Mazzy sits in the backseat of a car, right next to Pepper, while Happy drives and Natalie— Mazzy still isn't allowed to call her Natasha yet— takes the passenger seat.

Tony insisted that Mazzy can't be home while he's working on his new project because it is just too dangerous. He's attempting to rediscover a new element that will be a suitable replacement for the palladium in his chest. With everything his father left behind with SHIELD, Tony actually has hope of finding something better. Mazzy wishes he would hurry up and figure it out so she can go home again.

Everything is suddenly different since Mazzy saw herself on the TV. During the car ride, Pepper, Happy, and Natalie have all been reminding her of how to behave at the expo. She's supposed to turn her hearing aids off until they get to their seats so that she can't hear any of the things people are going to shout at her. She's supposed to stay right by Pepper's side. She's supposed to stay silent unless she is talking to Pepper, Happy, or Natalie. She's supposed to try to keep her head down so less people will take pictures of her.

"Maz, are you listening?" Pepper asks, nudging Mazzy's shoulder.

Really, though, Mazzy isn't listening. She just wants everything to go back to normal and she doesn't understand why they can't. She feels extremely confused about a lot of different things and it doesn't feel fair. Why do they get to tell her exactly how to act? Why can't she be like any other kid? What is so different about her?

"How come I can't remember being three or four or five?" Mazzy asks Pepper, her eyebrows furrowed. Everyone always tells her it's normal not to remember being those ages, but her dad will sometimes tell stories about being that young, whenever he's talking about his mom. He doesn't talk about his dad too much, though.

Pepper sighs, making eye contact with Happy in the rearview mirror. "Because you were too little to remember," she says quickly. She doesn't like lying to Mazzy, but she doesn't have much of a choice at that point. "Now, Mazzy, I really need you to listen to me. You have to follow these rules now if you want to be safe."

"How come they put me on the news?" Mazzy asks next. The news people were saying she wasn't normal, which is really weird because, well, Mazzy feels pretty normal. How she is, is all she can ever remember being.

"Mazzy, that isn't important right now. You can ask your dad another time, but right now I need you to listen to me," Pepper says sternly.

Mazzy lets out a huff, crossing her arms and slouching down in her seat. "It's not fair! I should be allowed to know stuff about myself!" she whines. She just feels so incredibly frustrated by all of it. She feels like they are all keeping one big secret from her and she is just too stupid to figure it out.

The car pulls up outside the expo and Mazzy feels like crying.

"We can talk about this later. I promise," Pepper says. She isn't sure if she can keep that promise, though. Tony is the only one allowed to choose whether or not Mazzy gets to know about what happened to her. If he says no, then Mazzy will remain in the dark about the whole thing.

"I don't wanna go to this stupid expo," Mazzy spits. She just wants to go home.

"It'll be over before you know it," Pepper tells her. It isn't true, but it's what she has to say in order to get her out of the car.

Albeit reluctantly, Mazzy gets out of the car.

"I'll keep the car down here, alright?" Happy says to Pepper.

"Thank you, Happy," Pepper says. She looks down at Mazzy and taps her ear, reminding her to turn off her hearing aids.

Mazzy reaches up to her ears to turn them off, but as soon as Pepper looks away, she lets her hands drop back down to her sides. She isn't going to turn them off. She wants to be able to hear what people are saying. If Pepper won't tell her, then she has to figure it out herself. So she keeps them on, only pretending that they're off.

Pepper grabs her hand and they begin walking.

As they're walking, Mazzy sees some people giving her strange looks, stopping with their spouses to whisper about her. She can't really hear much of the whispering, but she catches some things.

"Did you hear what they're saying about her?"

"I heard she never really got sick. Tony Stark was just experimenting on her."

"The lady said she was lying about it, though."

"Stark probably just paid her off."

"Do you think he'll ever tell her?" This voice is Natalie's. She's talking to Pepper, thinking that Mazzy can't hear any of it.

"You know?" Pepper asks, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she glances over to Natalie.

"I was with him when it came on the news. He gave me the rundown," Natalie lies easily and flawlessly.

"Well, if he doesn't tell her, she'll eventually figure it out herself. She's smarter than she thinks she is," Pepper replies, giving Mazzy's hand a squeeze.

Mazzy wants to ask them what her dad isn't telling her, but that would give her away. She also finds it quite annoying that they're talking about her right there next to her, just assuming she can't hear them. Even if she had turned her hearing aids off like she was supposed to, she still thinks they shouldn't be talking about her like that. It's just rude.

They continue walking until they get to their seats. Mazzy takes the seat between Pepper and Natalie, and she pretends to reach up and turn her hearing aids back on. It's a good thing Pepper believed her so easily.

Still, though, Mazzy is annoyed with her. She just wants to know the truth. It isn't fair that everyone is hiding things about herself from her. It is herself. She deserves to know about her own past, doesn't she? So how come everyone is hiding it from her? How bad is it?

Loud music starts playing from the speakers, the audience applauds just as loudly, and Justin Hammer dances his way to center stage. Mazzy doesn't know much about Justin Hammer, aside from the fact that her dad hates him. He seems annoying already, in her opinion. She doesn't like his face. Or his dance moves.

"That's what I'm talking about," Justin says as he reaches his place and finally stops dancing. Mazzy slouches down in her seat. She can hardly see, and she doesn't really care to see him, either way. "Thanks for coming. Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. And it's just too bad."

"Oh, Lord," Pepper groans quietly.

Mazzy rolls her eyes at that, even if she is annoyed with her dad at that moment. Even she is smart enough to understand that the only reason her dad keeps his suit designs and other technology to himself is because it's too dangerous in the hands of the US government. If they get a hold of it, they won't use it for good. They'd use it for power, just like they do with other technology.

It is good to defend your country and allied countries with your weapons, but it isn't good to use your weapons to defeat, overpower, or kill innocent people from other countries. If the US government gets its hands on such powerful weapons, there is no telling what kinds of things they would use those weapons for. Even if Mazzy doesn't understand the complex intricacies of it all, she is smart enough to understand the gist of it.

And the gist of it is that weapons in the wrong hands are bad. Really, really bad.

Nevertheless, Justin Hammer goes on.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, one that grabbed headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink."

Confused as to what ink has to do with anything, the audience lets out awkward, scattered pity claps for Justin.

Two backstage workers run onto the stage and take away the podium so that Justin can have more room to move. He clears his throat and adjusts the sleeves of his shirt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you," Justin puts his hands on his hips, standing tall in the spotlight, "the new face of the United States military." He holds his arms out to his sides. "The Hammer Drone!"

More music starts to play and large robot-looking drones raise up through the floor. They look like bad, remote-controllable versions of Tony's suit, and they are about a hundred times less cool-looking. The audience cheers like it's the most amazing thing they have ever seen. Mazzy looks over at Pepper only to see her with her mouth slightly open and a look of disbelief plastered on her face. Has Justin really just taken Tony's suit and made it remote-controlled? Is that it?

"Navy!" Justin announces, pointing to another empty space on the stage.

Eight more drones rise from the floor. These ones are even stranger-looking, designed for the sea.

"Air Force!"

Again, eight new drones rise up onto the stage.

"Marines!"

And eight more.

"Yeah! Yeah! Whoo!" Justin exclaims as the audience applauds him and his drones.

The problem with drones fighting the wars is that, with only one little malfunction, tons of innocent human lives can be ended in the blink of an eye. And, since drones don't have hearts, if they are asked to do something incredibly inhumane and heartless, they will do it without hesitation because they are made to do exactly as they're asked. Again, if the wrong person gets control of that technology, everything could be over.

"That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell you," Justin jokes, referring back to Tony's performance at his expo. Mazzy doesn't really like the swimsuit-wearing women either, but now she does. Only because Justin doesn't. "But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war."

Mazzy has never understood the appeal of all this. Why do so many people want to come to this expo to see the machines that will kill people in war? Why do they even have to lose people in war in the first place? There is no true goodness, because if there was true goodness, all war would be over. But that will never happen because there will always be someone who is just too power-hungry.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Justin Hammer says for the third time in this speech. Boy, can he come up with any original ideas? "Today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"

Pepper's jaw drops and Mazzy's eyes practically pop right out of her head as Rhodey— their Rhodey— rises out of the floor in a much larger and bulkier version of the Iron Man suit.

The suit is silver and gray, and its eyes glow red.

Did Rhodey really betray them like that?

Cheering from the audience gets even louder as Rhodey salutes, and all the drones behind him salute with him.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for..."

Justin is interrupted by a loud rumbling noise approaching from outside the stadium. Everyone turns in their seats, watching as a glowing ball in the distance turns into none other than Iron Man himself, landing on the stage, right across from Rhodey.

Now, at this, the audience practically explodes, jumping up out of their seats as they clap and cheer wildly.

Tony doesn't even spare them a glance. He just steps closer to Rhodey. It looks like they might be talking to each other, but no one from the audience can hear them. After a moment, he walks up next to Rhodey and waves at the crowd. Mazzy would wave at him back, but she is too busy being mad at him for that.

"Hey, alright! Yeah!" Justin starts yelling awkwardly. It is obvious that he wasn't planning on Iron Man making an appearance. "Huh?! Yeah!"

Then, out of nowhere, the large gun on the back of Rhodey's suit activates, pointing directly at Tony. After that, all of the bots behind him raise their weapons at the audience.

Instantaneously, the audience erupts with newfound panic. They all jump up out of their seats, trampling over each other to try and get out to safety. Natalie quickly lifts Mazzy up into her arms, holding the girl on her waist.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" Natalie says to Pepper as Tony blasts up through the roof of the stadium.

The drones fix their aim up at him. When they shoot, their bullets only hit the roof and the glass shatters, raining down on all of the guests. Only seconds later, Rhodey follows after Tony, and after Rhodey, all the Air Force drones follow, too. Mazzy can't believe any of it. Is Rhodey really about to fight her dad? They are best friends!

With the Rhodey and the Air Force drones gone, the other branches' drones begin marching off-stage, into the crowd.

"This way! We need to get to Hammer," Pepper says quickly. With Mazzy on her hip, Natalie follows Pepper as she rushes to get backstage, where she knows all of the technological problems must be resorting from.

As they enter the backstage area, they can see a bunch of different crew members rushing to do things on their computers and cell phones. "He's locked us out of the mainframe," one of the men says.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?!" Pepper asks, both extremely concerned and extremely annoyed.

"Please, please. Go away. Go away. I've got this handled!" Justin huffs, holding his hands out in front of him.

"No, you don't!" Mazzy growls in frustration. They can't go anywhere without somebody— like Justin Hammer— messing everything up!

"Yes, I do!" Justin insists. Both Pepper and Natalie glare right at him, ready to shut him down if he tries raising his voice in Mazzy's direction one more time. But he only looks at Pepper. "In fact, if your guy hadn't shown up, this wouldn't be happening. So please, now go away! Thank you!"

As Justin turns around to start talking to his tech guys again, Natalie puts Mazzy down. She walks up behind Hammer, grabs him by the arm, and slams his head down against the table, pinning him there. Pepper shrieks, her eyes wide with shock, while Mazzy only smiles.

"You tell me who's behind this. Who's behind this?!" Natalie— no, this is Natasha, now— asks, pulling Justin's arm back even further behind his back.

"I- Ivan," Justin grunts. "Ivan Vanko."

"Where is he?"

"He's at my facility," Justin answers.

With that, Natasha walks off without any other explanation.

One hand gripping Mazzy's arm, the other gripping onto her cell phone, Pepper dials up 911. "I need NYPD, please," she says as soon as the operator picked up.

"No, no, no!"

"Command Central," Pepper tells the operator.

"No, no, honey," Justin says, trying to get her to stop.

Mazzy sends a harsh kick into his shin. "Don't call her honey!" she spits.

Justin groans in pain, leaning over to rub the spot Mazzy kicked. "Don't- don't call the authorities," he practically pleads.

"Okay. Right away. Right away," Pepper says to the operator. She holds a hand out in front of Justin, shaking her head irritatedly. "Step aside. Step aside," she orders. Although reluctantly, Justin gives in and moves out of her way. She leans down next to one of the crew members. "Tell me everything you know. Go."

The noise outside is still painfully loud and it fills Mazzy with fear, but she tries to ignore it and remain tough, like Pepper and Natasha. She turns to look at Justin Hammer, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

He's still bent over, rubbing the spot on his shin that Mazzy had kicked. "Jesus," he mutters, glancing at Mazzy. "You are a strong little girl."

More and more drones begin leaving the stage and joining in on the attack on Tony Stark. It is no wonder Ivan Vanko— the man who had attacked Tony at that race— is behind it. He really wants Tony dead, apparently.

"Each set of drones is communicating in its own unique language," the tech man sitting at the computer tells Pepper.

"Well, choose one and focus on that," Pepper tells him, her tone tense and panicked.

"Have you tried Russian? Why don't you try Russian?" Justin suggests.

Feeling more confident in herself than usual, Mazzy sends another get to his shin. "Shut up. This is your fault! You just want money," she says, her eyebrows furrowed.

"God," Justin grunts, his teeth clenched together as he covers his shin with his hand. "You are your father's daughter."

Then— speak of the devil and he shall appear— Mazzy hears her father's voice. She turns around to see that Pepper has pulled up a connection with Natasha and Tony on one of the computers.

"Yes, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you," Tony's voice says, a bit muffled by the speakers.

"What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?" Pepper asks quickly, her eyebrows pinched together with concern.

"Oh, brother," Mazzy murmurs. She climbs up onto one of the seats and peers at the computer screen. She can see Natasha, but she can't see her dad. "Hi, Daddy," Mazzy says to the computer.

"Maz, Pepper? Is that you? Uh, no, I'm not dying. Not anymore," Tony says.

"What's going on?" Pepper asks, her voice higher than usual.

"He was sick, but a guy with an eyepatch helped him figure out how to get better," Mazzy explains. Pepper's eyes widen even more. Mazzy knows? And has actually been able to keep the secret?

"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you."

"You were gonna tell me? You really were dying?!"

"You didn't let me."

"Why didn't you tell me that?!"

"I was gonna make you an omelet and tell you!"

"Hey, hey! Save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming, Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you," Natasha interjects.

And, suddenly, Mazzy remembers that she is supposed to be mad at all of them. "Hey, Dad," she says to the computer.

"Hey, Maz," Tony replies.

"You're lying to me about something," Mazzy accuses in an agitated tone.

"Mazzy, I told you we'd talk about it later," Pepper tries to interrupt.

But Mazzy only goes on. "You're lying! All of you are and you have to tell me, Dad. I can't remember some things and I should be able to remember!"

"Okay, look-"

"You have to tell me, Dad!"

"Listen, Maz, we can-"

"I deserve to know!"

"-talk about it when I'm not fighting off a Hammeroid attack!"

Mazzy furrows her eyebrows with confusion, her mouth snapping shut. It's silent for a few moments. Then, "Hammeroid?"

"Tony, that wasn't funny," Pepper says, pulling Mazzy away from the computer.

"Okay, I have to go! Goodbye!"