Chen Tian woke up in his room. Last night, Wanda, stimulated by who knows what, had kept him busy all night, trying every trick in the book—like the eighteen styles of Awei, or the 108 Edo techniques.
Even 2B, who was with them, was greatly astonished, marveling at the wonders of life.
He suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed, finding Natasha sitting on the single sofa in the room. She had her legs crossed, playing with a butterfly knife in her hand, looking at him with a playful expression.
A mischievous smile played on Natasha's lips. Chen Tian noticed Natasha, then lay back down on the bed, putting his hand on his forehead.
"Nat, it's you. I thought it was someone else," Chen Tian's voice was a bit slurred.
"Heh, what? You don't welcome me?" Natasha stood up, walked to Chen Tian's bed, sat down, and slapped his comforter.
"Welcome, why wouldn't I welcome you?" Chen Tian slightly opened his eyes and glanced at Natasha. "By the way, do you mind stepping out for a bit so I can put on some clothes?"
"Shy, are we? Heh," Natasha sneered, "I never would have thought that while I was with Barton investigating the Nightmare cultists in East Capital and Seoul, you would suddenly return."
Natasha suddenly flung a dagger, embedding it in Chen Tian's pillow.
"Whoa, Nat, what's gotten into you?" Chen Tian abruptly sat up.
"Stimulated? After my memories were unlocked, I kept expecting you to give me a homecoming hug, but what happened? You didn't even have memories of me from that time. I even thought you'd been brainwashed, but then Melina said you hadn't contacted Red Room or the Adjudicator either."
Natasha's face flushed with anger. "I was still playing along with you, acting as if we'd met too late, and then you disappeared again for three years."
"Honestly, you weren't really helping Ancient One deal with some Dimension Demon God, were you?"
Chen Tian sighed, "You figured it out?"
"Nonsense! Three years ago, besides that one time you mentioned the Collapse Project, and the way you talked about the Blood Bag Project, when else did you not act like a primary school student? Naive! Innocent! I seriously thought you'd been brainwashed then!"
Natasha was fuming, her face so red it almost matched her hair color.
"You time-traveled! Didn't you!"
Chen Tian nodded, "I encountered some things and was teleported to your 1995. That was the first time I time-traveled. My subsequent three-year disappearance was also for the same reason."
Natasha clutched her heaving chest, "Sure enough, why do you always lie?!"
"I don't know if revealing that I'm a time-traveler would cause a butterfly effect," Chen Tian spread his hands helplessly, much like a certain big brother complaining to a referee.
"Will you still travel?" Natasha calmed down slightly.
"Probably not. After all, I'm back, and that was just overflow energy from the Time Stone; it won't last long," Chen Tian wrapped the bedsheet around his lower body and stood up from the bed.
Natasha pouted, "I hope not. You should take 2B back to Red Room sometime. Yelena misses you two a lot."
"Mhm, once this is resolved, we'll go back," Chen Tian walked to an open space, snapped his fingers, and a wardrobe rose from the floor. He rummaged through it.
"Chen Tian, by the way, how did you get Wanda to willingly... hehe?" Natasha let out a mischievous laugh.
"You're wronging me; she ambushed me herself last night," Chen Tian pulled on a hoodie.
"That's possible. That girl Wanda, I noticed her gaze towards you was different even when she was little."
"Yes, yes, yes," Chen Tian mumbled a few perfunctory replies, and while Natasha turned towards the sofa, he quickly pulled on his pants.
"Slow down. I'm not interested in you," Natasha sat back on the sofa, her expression mischievous.
"Hehe, I know, I know. You see me as your brother, right?"
"Heh, if we're counting now, you're younger than me. You should call me 'older sister'," Natasha pulled a dagger from her thigh and began trimming her nails.
"Once a brother, always a brother, Nat. Call me 'older brother' and let me hear it."
Chen Tian's only reply was a dagger pinning itself to the wardrobe.
"I still liked you when you were little, all clingy," Chen Tian glanced at the still vibrating dagger.
"Shut up!"
Tony's voice came from the room's ceiling, with his usual lazy tone: "Kid, did you go crazy last night? Come to the dining room. I had the chef prepare soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns for you, and also something from Dragon Country, how do you say it? 'Dou Ji'? It's that one with a very unique taste. Oh, right, have you seen Natasha? She's not anywhere in the Tower."
Chen Tian glanced at Natasha, who was still playing with the butterfly knife, and replied without changing his expression: "Be right there. No, I haven't seen her. She probably went for her morning workout. And also, Tony, you can try that 'Dou Ji'; it's good for the kidneys, you know." As soon as he finished speaking, Natasha shot him a dagger-like glare.
"Let's go, Tony's looking for us," Chen Tian grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, one pant leg still rolled up. Natasha suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar from behind, with such force that he nearly fell backward.
"You're going to see Stark like that?" Natasha disdainfully tugged at Chen Tian's wrinkled collar and wiped something from the corner of his eye. "You haven't even wiped the sleep from your eyes, and you haven't brushed your teeth. Can't you pay more attention to your appearance?" She roughly ruffled his hair like a gang leader.
Chen Tian swatted her hand away: "Save it, Nat, that trick might work on Yelena." He deliberately opened the door as wide as possible, and the hallway's surveillance cameras immediately lit up.
Natasha rolled her eyes, delivering a 'Mamba elbow strike,' taught by a famous master, to his ribs: "At least she tidies herself up." Their playful scuffle was caught by Dr. Banner, who emerged from around the corner of the hallway.
"Uh... am I..." Banner pushed his glasses up and stepped back, his lab coat almost snagging on the fire extinguisher on the wall.
"Good morning, Dr.!" Chen Tian coughed while slinging an arm over Natasha's shoulder. "Natasha is checking if I was injured by the Extremis Soldiers last night."
Natasha smoothly executed an over-the-shoulder throw, taking Chen Tian down to the floor, her movements so practiced it seemed she'd done it a thousand times: "That's right, this guy's showing off again and not reporting his injuries." She extended a hand to Chen Tian on the floor, just as Chen Tian used to pull her up after training when they were kids.
"Buns!" Chen Tian suddenly yelled, rushing towards the dining room and bumping into Tony, who was walking towards him, causing the donut in Tony's hand to fly out.
Iron Man looked at the frosting stuck to the main control screen, then at Natasha, who was slowly sauntering behind him, and raised an eyebrow: "So you two..."
"Siblings fighting."
"Brother and sister squabbling."
Natasha and Chen Tian spoke in unison.
Tony shrugged and tossed his frosting-covered glove into the trash can: "Alright, define your relationship however you want, but don't flip the breakfast table—the other day, Dante angered Vergil and destroyed three tables."
He turned to walk towards the coffee machine, then suddenly remembered something. He stopped making coffee and walked directly to Chen Tian, putting an arm around his neck.
"Oh, right, Chen Tian, do you know what kind of delivery we received at the Tower this morning?"
Chen Tian was stuffing a bun into his mouth, and Tony's arm around his neck almost made him choke. "Cough, cough... What the heck?"
Tony chuckled mischievously twice and called out to Jarvis: "Jarvis, bring that package over."
The dining room's automatic doors slid open, and a wooden crate, two meters tall, was slowly pushed in by a robotic arm. The words "Gift from an Arbitrator fan" were scrawled in red paint on the side of the crate.
"What is this? It's not one of your custom 'toys,' is it?" Chen Tian raised an eyebrow at Tony.
"Do I need that?" Tony rubbed his hands excitedly. "This thing just appeared at the front door of our Tower this morning." He knocked on the box. "No idea who sent it."
Natasha had already silently pulled out three throwing knives: "Do you need me to 'unbox' it for you?"
"No need," Tony pressed the switch on the box, and the panel crashed down, revealing a middle-aged man tied up like a zongzi—it was Trevor, the third-rate actor who had impersonated Mandarin on TV.
"Damn it!" Banner's sandwich slapped onto the floor.
Trevor's mouth was stuffed with rags, and his eyes widened when he saw a room full of superheroes. He shook his head wildly, making muffled "woo woo" sounds.
Tony spun a screwdriver triumphantly: "Surprise, right? This guy was dumped at the door this morning, along with a note—" He activated a holographic projection, which displayed:
"Gift from an enthusiastic Arbitrator fan."
Tony snapped his fingers, and the robotic arm immediately repackaged Trevor: "Although we don't know which enthusiastic citizen sent this 'gift,' at least we have an explanation for the outside World."
He turned to Chen Tian, a mischievous smile on his face: "You're joining me for the press conference at eleven."
"No!" Chen Tian flatly refused, almost spilling the soy milk in his hand. "Who knows if you're going to change the script again this time."
"Come on," Tony hooked an arm around Chen Tian's neck, lowering his voice: "Last time, for the press conference declaring war on Mandarin, you and I stood on that stage together. You know, 'start to finish,' right?"
Chen Tian sighed, resignedly waving his hand: "Fine, fine, but if there's any more bizarre segments this time, you'll find your armor covered in SpongeBob."
"Deal!" Tony excitedly slapped the table, then frowned at the jam stuck to his palm. "Jarvis, notify the media that both leaders of the Arbitrators will be present today."
— — — — — —
At precisely eleven o'clock, the media center on the first floor of the Arbitrator Tower was bustling with people.
As the flashbulbs continuously lit up, Chen Tian was hiding backstage, frantically chugging soda—because Tony had added 'Jitter' to his soy milk.
"You look like a raccoon that's been run over by a truck." Natasha appeared behind him at some point, casually smoothing out the creases in his collar that had flipped up. She was uncharacteristically wearing formal attire today, her red hair neatly pulled back into a bun, but Chen Tian knew she must have weapons hidden under her clothes.
Just as Chen Tian was about to retort, Tony's iconic opening line boomed through the speakers: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Truth Press Conference—"
With the sound of machinery, Trevor was pushed onto the stage, confined in a transparent blast-proof cabin. The impostor was wearing a striped prison uniform, with remnants of stage makeup on his face, looking like a Joker escaped from a circus.
"Dear friends of the media," Tony tapped the blast-proof cabin, and Trevor immediately cooperated by feigning a terrified expression, "This is Mr. Mandarin, who has been performing stand-up comedy on television recently."
The audience immediately erupted. The CNN reporter almost crushed his glasses, while The Daily Bugle's photographer directly climbed onto his colleague's shoulders to snap photos.
"I know what you're thinking." Tony suddenly switched to holographic projection mode, and 3D images of Killian and Maya Hansen floated above Trevor's head. "Regarding the terrorist organization 'Ten Rings Gang' that has recently caused World panic, it has actually always been a stage play."
"This Mr. Trevor Slattery is just an actor paid to perform. The real mastermind is AIM....."
He paused deliberately, waiting for all the reporters' cameras to focus on Maya's photo before continuing: "Ms. Maya Hansen, the chief researcher of Extremis, it is the virus she researched that allows the human body to become an unstable bomb."
"Aldrich Killian, founder of AIM, the actual operator of all terrorist attacks."
The venue instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Now, please welcome my partner—" Tony suddenly pulled Chen Tian into the spotlight, "Another founder of Arbitrators to say a few words."
Chen Tian, abandoning his previous nonchalance, smiled and said, "Thank you for Tony's speech. Now, through his introduction, we know that the Ten Rings Gang is nothing but a joke."
Chen Tian clapped his hands, and the holographic projection changed to Killian's corpse.
He said in a deep voice, "At four in the morning, members of Arbitrators, based on intelligence, went to Killian's hiding place to arrest Killian, but there was nothing at the scene except Killian's corpse."
Chen Tian stood under the spotlight, his expression solemn. He slightly raised his chin, his gaze sweeping over every nervous face in the audience, his voice steady and powerful: "Ladies and gentlemen, although Killian has been brought to justice, the threat of AIM has not been completely eliminated."
The holographic projection switched to the combat scenes from last night's Extremis Soldiers attack outside the Malibu Villa and Arbitrator Tower. The images of those twisted humanoids burning and exploding in the air made the reporters gasp.
Chen Tian raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down: "Maya Hansen and the remaining Extremis Soldiers have disappeared without a trace, but I assure you, in the name of Arbitrators—"
He suddenly slammed his fist on the podium, and the metal surface dented with a bang, silencing the entire venue. Tony raised an eyebrow beside him, clearly not expecting this impromptu performance.
"We will not let go of any scum that endangers society." Chen Tian said, word by word, "Whether they are Terrorists hiding in dark corners, or mad scientists in white coats, as long as they dare to threaten the lives of ordinary people, Arbitrators will—"
Chen Tian scanned the reporters and media.
—"Drag them out and display them in front of the whole World. This is not a threat, this is a promise."
Tony timely picked up the conversation: "That's right, as my partner said, we Arbitrators are not some boy scout organization."
A reporter from The Daily Bugle in the audience suddenly raised his hand: "Mr. Chen, what was the cause of Death for Killian's corpse you just showed?"
Chen Tian and Tony exchanged a look. Tony was about to speak, but Chen Tian had already answered first: "Cardiac arrest." He showed a meaningful smile, "Scared when they saw our assault team."
A burst of laughter erupted in the venue, and the tense atmosphere immediately eased considerably. Natasha, backstage, put her hand to her forehead and muttered, "When did this guy learn Stark's tricks..."
"Last question!" A female reporter from CNN stood on her tiptoes, "There are rumors that Extremis has spread to the black market. What measures do Arbitrators have to deal with this?"
Chen Tian's smile faded. He turned to Tony, who nodded understandingly and pulled up a set of data on the holographic projection.
"We have developed an Extremis detection device." Chen Tian pointed to the rotating metal ring in the air, "Starting next week, Arbitrators will set up detection stations in major global cities to screen the public for free. At the same time—"
Tony suddenly interjected: "At the same time, we are offering a ten million U.S. dollar reward for any information about Maya Hansen." He winked, "Of course, if any reporter friend can provide a clue, we can also include exclusive interview rights."
— — — — —
The press conference ended in a flurry of flashbulbs, with Chen Tian and Tony walking off the stage, arms around each other's shoulders.
"Hey, kid," Tony elbowed Chen Tian in the waist, "Your speeches are getting more and more relaxed now. Sure enough, Teacher Tony didn't teach you for nothing."
"Tsk, I wouldn't bother to learn your ever-changing speeches." Chen Tian elbowed him back.
"But, Killian's corpse?" Tony's expression was somewhat serious. "Where did you find it?"
"Dante and Vergil ran out last night, not to fight, but I sent them to find Killian," Chen Tian shrugged, flicking Tony's hand off his shoulder.
"They just arrived in Miami and found Killian's corpse."
"Miami? Killian in Miami?" Tony raised an eyebrow, looking at Chen Tian, "Hmm, you were tracking TV signals before, but you forgot to check AIM's backend."
"Fux! I'm such an idiot!" Tony slapped his forehead.
The two chatted as they entered the elevator.
Tony pressed the elevator's close button, and just as the metal doors slowly closed, Jarvis's British accent suddenly sounded: "Gentlemen, Captain Rogers is requesting an emergency communication."
"Connect him." Before Tony finished speaking, Steve's haggard holographic image appeared in the center of the elevator.
The always upright super soldier now looked like a tree ravaged by a storm—his golden hair matted with congealed blood, purple bruises showing beneath the torn fabric of his uniform's left shoulder, and three fresh, bleeding claw marks on his right cheek.
"Damn it," Tony exclaimed, "Steve! What happened to you?"
"Tony, I....." Steve's face was filled with exhaustion, his voice hoarse, "I failed."
"Aren't X-Men with you?" Tony found it unbelievable, "Their combat power is very strong."
Steve's projection swayed, as if he was leaning on something on the other end of the signal, "The power of that armor is too great, but we still surrounded him because his energy was clearly insufficient. But...."
Steve's eyes were a little red, "Just as we were about to capture Bucky, many Dimension Demon God believers appeared, and they desperately attacked us."
"Banshee of the X-Men, to protect my retreat, was..." Steve's facial muscles twitched, "killed by Bucky."
"Cyclops and Beast are both seriously injured," Steve's eyes were already teary, "Tony, I need help, Bucky, he...."
"What is Bucky?" Tony asked with a frown.
"Bucky.... is conscious, he said some things I don't understand, he told me that I would die by his hand, and my soul would be fed to Mephisto." Steve's tears flowed, "I don't know, what did I do wrong..."
Tony glanced at Chen Tian, who still maintained a cold expression, with no ripples visible in his eyes.
Only Steve's heavy breathing echoed in the confined space of the elevator.
"Steve," Tony took a deep breath, "Arbitrators will depart immediately. You and the remaining X-Men find a safe place to hide for now, we—"
"We'll be there soon." Chen Tian suddenly interjected. He stepped forward, standing in front of Steve's holographic image, "Captain, send us your current coordinates."
Steve was clearly stunned for a moment; he didn't want Chen Tian to get involved.
"I won't go, Tony will lead the team, and also, if you want to deal with Bucky, you can't do it alone. Coincidentally, there's something I want Tony to bring you." Chen Tian waved his hand at Steve, then turned to Tony and said.
"Tony, let Dante go with you. With him there, you don't have to worry too much about demons or Dimension Demon God."
"Then where are you going?" Tony frowned.
"I'm going to find those Dimension Demon God believers and have a good chat."
-----------------------
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's Power Fusion "
" Marvel's Divine Game Producer "
" Marvel: System of the Cosmic Devourer "
" Marvel: Hyperion Journey "
"Marvel of the Genesis Transformation"
many more are available
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)