04x23 - The Citadel

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

[IRON MAN NARRATING] An alien named
the Beyonder took pieces of worlds,

then mashed them together
to build Battleworld.

[CAPTAIN AMERICA NARRATING] The people
from those places, including the Avengers,

were brought to this world.

The Beyonder calls this his experiment.

We call it twisted and dangerous.

After Loki joined our side,

we tried to use the Asgardian
Bifrost to send everyone home.

It didn't work.

Loki and I rebuilt a new Bifrost

so we can undo Battleworld

and end the Beyonder's experiment.

But we're missing something...

a mystery piece of knowledge or tech.

Until we find it,
the Bifrost won't work.

Whatever the missing thing is,

it's probably in the one place
we haven't found yet...

the Beyonder's headquarters.

The other Avengers
are scouring Battleworld

for any sign of the Beyonder
or his base,

but so far, no luck.

We need to find the Beyonder.

The sooner we end this, the better.

[SIGHS] This would be
so much easier back on Earth,

where I have a real lab and equipment
and interns I can throw things at.

Just do the best you can, Tony.

Eh. Not the same.

Besides, the best I can do
might not be good enough.

Things have to be done right.

Yaah! Oh, no. Come on... Aah!

[SIGHS]

They have to be done right,

or the Beyonder's gonna
mop the floor with us.

[GRUNTS]

Hey, we're all frustrated,
but we're almost there.

Now stay focused and try
not to get rattled.

Save the speech, Captain Perfect.

I'm not one of your soldiers.

You're gosh darn right you're not.

Why don't you call me when
you're done acting like a child?

I'll be in the training room.

"Gosh darn"?

You kiss your mother with that mouth?

Journal update number :
Cap is a jerk.

Update : Tony Stark is awesome.

Update : as soon as I
finish these repairs,

Cap and I will join the others and
look for the Beyonder. [THUD]

Heh heh heh heh heh.

Update : that's a really big a*!

[GROWLING]
Stark!

That would be me.
Don't know who you are,

but not like you're the first
angry a* guy to come at me.

I am Ares, Prince of w*r.

Know my name. Know my power!

Okay, Ares!

Want to see something cool?

Of course you do.

Watch this.

Hmm?

Uh...

Huh?

Come get some, a* guy.

[GROWLING]

Hey, watch it!
That's my equipment!

No one trashes my stuff except me,

and occasionally the Hulk.

Aah!

Avengers, regroup at the Tower.

Signal's jammed.
I take it that's your fault?

[CHUCKLING]

Your Avengers friends can't help you.

I don't need your help
to smack you down.

I've got an upgraded unibeam.

[SPUTTERING]

Or I will have it once I fix it.

Raah!

Now let's open you up
like a tin can. Aah!

Where did Ares come from?

I think he's from Asgard or something.

Right? You're from Asgard?

Asgard?

Asgard?!

You dare?!

Ares is not from Asgard!

Ares comes from Olympus!

Asgardians are disgusting,
uncultured brutes!

Nothing like the refined Olympians.

Funny. That's not
what Thor says.

[GROWLING]

Yaah!

Not helping, Tony.

It's funny to make him mad.

- Whoa!
- You'll suffer for your insolence!

Uhh! Yaah!

Why are you here?

What is this about, Ares?

This is about Battleworld...

an entire planet dedicated to w*r.

Is it not glorious?

- Yaah!
- Yaah!

That expl*si*n one of yours?

No. I think
it belongs to them.

The Avengers are a disaster.

We are the cleanup crew.

att*ck!

Ee-yaah!

Absorbing Man, make yourself
useful for once.

I'm plenty useful, see?

Huh?

Raah!

MODOK?

I never pegged you as a team player.

I dislike working with others,

except when it's
to destroy the Avengers.

[SPUTTERING]

I'm calling a tactical retreat.

Call it whatever you want,
but call it fast.

Raah!

As if there was anywhere
they could run from us.

Crimson Widow!

I could have triumphed
without your interference.

Huh.
Didn't look that way to me.

Now quit your whining and come on.

[GROWLING]

[GRUNTS]

I have an idea. Just do what I do.

Just do what you do?

Nothing good ever comes from that.

[BALL SWISHING]

Huh?
[GRUNTING]

Aah!

I gotcha.

Dasvidanya.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Hold on, Cap.

Nowhere to go, Cap,
except straight down!

[GRUNTS]
Yaah!

[LAUGHING]

You're doomed, Captain America.

Doomed.

Comm signals are still jammed.

We got to try to hold them off
as long as we can.

[GRUNTS]
Yaah!

Cap! Aah!

[CRIMSON WIDOW] Inform
our boss we have them.

At least we're still alive.

I'll have to take your word for it.

Ah.

Absorbing Man, Ares,

Crimson Widow, and MODOK.

Not exactly the dream team.

How and why did those four
come together?

They'd work together if the
Beyonder ordered them to.

If I can just get to the Beyonder,

I can figure this out.

Got to get in his head.

Careful what you wish for.

Beyonder.

If you wanted to hang out, you
could have just texted me.

Just kidding.
I have you blocked.

Ah. Tony Stark.

You and I have things to discuss.

Come with me.

Huh?

Tony!

[GRUNTING]

[CRIMSON WIDOW] Aw, don't
look so distressed, Captain.

We've come to keep you company.

What does the Beyonder want?

And what's your part in all this?

[LAUGHING]

The Beyonder only told
us to catch Tony Stark.

He didn't say nothing
about Captain America.

[LAUGHING]

[MODOK] Which means you're all ours.

Well, all four of you
against unarmed me?

That's not really fair.

Aw. No need to worry, Captain.

We'll try to make this
painless, mostly.

Oh, it's not really me
I'm worried about.

Aah!

No!

Eh. Collateral damage.

Wait! Stop!

Aah!

Yaah!
No! Wait! Aah!

Aah!

Need to borrow this for a sec.

Thanks for coming to visit,

but now I got to run.

Get him!

Uhh! Thanks a lot, Ares.

That's my favorite hand.

Don't be such a mortal.

[cr*ck]

Ohh.

Tony, you read me?

[SIGHS]
Still jammed.

Can't have gotten far.

Split up.

What do you want with me?

And what have you done with Cap?

I just wanted to talk to you,

without distraction, without fighting.

As for your second question,

Captain America is fine.

You can see him if you like.

[BEYONDER]
Aw.

It seems like your friend
has gotten loose.

Shame. But my employees
are already on him.

Ah, but enough about that.

I see you've noticed the aqueous
resinoid polymer graphics.

Impressive, isn't it?

How did you manage
to create something with...

This is your headquarters.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

This is my laboratory,

where I do my best work.

My Citadel, overlooking
all of Battleworld.

So tell me, this whole thing,
Battleworld...

why go to all the trouble?

For knowledge, of course.

Knowledge is the only goal
worth pursuing...

that and curiosity.

Curiosity? That's
why you did all this?

Tore worlds apart?

Pitted everyone against each other?

When you're working in your lab,

don't you ever do something
just to see what happens,

because you can?

I created this world,

and I make no apologies for it.

You didn't create anything.

You just took things apart.

I took pre-existing concepts

and mashed them together
into something new.

Men like you and I?

Oh, we stand upon
the shoulders of giants.

So your greatest achievement

is straight stealing and copying.

My greatest achievement is my armor.

And I didn't stand on anybody.

That was all me.

Your greatest achievement
isn't your armor,

and you and I both know it.

You and I both know
why you stay up all night.

You and I know why you
push yourself so hard,

why you're terrified

that some day you'll be forgotten.

Tony Stark's greatest achievement...

I haven't found it yet.

And I know exactly how you feel.

[SINGSONGY] Come out, Captain.
We know you're in here.

[SINGSONGY]
Captain!

Captain!

[MODOK] Spread out.
Ares, go that way.

I'll go this way.
Huh? I said go that way.

[ARES] I don't take orders from you,

you monstrous dunderhead!

What did you say about my head?

Aah!
Uhh!

We have one big difference between us.

I think ethics are just
as important as knowledge.

Well, perhaps it's time
we talk as equals.

Could you imagine this for yourself?

Working with me in my lab.

Ha. You're offering me a job.

If you knew how many hours late
I show up to work every day,

you would not want to hire me.

I have much to offer you,
more than just technology.

I can offer... life.

This orb will allow your cells
to regenerate indefinitely.

Immortality?

That's not possible.

Ah, it's not only possible, it's here.

If you had ten of your lifetimes...

another thousand years...

it would still only be a moment.

But imagine all the things
you could do,

all the things you could create,

how many lives you could save.

I would never work for you.

[SCOFFS]
You wouldn't work for me.

You'd work with me...
together as equals.

Join me. I'll restore
the universe.

I'll undo Battleworld.

Then together, you and I

will combine our knowledge

and reshape reality.

Everything will be back the way it was,

except you and I
will make things better.

[REVVING]

Tony, time to get out of here.

No. No, it's not, Cap,
actually.

I think maybe we've been
wrong about the Beyonder.

What are you talking about?
Tony, the Beyonder is...

The Beyonder is right.

With this, I could change everything.

I could live forever.

Live forever?
What are you talking about?

Get your hand off me! I told you,
I'm not one of your soldiers.

You're not thinking straight.

It's not like you

to just accept something
the Beyonder offers.

Don't do this.

It's already done.

Remember how I couldn't get
my unibeam to work right?

Funny thing is, I just fixed it.

You're not the only one
who's been cheated by time.

Think of everything
I could make up for.

No, Cap!

Don't do it!

I can feel it already.

I'm invincible!

Ohh!

Forget it, Cap.
Beyonder gave it to me.

I intend to use it.

I know how much power the orb has,

how tempting it can be.
I felt it.

Immortality is not
what you think it is.

I'm not sorry for getting frozen

and waking up in the future,

but I'm glad I never
had to make the choice.

But I'm getting the choice.

And all I can see are possibilities.

This is not where I expected
my experiment to go.

Oh, ho ho ho ho ho,

but sometimes the pursuit of knowledge

takes one to unexpected places.

Beyonder, you don't
want us to stop them?

We're happy to destroy either,
or both, of the Avengers.

Ha. You won't.

Not until I see where this goes.

Tony, please, listen to me.

That's close enough, Cap.

I just want to talk.

See? Look.

Uhh!

You're not thinking straight.

Don't let it control you.

Thanks for the pep talk.

I'll take it under advisement.

Aah!

Have you lost your mind?

Have you?

[ABSORBING MAN]
Come on, Beyonder.

If you're just gonna let
them whomp on each other,

then let us get in a few good licks!

No.

[MUFFLED GRUNT]

I must know who is willing

to do what is necessary.

This is what Battleworld is for.

[GRUNTS]

Looking for this?
[BEEPING]

You tired yet?

I could do this all day.

[BOTH GRUNTING]

What are they up to?
[GROWLING]

Your bizarre obsession
with this thinking game

has gone on too long.

Hmm.

Very well.

Destroy them.

[GASPS]

It's about time.

Time's up. You finished?

I think we're good.

Raah!

The entire fight was a ruse!

Huh?

Let's get one thing clear, Beyonder.

You're not as smart as me,
and you never will be.

Ohh! Aah!

Got what you needed?

Hacked and downloaded
the schematic of the orb.

It's all there...

the code to power up the Bifrost.

Here you go.
[GRUNTS]

Ohh! Uhh! What was that?

[GRUNTING]

We're done with it.

The orb!

You gotta go through me to get it!

Not if I take you all out first!

Aah! Idiots!

Gimme that! Gimme!

No one gets the better of me!

No one!

I am the greatest intelligence!

I am from Beyond!

For a fake fight,
you hit me pretty hard.

Don't you want to ask if I'm hurt?

No. I want to ask,
were you tempted?

Sure. Who wouldn't be?

It would have given me the immortality

to learn all the knowledge
in the universe,

but it wouldn't teach me
how to use it wisely.

[ARES]
Is the orb in MODOK's nose?

Does it look like it's
still in my nose?

Then where did it go?

[GRUNTING]
What? Huh?

Be gone.

Aah!
Aah!

Huh?

I've always liked you, Ares.

Do you know why?

Uh-uh.

You exist to destroy things.

Aye.

That's gonna be useful
for what comes next.

My experiment is nearly over,

and I've learned much from Battleworld.

But it all leads to one clear

AND INCONTROVERTIBLE CONCLUSION:

the Avengers...

must die.

Heh heh.

[CAPTAIN AMERICA]
A table with graphics?

So you saw those guys chasing me
through the Beyonder's Citadel,

and you didn't think to help me?

And risk blowing our cover?

Besides, I knew you were fine.

You knew?

I was pretty sure you were fine.

You did it.

We did it.
We're ready.