02x10 - Empowered

[bunniefuu]

[THE MANDARIN SCREAMING]

My rings. They are powerless
against their creators.

The dragons have played you
for a fool, Mandarin.

[DRAGONS GROWLING]

- 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.

COMPUTER: End of playback.

AH probable ring locations
defined and inputted.

MODOK: At long last, I, warrior supreme
and heir apparent of evil,

shall pursue The Mandarin's legacy,
find his lost rings and rule in his stead.

So beware, sheltered world,
for your armored guardian, Iron Man,

shall soon fall
to his mightiest foe yet, Modok!

[LAUGHING EVILLY]

I...

lam...

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

MODOK: Which one is yours?

[SIGHS IN DELIGHT]

This long hunt has taken
many frustrating paths,

but fate has now rewarded my diligence
with a ring.

Oh, yes. I feel it!

Surge through me, O power cosmic.

Feed me. Empower me!

Reveal your truths!

sl*ve MASTER: Faster, you sand rat!

[THE MANDARIN GRUNTS]

You'll have to do better than that
if you expect to see another meal.

A thousand apologies, O grand one.

[THE MANDARIN GRUNTS]

[PUNCH LANDING]

[MAN CHOKING]

[HORSE NEIGHING]

[HORSE TROTTING AWAY]

[PANTING]

I can feel it! It's close!

[CHUCKLES]

You want to be
with your nine little brothers, don't you?

There!

Did you get it?

I had to steal it from the Chief's
daughter, on her wedding night.

The groom's looking
to make a rib roast out of me.

The Chain of Destiny can
only be grasped one link at a time.

I await you, Iron Man.
I await you indeed.

[GASPS]

The Mandarin. He still lives!

IRON MAN: Hey, bucket head.

Your pursuit of world domination
leaving you a little short on cash?

Hmm?

That ring! It's one of Mandarin's!

[GROANS]

[MODOK LAUGHING EVILLY]

[WHOOSHING]

You can just wear that ring, Modok,
until death do you part.

I refuse to let that megalomaniac
Mandarin ruin my reign of terror

before it even begins! Oh, no!

Find me the other rings!

THE MANDARIN: And the merchant's
letter sounded so promising.

And yes, what service!

[CHUCKLING]
Lulubelle's sure gonna love this.

[LAUGHING]

I believe you've just been outbid.

Holy night in County Cork,
would you look at this?

Costume jewelry?

I know a chap who'll pay
a punt or two for the likes of that.

[THE MANDARIN CHUCKLES]

[ALL SCREAMING]

Another ring, another nail in the coffin,

another shovel of dirt
on the grave of Iron Man.

- Morning, governor. What can I...
-That ring in the window.

Yes. I can see you've got a fancy
for the baubles.

And I'll bet you're willing to pay
right dearly for it, aren't you?

As you might guess,
it's a very valuable...

I have no intention of paying for it.

- I offer a trade.
-[STRAINING] And what might that be?

The ring for your life.

- It's a deal, sir!
-I thought so.

[CHUCKLING]

Soon, Iron Man. Very soon now.

[LAUGHING EVILLY]

[SHUDDERS]

Fear for your life, Modok!
I now lay claim to what is mine.

Hello.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

It never even occurred to me that
Mandarin's rings survived the blast.

And to think
Modok outmaneuvered me.

Bad form, hero. Bad form.

A point of fact, sir.

This current electrical storm has made
the ion trail left by Mr. Modok's ship

all but impossible to trace.

Postulated coordinates suggest
he may be in concealment

somewhere in the southern California
San Jacinto mountain range.

Not so rough!

Miserable toad.

Yes, I am nearly whole again.
Just two more rings elude me.

But they are out there somewhere,
close. I can sense it.

And Iron Man will rue
the day I find them.

Show me the new armor!

IRON MAN: Drill Mode.

ROBOT PILOT: Target lost.

IRON MAN: Correction, you lost.

Oh. Great. Perfect time to find out
that Hawkeye has iron-poor blood.

I can smell my armor being dissolved.

Switching to Lava Armor.

This armor can survive
an erupting volcano,

so it ought to be able to hold off
a piece of liver for a while.

Okay, HOMER.
Prepare armor for Space Mode.

HOMER: Surely you aren't serious.
The new systems are...

IRON MAN: Let me guess,
completely untested?

What kind of superhero would I be
if I didn't take a few risks?

Interior seals locked.
Temperature control on.

Oxygen-regen function engaged.
All systems go.

[COUGHING]

Inferno Armor, modify!

Radiation Mode.

Samurai Mode.

Hmm. I must admit, impressively
retrofitted. Iron Man, show yourself!

Come, armored one. Come to me!

Find yourself face to face
for the final time with The Mandarin.

[LAUGHING EVILLY]

And upon what unfortunate foes
has he honed

his new, over-designed fighting skills?

[INAUDIBLE]

CRIMSON DYNAMO: Iron Man,
what are you doing here?

IRON MAN: Don't make me say it.
I missed you.

CRIMSON DYNAMO: Fool!

IRON MAN: You and your pals launch
that m*ssile, you'll start World w*r III.

And from the ashes will arise
a glorious worker's paradise reborn.

IRON MAN: Oh, wake up and smell
the borscht, Dynamo.

People don't like rising from ashes.
Drives up dry-cleaning bills.

CRIMSON DYNAMO:
Contemptuous Western stooge.

Excuse me, sir. Given that the m*ssile
beneath you is about to launch,

I would recommend
a quick sucker punch.

IRON MAN: My specialty.



Gotta get that fixed.

[METALLIC CLANKING]

Yo. Hey, I'm standing here.

- Iron Man.
-IRON MAN: Drilling Armor.

[STILT MAN EXCLAIMING]

[CHUCKLING] Where's your security?

Don't you know anybody can fly in
and steal this thing?

IRON MAN: Sorry, Beetle,
but you're in for a hard day's night.

Now it's up to me to help you
check into Sing Sing Roach Hotel.

Permanently.

Hate to break your concentration,
mister, but you are trespassing.

FIREPOWER: Data error.
Subject Iron Man has been deactivated.

IRON MAN: What can I tell you?
We superheroes are a resilient lot.

We just keep
going and going and going.

Fortunately, you were
pretty easy to track down.

Just checked out the five or six Stark
operations you hadn't hit yet, and voila'.

HOMER: The Exo Armor seems to be
performing up to expectations, sir.

IRON MAN: Not much of a fashion
statement, but yeah, it does the trick.

Helps cut down on the rug burns, too.

FIREPOWER: Cranial circuitry overload.

IRON MAN:
Long as you got a headache,

here's the bellyache to go along with it.

He has become more determined
than ever while I've been busy.

But even the strongest of warriors
must have a weak link.

Reveal it to me!

[BEEPING]

[BEEPING]

w*r MACHINE: I don't believe it.

- That loony Aegis pushed the button.
-IRON MAN: We're too late.

w*r MACHINE: He nuked the place.

[PANTING] Oh, man, I can't catch my...
I can't catch my breath. I can't...

IRON MAN: No! The air's too toxic.
Armor's gotta stay on.

w*r MACHINE: [WHINING]
Oh, man, I can't... I just can't...

IRON MAN: No! Get a grip!

I'll slap you if I have to.

[LAUGHS]

w*r MACHINE:
Gonna pull my hair, too, boss man?

[BOTH LAUGHING]

- Core levels dipping?
-IRON MAN: More like diving.

Huh?

HOMER, where's my power gone?

HOMER: Heavy exertions
with no solar recharging

have left your new armor
nearly depleted.

I believe you're simply out of gas.

IRON MAN: And nowhere to recharge.

Divert remaining weapons power
to thrusters.

[IRON MAN PANTING]

IRON MAN: Chest on fire. I got to rest.

HOMER: Stealth Mode impaired, sir.
Deactivating.

Ah. So there is a defect in his armor
after all.

But I feel I've overlooked something.

It would seem Iron Man has
an unfortunate tendency

to betray his closest friends.

Bring into the light
that which tells me this story.

HAWKEYE:
I can read you like a book, Shellhead.

Figured out your game,
made a list of likely targets.

Bingo. Hit the jackpot.

Why aren't you
with the Force Works, Hawkeye?

Took a leave of absence. Just like
you've taken leave of your senses.

- Care to talk about it?
-Not really.

Figured you'd say that, too.

Good aim. Bad ordnance.

No. Look out for his...

It's just you and me, Iron Man.
Like I've always wanted.

IRON MAN: Don't get in my way, Hawk.
I started something that I have to finish.

Oh, it's finished, all right.

[SCREAMS]

Hawkeye, please believe me. I'm sorry.

If you think kissing up will cut it,

-you're crazy.
-Crazy?

That's entirely possible.

[GROANS]

w*r MACHINE: Oh, man.

You got rust in your helmet or what?
Knock it off!

IRON MAN: No!
Can't stop! Must not stop!

w*r MACHINE:
Man, you've really lost it.

[GASPING]
No! Not again! Not the water!

No.

Now what? Don't tell me
he's gonna make it rain on me.

Wait, he's not showing up on radar.

He must've activated
his stinking Stealth Armor.

STINGRAY:
You're in serious hot water, Iron Man.

Fired from Stark's security umbrella,

and then assaulting a Level Six Naval
Command Officer

-is no laughing...
-I'm working alone these days,

but believe me, Stingray,

- I don't want to fight you.
-Yeah, well,

tell that to the feds when they slam
your sorry butt in the brig.

IRON MAN: Hydro Armor.

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.

At last, I see his Achilles' heel.

It is his obsessive need
to always fight alone,

to remain the lone wolf of his kind.

Hmm.

How ironic that Iron Man wears
armor around his body

as well as around his heart.

[LAUGHING]

Iron Man, our time will come.
For I have written it in the stars.

HOMER: Sir, within a one-mile variance,

I have pinpointed
Mr. Modok's last known whereabouts.

IRON MAN:
Upload the specs to my visor.

HOMER: I advise strict
precautionary measures, sir.

It is abnormal
for your arrival to go unprotested.

IRON MAN:
Maybe I'm just getting real good at this

clandestine offensive stuff, HOMER.

Why, I'll bet
he doesn't even know I'm here!

[THE MANDARIN LAUGHING EVILLY]

Then again...

You ever get the feeling
your problems are just beginning?

[THUNDERING]

THE MANDARIN:
For I have written it in the stars.

I am Iron Man!

I am Iron Man!

'