Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. He fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks Loni, Howard's first wife and Obadiah's mother, is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Tony, Howard, War Machine, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring War Machine. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to Loni, and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. Iron Man saves Obadiah, but Howard and Nifara are taken captive by Loni. After killing Nifara and the guards, (she wants no witnesses) Loni confesses that all she has ever wanted from life was power, and her only interest in men has been finding one who would help her acquire it. Howard, she laments, was smart enough to be able to conquer the world, but lacked the ambition to do so; Zebediah, her second husband, was the other way around (ambitious, but stupid); Obadiah, on the other hand, is both smart and ambitious, but unfortunately his loyalty to her can no longer be relied on.