He was dressed in a shiny blue robe that showed off his strong jaw, his fit shoulders, and his bright flashing eyes. Pamela's robe was a jade green, and brought out the highlights in her hair, which were like the lapping flames of a blazing fire. An ornate hairpin held her hair in a bun; this made her look very exotic.

Tony moved closer, and he was overwhelmed with the desire to kiss Pamela. Tony paused for a moment, but the romantic nature of where they were drove him past the barrier that he had been working to keep up since the day he first met her.

"Pamela," he said, putting his arms around her. Surprisingly, she did not resist, and seemed rather to melt into his arms.

"Yes, Mr. Stark." She looked into his eyes, and then closed hers, and offered up her ruby lips.

They kissed, and something changed in Tony. All of a sudden, all he wanted to do was be with Pamela, and keep her happy, no matter what happened. Everything was Pamela.

They held the kiss for a few seconds, and then leaned back a little, looking into each others' eyes. Tony thought he could see a hidden satisfaction in Pamela's eyes, but he was too in love with her at the moment to notice much of anything.

"So sorry to intrude..."

They immediately broke from their embrace to turn around and face Sima Yi Khan. If he had not been still thinking so intently of Pamela, Tony would have wondered how long the Ambassador had been standing there watching them.

"Mr. Stark and Ms. Isley, I am flattered by how much you are enjoying your stay here at my home. I was wondering, Mr. Stark, if you could call upon Iron Man to do a little errand for me?"

Tony drew a blank. He was too busy thinking of Pamela to respond.

Pamela knew what had happened to Tony, but tried not to let on that he was totally under her control.

"It would be easy for you to call Iron Man, wouldn't it, Mr. Stark?"

"Oh. Oh yes, it would. If you would like to give me the details on the errand, Ambassador Khan, I can inform him while he's on his way here."

Tony Stark and Sima Yi Khan retired to an anteroom off the balcony. If Tony had looked back, he would have seen an evil smile of satisfaction on Pamela's lips.

He figured that a spin around the valley would help clear his head, so he walked out of the pagoda to an inconspicuous place, and then ignited his boot jets and took off into the encroaching darkness.

Instantly she was in touch with Lex Luthor. She wrote to tell him about where she was, and he asked how her mission was progressing.

He asked why she wasn't speaking to him live, and she responded that she didn't want the line to be tapped. She told him that the plan to discredit Tony Stark would start bearing fruit at any moment.

She logged off of the text-based chat, feeling that someone was looking at her. All of a sudden, her chamber did not feel as cozy as it once did. She needed to go somewhere else to wait for Tony to return.

Tony Stark had done his share of defense contracts, so he knew a permanent encampment from a temporary one. He was amazed that the Chinese military had built a base so close to Kunlongese territory, and that it was so full of armament. There were tanks, and dozens of soldiers, and anti-aircraft batteries, and a number of administrative and barracks buildings.

He felt that he would be tempting fate if he tried to land right in the middle of the base--he had sophisticated anti-detection equipment, but the Chinese might have something better that he did not know about. He zoomed toward a small mount near the base and hid himself in a crevice in the shadow of the mountain. This would be a good time to do some reconnaissance about the Chinese threat to Kunlong, and the extent of the power of the superhumans the Chinese had on their side.

Iron Man set his suit's sound amplifiers to maximum range. He extended a small video camera up from a hidden place in his armor, which would show him what was going on.

In the midst of a group of soldiers, Iron Man could see three oddly dressed figures. He used his suit's connection to the Internet to attempt to match their costumes against an Internet database of known superbeings. Only one of these heroes could be identified, and Iron Man had actually been in the same place as him once before.

It had been a few years since the Contest of Champions, when all the Earth's heroes were gathered together by the Grandmaster and Destiny to battle in a series of contests. Representing China was the Collective Man, who had fought Captain America almost to a standstill in one contest. And the Collective Man was right here in this military base. The Collective Man was to China what Cap was to the United States--he wouldn't be involved in anything that could dishonor his country.

Iron Man listened closely to the audio readout his suit's sensors were providing and pointed the video camera in the direction of the Collective Man and the others.

"So, the Mandarin now has an American working for him?" the Collective Man asked.

"Yes, we were able to get that information from Radioactive Man, the operative who was just delivered to us," a general in a stately uniform responded. "Strangely enough, he seems to have escaped! Do any of you know about this?"

A large, ponderous superhero answered. "We just got here, General. We didn't even know that Radioactive Man was here!"

A slithering woman whose voice betrayed a much higher intelligence than that of her colleagues spoke. "Radioactive Man has worked with the Sima Yi Khan, the Mandarin, before. It seems strange that he would attempt to kill him!"

"There is no honor among thieves, Snake, as the Westerners say," Collective Man stated.

"If this Iron Man stays in league with the Mandarin, it may be a sign that the Mandarin is ready to make another push into the rest of China," the general stated. "We have only been able to stop him the previous times at the cost of many of the lives of our military men, and we have been lucky to keep these conflicts a secret. This time, especially with the interference of an American superhero, it's a much different situation. We need to attack and capture the Mandarin, and, if necessary, Iron Man, too."

The large superhuman spoke again. "Even if there's only a few of us to all of their superpowered legions, if those Westerners think that they can attempt to meddle in our affairs, we'll have to show them a thing or two!"

Collective Man was not so enthusiastic. "That is what I fear, Ox...that is exactly what I fear."

Iron Man was incensed. Again he, and Tony Stark as well, were being used as pawns by another supervillain. Kunlong was under the threat of attack by the Chinese...but only because there was a history of the Mandarin trying to conquer other parts of China.

Under his Iron Man mask, Tony Stark was frowning deeply. He was getting tired of being so easy to fool. It had always been a fault of his--he was just too trusting. It was time to go back and get Pamela away from the Mandarin, or whoever 'Sima Yi Khan' really was. He made sure his anti-detection settings were still on high, and zoomed back toward the pagoda.

She was truly at home in a garden, any garden, since many plants were the same in China as they were in California, or other parts of the United States. There were some exotics mixed in with the other plants that Pamela had only read about or experimented with once or twice.

Unbeknownst to either Tony Stark or Sima Yi Khan, plants were not only Pamela's hobby, but they were also her weapons. She took a sprig or two secretly from some of the plants in the garden and put them in a tiny jade cup of water that she had in her hands. She might have use for these plants later.

"You take pleasure in my garden, young miss?"

Pamela straightened herself as a strong, long-nailed hand rested on her shoulder. It was Sima Yi Khan who was standing behind her.

"You will learn to take great pleasure in the gardens here, because it is here that you will be staying for a long time."

Pamela drew away from Sima Yi Khan, seeing a fearsome aspect in the man that she had not seen before. He raised his hands, and the ornate rings that she had only noticed in passing before suddenly began to glow with unearthly power.

"Your superior, Stark, and his agent, Iron Man, will serve me in my conquest of the rest of my ancestors' homeland and the furtherance of my people."

Pamela glared at him. "He'll never serve you, after I tell him your true intentions!"

"You are one to speak of intentions, young lady. I have been alive since before your parents were born, and I know many things, including when someone has someone else under their control. You aren't only Stark's secretary....I think you have other plans for him. When he comes back, I will tell him, and you will be worthless to him."

Pamela shot as withering a look at she could at Sima Yi Khan. "You wouldn't...I mean, that's not true!" Sima Yi Khan had found her out. Her plans were in serious danger, should Khan ever tell Tony Stark what he had figured out.

"Since I have figured out your secret, I should tell you mine. Sima Yi Khan is indeed my name...I am heir to a long line of Chinese royalty. My ancestors were great enough to earn the title of Mandarin, and that title has passed to me."

"You will stay with me here, and once Stark is under my control, you will become one of my concubines. And you will call me Mandarin!"

Pamela glared at him, helpless against his power for the moment. But as she stirred her tiny jade cup, she knew that the Mandarin had underestimated her, at least.

Iron Man nodded respectfully to the Mandarin.

"I have to report in to my supervisor, Ambassador Khan."

"Did you have a chance to see the might the Chinese want to use to oppress my people? Do you think your findings will influence your employer's decision?"

"Oh, they'll influence his decision, all right. I'm sure Mr. Stark will be with you in a few moments to speak to you about my findings."

"Remember, Iron Man, that you are a worthy employee to Mr. Stark. If you ever tire of him, remember that I can offer you rulership over your own village."

"You're very gracious, but I have to see Mr. Stark now."

Iron Man stalked off into the recesses of the pagoda. The Mandarin had a bad feeling about what the superhero had found out. Iron Man knew the truth, and Tony Stark would soon know...the Mandarin knew he had to put his backup plan into play.

He went to Pamela's chamber, and found it empty. He rushed to think of where she could be...

He was hearing a voice in his mind telling him, ordering him to go to a chamber deep within the pagoda. Perhaps Pamela was there. As Stark made his way down the corridor, he could sense that as he passed the ornately dressed guards, that they were somehow picking up behind him and following him. He was glad that he had remembered his briefcase.

Tony reached the chamber that he had been told to enter. He opened its heavy mahogany door, which was decorated with two dragons rampant. The door swung open, to reveal the Mandarin sitting in a throne-like chair, with his hand around Pamela's wrist. Pamela had an apprehensive look on her face, but Tony didn't need that to tell that something was wrong.

"What are you doing with her, 'Sima Yi Khan'? If you're just an ambassador, why are you sitting on a throne?"

"You are very perceptive, Mr. Stark. I am more than an ambassador, and soon, you are to become more than a business associate. You may call me Mandarin."

"Iron Man found out plenty about who you really are, Mandarin. The Chinese aren't oppressing you. They're just defending themselves against your repeated attempts to take over more of China."

"Iron Man found out quite a bit, didn't he? Perhaps he found out a bit too much."

One of the Mandarin's rings began to glow. "You two will find existing as my slaves for the rest of your natural lives to be quite pleasing, I think. Rather free of the difficulties of thinking for yourselves."

Tony wondered at the power that must be behind those rings. "We'll never serve you, Mandarin."

The Mandarin gave Pamela a knowing look. "I rather think you will, Tony. You see, your assistant has a secre..."

At that moment, Pamela broke loose and kicked the Mandarin off his throne. He rebounded from the attack and faced her. A blinding flash of light leapt from one of his rings, and Pamela went down, covering her eyes.

Tony knew he had to intervene. He jumped onto the Mandarin, attempting to pin him down. But the Mandarin reacted quickly, blasting Tony with an impact beam from another one of his rings, and knocking Tony to the floor.

Somewhat tired from battling both Tony and Pamela, the Mandarin paused a moment to savor his apparent victory.

"Yes. Victory is as sweet on the tongue as this drink with which I will toast my victory!" The Mandarin picked up a small jade cup that Pamela had been carrying and drank its contents down heartily.

The Mandarin's eyes bugged out of his head slightly, and he choked as he swallowed the contents of the cup.

"Glk..poison..." He clutched at his throat as the fast-acting poison did its work.

"How..?" Tony asked as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Never mind how, Mr. Stark," Pamela asserted. "We've got to hurry to the airfield to grab one of the Mandarin's planes and escape!"

When they opened the chamber door, they saw a group of guards armed with pikes and swords blocking their way. When the loyal guards saw their stricken leader, most of them rushed to his side. Tony and Pamela were able to make their way through the confused guards, through the pagoda, to the airfield where they had landed in a Kunlong helicopter. They grabbed the helicopter that was waiting there and took off, even as the Mandarin's troops were preparing to hunt them down.

As the helicopter lifted off, Pamela and Tony looked at one another. Tony knew that they were more than boss and secretary now...he wondered if it would continue once they got back to the United States. Only time would tell, although Pamela was again the only thing on Tony's mind...