"Sir, 15 classic New York pizzas from Grimaldi's have arrived," Jarvis's voice echoed on the top floor of the Arbitrator Tower, "20 Chicago deep-dish pizzas from Papa's Tomato Pies are in the elevator and are expected to arrive in 3 minutes."
"Oh! pizza! Tony, rich man, did you tell them not to add olives?" Dante jumped excitedly from the sofa when he heard the pizza had arrived.
"Don't worry, Uncle in Red, for your special pizza, I had Jarvis make a special note, and," Tony mischievously winked at Dante, "I even had strawberry sundaes air-shipped from New York."
Dante's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Tony's head, giving him a big kiss on the top of his head, "Tony, from now on, I'm your number one fan!"
Tony laughed heartily, "Then, Mr. 'Number One Fan,' would you mind helping me pick it up?"
"Ha, no problem, I can't wait." Dante put his arm around Tony's shoulder and handed him a glass of whiskey.
"Excellent!" Tony snapped his fingers, "Jarvis, grant this gentleman kitchen access. Dante, go to the 85th floor and wait for Happy to deliver our deep-dish pizza to the kitchen—remember not to sneak a bite!"
"You are questioning a 'gourmet pizza connoisseur' and 'strawberry sundae terminator's' respect for food." Dante smiled, moonwalking his way out the door.
"Hahaha, Chen Tian," Tony looked at Chen Tian, who was drinking cola nearby, "Your uncle is so interesting, I like him."
With that, he took Chen Tian's cola and put the whiskey Dante had given him into Chen Tian's hand, "Hey, kid, today is your welcome home party, how can you just drink cola?"
Chen Tian shrugged, "Isn't it because everyone isn't here yet?"
As soon as Chen Tian finished speaking, the door slid open again, and a silver gust of wind swept in. Pietro's figure instantly appeared beside Chen Tian, the wind pressure from Quicksilver's unique high-speed movement fluttering Chen Tian's clothes.
"Chen Tian!" Pietro's eyes shone astonishingly bright. He excitedly grabbed Chen Tian's shoulders, "You've finally appeared! Where have you been for the past three years?" His words were so fast they were almost incomprehensible, "I searched the whole World and couldn't find you!"
Before Chen Tian could answer, a crimson light flared at the door again. Wanda, controlling her Chaos magic, rushed straight in, red energy swirling around her body.
Without a word, she pounced on Chen Tian and gave him a solid hug, burying her head in Chen Tian's embrace.
"You bastard…" Wanda's voice trembled slightly, "Disappearing for so long without a word…"
Tony raised an eyebrow, watching the scene before him thoughtfully.
He remembered clearly that three years ago, when these twins, Captain America, and Bucky, told him about Chen Tian's disappearance.
At that time, tensions within the Arbitrators were high, especially when the four stammered and couldn't clearly explain the specifics of Chen Tian's disappearance. Tony even suspected they were hiding something.
"Wow…" Tony took a sip of whiskey, his tone tinged with amusement, "Looks like I missed some touching reconciliation scene?"
Wanda then realized her gaffe and stepped back from Chen Tian's embrace, but her hand still clutched his clothes tightly. Pietro scratched his silver hair, glancing at Tony somewhat awkwardly.
"Tony, I heard from Ancient One that your attitude towards Wanda and them hasn't been very good these past few years." Chen Tian smiled helplessly, "However, my disappearance really had nothing to do with them."
Tony raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, a rare genuine apology on his face. He picked up two amber-colored whiskeys from the bar and solemnly handed them to the twins.
"Listen, kids," Tony's voice was uncharacteristically flustered. He pursed his lips, "I owe you an apology." He looked directly into Wanda's eyes, "My attitude towards you these past three years… was indeed too much."
Wanda took the glass, her expression somewhat shocked. She hadn't expected this usually proud man to humble himself.
Tony put the other glass into Pietro's hand, and casually ruffled his silver hair: "Especially to you, Speed Boy. I remember one time during training, I deliberately set you to the slowest simulated speed…"
"Hey! That time I fell flat on my face in the training room!" Pietro immediately protested, but the corners of his mouth were already curving upwards.
Tony made an exaggerated expression of remorse: "My fault, it's all my fault." He raised his own glass, "I, Tony Stark, formally apologize to the Maximoff siblings. I hope you can forgive this stubborn old man."
Chen Tian watched from the side, trying to suppress his laughter. He knew Tony too well—this proud genius never bowed his head easily; only those he truly cared about could make him humble himself and apologize.
Wanda gently clinked her glass against Tony's: "We also have some responsibility… for not being able to protect Chen Tian back then…"
Before the others could say more, Chen Tian interrupted, "Stop, it's good that things are cleared up, and also," snatching the drinks from Wanda and Pietro, "you two don't meet California's legal drinking age yet."
(They were 6 years old in 1999, so only 20 in 2013. The legal drinking age in California is 21. This is just Chen Tian's teasing; in our country, there's no such regulation.)
Tony paused, then burst into a hearty laugh: "Ha! Our 'Mr. Guardian' has spoken!" He turned and shouted to the ceiling: "Jarvis! Turn up the speakers to maximum! How can a party be without music?!"
"Yes, Sir." Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" with a more upbeat electronic remix began to play in the hall.
"Perfect!" Tony snapped his fingers, "Activate party mode!"
In an instant, the smart glass throughout the top floor hall automatically dimmed, and colorful neon lights illuminated from around the ceiling.
As the electronic music intro began, the entire space instantly transformed into a mini nightclub dance floor.
Just then, the elevator chimed open, and Dante and Happy rushed in, pushing two carts loaded with pizza. "pizza's here—" Dante's shout cut short, his eyes wide as saucers, "Wow! Party upgrade?"
Without a word, he grabbed a pizza box, bit open the lid with his teeth, and, holding the box with one hand, slid into the center of the dance floor.
He performed an exaggerated spin, crossing his legs and starting a retro disco dance.
"My eyes!" Pietro covered his eyes, "This dance is more terrifying than a great shark doing a pole dance!"
(Great shark refers to NBA star, Shaquille O'Neal.)
Dante gave Pietro a flirtatious wink and danced even more enthusiastically. He swayed his hips, using the pizza as a prop—sometimes twirling it over his head, sometimes elegantly holding the pizza box like a glass of wine, and even improvising an acrobatic move with the pizza box balanced on his head.
Tony laughed uncontrollably, his Mark suit instantly covering his body. His faceplate opened, revealing his triumphant smile: "Jarvis, how can a Dance-off be without me? Pull up the dance data from 1978's 'Grease' for me!"
(Dance-off means a dance duel, just more colloquial, formally it's Dance battle.)
As the music switched to "You're the One That I Want," Tony perfectly replicated the classic dance moves, engaging in an impromptu dance battle with Dante. Their exaggerated dance moves made everyone roar with laughter.
Chen Tian leaned against the bar, a smile playing on his lips as he watched the farce in the center of the dance floor. Beside him, Wanda was whispering with 2B, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, and Jane Foster, who had come with Thor, also joined the conversation.
Pietro also joined the dance battle of the two flamboyant ones, but it turned out he was too young. After a while, he was defeated by the two flamboyant ones and came off the 'stage' laughing.
Not far away, there was a loud 'bang.' Turning to look, Thor was grandly smashing an empty wine barrel onto the ground, his beard still covered in foam: "Another barrel! The fine wine of Midgard truly lives up to its reputation!"
Across from him, Vergil elegantly set down his tenth empty wine glass.
"Asgardian," Vergil deftly clinked glasses with Thor, "Continue."
Thor laughed, putting his arm around Vergil's shoulder: "Ha! I like people like you who are fierce and don't talk much!" He raised a wine glass as large as a basin, "Come, a toast to our drinking capacity!"
Vergil actually didn't push Thor away. He merely snorted lightly, emptying his wine glass in one gulp. Yamato lightly tapped the ground, and the corks of a dozen wine bottles flew off simultaneously, the wine automatically filling their glasses.
(What Thor didn't know, however, was that the Sparta family doesn't drink alcohol, and every sip of wine Vergil took was poured into an invisible space portal.)
Pepper walked through the reveling crowd in high heels. She picked up a glass of champagne and gently clinked it against Chen Tian's cola cup.
"Three years gone," the current Pepper exuded the competence of years as Stark Industries' CEO, yet also a hint of softness, "You haven't learned anything good, but you've learned Tony's unreliability."
Chen Tian awkwardly scratched the back of his head: "Sorry, Pepper. I didn't expect it to be this long."
Pepper took a sip of champagne, her gaze sweeping across the center of the dance floor—Tony and Dante were playing an impromptu fencing duel with pizza boxes, and Thor and Vergil's drinking contest had escalated to the absurd point of using Mjolnir and Yamato to open bottle caps.
"You know," she suddenly chuckled, "for the past three years, Tony would prepare new games and figures in your room every week." Her eyes softened, "He said it was so you wouldn't complain about him not preparing new toys for you when you came back."
Chen Tian looked at the billionaire in the dance floor, laughing like a big boy, and a warm current surged through his chest.
"He also…" Pepper was about to continue when a strawberry sundae suddenly 'splatted' at her feet. Both of them turned simultaneously, seeing Pietro making an exaggerated "I didn't mean it" expression in slow motion.
"Mr. Maximoff!" Pepper put her hands on her hips, pretending to be angry, "Do you know how much these high heels cost?"
Pietro instantly moved in front of Pepper and cleaned her high heels at super speed: "Complimentary cleaning service, madam!"
Pepper couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to ruffle Pietro's silver hair: "You're certainly more sensible than a certain missing person." She cast a meaningful glance at Chen Tian.
Just then, Tony's voice came through his Mark suit's speaker: "Hey! My CEO lady! Don't hog that little rascal who's been missing for years!" He jetted over to the three of them, his faceplate opening to reveal a face covered in cream, "He's the star of the party!"
Pepper rolled her eyes, but still thoughtfully wiped the cream from Tony's face with a handkerchief: "Your 'right-hand man' has been here for a long time, Mr. Stark."
Tony threw an arm around Chen Tian's neck: "Just enough time to teach him the greatest invention of the 21st century—" He mysteriously pulled out a remote control from behind his back, "The Party Anti-Gravity Dance Floor!"
As the button was pressed, the entire dance floor area suddenly floated up, Dante's pizza box drifted out of his control, and Thor's wine barrel slowly rotated like a spaceship. Vergil reflexively grabbed Yamato, but upon seeing Thor drinking upside down, he uncharacteristically curved his lips into a smile.
"Tony Stark!" Pepper's shriek was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. She clutched her forehead, but couldn't hide the smile in her eyes: "You and Chen Tian are going to force me into early retirement sooner or later…"
Chen Tian looked at the absurd yet heartwarming scene before him, and suddenly felt as if the three years of emptiness had never existed. He took the other remote control Tony handed him, and with the other's encouraging gaze, pressed the button—hundreds of holographic strawberry sundaes rained down, landing in everyone's hands.
"Welcome home, kid." Tony said softly, raising his virtual sundae to clink with his. Under the neon lights, Chen Tian saw the obvious longing in the eyes of this always cynical genius.
"I won't leave again." Chen Tian promised solemnly, his voice so quiet only they could hear it.
Tony paused, then burst out laughing, ruffling Chen Tian's hair into a mess: "Then hurry up! Vergil and Thor need a referee, their 'Who can open more bottles with their weapon' competition is heating up!"
Pepper watched the two of them run towards the drinks table, shaking her head with a smile.
2B, beside Pepper, was also smiling happily, because during those years of crossing over, Chen Tian seemed to have become a different person, though on the surface he was still lazy and mischievous.
However, she knew that her Master, during those years, had always worried that his crossing over would lead to bad consequences for the newly established Arbitrators.
When establishing the new order of the Red Room and the Adjudicator, he always thought a lot, worrying that one wrong step would lead to many wrong steps.
Until today, Chen Tian has returned to his bickering, like two elementary school children, with Tony. Perhaps, this is Chen Tian's most relaxed moment.
Thinking of this, 2B's face showed an expression she had never made before.
Her small lips curled slightly, and she whispered, "Master is a big liar, he clearly said he was happiest when we were alone at night."
Wanda, who was nearby, opened her mouth slightly. She had been paying attention to 2B, and when she heard 2B's words, she understood.
When she was little, she always thought 2B and Chen Tian were wrestling in the room. Now that she was grown up, she knew everything.
Thinking of this, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes fixed on Chen Tian, who was shouting "Drink!" "Drink!" "Drink!" with Tony.
The charm in her eyes seemed to drip with Water.
Tonight, a beautiful flower named Wanda was about to fully bloom.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" Marvel Rise of the Spider-Verse "
" Marvel: The Multiverse Wanderer "
" Marvel: Wrath of the Dark Superman "
" Marvel Rebirth of Doomsday "
" Marvel's Divine Game Producer "
"Marvel's Gravity God Shinra Tensei From the Start"
" Marvel: Hyperion Journey "
"Marvel Starting from Spider-Man No Way Home"
many more are available
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)