Avengers: Vengeance

Questions and Answers

"I'd offer your gigantic friend a dog treat but I don't think they make milk bones big enough for him," Tony said.

Helion looked over at Lockjaw- who huffed indignantly- as the three of them trudged through the dank tunnel. "You mentioned that your name makes others angry. Why?"

Tony sighed and walked up to an alcove that was filled with boxes. "Because I caused all of this."

Helion watched the earthling as he opened a box and pulled out some packages. "You caused the destruction of your planet? How? Are you an inhuman?"

Tony shook his head with confusion. "Uh, no. Just a genius who made some bad calls. Here," he said, handing Helion one of the packages. "It's a ration. Military grade. Tastes awful but it's all I've got until I run out."

Helion peered into the box, noting the dwindling supply of rations. "And then?"

Tony shrugged. "Then I guess I'll starve. I'm sure it's what I deserve." He prepared a ration and set it before Lockjaw. "There you go, giant royal dog- eat up."

Lockjaw sniffed the food and let out a little groan of disgust.

"Lockjaw, be polite," Helion chided him. He took a bite of the food and hid his own distaste. "How did you do all of this?"

Tony smiled sadly. "Guess it's story time, isn't it?"

Helion listened intently as the man told him his story of how he'd been responsible for the development of highly-advanced weapons and technology. He told Helion about how things had quickly gotten out of hand.

"I wanted to try to fix things. Create a safeguard or something," Tony explained. "So I created Ultron."

Helion scowled. "Ultron? You mean the machines that engaged the Hulk in combat?"

"Yup. Ultron is an artificial intelligence. A program that was supposed to act as a type of safeguard for the weapons I've made. But Ultron was worse than the weapons. He became self-aware. He used his access to the internet and learned more than I ever intended him to. He became disgusted with humanity and decided to murder all of us. I guess he watched Two Girls, One Cup or something."

Helion regarded him curiously.

"Never mind," Tony said with a wry grin. "That's a story for another day. He turned the weapons on most major cities."

Helion took in what he was hearing and withheld his questions, knowing that Tony was far from finished.

"Ultron targeted and destroyed so much of the planet."

"Surely there are others if you're still alive," Helion reasoned.

Tony chuckled. "That was the poetic justice of it all. Ultron kept me alive so I could...live with my failure."

"For a machine he seems quite emotional."

Tony shrugged. "Yeah. Well, he's not the only one who'd have it in for me. The only inhabitable part of the planet is Doom Empire. It's a huge territory ruled by a man called Victor Von Doom. When the bombs dropped, he maintained a safe zone for survivors."

"Benevolent of him," Helion observed.

Tony shook his head. "No. Not benevolent. Doom isn't any kind of savior. He promised survivors a safe place to live, but he controls his empire like a tyrant. He demands total worship and adoration from them. He controls them through fear and threats of violence. I've seen footage of the public executions he orders for anyone who would speak out against him."

Helion looked down at the sad remains of his rations. "My people should never have left your planet. Or we should have come sooner than now."

Tony observed Helion curiously. "Alright, kid. It's your turn. Where are you from? What is an inhuman?"

Helion dove into his tale explaining the origins of the inhumans- how they'd once been the primitive beings of earth. Through experimentations inflicted upon them by an invading alien race, a select group of people had developed superhuman abilities.

"So you're a race of super-humans then?"

"Only some of us have super powers. Through exposure to terrigen mist, the genetic material that carries our dormant powers becomes activated."

"Terrigen mist?"

"A product of terrigen crystals," Helion said. He smiled, noting that this answer did little to satisfy Tony's question. "Terrigen mist is...it's the key to the lock, essentially. It opens up the inhuman genes."

Tony shrugged. "I mean, there's a gamma-radiated monster outside and a gigantic, teleporting dog eating my rations. I can't really afford to disbelieve things, can I? So why'd your people leave earth?"

"The early inhumans were once seen as godlike figures because we repelled the aliens and went on to protect humans. But there came a time when my people left earth because humankind had grown suspicious of them. Fearful of their abilities. The inhumans were also concerned that their powers would come to do more harm than good. So they traveled to Uranus and used atmospheric generators to create a region capable of sustaining life. They've lived there ever since but maintain constant observation of earth."

"And why did you come back? Knowing what's happened to earth?"

Helion nodded. "My family has grown cold to the needs of Atillan. The people are starving. Our population's growth exceeds our ability to sustain it. I suggested we travel to earth and use our abilities to save this planet. Start over. But my family would hear nothing of this. So they framed me for attempted murder of the king and queen and sentenced me to death."

Tony shook his head rapidly. "Woah. That escalated quickly! Why?"

Helion looked away for a moment. "The royal family of Atillan is in constant political strife. My cousin, Acrimon, has always wanted me dead. But to openly attack a member of the royal family is treasonous. So he manipulated images of me, made it seem that I was attempting to poison the rulers. Of course, the others were in agreement with this plan. The noise I was making about their selfishness scared them into thinking that I might incite a revolt."

Tony smiled grimly. "So your teleporting dog brought you to earth."

"Yes. To save me so I might save this planet."

Tony admired the nobility of the prince, but he couldn't help but see the hopelessness in the situation. "I don't mean to be negative, but how is one person and a dog going to fix everything around here?"

Helion considered his words for a moment. "It's clear that this Ultron needs to be destroyed. And this tyrant...Doom...must be overthrown."

Tony shook his head. "Buddy, you're talking suicide."

"If I stayed on Atillan the outcome would be similar," Helion reasoned. "To not act...would be suicide."

"What do you suggest we even do?" Tony asked in a hopeless voice.

Helion tapped the collar on his neck. "First, this must be removed. It inhibits my ability to use my powers. You are a technological genius- surely you can determine how to do this."

Tony chuckled but couldn't deny the stirrings of hope the prince was making him feel. Plus, it had been a very long time since he'd been of any use to anyone.

"Then Lockjaw and I will face Ultron and Doom."

Tony shook his head. "You won't do it alone," he said. His tone surprised him; he sounded more confident, more certain. He sounded more like he used to sound before his failures and their results had buried him.

Helion raised an eyebrow. "What can you do? You've already said you have no powers."

Tony grinned. "You already said it, you silly goose- I'm a technological genius."