02x01 - The Beast Within

[bunniefuu]

What?

[GASPING]

Hammer.

JUSTIN: Yes, as expected.

Strike at its master,
and a dog will attack.

Wait until he illegally invades
our perimeter, then take him out.

IRON MAN: Okay, Hammer.

You've been looking for attention,
so here it is.

[BEEPING]

I...

lam...

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

[GRUNTS]

Just the front torso piece,
that's the armor Mandarin wants.

Reverse polar field.

[HYPNOTIA AND JUSTIN
SCREAMING]

Why want Tony Stark dead?

Going after Stark was just my little way
of getting to you, Iron Man.

We push his buttons,
and you show up.

Nice and predictable, isn't it?

Level one security to 805. Now.

[GASPING]

HOMER, analysis.

Your neuron-net has been ruptured.
Vital signs are at hazardous levels.

- I repeat.
-Yeah, yeah, don't bother.

What are you waiting for?
Send a craft after him.

And provoke a visit from
Agent Fury and S.H.l.E.L.D.?

[CHUCKLING]

I don't think so, my dear.

Once Iron Man's out of my airspace,
he's in the clear.

I have completed your diagnostic,
Mr. Stark.

Tony, let's try using Tony.

I have completed your diagnostic,
Mr. Tony.

[TONY SIGHS]

And?

I am afraid the damage
to your chest plate

has worsened the condition
of your central nervous system.

Paralysis could result.

[TONY SIGHS]

TONY: Thanks, Doc.

You know,
something Hypnotia blurted out

tells me there could be
a booming sellers market out there,

for old Iron Man Armor.

[BEEPING]

- Who's that?
-Your user-unfriendly sidekick.

TONY: Shut everything down.

Not a word about this new armor
or my condition. You got it, HOMER?

You do not wish your dire ailments
to be of concern to the others?

With what I have in mind,
I'm gonna need a little rest and peace.

- Hey, Tone.
-What's up, Rhodey?

When did you start locking the door?

Well, I don't know.
I've been kind of busy.

Oh, yeah? Doing what?

The armor doing okay?
Something wrong I should know about?

Quit worrying, Mom. Now, what's up?

You got secret agent man Fury
waiting for you in the conference room.

TONY: Must be my lucky day.

Is he gonna be okay, hard drive?

Warning.
Syntax error executing that command.

Say what?

Doctor patient privilege. I'm not talking.

Oh, man, I hate computers.

[DOOR OPENING]

See anything you like, Nick?

Always up to something new,
eh, Stark?

You look a little rough
around the edges.

- You doing okay?
-I've been better.

Yeah, well,
your tin-plated errand boy's lucky

he hasn't been brought up on charges.

Attacking Hammer on his own
private turf is none too bright.

Come on, Nick.
The guy's gunning for me,

and he knows that I know it.

Package explodes yesterday,
a car b*mb tonight.

What's it gonna take
before you clowns at S.H.l.E.L.D...

Proof. We need proof.

[SIGHS]

And you're a little light
in that department right now, pal.

I got me a real four star mystery
on my hands.

Some of the world's richest
and slimiest industrialists

seem to have strolled
right into oblivion.

An hour ago, one of our satellites
took this snapshot of four people

trekking into some hidden valley
deep in China.

Chinese government
won't let us in there to look around.

But I've got a gut feeling
it's our missing captains of industry.

Crosscheck their profiles
for any common factors.

- HOMER: Yes, Mr. Tony.
-Tony.

- It's just Tony.
-Of course, Mr. Just Tony.

[SIGHS]

Enlarge that satellite photo.

Isolate this. Enhance.

Fin Fang Foom.

Now, what do four missing people,

a dragon and a ring-happy magician
have in common?

Absolute squat.

My crosschecking has produced
an interesting peculiarity.

TONY: How old are these pictures?

They range between 75 and 150 years.

Hmm...

[MEN PANTING]

[FIN FANG FOOM ROARING]

My brothers, the hour draws near.

[REPORTERS CLAMORING]

Please, please, calm down.
Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Calm down.

I simply have personal business
in China.

There's nothing newsworthy,
I assure you.

And as my bodyguard,

Iron Man accompanies me
wherever I go.

REPORTER: Mr. Stark,
are you fearing the same fate

as your missing colleagues?

[TONY GASPS]

Oh, Jim.

So, what, now you're taking off
without me?

Come on, Rhodey. Hammer's got me
locked in his crosshairs.

I don't wanna drag you into it.

You're kidding me, right?

Look, if I wanted a safer job,
I'd go roll dynamite for a living.

Sorry, friend,
but this one's gotta be solo.

Oh, man,
whatever's crawled into your craw,

I sure wish you'd shake it out.

- At least let me sweep for expl*sives.
-Already done. It's clean.

Well, then do me a favor, will you?
Wear the armor, capisce?

Wouldn't leave home without it.

Say, there's a package in my lab.
Can you make sure it gets mailed?

Yeah, sure. Why don't I pick up
your dry cleaning while I'm at it.

TONY: Yeah, yeah. Thanks, pal.

[BEEPING]

You running full sensors
on that jet, hard drive?

I wanna be notified
if a bird so much as poops on it.

Yes, sir, Mr. Jim.

Rhodes, it's Mr. Rhodes,
you mutant PC.

[SPIDER WOMAN LAUGHING]

Come on, Jim.
You two kiss and make up.

- Tell him you love him.
-Yeah, right.

BLIZZARD: I see frost in the forecast.

[BLIZZARD CHUCKLES]

HYPNOTIA: Go.

[expl*sive BEEPING]

TONY: Well, surprise, surprise.

ARMOR: Special armor, ready.

Sir, your recent colorful
bird colloquialisms aside,

I detect an armed expl*sive device
on Mr. Tony's aircraft.

Communications are jammed.
In other words, the bird...

- What?
-What?

Tony, come in.
You've got to bail out, man. There's a...

[w*r MACHINE GRUNTS]

Tony!

[MODOK LAUGHING]

No!

Tony!

HYPNOTIA: Affirmative, Mandarin.

Iron Man is destroyed,
and Modok has recovered the armor.

What?

[GRUNTS]

Bad plan.

[w*r MACHINE SCREAMING]

BLIZZARD: How cool.

[BLIZZARD LAUGHING]

Do you think we can parlay this into
a two-for-one deal with The Mandarin?

[BOTH LAUGHING]

[GRUNTS]

[HYPNOTIA SCREAMING]

Eat sleet, frosty.

We have arrived.

- Greetings, gentlemen.
-MAN 1: This is ridiculous.

Who is this human?

[GROWLS]

A thief.

Come, come now.
A thief? No, I think not.

I am The Mandarin.

He possesses the rings, my brothers.

Now, that is right. I do know about you
and your dragons in the closet.

I know of your ship crashing here


with only five survivors,

and how four of you
disguised yourself as humans,

using the power of 10 small jewels.

As this world evolved,
each of you learned well

the wondrous human art
of savage conflict,

lawless commerce,
then the seductive power of wealth.

- You stole the jewels.
-I stole nothing.

Destiny brought us together, all of us.

But we're nearly out of time.
The galactic alignment is...

Fear not. I have forged an alliance
with The Mandarin.

He will release you
from your human bonds.

- In exchange for what?
-Your servitude.

You regain your hideous dragon hides

and I obtain
the most formidable of disciples.

I had no choice but to agree.

- We understand.
-We will not resist.

[LAUGHING MANIACALLY]

[GRUNTS]

We are aware
of the catastrophe, James.

[JULIA SOBBING]

Why wasn't he wearing his armor?

We knew the risks were so high.
Why did we let him go?

So, Tony's gone. Now what?

It's Hammer time.

[JET APPROACHING]

[RUMBLING]

Let's chat, shall we?

What do you think you're doing?
Get out of here.

- Where's my security?
-Busy.

Hey, w*r Machine,
we got it sewn up out here.

We'll drop these wayward citizens
at the nearest precinct, no charge.

What did Mandarin pay you
for taking Stark down?

- And start with the truth.
-My life, he spared me my life.

[STUTTERING] He threatened me
with horrific consequences

if I didn't help him.

- Help him do what?
-Destroy Iron Man,

so that Mandarin could have his armor.

- What for?
-Something important in China.

That's all I know.

[GROANS]

I hate impromptu exits.

MODOK: The fibernet connectors
are in place, Mandarin.

I have forged a perfect fit.

THE MANDARIN: As promised, dragon.

Now let us complete our
long-awaited covenant to one another.

Filter the rings' powers
through the fibernet.

Behold. The beginning
of the new Mandarin order.

Yes, yes.
My brothers, we are whole again.

I look forward
to our ruling over the earth

side by side, my Mandarin.

You are a fool, Modok.
I share my throne with no one,

certainly no freakish lapdog like you.

What? But our agreement.
Your promise.

[DRAGONS ROARING]

Let the floodgates open.

What have you done, dragon?

It is what you have done,
worthless thief.

- The hour of the dragons has come.
-And the fibernet core will lay open

a passage to our home planet,
Kakaranthara.

Earth will then fall under
the rule of the dragons.

[DRAGONS LAUGHING]

You dare betray me
and challenge my decreed reign?

[ROARING]

FIN FANG FOOM: You'll reign over
your own misery, O great Mandarin.

[FIN FANG FOOM LAUGHING]

You have doomed us, Mandarin.
We are lost, as is the whole world.

CLERK: Yes, here we are.
From Stark Enterprises in America.

Heavy one, like iron.

[THE MANDARIN SCREAMING]

My rings. They are powerless
against their creators.

The dragons have played you
for a fool, Mandarin.

[DRAGONS GROWLING]

Okay, Tone, this one's for you.

Iron Man? How did...

No, no. It's not Iron Man.

It's that low-grade metal knock-off
w*r Machine.

[GRUNTING]

- Iron Man still lives? Incompetent freak.
-[GRUMBLING] Oh!

FIN FANG FOOM: Brothers, assemble.

[ROARS]

FIN FANG FOOM: Let us greet
the dragon lords of Kakaranthara.

THE MANDARIN: Iron Man.

The yin and yang.

You, my enemy, cannot do it alone,
and neither can I.

FIN FANG FOOM: This planet,
my brothers, is now ours.

IRON MAN: Not in this millennium,
chili breath.

[IRON MAN GASPING]

- What?
-Just because you saved me today,

Iron Man, doesn't mean
that I'll spare you tomorrow.

[w*r MACHINE GROANING]

- Tony, is that you?
-Yeah, pal. It's me.

JIM: Faked it? You faked your death?

How could you
put us through that, man?

- I'm sorry.
-A simple sorry

ain't gonna cut it, boss man.

We went out there and almost got
ourselves k*lled because of you.

We were fighting in your honor,
whatever that is.

TONY: Try and understand.

The Mandarin wasn't gonna stop
until he got Iron Man's armor.

You were all in danger
as long as I was alive.

You could have trusted us
with the truth, Tony.

I know.
But your grief had to be genuine,

otherwise Hypnotia would have seen
right through it.

Give us more credit than that.

I did what I thought was right
for everyone.

And so have we.

The team has discussed our options,

and we have decided
that our alliance to you

should come to an end.

Every team needs a leader.

But leaders lead,
and they don't do what you did.

And we are going
to relocate Force Works.

All... All of you?

Rhodey. Rhodey, you're not...

I'm staying.
Don't ask me why, but I'm staying.

I'm staying, too.

Well, that figures.

Always looking for that promotion,
huh, Julia?

Hawkeye, just...

I belong here. For a number of reasons.

[TONY SIGHS]

I've fought The Mandarin
so long and so hard,

it feels good just to be able
to let my guard down,

maybe give Iron Man a rest.

[MAN PANTING]

Doctor!
Doctor, we found a man, barely alive.

I...

lam...

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

'