to snag the powerful artifact. Dumbfounded, Rhodey turned it over in his hand. "This is…"

"Howard Stark's ring; the one I took from Obadiah Stane. I will lend it to Tony; just until I find the other two, or until he takes over his father's business, whatever comes first. In exchange, he ceases searching for the Makluan rings… and for me."

"Tony's a hero, man. If you think you can buy him off…"

"The majority of the Tong and I are leaving New York. A small group will remain here to defend our territory, but they should give Iron Man no trouble. Hence, there is no need for him to involve himself in our affairs any further."

The lab fell silent as Tony's best friend absorbed the Mandarin's words. Rhodey, while not as intuitively quick as Pepper, was not dense either. He knew that for Gene to give up a ring, even temporarily, was an astounding act. Something very powerful had motivated Gene, something hidden behind his nonchalant act. He sifted through the Asian boy's words, trying to ignore the attitude with which they were spoken.

"You're… afraid, aren't you? You just took over an organization run by your step-father for years; there's no way all the Tong are happy about this. You're afraid that Gene Khan's Tomorrow Academy friends will become their targets, so you're leaving the most loyal Tong here and taking the rest away until you can sort it all out. But you know Tony won't just go away, not as himself and not as Iron Man. So…"

Rhodey studied his opposite's face, trying to find a confirmation of his words there. The mask was back in place; Gene just looked bored. Feeling frustrated, Rhodey had a momentary urge to hurl the ring back at the other teen. "This isn't necessary. Tony can take care of himself. You aren't even giving the friendship thing a chance. And worse, you expect me to somehow explain this to him. If I give him the real reason, he'll just chase after you and if I don't, he's going to be hurt."

The black armored teen heaved a heavy sigh. When the teenaged Mandarin finally spoke, there was no inflection to his tone. Even his natural sarcasm had been muted.

"Stark can take care of himself; but can you, Rhodes? Can Potts? Do you honestly believe whatever temporary pain he feels losing a short-term, false friend will compare to what he will experience if he loses you two? Besides, you are ignoring the very real possibility that my motivations are entirely selfish in nature. I cannot be separated from the purple ring, but its strength is defensive in nature. I can lose the others, so would it not make sense for me to hide an offensive powerhouse somewhere where no one else can find it? Safe, where I can retrieve it at any time I wish? Don't attempt to transfer your sentimentality on me, Rhodes. It disgraces us both."

Rhodey stared at the other teen. Every inch the Mandarin, Gene was exuding cold detachment the way Pepper did warmth. Maybe Tony could have seen beyond the mask; deciphered the truth hidden in the words, but Rhodey couldn't. He felt chilled down to the bone. One fist clenched around the Makluan ring in his hand.

Gene gave him one final, calculating look. "In the end, it does not matter what my motives are. You are Tony's best friend. You will do what is necessary to keep him and Pepper from harm. And you are practical enough to know that means keeping him far away from me."

The teenaged Mandarin replaced his helmet and then teleported away in a blinding flash of light. James Rhodes let out a shaking breath. He opened his fist and stared at the green ring contained inside. Gene was right; damn him. Rhodey would do everything in his power to keep his friends from harm, and with Howard's ring he would have enough leverage to persuade Tony against chasing after any more.

Plus, the ring would give Tony hope, just as it gave James hope. Hope that giving it up was the ultimate act of selfless friendship, rather than a calculated security net. Knowing Gene, it could potentially be both, but Rhodey chose to believe the former. The world seemed a little bit brighter that way.

Fin

To be continued, perhaps, someday in a sequel.

A/N: Thanks so much for your kind attention in reading this to the end. Special thanks for those of you who left reviews! I know the ending leaves something to be desired, but when my mind started playing with this plotline, it plotted it out over several stories. I can't promise to produce the sequels, but I hope to do so someday. Til then, cheers and happy writing to you all!