Melody's POV
"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report," Dad said, on the phone.
"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?"
"How much have you had?" I asked.
"Two or three bowls."
"Can you still see straight?" Dad asked.
"Sort of."
"That means you're fine. Give me Jarvis. Jarvis, how are we?" Dad asked.
"It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence, I say the wrong cranberry. And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."
"What are we talking? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?" I asked.
"Actually, sir, it's in Miami."
"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is," Dad said, looking at me.
"Um, it does say Miami, Florida."
"Okay, first things first, Dad's going to need the armor. Where are we at with it?" I asked.
"Uh, it's not charging," Harley said and Dad pullled over, breathing heavily.
"Dad, relax. We'll figure this out like we always do," I said.
"Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42."
"What's questionable about electricity? All right? It's my suit, and I can't... I'm not gonna... I don't wanna... Oh, God, not again," Dad said.
"Tony? Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York."
"Right, and then you just said it by name while denying having said it," I told him.
"Okay, um, uh..."
"God, what am I gonna do?"
"Just breathe. Really, just breathe. You're a mechanic, right?" Harley said.
"Right."
"You said so."
"Yes, I did," Dad affirmed.
"Why don't you just build something?" Harley asked.
"Okay. Thanks, kid," Dad said and we were off.
Timeskip
Melody's POV
With the janky thing Dad had built, it wasn't very hard for us to infiltrate the Manderian's mansion.
"Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes. Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" The Mandarin asked.
"That's me."
"Ah! Nessie. Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?"
"There's some guy over here," Vanessa said but the Mandarin kept talking.
"They're made by Americans, based on a Japanese recipe."
"Hey!" Dad said, pointing a gun at him and the Mandarin raised his hands.
"Bloody hell. Bloody hell."
"Don't move," I growled.
"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it. Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."
"What?" Dad asked.
"Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?"
"Heard enough. You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy. Where? Where's the Mandarin? Where is he?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's here. He's here, but he's not here. He's here, but he's not here."
"What do you mean?" I asked. This guy had to be high.
"It's complicated. Hey, it's complicated."
"It is?" Dad asked.
"It's complicated."
"Uncomplicate it. Ladies, out. Get out of the bed. Get into the bathroom. Sit," Dad said.
"My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery."
"What are you? What are you, a decoy? You're a double, right?" I asked.
"What, you mean like an understudy? No, absolutely not. Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor."
"You got a minute to live. Fill it with words," Dad ordered.
"It's just a role. "The Mandarin," see, it's not real."
"Then how did you get here, Trevor?"
"Um. Well, I, um, had a little problem with, um, substances. And I ended up, um, doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do."
"Next?"
"Then, they approached me about the role, and they knew about the drugs."
"What did they say? They'd get you off them?" I suggested.
"They said they'd give me more. They gave me things. They gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things."
"Did you just nod off? Hey," Dad asked, kicking him. '
"No, and a lovely speedboat. And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."
"'He'? Killian?"
"Killian," Trevor agreed.
"He created you?" I asked.
"He created me."
"Custom-made terror threat," Dad said.
"Yes. Yes. His think tank thinked it up. The pathology of a serial killer. The manipulation of Western iconography. Ready for another lesson? Blah, blah, blah. No. Of course, it was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life."
"Your performance? Where people died?" Dad asked.
"No, they didn't. Look around you. The costumes, green screen. Honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. And when I was, it was movie magic, love."
"I'm sorry, but I got a best friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up. So you're gonna have to answer for that. You're still going down, pal. You under..." Dad said before everything went black.
Timeskip
Melody's POV
"It's just like old times, huh?" Maya asked as we came too.
"Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It's a ball."
"It wasn't my idea," Maya said.
"Okay. So you took Killian's card," I said.
"I took his money."
"And here you are 13 years later, in a dungeon."
"No," She argued.
"Yeah."
"No, you're in a dungeon. I'm free to go."
"Yeah?"
"A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close. Extremis is practically stabilized."
"I'm telling you it isn't. I'm on the street. People are going bang. They're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself."
"Then help me fix it."
"Did I do that?" Dad asked.
"Yes."
"I remember the night, not the morning. Is this what you've been chasing around?" dad asked.
"You don't remember?" Maya asked in disbelief.
"Don't take it personally, he doesn't remember most of the women he's screwed," I shrugged.
"I can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now, look at you. I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul. Get us out of here. Come on."
"You know what my old man used to say to me? One of his favorite of many sayings... 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese'," Killian said.
"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Dad asked.
"How can I be pissed at you, Tony? I'm here to thank you. You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me. Desperation. If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour... I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean."
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse," Dad said.
"Me too. What happened to him?"
"But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target," Killian said.
"You're something else."
"You have met him, I assume?"
"Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier."
"I know he's a little over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden... He's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is. Anyway, the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day."
"A dude with a hammer fell out of the sky? What else did I fucking miss?" I asked.
"What's next for you in your world?"
"Well, I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me. Desperation. Now, this is life. I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular. But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain. We haven't even talked salary yet. What kind of perk package are you thinking of?"
"Let them go," Maya said.
"Hold on, hold on. Maya..."
"I said, let them go."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"1200 CCs. A dose half of this size, I'm dead," Maya explained.
"It's times like this my temper is tested somewhat. Maya, give me the injector."
"If I die, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product?"
"We're not doing this, okay?"
"What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?" Maya asked and Killian shot her.
"The good news is, a high-level position has just been vacated."
"You are a maniac."
"No, I'm a visionary. But I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight," Killian said.
Timeskip
Tony's POV
"Careful, there. It's a limited edition. Hey, uh, Ponytail Express. What's the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami?" I asked.
"832 miles."
"Very nice."
"I'm good like that. Can you, uh, stop that?"
"Break it, you bought it," I warned.
"I think I bought it," The second guard said, breaking the watch.
"Okay, that wasn't mine to give away. That belongs to my friend's sister. And that's why I'm gonna kill you first."
"What are you gonna do to me?"
"You'll see," I said.
"You're zip-tied to a bed."
"This. That."
"Dad, you really gotta work on that," Tails said.
"Not the time Tails."
"We got nothin' but time."
"Trust me, you're gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three... Come on! Two..."
"How did we get this shift?"
"All right, I'm gonna give you a chance to escape. Put down your weapons. Tie yourselves to those chairs. I'll let you live. In five, four, bang!"
"Wow. That was..."
"You should be gone by now. You should've already been gone," I said.
"I am just beyond terrified."
"Here it comes. Three, four..."
"Shut up."
"Five, four, three, two, one! Told you."
"Where's the rest?" Melody asked as we busted out of our confines and beat the guards.
"Where's the rest?" I asked. "Where's you're suit?"
"Don't need one," She growled, partially shifting.
"Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird."
"Ah! Better late than never. Not this time. Not the face. Phew! It's good to be back. Hello, by the way. Mind sending Tails suit?"
"Oh, hello, sir. It is on it's way."
"Ah! Let's go! Aw, crap."
"Well, this will be fun," Melody said as we started moving.
"Tony?"
"Rhodey, tell me that was you in the suit."
"No. You got yours'?"
"Uh... Mmm. Kind of. Main house, as fast as you can. There's somebody I'd like you to meet," I said.
"You, you, you! Move! Get out!"
"The room is secure. I have eyes on the Mandarin."
"What's this? I had winners," Rhodey said.
"What have you come as?"
"You make a move, and I break your face," Rhodey said.
"I never thought people had been hurt. They lied to me."
"This is the Mandarin?" Rhodey asked.
"Yeah, I know, it's... It's embarrassing," I said and Melody snorted.
"Hi, Trevor. Trevor Slattery. I know I'm shorter in person. A bit smaller. Everyone says that. But, um, hey, if you're here to arrest me, there's some people I'd like to roll on."
"Here's how it works, Meryl Streep. You tell him where Pepper is and he'll stop doing it."
"Doing what? Ow, I get it! Ow! That hurt. I get it! I get it! I don't know about any Pepper, but I know about the plan."
"Spill," Melody growled.
"Do you know what they did to my suit?" Rhodey asked.
"What? No. But I do know it's happening off the coast. Something to do with a big boat. I can take you there. Woah! Ole', ole', ole', ole'..."
"Tony, I swear to God, I'm gonna blow his face off."
"Oh, and this next bit may include the vice president as well. Is that... Is that important?" Trevor said.
"Yeah, a little bit," Melody told him.
"So?"
"What are we gonna do? I mean, we don't have any transport."
"Right. Hey, Ringo. Didn't you say something about a "lovely speedboat"? If he's right about the location, we're 20 minutes from where Pepper is," I said.
"But we also have to figure out this vice president thing, right?"
"Right. I wonder who I'm calling right now. Oh! That's the vice president."
"Thanks. Hello?"
"Sir, this is Tony Stark."
"Welcome back to the land of the living."
"We believe you're about to be drawn into the Mandarin campaign. We gotta get you somewhere safe as soon as possible."
"Mr. Stark, I'm about to eat honey-roast ham, surrounded by the Agency's finest. The president's safe on Air Force One with Colonel Rhodes. I think we're good, here."
"Sir, this is Colonel Rhodes. They're using the Iron Patriot as a Trojan horse. They're gonna take out the president somehow. We have to immediately alert that plane."
"Okay, I'm on it. I'll have security lock it down. If need be, they can have F-22s in the air in 30 seconds. Thank you, Colonel."
"Rhodes and Stark out," Rhodey said.
"We gotta make a decision. We can either save the president, or Pepper. We can't do both," Uncle Rhody told us.
"I mean, there are three of us," Melody said.
"Sir, I have an update from Malibu. The cranes have finally arrived, and the cellar doors are being cleared as we speak," JARVIS told me.
"And what about the suit I'm wearing?"
"The armor is now at 92%."
"That's going to have to do. And Melody's suit?"
"Is about five minutes away, sir."
"Dad. It's time people know what I am," Melody said.
"Melody-"
"No, dad. It's time."