01x11 - The Origin of Iron Man, Part 1

[bunniefuu]

Sweep and scan!

Lava temperatures
are in the high-normal range,

with no sign of tectonic plate instability.

That should mean the volcano
pumping geothermal power

to our microchip factory
is not about to blow its top.

Your readings check out here, Tone.

Let's see what we pick up
on the Sky Eye satellite!

Things look cool, man!

But if everything's so copacetic,

why are we still getting
a volcano eruption alert

from the early warning tower?

[ALARM BLARING]

We're all worried about you, Tony.

Please, land and wait somewhere safe
until we can get there and back you up.

Thanks, Julia, but I'm not exactly alone.
I brought IRVING along.

JULIA: An In-flight Refit Vehicle
with Interactive Neuromimetic Gear

is just a drone, Tony! Nuts and bolts!

It's no substitute
for Jim, Century, or Hawkeye.

And if the volcano erupts,
you'll need all the help you can get.

IRON MAN: Let's not panic
until I check out the crater.

The eruption alert
could just be a glitch in the circuits.

MODOK:
Ah! Your plan is working, Mandarin!

Iron Man just flew
through Twin Peak Pass

into the Valley of Flame.
I shall obliterate him at once.

THE MANDARIN: Patience, Modok!

I sabotaged Stark's eruption alert
sensors to create the perfect ambush

in which to finish Iron Man
once and for all!

It would be unwise to rush the process.

The crater looks stable enough.

IRVING, lava-resistant components!
Ready! Refit!

IRVING: Refit complete.

Thanks, IRVING. I'm going down!

You are indeed, my ferrous gadfly!
Down for the ultimate count!

IRON MAN:
Commencing magma analysis!

Easy, Tone. if that volcano blew now,
it'd steam you like a clam in its shell!

Now, I shall activate
the sub-magma robot and...

Uh...

- With your permission, of course.
-I think not!

There is a chance
Iron Man may escape the robot,

but he will not escape Fin Fang Foom!

Why have you disturbed my rest,
Mandarin?

You know why! You agreed
to help me destroy Iron Man!

I'll do nothing for you
until you agree to do something for me.

- You dare to manipulate me?
-Of course, if you're not interested,

I shall simply return to my rest.

THE MANDARIN: No! Wait, Wait.

What do you want?
Tell me, now, and we'll negotiate.

No! I will tell you what I want,

and then you must do as I ask!

- Agreed?
-Yes. Yes!

You shall have what you wish,
once Iron Man has been liquidated!

I felt sure you would be reasonable.

[LAUGHING]

MODOK: You agreed
to give Fin Fang Foom what he asks

without even knowing what it is?
With all due respect, Mandarin,

have you had a blow-out
in your melon?

He may ask whatever he wishes,
my dear friend.

What he will receive
is another matter entirely.

Of course. You have thought
of everything, as usual.

The sub-magma robot?

Yes, Modok. Simon says now!

[WHIRRING]

What the...

Can't see!

Your scanners cut out, Tone,
and I can't pick you up on Sky Eye!

Come in, Tony. Do you read me?

Iron Man's scanners are covered,
and his satellite blinded!

Substitute our playback
for his visual transmission. Quickly!

No sweat, people. A lava splash
took me off-line for a moment.

[IN IRON MAN'S VOICE] Uh-oh.
It must've fried a communications chip.

I'M replace it
and get back to you in an hour or so.

Iron Man out!

Not bad for a floating head, eh?

I don't like it.

JIM:
A communications chip is no big deal.

Just awkward to replace
when you're up to your butt in hot lava.

- I'm going after him!
-No! I'll go.

Hold it, both of you!

Tony said give it an hour,
so that's what we'll do.

[GRUNTS]

Damage control! Scan and report!

ARMOR: Life Support failing.
Energy reserves falling.

Power pack core unstable.
Meltdown potential, 70%.

[GRUNTING]

Stabilizers and on board
navigation systems ineffective.

Activate emergency protocols at once.

IRVING, interface for repair.

MODOK: He's listing to starboard,

his power draining
into the vacuum of space!

And so the final curtain descends.

Incinerate him!

[SCREAMS IN PAIN]

IRON MAN: He's homing in on
my supplementary guidance system!

Must jettison!

Got to get away!

[GROANS]

THE MANDARIN:
You lost him, you cybernetic bungler!

Fin Fang Foom took Iron Man apart!

There's not enough of him left
to make a toaster oven!

[STUTTERS] As you see for yourself,
nothing! Nothing!

[ROARING]

FIN FANG FOOM:
Mandarin, communicate!

THE MANDARIN: I am listening.
FIN FANG FOOM: Iron Man is not dead!

I knew it!

FIN FANG FOOM: He jettisoned
his external armor pack as a decoy.

Well, then hunt him down,
you reptilian jackass!

Home in on his life-support frequency!

You have the sensory capacity
to do that!

FIN FANG FOOM: I am, Mandarin.
And when Iron Man is no more,

I shall tell you what you owe me.

[FIN FANG FOOM LAUGHING]

Fin Fang Foom, searching for me.

If I can fuse quartzite bearing rock,

deflect sensors, misdirect
radar sweeps, conceal my presence...

FIN FANG FOOM:
There has been a sudden disturbance

in the magnetic field.

- All sensory data is scrambled.
- THE MANDARIN: Then unscramble it!

Iron Man's been gravely injured!
I can't lose him now!

Nothing that lives can elude
Fin Fang Foom for long. I seek!

Hear me!

I, The Mandarin, summon you!
Hypnotia!

Dreadknight! Blacklash!

Grey Gargoyle! Whirlwind!

Blizzard!

Living Laser!

This day have I struck Iron Man
a mortal blow!

But he's gone to ground
somewhere within this radius

to lick his wounds. I want him! Now, go!

Hang on, Tony. Don't black out now.

Got to keep awake, stay warm.

You've got to get it together before
The Mandarin and his g*ons find you,

or hold out until Jim and the team can.

Power low. It'll take hours
to weld the slashes in my Armor.

Cold. Wish I could get out in the sun.

Hot, summer sun...

Tony! Tony Stark!
Where's that boy gone to now, Martha?

He's never around
when he's supposed to be.

He's only seventeen, Walter.

I knew what was expected of me
when I was his age!

He should, too!

[GROANS] Dreaming! Got to stay up
or freeze to death.

Armor computer, damage report.

ARMOR: Power drain continuing in all
neuromimetic telepresence circuits.

Emergency life support depleted.

Convert all nonessential systems
to recharge format at once

to restore minimal function.
Process will require 6.4 hours.

Failure to comply will result in death.
I am sorry.

How am I supposed
to keep awake that long, huh? How?

Activate Memory Module.

Its energy output
will maintain your body temperature

until recharge is completed.

- The Memory Module! Activate!
- Memory Module protocol online.

Hologrammatic replay will begin
in eight seconds.

I'm seeing things anyway,

might as well see my life
while I still have one.

You always take the boy's side, but
you can't shield him from the world.

Anyone with Tony's gifts has an
obligation to use them responsibly,

and he's not doing that!

You were right, Dad.

Wish I had a chance to tell you
how right you were,

about a lot of things.

Sorry I'm late, Dad.

I was showing some girls
the new bike I invented,

and time just slipped away.

[ECHOING] Time just slipped away.
mslipped away...

Enough!

ARMOR: These are your memories.
Some are more persistent than others.

I didn't take anything seriously
when I was a kid, okay?

I didn't know the score.
Now, get on with it. Please.

Continuing your memories.

[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]

Slick enough for you, General Hirsch?

- Tony!
-It's all right, Walter.

I'm not the customer, Mr. Stark.
Your country is!

If your robot chopper's slick enough to
serve her in wartime, I'll be satisfied.

I happen to be against w*r, General.

I've been in three of them, kid.
I am, too.

- Initiate test bombing run on target!
-The Stark helicopter can handle

any supersonic heat-seeking weapons
you've got, General. See what I mean?

Huh?

Looks like you forgot
about old-fashioned flak, Mr. Stark.

I'm sorry, Walter.

I'll have to award the chopper contract
to Justin Hammer.

Flak resistors were in
the specifications! I put them there!

TONY: I removed them
to increase attack speed,

and substituted an anti-flak chip relay,
but it didn't kick in.

- Guess I blew it, huh?
-No, Tony, we blew it.

Stark and Son.

The anti-flak chip failed!
It's not my fault!

Two years of hard work that affects
every one of our employees!

Work that might have saved
decent lives in combat, all for nothing

because of your careless attitude,
your mindless search for pleasure.

I tried to build a business
that could provide the technology

our democracy will need
in the next century,

but I see it means nothing to you,
Tony. Nothing at all.

No! I cared! I just didn't understand!
I was too busy having fun.

HYPNOTIA:
Picking up strong biological readings.

It's my heart, Hypnotia.
You make me crazy!

Grow up, Dreadknight!
It's not your heart I'm getting.

It's a life form.
Down there, inside that glacier!

I don't like it. Tony's never out of touch
this long unless...

Hey, I hear you, Julia,
but he asked for an hour, and...

Hey, bag it, man!
Yo, Tony! Check in, babe!

Get out of here, Clint. You don't know
anything about communications.

Wrong, wild lady.
See? There's old Rusty Shorts himself.

- No sweat people, Iron Man out.
- That's a playback!

I told you Hawkeye
was a communications dork.

Hey, we didn't record that message,
Julia.

- It's a fake!
-The Mandarin!

Tony was in the crater when we lost
contact, so we'll start looking there.

Let's just pray that wherever he is,
he can hold out until we reach him!

w*r Machine! Thrusters on!

HYPNOTIA:
Steady the Sky Saucer, Blacklash.

There is a life form in that glacier,
but I can't quite make it out.

Interface with me, Hypnotia!
I will increase your sensory capacity!

- What? Computer, evaluate.
- ARMOR: Life form scanner beam.

- Evasive action recommended.
- But there's no place to go!

[EXCLAIMS IN DISGUST]

HYPNOTIA: I'm getting something.

Slowly, Hypnotia. Slowly.
Let me lock on the suspect area.

Yes! You have found a life form!

Focusing... I can't stand it!

Congratulations, Hypnotia.

You've just found the frozen remains
of an ancient woolly mammoth!

Iron Man is still out there
laughing at us!

Now find him!

Thanks, pal.

Update.

ARMOR: Estimated time of completion
for Armor repair, four hours.

Emergency life support holding.

Continue Memory Module.
If you can take it, I guess I can.

WALTER:
These figures are m*rder, Harry.

No company can stay in business
with this many accidents.

- What?
-FOREMAN: Look out, Walter!

Dad!

Tony! We couldn't find you!

I was at a charity scavenger hunt. Dad!

Justin Hammer.
I found out he's behind the accidents.

- Trying to ruin us!
-Save your strength.

For what? So you can trash
the business before Hammer does?

No, I didn't mean that.

It's not fair to expect you
to feel like I do about Stark and Son.

- You have your own life to lead.
- TONY: My life?

I was throwing my life away, Dad!

See, I wanted to be just like you.

But you were doing a better job of that
than I ever could. Then, when...

When you weren't there anymore,
I had to grow up.

I made it work, Dad,
the way you always wanted.

My new inventions and your patents,
hard work, some luck, and we grew!

We made a difference, Dad.
We did good!

And then Justin Hammer struck again.

I don't remember any of this.

ARMOR: These scenes
remain in your memory nonetheless.

The mind misses nothing.

TONY: Yes. I still feel the pain
of the metal shards

embedded next to my spine
by the blast.

And I'M never forget
The Mandarin's eyes.

Or the incredible power of his rings

when he showed me
his insane chess board.

He ordered me to create
an invincible armor

with which his forces
could conquer the Earth.

I was guarded at first,
but soon the danger of my work

and my steadily weakening condition
convinced The Mandarin

that survival was my concern,
not escape.

He was correct. I was in torment.

Day and night merged
into a seamless tapestry of despair.

And awake or sleeping,
my father's words echoed in my soul.

With my gifts came responsibility.

I must make a difference for the good,
and pledge my work and my life

to ensure the continuation
of our democracy.

How I longed
to honor those obligations,

but I was little more than a sl*ve

pursuing what seemed
a scientific illusion.

Then The Mandarin became impatient
and changed his game plan.

Where is my armor, Mr. Stark?

- What you want is impossible!
-Such a word is not known to me.

Perhaps this will enlarge
your vocabulary!

TONY: When all else has been taken,
the only freedom remaining

is the freedom to interpret events
as you see fit.

No matter what was in that coffin,
I chose not to fear it!

[YELLING]

[ALARM BLARING]

What's happening? Report!

ARMOR: Welding process
has overheated glacial formation.

Unstable! Unstable!

'