Maya and Tony are in a room, Tony is zip-tied to a bed frame. He wakes up. Maya says that this is just like old times.
Tony agrees and makes a comment about the zip ties
"Even captured, you still crack jokes." Rhodey said.
Maya tells him that this wasn't her idea.
"To what? Use Extremis on people, untested?" Sam asked.
Tony notes that Maya took Killians card."Okay. So you took Killian's card."
Maya says that she took his money.
"And here I thought she was nice." Tony said.
Tony makes a comment about her being in a dungeon 13 years later.
Maya says she isn't.
"But technically she is..." Scott said.
Tony says she is.
Maya says that Tony's in a dungeon but she's free to go.
"That's true." Scott said.
She walks up to him and says that a lot has happened but she's close. She tells him that Extremis is practically stabilized.
"No, it isn't." Bruce said.
Tony says that it isn't. He says that people are exploding and painting the walls.
Maya tells him to help her fix it. She holds out a card with an equation on the back of it.
"You did that... while you were drunk." Shuri said.
Tony asks if he was the one who did that.
"Of course you don't remember." Bruce sighed.
She lowers the card an says he did.
Tony says that he remembers the night but not the morning. He asks if this was what she's been chasing around.
"Well, I guess that's why she needed my help... I almost had it solved." Tony mumbled.
Maya asks if he doesn't remember.
Tony tells her that he can't help her. He says thats she used to have a moral psychology and ideals. He says that she wanted to help people.
"She's been corrupted, for lack of a better word." Natasha said.
He says that he used to wake up everyday with someone who still has her soul.
Pepper smiled.
He asks Maya to get him out of there.
"I don't think she will." Thor said.
Killian enters and says that his dad used to tell him that the early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.
"What the hell does that mean?" Clint asked.
"I'm starting to think he makes these 'sayings' up on the spot." Scott said.
Tony asks if he's still mad about Switzerland.
"No, how could he possibly still be mad about that?" Rhodey said, sarcastically.
Killian asks how he could be mad. He says that he's there to thank Tony.
"Not what I was expecting." Happy said.
He tells Tony that he gave him desperation and he says that that's the greatest gift anyone has given him.
"Desperate people make desperate decisions." Gamora added.
Killian tells Tony that he said he'd meet him on the roof. He says that for the first 20 minutes he thought he's show up and he says that after an hour he considered taking the 1 step shortcut to the locker.
"I never realized the consequences of that decision." Tony admitted.
Tony says that he's still trying to figure out what happened to the 1st mouse.
"Tony." Pepper chided.
Killian says that as he realized nobody was coming he had a thought that would guide him for years to come. He starts talking about anonymity and how it's been his mantra ever since.
"As long as no one sees him, he isn't a target." Peggy realized.
Killian says that he rules behind because the second they give evil a face they're handing someone a target.
Tony makes a comment about Killian being something else.
"He's insane." Hope said.
Killian says that he assumes Tony's met him.
Tony asks if he means Trevor and calls him Sir Laurence Oblivier.
Killian says that Trevor's a little over the top.
"Only sometimes?" Clint asked.
He says that it isn't Trevor's fault and says that he's a stage actor. He says that subtlety was lost ever since the man with the hammer fell out of the sky.
Thor looked offended and a little confused.
"He is right, you aren't exactly subtle." Loki said.
Valkyrie snickered.
Tony asks Killian what he plans to do next.
Killian tells Tony that he wanted to repay him for the gift he gave him. He shows Tony a video of Pepper, she's been injected with Extremis.
"No." Tony gasped.
Pepper looked scared, what if she wasn't able to regulate it, what if she died.
The two of them started clinging to one another.
He tells Tony that its a live feed and says that her body is deciding whether it'll accept Extremis or not. He says that if it doesn't the detonation will be spectacular.
Tony and Pepper both had tears in their eyes.
"You're gonna be okay, I swear you will be okay." Tony assured both himself and Pepper.
He says that it's a lot of pain until that point. He tells Tony that they haven't talked salary yet and asks what perk package he was thinking of. He grabs Tony's neck.
Maya tells him to let Tony go.
"So maybe she isn't that bad." Rhodey said.
Killian tells him to hold on.
She's holding an Extremis injection to her neck. She tells Killian to let Tony go.
Killian asks her what she's going.
"She's gonna kill herself." Hope whispered.
She says she has 1200 CCs and she'll be dead with a dose even half that.
Killian says that his temper is tested at times like this and tells Maya to give him the injector.
Maya asks him what happens to his soldiers and products if she does.
"He needs her." Nebula said.
Killian tells her that they're not going to do this.
Maya asks what happens to him of he gets too hot. Killian shoots her.
"What? If he needed her help why would he shoot her?" Steve asked.
"Maybe he thinks he can get me to help... He's got another thing coming if he thinks I actually will." Tony threatened.
Killian tells Tony that a high-level position has been vacated.
Tony glared at him. He's a lunatic.
Tony calls him a maniac.
Killian calls himself a visionary. He says that he does own a maniac and he's taking the stage that night. He leaves.
"No he's the maniac, Trevor is sane next to him." Clint said.
Killian says it'll take him 10 minutes for the takedown once he gets the Patriot installed.
Savin says that that's great but there's still someone inside of it.
"Yeah, me." Rhodey said angrily.
Someone is using a drill to try and get the armor off of Rhodey.
"Wont work." Tony said.
Killian enters the room and the drill stops. He greets everyone and tells them to step aside. He puts his hands on the armor and it starts to glow orange. He tells Rhodey that they'll get him out of the suit.
"If he melts it, how's is he gonna be able to use it?" Steve asked.
Savin tells him that he'll damage the armor.
Killian agrees and says that Savin can fix it.
"I sincerely doubt that." Tony said.
Killian says that he's going to take the Chinook to base camp and that he wants Pepper with him.
Savin says that she's still in phase 2.
Killian asks Savin if he's going deaf.
"That can't be good." Strange said.
Tony is still tied to the bed frame 2 guards are with him, his watch starts beeping.
"Why did it start beeping, did you put an alarm on it or something?" Scott asked. Tony shrugged.
One of the guards picks the watch up. Tony tells him to be careful and asks another guard for the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami.
The guard says that its 832 miles.
"You're gonna call the suit." Rhodey said.
"That's why the watch went off, it must finally be finished charging." Scott said.
Tony asks the guard to stop playing with the watch and says that if he breaks it he buys it.
The guard drops the watch and steps on it and says that he bought it.
"Rude, what did the watch ever do to you?" Ned asked.
Tony says that the watch wasn't his to give away. He says that it belonged to his friends sister and tells the guard he's going to kill him first.
The guard asks Tony what he'll do to him.
"Yeah, how are you gonna kill him before your suit gets there, you're tied up." Natasha said.
Tony tells the guard that he'll see.
The guard tells him that he's zip tied to a bed frame.
He holds out his hands and nothing happens. He tries to call the suit again. Still, nothing happens.
"So either you timed it wrong or its late." Pepper said.
Killian is still trying to get Rhodey out of the armor he asks if he's coming out.
Rhodey tells the suit not to open.
"It's gonna open. It can't take that heat." Tony pointed out.
It starts beeping. The suit opens Rhodey jumps out and punches Savin, then kicks him. Killian breathes fire.
"He breathes fire!?" Everyone yelled.
"What the hell?" Rhodey asked, breathlessly.
Rhodey notes that Killian breathes fire. Savin knocks him out.
"Shit." Tony sighed.
Killian says that its a glorious day. He says that he'll have the west's most powerful leader on one hand and the world's most feared terrorist in the other. He says that he'll own the world on terror.
"He's a madman." Thor said.
Tony tells the guards that they're going to be in a puddle of blood on the floor, then starts counting down from 5.
"It still hasn't gotten there?" Clint laughed.
One of the guards asks how they got stuck with this shift.
"They probably think you're crazy." Rhodey said.
Tony tells the guards that he'll give them a chance to escape. He tells them to put their weapons down and tie themselves to the chairs. He counts down from 5 again. He says that the guards should've already been gone by now.
Why is it so late?" Tony asked.
"Traffic." Sam suggested with a laugh.
"Oh, ha ha." Tony said.
One of the guards jokes about being terrified.
"Same." Rhodey laughed.
Tony counts up from 3.
A guard tells him to shut up.
Tony quickly counts down from 5. A gauntlet flies through the window and attaches itself to Tony's left hand.
"Its about time." Wanda said.
Tony hits the guy with a repulsor.
"Ha ha!" Scott cheered.
He frees himself from the bed frame he grabs a gun and blocks one of the guards from hitting him, one of the flight stabilizers attaches itself to his foot.
"Where's the rest?" Rhodey asked.
He kicks the guard away, then shoots him. Tony asks where the rest of the suit was.
"Maybe they got lost." Sam laughed.
Harley looks out his window and sees the shed doors banging, he walks out and unlocks the door, the rest of the suit flies out.
"I guess that's why its taking so long." Tony mumbled.
Three more guards enter, tony shoots at them with a repulsor beam. He flies up and shoots at them with his gun. He lands and ducks behind a wall, still shooting.
"Must be difficult to use that thing when you only have 2 pieces." Clint commented.
The gun runs out of bullets, he tosses it. A guard shoots at him from behind the wall. Tony fires a repulsor beam at him. He fires again at the guards above him. He flies up to them, then disarms one.
"I guess minimal suit is better than no suit." Tony said.
He fires at two guards, being restrained by one , he steps on the guards toe causing him to shoot at the one on the floor. He throws himself and the guard behind him into the wall. One last guard enters, Tony aims both hands at him. The man says that he hates working there because the others are weird. Tony waves at him.
"I mean... they are very strange people." Quill said.
"If threatening the president and giving experimental drugs to strangers causing them to blow up is strange, then sure, they're strange people." Tony said.
Tony starts walking through the hallway, the rest of the suit attaches itself to him. He makes a comment about it being better late than never.
"Finally." Scott said.
He gets outside. Tony tells it not to hit him in the face. He catches the face-plate and puts it on.
"Damn, I was hoping it would hit you." Natasha said, disappointed.
Tony says that its good to be back and greets JARVIS.
He looks up and sees a plane flying away, then looks over and sees the patriot armor flying away.
"How the hell did they do that so fast?" Rhodey asked, worried.
Rhodey, now conscious, is sitting on the floor.A guard announces that Tony is somewhere in the compound. Rhodey stands.
"Did they honestly think that I wouldn't come up with some sort of plan?" Tony asked.
Tony goes to fly away, but he can't.
"How did you expect to have any flight power? It did come all the way from Tennessee." Steve asked.
Rhodey throws a guard over the wall, then jumps the wall and lands on top of the guard, he searches him. Tony walks down the stairs.
A few people laugh.
"You look so stupid right now." Pepper laughed.
Rhodey pulls out his phone and asks about Tony.
Tony asks Rhodey to tell him that it's him in the suit.
"Um..." Scott trailed off.
Rhodey says it isn't and asks Tony if he has his.
Tony says he kind of does. He tells Rhodey to get to the main house because there's someone he wants him to meet.
"Trevor." Quill guessed.
Trevor is asleep in a chair, a beer in his hand. 2 girls are playing ping pong. 2 guards enter one of them tells the girls to leave. The girls leave.
The other guard says the the room is secure and he has eyes on the Mandarin.
"No you don't." Peter said.
Tony enters, holding a car battery and a ping pong paddle and says that he has winners. The guards fire at him. Rhodey jumps through the window.
"You two have a shared habit of jumping through windows." Natasha mused.
"Great minds think alike." Tony replied.
"Sure... great minds." Pepper said.
Rhodey shoots them. Trevor awakens and sips his beer.
"How can he just sit there and drink amidst chaos?" Strange asked.
"Its easy if you put your mind to it." Valkyrie said.
"Keep in mind, he's also been living around those people for months, chaos is probably a normal thing." Gamora said.
Trevor asks him what he came as.
Rhodey points a gun to his head and tells him that he'll break his face if he makes a move.
"You're even more trigger happy than Nat." Clint said. Natasha glared at him, but there was no heat behind it.
Trevor says that he didn't think people were getting hurt, He says that the lied to him.
"They're blowing things up and he thinks nobody's been hurt?" Steve asked, incredulously.
Rhodey asks Tony if Trevor's the Mandarin.
Tony says that its embarrassing.
"You got that right." Scott said.
Trevor introduces himself and says that if they're there to arrest him there's some people he'd like to roll on.
Tony calls him Meryl Streep and tells him that Rhodey will drop the gun if he tells them where Pepper is.
"You and your god-forsaken nicknames." Thor said.
Rhodey burns his ear with the gun. Trevor exclaims in pain and says that he doesn't know a Pepper but he knows about the plan.
"Well, that's a start." Tony sighed.
Tony tells him to spill.
Rhodey asks if Trevor knows what happened to his suit.
"Of course you ask that." Tony said.
"Hey, its an important question, we have no idea what they could be doing." Rhodey protested.
"Point." Tony said.
Trevor says he doesn't but he knows it's happening off the coast. He says that it has something to do with a boat boat and he can take them there. Trevor looks behind him at the TV and exclaims with joy.
"I'm honestly starting to wonder how he was able to convince everyone he was a terrorist." Rhodey said.
Rhodey tells Tony that he's going to blow Trevor's face off.
"So impatient." Tony teased.
Trevor says that it may also include the Vice President and asks if that's important.
Rhodey says that it's a little important.
"Ya think!?" Everyone yelled.
Rhodey asks what they're going to do because they don't have transport.
Tony asks Trevor about his 'lovely speedboat.'
A few people smirked.
Tony and Rhodey are now on a boat. Tony says that if Trevor was right they're 20 minutes away from where Pepper is.
Rhodey says that they still have to figure out what's happening to the Vice President.
Tony tells him that he's going to call the Vice President.
"You have the vice president's phone number?" Steve asked.
"I do, I've had it since the campaign started a few weeks ago." Tony said.
A man hands the vice president his phone, he answers.
Tony greets him by stating his name.
The Vice President welcomes him back to the land of the living.
Tony sighed.
Tony tells the Vice President that he might be drawn into the Mandarin campaign and they need to get him somewhere safe.
The Vice President says that he's about to eat honey roast ham surrounded by the agency's finest. He says that President Ellis is on Air Force One and he's safe with Rhodey.
"Yeah, about that-" Rhodey started.
The Vice President says that he thinks they're good.
"Debatable" Tony said.
Rhodey takes the phone and tells the Vice President that the Iron Patriot armor os being used as a Trojan horse. He says that they're going to take out the President and they need to alert the plane.
"Yes, please do that." Scott said.
The Vice President says that he'll have security lock the plane down and there can be F-22's in the air if they need to be.
Rhodey says that he and Tony are out.
Clint started laughing. "I'm sorry it's just the way you said it- it sounded so stupid."
A man asks the vice president if everything is okay.
The Vice President says that it couldn't be better. He walks over to his daughter, who is in a wheelchair and has one leg and tells her he loves her.
"Killian is going to offer him Extremis as a cure for is daughter." Natasha observed.
President Ellis walks toward a plane, rows of soldiers on either side of him salute him. The Iron Patriot lands and starts walking toward him. President Ellis greets him. He salutes him. Iron Patriot mimics the movement. President Ellis says that he's glad he could make it and says that he feels safer already.
"Except you aren't safe, at all." Rhodey said.
Rhodey tells Tony that they can either save President Ellis or Pepper but they can't save both.
"That is a very difficult choice." Quill said.
Tony and Pepper glanced at each other, both realizing the severity of the situation.
"I'm not gonna let you die, I hope you know that." Tony said.
JARVIS tells Tony that he has an update from Malibu. He says that the cranes have arrived and the cellar doors are being cleared.
"The cellar doors, what's down- that's where you put all of your suits isn't it?" Pepper asked.
"I guess so." Tony replied.
Tony asks about the suit he's wearing.
JARVIS says that the armor is at 92%
Tony says that that'll have to do.
"Oh boy." Scott sighed.
The Iron Patriot walks up to two people. Someone says to get a picture. The other holds out his phone.
"Looks like someone's got some fans." Tony teased.
Iron Patriot pushes him away and closes the door, he opens the suits hand and melts the door handle.
"Wonder which one of Killian's soldiers this is." Rhodey said.
He walks into a meeting room. A man asks him if everything is alright.
"No."
Iron Patriot throws something at a man, killing him.
A few gasps were heard.
Another starts shooting at him. He throws him into another guy. Someone else starts shooting. He throws him through the wall, throws one into the table, shoots two more, and then kills the last one. The president and someone else are hiding under a table.
"At least they're okay." Steve said.
Iron patriot lifts up the table and throws the guy across the room. The President starts crawling away. Iron Patriot puts him in a choke hold.
"Spoke too soon." Bucky said.
The suit opens, the Extremis solder is revealed to be Savin.
"Oh, that dick again." Happy said.
Savin tells the President that its an honor.
The President tells Savin to do what he planned to do.
"There's no way they're just going to kill him." Peggy said.
Savin says that that's not how the Mandarin works.
"What are they gonna do do him?" Howard asked quietly.
Someone says that Air Force One has been compromised. He says that there are internal shots and temperature spikes.
Another man says to get him eyes on it.
Someone says that the image is coming through.
SOmeone asks if that was Rhodey.
"Nope." Rhodey said.
Someone, from the locked room, asks if anyone is out there.
Savin, no longer in the suit, prepares to leave.
"Why is he still there, he already took the president?" T'Challa asked.
Someone knocks on the side of the plane, Savin looks to see who it was. Tony shoots him, through the plane. Savin stands up, smirking.
Tony tackles him from behind. He holds him against the wall and asks where the President is.
Savin says that he's not there.
"Wait how, if he never left then- the armor." Rhodey realized. "He used the Iron Patriot armor to kidnap the president and presumably sent him straight to Killian."
Savin burns Tony's arm and tells him to try the jet stream and tells him to go fish. He clicks a button and a hole is blown in the side of the plane. Everyone that was trapped starts falling out of the plane.
"Oh no."
Tony uses his chest repulsor to shoot a hole in Savin's chest and tells him to walks away from that.
People cheered. "Finally!" Happy yelled. Tony stared at him. "I just really hate that guy." He explained.
Tony rushes to the room where everyone was trapped, just as the last guy falls out, he flies out after him. He asks how many people are in the air.
JARVIS says that there are 13 in the air.
Tony asks how many he can carry.
JARVIS tells him that he can carry 4.
"Shit." Tony sighed.
"At least you can try to save as many of them as possible." Clint said.
He flies down and grabs a woman and tells her to relax and asks for her name then he looks at her name tag. The plane blows up. Tony tells her that he is going to fly past a guy and she's going to grab him.
"I don't think she understands." Bruce said.
Tony tells her that he'll electrify her arm so she won't able to open her hand. She grabs the guy's leg.
"That's actually a good idea." Strange said as he realized what Tony was trying to do.
Tony says that there are 11 more to go. He asks if everyone remembers Barrel of Monkeys and says that that's what they're going to do.
"Here we go again with the children's games." Pepper sighed.
JARVIS says that they're at 18,000 feet.
Tony tells everyone to grab their monkey. They grab 4 more people.
JARVIS says that they're at 10,000 feet. 2 more people. JARVIS says that they're at 6,000 feet.
"You're getting pretty close to the ground." Scott said, worried.
They grab more people. One more remains. JARVIS continues calling out how low they're getting.
There's 1 more guy, Tony comments about him being a 'chunky monkey'. The grab him, once they get low enough, Tony drops them in the water.
A few people looked impressed.
They start cheering. Tony congratulates everyone. He tells JARVIS that they're only halfway done and they still need to get Pepper. The armor gets hit by a bus.
A few people flinched from surprise.
"So you weren't actually there?" Sam asked.
Tony comments about the bus coming out of nowhere.
Rhodey opens the door and tells Tony to give him some good news.
Tony says he thinks all of them made it.
"That's good." Steve said.
Rhodey is relieved.
Tony says that he missed the President.
Rhodey asks how he's going to save Pepper with nothing if he couldn't save the President with the suit.
"Hey I only missed the president because he was gone before I got there." Tony defended.
Tony asks JARVIS if its 'that time.'
JARVIS asks if he means the 'House Party Protocol.'
"What the hell is The House Party Protocol?" Pepper asked.
"I don't know I haven't made it yet." Tony said.
"Well, whatever it is, it better help us get Killian." Rhodey said.
"Its a surprise tool that can help us later." Peter said, doing a bad impression of Mickey Mouse.
The cellar doors open. Blue circles of light are seen.
"All of your suits." Pepper realized.