WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Iron Man 2020 #6 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Pete Woods, & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
For the past several months, Iron Man has been facing off with his brother, Arno, with the entire fate and freedom of all beings on Earth at stake. Tony has resisted Arno's dark actions, even if they come from good intentions. But with Arno always dreaming of the coming Extinction Event Entity, he was committed to fighting and saving the world.
And in Iron Man 2020 #6, Arno Stark just got the chance to do so, saving the entire world himself. But it's not all that it seems, thanks to his brother Tony and his new holographic armor.
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Arno Stark was born in part to combat the threats coming to Earth. Arno has been long preparing for the Cosmic Extinction-Level threat that he believes is heading towards Earth, even trying to forcibly take command of the Earth's robotic population (and eventually the entirety of humanity) to try and rally them against the enemy in the Iron Man 2020 crossover event. Tony Stark and the robot revolution was able to defeat him, just as the entity seemed to arrive on the planet. Arno finally steps up in light of this threat and is actually able to unite humanity and robotics in the face of such a cosmic being. Although there are some robot casualties, the two Iron Men are able to work together and lead Earth's defense.
Arno is even able to break into the Extinction Entity's core and - by exposing it to his internal faults and viruses - defeat it once and for all. Arno survives this encounter and is heralded as a hero by the survivors, allies and former enemies alike. He even buries the hatchet with Tony, revealing that he was the one who falsified evidence that Tony's current form was just an AI in a bid to unite the world behind Arno alone. Tony forgives him before revealing he'll need to forgive himself far more. It turns out that the entire massive battle Arno just won wasn't real. In fact, the Extinction Event Entity that seemed to be threatening the Earth was just a hologram, designed by Tony Stark, to serve as a distraction.
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Tony reveals to the confused assembled heroes that the Extinction Event Entity was just a creation of Arno's failing mind, a personification of the disease actively killing him. The diseases that had long threatened Arno were growing more serious, affecting his mental faculties, and leading him to desperation and a bid to try and take over humanity. To stop his brother without killing him or losing control of the Earth, Tony played into these delusions, using his holographic armor as a way to fake a perfect world for Arno, which will now maintain this illusion while also operating as a life support system. This will keep the diseases at bay, and leave Arno in his new happy world.
Essentially trapped in a new iron lung - much like how he spent his early years - Tony concedes that eventually, Arno will see through the illusions that his personal AI assistant Friday constructs. To help maintain the illusion, the AI recreations of Howard and Maria Stark agree to be downloaded into the virtual reality, giving them a chance to be there with his son, helping him shape that reality and give Arno the content life he's never had. It's a tough decision to make for Tony, as it means trapping his brother in an entirely mental prison. Although there have been tensions between the pair in recent months, especially during the events of Iron Man 2020, Tony still loves Arno and vice-versa.
But this way, Arno doesn't have to die, and could even potentially come to terms with his situation. He could even return to his position as a peer and friend to Tony, a partner who's just as smart as him. Conversely, if Arno does ever discover the truth, he could also lash out and easily remind everyone of just how much of a threat he can really be.