Car after car pulls up outside the mansion, Happy checking everyone that goes inside. Rhodey drives up, talking on the phone. It's not a pleasant phone call. "Yes, sir, I understand... No... No, sir, that will not be necessary... I'll handle it... Sir, I personally guarantee that within 24 hours, Iron Man will be back on watch." He walks inside, then spots Pepper. "Hey, Pepper."

"I'm going to get some air," she says, starting to walk away.

He follows. "What's wrong?"

She leads him to Tony. "I don't know what to do."

"You gotta be kidding me."

Tony is in an Iron Man suit, stumbling around next to the DJ table at his birthday party. His helmet is on, but the mask is up. He's already drunk. California is playing. Party lights flash on the walls. People are drinking, shouting, dancing.

Rhodey sighs. "That's it, I'm making-"

"No, no, no, don't call anyone," Pepper says, panicked. That'll kill his reputation, and they'll be even more screwed than they were before.

"Pepper," Rhodey says, gesturing to Tony. "This is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck out for this guy."

"I know. I know. I get it. I'm gonna handle it, okay? Just let me handle it."

"Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to."

Pepper heads over to Tony as he talks to the crowd, holding a microphone. "You know, the question I get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?'" He pauses, then says, "Just like that."

The crowd actually cheers, laughing. Pepper rolls her eyes, walking up to him. She takes the mic and plasters on a fake smile. "Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?"

The crowd cheers. Tony leans down to the mic and says, "I love you."

"Unbelievable," Pepper says, though more happily than she wants to. "Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming."

Tony starts to protest, and Pepper lowers the mic. "No, no, no, we can't, wait, wait, wait — we didn't have the cake, we didn't blow out the candles-"

"You're out of control," Pepper says quietly.

"You're out of control gorgeous."

"It's time to go to bed-"

Tony leans forward. "Give me a smooch-"

"You're not going to be happy about this-"

"Come on, you know you want to. Grace wants you to, she said so-"

Pepper, knowing he's drunk, ignores this. "You just peed in the suit."

"I know. It has a filtration system."

"It's gross."

"You could drink that water."

Pepper sighs. "Just send everybody home, okay?"

"If you say so."

"Okay." She hands him the microphone and takes the bottle of liquor he was drinking out of his hand.

He turns back to the crowd. "Pepper Potts." There's a small smattering of applause. He steps off stage: "She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in fifteen minutes! And if anybody — Pepper — doesn't like it, there's the door." He points to the door, but accidentally shoots it with his blaster. The crowd cheers as Pepper makes her way over to him and grabs the microphone.

She turns it off, then looks at Tony. "Your daughter is asleep upstairs-"

"I know-"

"You're going to wake her up, and she's going to see this. Not just in person, but tomorrow, when everyone is talking about it, about how unprofessional you're being, especially at a time like this. What's she gonna think, Tony? Seeing you, drunk, being this irresponsible while she's sleeping just upstairs?"

"Don't say that to me-"

"It needs to be said-"

"Well if you're so concerned, you can take her to a hotel for the night," Tony says angrily. Pepper is so appalled, she can't speak. Tony continues. "Go on, get her out of here. Put the room on my card. I don't care." He takes the mic from her and walks away, and she storms upstairs, going to do what he said. Grace doesn't need to be anywhere within twenty miles of him right now.

He turns the mic back on. "Anybody who doesn't like the party-" he points his blaster at the other door that leads outside, then fires, "- there's the door!"

The crowd cheers, then begins throwing things in the air for him to blast. Bottles, food, even things Tony had just sitting out in the room.

Rhodey, meanwhile, goes downstairs to the suits while Pepper wakes up Grace upstairs.

"Honey, we have to go," she says, picking her up.

Grace isn't even fully awake. "What? Where? Where's Dad?"

"Downstairs. I'm taking you to a hotel."

"Is he okay?"

"I don't... I don't know."

Pepper carries her out of the back of the house, then has Happy drive around and puts her in the car. Rhodey, now in full armor, waits until he sees it leave to enter the main room, where Tony is still shooting whatever the crowd tosses up.

"I'm only gonna say this once," Rhodey says, cutting off the crowd's cheering. "Get out." The crowd screams, practically fighting each other to get out of the two, destroyed doors. Rhodey walks towards Tony once the room is empty. "You don't deserve to wear one of these. Shut it down!"

Tony turns to the DJ, the only other person left in the room. "Goldstein. Give me a phat beat to beat the crap out of my buddy to." He barely gets the sentence out for laughing so hard. Goldstein turns on Another One Bites the Dust.

Rhodey grabs Tony from behind. "I told you to shut it down." Tony leans over a little and blasts from the center of the suit — the arc reactor — sending them flying backwards, crashing through a wall into the gym.

Rhodey ends up on the ground, but Tony is still standing. He starts walking away. "Now, put that thing back where you found it before someone gets hurt." Rhodey throws a weight, and it hits him in the back of the head. "Really?" Tony grabs a dumbbell and hits him with it, knocking him into the boxing ring. "Sorry, pal, but Iron Man doesn't have a sidekick."

Rhodey picks up a pipe. "Side..." He hits Tony in the stomach. "Kick..." Then, the head. "This." Then, in between his arm and torso. Tony grabs the pipe, Rhodey forces him to his knees, then throws him up through the ceiling. "Had enough yet?" He flies up through the newly made hole to meet Tony.

They continue fighting, eventually crashing through the floor, landing near where Pepper is yelling at Natalie. She came back to deal with Tony and the reporters waiting on this floor after telling Happy to stay with Grace in the meantime.

Tony and Rhodey are still fighting, so Pepper and Natalie run in separate directions, as it's getting dangerous. The reporters watch the fight, some snapping pictures.

"You want it?!" Tony shouts at Rhodey, who's on the ground. "Take it!" Rhodey gets up, and they exchange blows, the sound of metal on metal ringing through the room. Tony finally slams Rhodey into a table, and he doesn't get up. Tony turns towards the crowd, and screams, scaring them into running. There are a few shrieks as they do.

While this was happening, Rhodey got up and grabbed the table top. He hits Tony with it, sending him crashing into the fireplace. A fire erupts.

Tony turns, putting up his hand as if to blast Rhodey. Rhodey does the same. "Put your hand down."

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony asks.

"You think you got what it takes to be a good father?"

Tony goes quiet for a moment, but then comes back with renewed rage. "You wanna be War Machine, take your shot."

"Put it down!"

"You gonna take a shot?" Both their blasters start revving up, the sound quickly becoming louder and louder.

"Put it down!"

"No!"

"Drop it, Tony!"

"Take it!"

Both their blasters go off, meeting in the middle and causing an explosion. The glass wall leading out to the balcony shatters. The noise is deafening. They're both thrown back, and Tony finds himself thinking about how glad he is he told Pepper to take Grace to a hotel as he hits the wall.

Slowly, his suit turns back on, and he looks up. Rhodey is walking away, still wearing the suit. He looks back at him. "I thought you said you were always doing what's best for her."

"I am," Tony says weakly.

"No," Rhodey replies. "You're not." He turns, then flies off, taking the suit with him.

Tony knows exactly where he's going with it.