"This is impossible!" Steve's roar exploded on the top floor of the Arbitrator Tower, and he slammed his vibranium shield to the ground, the metallic clang echoing through the empty floor.
In the holographic projection, Bucky was wearing armor different from the Mark-2 - Devil Edition, but the previous recording already showed the entire process.
After Maya Hansen used the chip given to Tony to paralyze all systems and energy in Tony's Villa, she waited for Bucky in the underground third-floor laboratory.
Under Bucky's operation, the Mark-2 - Devil Edition reawakened and, like a living creature, donned Bucky.
Finally, the image froze on Bucky's hands spewing molten lava, which flowed into a bizarre magic circle pattern on the laboratory floor.
"Someone must be misleading us! Bucky isn't like that!" Steve was so furious that he lost control, his golden hair disheveled, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Facing such a Captain America, the Arbitrators present were all silent; only Chen Tian was indifferently drinking cola, and Dante was loudly eating pizza.
"Chen Tian! You told me this footage has traces of forgery, right?" Steve was a bit flustered.
Chen Tian shrugged, pointing at Tony, "I think it's better if you ask the smartest scientist among us."
Steve turned to Tony, but Tony was frowning deeply, his chest heaving, indicating he was also on the verge of an outburst.
"Captain, this armor, everything has been removed, including the tentacles, and the energy." Tony waved his hand, and a close-up of Bucky in the armor was magnified.
"Let me put it this way, Captain, even if a new arc reactor is put in, this armor is only slightly tougher than my Mark-2!" Tony glared at Steve, "Look closely! The molten lava flowing from the armor's hand! And that bizarre magic circle! And all those damn deformed spikes on the armor!"
Tony's voice grew louder and louder, and Steve slumped onto the sofa, his face blank.
Tony stood up and paced back and forth, "This armor was clearly stuffed with some damn magic-oriented stuff! Only those tricksters could come up with this!"
Saying that, he plopped down on the sofa, covering his face with his hands, his face full of regret.
"Damn it, I should have destroyed this armor back then!"
Sweat seeped through Tony's fingers as he mechanically repeated clenching and unclenching his fists.
Steve sat blankly on the leather sofa, staring at the final image of Bucky disappearing in the holographic projection, unable to believe that his best friend would once again fall into darkness.
"Sir, your heart rate has reached a dangerous threshold." Jarvis's voice came from the ceiling, simultaneously releasing a tranquilizer spray.
Chen Tian suddenly slammed his cola can heavily onto the coffee table, the splashing sound of the carbonated drink making everyone flinch, and Dante took the opportunity to wipe his cheese-covered fingers on Vergil's coat.
"Listen, Tony." Chen Tian grabbed Tony's shoulder, forcing him to look at Dante, who was playing catch with a pizza slice using a fork, "Even if Mephisto himself descends wearing that armor—"
Vergil suddenly put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking against the saucer: "He will regret it."
Dante caught the falling fork, and with a flash of silver, it rested against Tony's chin: "Do you know how we deal with possessed armor?" He flicked his wrist, the fork tip tracing a blue line on Tony's neck, "First, you dismantle the energy core like this—"
"Then you shred the control center like this." Vergil appeared on Tony's other side at some point, the Yamato's scabbard precisely tapping the armor's chest reactor location.
"Finally, you let the person driving it go to hell to repent." Dante squeezed between Chen Tian and Tony, placing his hands on both their shoulders.
"No! Bucky can still be saved! It must be HYDRA's brainwashing program still affecting him!" Steve jumped up abruptly after hearing Dante's words. "Leave it to me! I will bring the armor and Bucky back! I will personally lock him in a prison until he regains his sanity!"
Chen Tian stopped speaking, merely removing Dante's hand and slumping onto the sofa.
But Chen Tian's silence didn't mean Tony would be silent.
"Steve! Do you know what kind of armor that is? Demon Armor! It's made with demon technology! I only controlled it for a few hours, and I was going to become a damn perverted killer!" Tony waved a hand, and the scene of him rampaging in the Middle East while wearing the armor reappeared.
Steve stared blankly at the screen, Tony angrily yelled, "If it wasn't like that, do you think I would give up this armor?"
"Just those few hours back then made me endure pain I never want to experience again in my life! It was like my soul was pulled out by a demon, kneaded into a ball, then cut into noodles, and finally ground into dust!"
Tony grabbed Steve's arm and pointed at Bucky in the footage, "Look at him, he looks even more delighted than I did back then! Do you think it's just simple brainwashing?"
Steve's lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a sound.
Chen Tian suddenly straightened up from the sofa, crushing the cola can with a crunch. "Since Captain insists on bringing Bucky back," his voice held a strange calm, "then let him go."
The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment. Tony suddenly turned to look at Chen Tian, his eyes wide under his faceplate: "What the hell are you talking about? That armor now—"
"We can provide all technological support." Chen Tian raised a hand to interrupt Tony, "Tony, don't forget, we still have a Ten Rings Gang to deal with, that's a global terrorist organization, so before we catch the mastermind of the Ten Rings Gang, we can't do anything else."
Chen Tian waved his hand, and the image changed to scenes of Extremis Soldiers constantly self-destructing. "These Extremis carriers, each one is a bomb; even their trimmed nails can be thrown as grenades."
"So, Tony, let's deal with this first."
Tony was speechless. Yes, he had just boasted on a global live broadcast, only for his home to be blown up, and the Mandarin still hadn't been found.
Tony rubbed his temples, "But Steve alone can't deal with that armor."
Chen Tian spread his hands, "Then let the X-Men help. I know their situation hasn't been great since the Council and S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. If they can help the Arbitrators handle such a major matter, I estimate Professor X would be very Happy."
Saying that, he looked at Steve, "Captain, we won't interfere with your and Bucky's matter. You go find the X-Men and ask for their help; this way, you won't have to worry about my two uncles killing your friend."
Steve looked at Chen Tian, his eyes filled with wariness, doubt, and confusion. Three years ago, Chen Tian, who even disregarded the lives of others present to kill Bucky, would be so easy to talk to now?
Chen Tian looked at Captain's expression, he spread his hands, "I know what you're thinking, but I can tell you, I won't interfere this time, I guarantee it with Tony's life."
"Hey! What does that have to do with me!" Tony yelled at Chen Tian, then he turned to Steve, "Since Chen Tian said so, I can only trust you, Captain. You can freely mobilize the Arbitrators' resources, but please ensure that if you can't bring that armor back, at least destroy it completely."
Steve nodded solemnly and turned to walk out the door: "I swear by my shield, either I bring Bucky and the armor back, or I destroy them completely."
After Steve left, Tony looked at Chen Tian, "What happened between you and Steve three years ago? He seems very afraid of you going with him to find Bucky Barnes."
Chen Tian didn't speak, slumping back onto the sofa.
Tony saw that Chen Tian wasn't talking and couldn't do anything about it. At this moment, Jarvis's voice sounded again, "Sir, the Ten Rings Gang has hijacked the TV signal again."
The holographic screen automatically switched to the news footage—the Mandarin's wrinkled face occupied the entire screen, with an image of the burning Malibu Villa behind him.
The Mandarin's withered fingers traced the burning remains of the Villa, his face filled with a theatrical, exaggerated expression of mockery.
"Mr. Stark, where is your Iron Legion? Where are your Arbitrators?" The old man's hoarse voice had a snake-like hiss, "A fledgling who can't even protect his own nest, is he fit to talk about protecting the World?"
"Tonight, 100 of my warriors ascended the stage you built."
The old man sat back down, his face full of scorn.
"As a result, I sacrificed 100 brave warriors, and you lost your Iron Legion and your beloved home."
The old man pressed his face close to the camera.
"And I still have tens of thousands of warriors. What do you have left?"
The Mandarin's wrinkled face suddenly froze, his carefully maintained dignified expression shattering like a mask.
A series of explosions sounded off-camera, the entire studio shook violently, and the ceiling chandelier crashed at his feet, glass shards scattering everywhere.
"No… wait!" The Mandarin retreated in panic, knocking over the dragon-patterned screen behind him, "This isn't in the script!"
Several TV station employees in orange jumpsuits were thrown into the frame, their hands and feet bound, their mouths gagged with cloth. The makeup artist among them was still trembling uncontrollably, her foundation smeared by sweat.
"Hey! Guys!" The Mandarin suddenly turned off-camera, his voice trembling with flattery, "I'm just an actor who gets paid to do a job! Really!" He fumbled to pull off the exaggerated gem rings on his fingers, "These are all fakes!"
The camera suddenly flipped, and the entire screen shook violently. A muscular back filled the center of the screen, the muscle lines under the black uniform as defined as steel. A pair of hands with metallic claws slowly rose, their tips gleaming with a cold light.
"This… this gentleman…" The Mandarin was hooked by his collar by the claws, his feet dangling in the air, his wrinkles twisted into a terrifying shape by fear, "We can negotiate! I have a lot of money—"
The owner of the claws suddenly grabbed the Mandarin's collar and dragged him out of the live broadcast frame.
The live broadcast immediately cut off.
The atmosphere in the Arbitrators' hall was even quieter than when they first saw Bucky get the armor.
"That… I didn't see wrong, did I?" Tony's mouth hung open, "The guy I declared war on in front of the World media is an actor?"
"Oh, right, this guy is backed by Killian, that bastard." Tony remembered the chip Maya provided; even if he didn't know if it was real, it was more credible than this guy making a fool of himself on live TV.
"Pfft—" Dante's pizza crumbs sprayed in a fan shape onto Vergil's freshly cleaned coat, "Wow, that old liar was just acting like a big villain, now he's cowering like a three-year-old who had his marshmallow stolen? I'm dying of laughter, hahahahaha."
Everyone present looked at Dante speechlessly. Vergil looked at the pizza crumbs on his coat, raised the Yamato, and roared: "Dante!"
"Ah! I was wrong! Bro!" Dante didn't even eat his pizza anymore, running directly out of the hall, with Vergil in hot pursuit.
Everyone watched the two middle-aged uncles bickering and smiled.
After all, since the Mandarin of the Ten Rings Gang was just an act, it meant many of his claims were exaggerated.
Tony leaned back on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table, "If that's the case, can we go look for the armor now?"
Chen Tian shook his head, "Killian is still at large."
"Oh, right, if Maya's evidence is correct, then he's the real big boss." Tony sat up slightly.
"And Maya Hansen." Chen Tian took a sip of cola. "She could paralyze your Villa's systems and energy, which means she also had a hand in this Extremis Soldier situation."
"Damn it, all my ex-girlfriends are crazy," Tony cursed angrily, "I was such a fool, why did I write down that formula just to show off."
"Hahahaha, you'd better not let Pepper hear that." Chen Tian laughed.
"Hear what?" Pepper's voice came from the doorway.
"Nothing! Sweetheart! Why did you come up?" Tony nervously hurried to meet her.
After scrutinizing Tony's expression, Pepper handed a paper document to Chen Tian and said to Tony.
"Just now, when Happy was directing your robots to clean and repair the square, this document fell from the sky. After he read it, he asked me to show it to you."
Chen Tian took it and opened it to look.
Tony complained, "Hey, why didn't you just give it to me?"
Pepper turned and left, "I know you never take anything in paper form."
"I've changed!" Tony yelled at the departing Pepper.
"Go take a shower. I hope you don't smell like sweat when I get back, Tony." Pepper waved her hand with her back to Tony.
Tony shrugged and sat next to Chen Tian, "Kid, what's in there?"
Chen Tian tossed the document onto the coffee table. Jarvis's holographic projection read the document and displayed it in mid-air.
It contained two pieces of information and a photo.
The information displayed Killian and Maya Hansen, respectively.
It stated that the actual controllers of AIM were two people: Killian was the one in the open, while Maya was the one behind the scenes.
And both had injected the most perfect Extremis, possessing powerful self-healing abilities and evolutionary attributes.
The photo showed a smiling British gentleman, with the caption: William von Klaus, Earl of Devon County, suspected to be one of Dimension Demon God Mephisto's spokesmen on Blue Star.
Chen Tian and Tony exchanged glances, both understanding the meaning in the other's eyes.
Tony stood up and put away the document, "I'll go give the photo to Steve."
Chen Tian stood up and stretched, "I'm going to shower and sleep."
"Hey! That's not what you meant just now!" Tony yelled.
"Then what did I mean?"
"What you meant in your eyes just now was clearly that I should go deal with Killian and Maya."
"Tsk, you really have no chemistry with me."
"You clearly meant that! Kid! Don't lie to me!"
"You guessed wrong! Tony Stank!"
— — — — — —
In the dark night, Dante rode a supersonic motorcycle, a faint red magic emanating from him, blocking the pressure from breaking the sound barrier.
"Hey, bro, how was my performance just now?"
"If you dare to do that again, I will cut you to pieces."
"Tsk, if it weren't for our nephew wanting us to deal with that guy named Killian, I wouldn't be willing to do this."
"I said, acting… also requires skill."
Vergil sat behind Dante, slowly turning the pages of a book in his hand, a faint blue magic emanating from him, isolating all airflow.
The large characters on the book cover glowed brightly.
"An Actor's Self-Cultivation"
-----------------------
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)