Chapter 29: Discovery
The sun was beginning to set over Manhattan as the Avengers gathered on the top floor of Stark Tower. The damage from the battle was extensive, but they had won. The portal was closed, the Chitauri army was destroyed, and Loki was captured.
Lin Chen stood with the group, looking out over the city. Despite the destruction, he could see people returning to the streets, beginning the long process of recovery.
"Well, that was fun," Tony said sarcastically, his armor retracted but still smoking slightly from the battle. "Who wants shawarma? There's a place about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."
Steve Rogers laughed tiredly. "After all that, you're thinking about food?"
"Always," Tony replied with a grin. "Besides, I think we earned it."
Thor stood with Loki, who was bound in heavy restraints and looked thoroughly defeated. "I must return my brother to Asgard to face judgment. But first, I would like to thank you all. Especially you, Lin Chen. Your power turned the tide of this battle."
Lin Chen shook his head modestly. "You all did well. You learned to work together as a team. That's what matters most."
Nick Fury arrived via helicopter, landing on the rooftop. His single eye surveyed the group with satisfaction.
"Good work, all of you," Fury said, his voice carrying genuine respect. "You saved the world today. The World Security Council wanted to nuke Manhattan, but you proved there was another way."
"They wanted to what?!" Steve asked, his face showing shock and anger.
"Politics and fear," Fury said with disgust. "But that's over now. Lin Chen, I heard you destroyed their entire mothership single-handedly?"
"It wasn't that difficult," Lin Chen replied casually. "I just compressed the space around that mothership until the structure couldn't hold together anymore. It imploded."
Everyone stared at him in amazement.
"You make it sound so simple," Bruce Banner said, having returned to his normal form and wearing borrowed clothes. "I still can't believe everything I saw today. The scale of power you displayed..."
"You were pretty impressive yourself, Dr. Banner," Steve said with a smile. "The Hulk saved a lot of lives today."
Bruce looked uncomfortable but pleased. "I'm still getting used to... him. But maybe he's not just a monster. Maybe he can actually help people."
"He already has," Steve said firmly, placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "You're one of us now, Bruce. An Avenger."
The word hung in the air for a moment.
"Is that what we are?" Clint Barton asked, finally speaking after being quiet for most of the gathering. "The Avengers?"
"It has a nice ring to it," Tony admitted. "Although I still think 'Tony Stark and His Amazing Friends' would have been catchier."
Everyone laughed, the tension from the battle finally beginning to fade.
They spent the next few hours together, talking about the battle, sharing stories, and beginning to bond as a team.
Tony ordered food from multiple restaurants—apparently his credit card still worked despite half of Road being damaged. They sat together on the rooftop, eating and laughing despite their exhaustion.
Nick Fury pulled Lin Chen aside at one point.
"I need to ask you something," Fury said seriously, his voice low. "Those protective energy shields you created over the city—they saved thousands of lives. How did you know exactly where to place them?"
"I used my enhanced perception to identify the most populated areas and critical infrastructure in real-time," Lin Chen explained. "My mental abilities allow me to sense population density and predict likely attack patterns. I couldn't stop the invasion entirely without robbing your team of their chance to prove themselves, but I could minimize civilian casualties."
Fury nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. "You could have ended this entire battle in minutes, couldn't you? Maybe even seconds."
"Yes," Lin Chen admitted honestly. "But that wouldn't have helped them grow as a team. They needed this experience. They needed to learn to trust each other and work together under pressure."
"You're thinking long-term," Fury observed. "Planning for threats we haven't even seen yet."
"Thanos," Lin Chen said quietly, making sure no one else could hear. "who sent Loki. He's still out there, and he's far more dangerous than anything they faced so far. The Avengers will need to be ready when he eventually comes."
Fury's expression grew grim. "How much time do we have?"
"Years, probably," Lin Chen replied. "But you should start preparing now. Thanos doesn't lose often, and when he sets his purpose, he's relentless."
"Then we'll make sure they're ready," Fury said with determination.
---
As the afternoon wore on, people began to leave. Thor prepared to return to Asgard with Loki, though he seemed reluctant to leave his new friends.
"Farewell, my friends," Thor said warmly, gripping forearms with Steve and clasping shoulders with the others. "I hope to return to Earth soon under better circumstances."
"You're always welcome," Tony said with a casual ease.
Bruce Banner accepted a offer from Tony, as they left to a secure location upstate where he could continue his research in peace.
Steve Rogers shook hands with everyone. "This was... different from what I'm used to. Wars in my day were simpler. But this was good. I'm glad to have fought beside all of you."
"The honor was ours, Cap," Clint said sincerely.
Clint Barton himself left quietly soon after Nick. He needed time to process everything.
As the others departed, Natasha Romanoff approached Lin Chen. Her expression was softer than usual, more open.
"I suggest that you come to my apartment tonight to celebrate this victory," she said with a slight smile that didn't quite hide the deeper emotion in her eyes. "I will cook a big meal myself."
Lin Chen looked at her with genuine pleasure. "That's a great idea! I'd love to. I've been curious about your cooking."
Natasha's eyes showed something deeper—anticipation, hope, maybe even vulnerability that she rarely let anyone see.
"Good," she said softly. "Let's go then."
They walked together through the damaged but recovering streets of Manhattan, leaving the tower behind them.
---
Natasha's apartment was surprisingly cozy and homey. The walls were painted in warm, earthy colors, and there were actual personal touches—a few carefully chosen photos, well-worn books on the shelves, comfortable furniture that looked lived-in rather than just for show.
"Make yourself at home," Natasha said, heading toward the kitchen. "I hope you like my cooked food. I'm making beef stroganoff—my special recipe."
"I'm sure it will be delicious," Lin Chen replied, settling onto the couch and looking around with interest.
As she cooked, they talked. Really talked, in a way they hadn't before despite working together for the past year. The comfortable domestic setting seemed to lower both their guards.
She told him about her past—the Red Room, the brutal training that had started when she was just a child, the killing, she'd been forced to do before S.H.I.E.L.D had given her a chance at redemption. He listened without judgment, offering comfort and understanding.
He told her about his own journey—waking up in this world with powers he didn't fully understand at first, learning to control abilities that could accidentally hurt people, finding purpose in protecting others. He even told her about his family situation with Jean and Daisy and his two children.
"They're lucky to have you," Natasha said softly, stirring the stroganoff. "You're a genuinely good man, Lin Chen. That's... rare in the world."
"And you're a good woman," he replied earnestly. "Don't let your past define you. You've also saved countless lives. You put yourself in danger to protect others. You're a hero now, Natasha."
Her eyes glistened slightly. "Sometimes I don't feel like one. Sometimes I still feel like the weapon they made me into."
"That's what makes you human," Lin Chen said gently. "Real heroes doubt themselves. Villains never do."
They ate dinner together at her small dining table. The food was indeed delicious—rich, savory, and clearly made with care. The conversation flowed easily, filled with both serious discussion and genuine laughter.
After dinner, they moved to the couch together, sitting closer than before.
"Thank you," Natasha said quietly, looking at him. "For understanding me."
"You don't need to thank me," Lin Chen replied, meeting her gaze. "You're important to me, Natasha."
"I want to thank you," she insisted softly.
Then, slowly, carefully, she leaned toward him. Their lips met in a gentle, tentative kiss.
When they pulled apart, both were breathing slightly faster, their hearts racing.
"I've wanted to do that for a while," Natasha admitted, her cheeks showing a faint blush that was rare for her. "I just... wasn't sure if you felt the same way."
"I do," Lin Chen said honestly, reaching up to gently cup her face. "I care about you deeply, Natasha."
They kissed again, more passionately this time. The world outside faded away as they lost themselves in each other, the connection between them finally acknowledged.
That night, their relationship transformed completely. What had been friendship and mutual respect became something deeper, more intimate. They made love slowly, tenderly, both of them finding comfort and genuine connection in each other's arms. For Natasha, it was her honest emotion and desire.
(Unseen,...)
Afterward, they lay together in her bed, Natasha's head resting on Lin Chen's chest as he gently stroked her hair.
"What does this mean for us?" she asked quietly, her voice vulnerable in the darkness. "I know you have Jean and Daisy. I don't want to complicate things or cause problems."
"It means you're important to me," Lin Chen replied, continuing to stroke her hair soothingly. "If you're willing to be part of our unconventional family, then we can make this work. Jean and Daisy will understand. They know love doesn't have limits, and they're secure enough not to feel threatened."
"I've never done anything like this before," Natasha admitted, her voice soft. "Sharing someone with anyone. But with you... it feels right. It feels like where I'm supposed to be."
"You don't have to decide everything right now," Lin Chen assured her. "We can take this at whatever pace feels comfortable for you."
They fell asleep in each other's arms, both feeling peaceful and content in a way neither had experienced in a long time.
---
Lin Chen woke early as the first light of dawn began to filter through the windows. He looked down at Natasha, still sleeping peacefully, her face relaxed and unguarded in a way it rarely was when awake.
He gently kissed her forehead before carefully extricating himself from the bed. He dressed quietly and wrote a quick note: "Had to take care of something. I'll call you later. Last night was wonderful. - Lin"
He opened a portal and stepped through, appearing high above Earth in the upper atmosphere where the air was thin and the curvature of the planet was visible below him.
His mental power, now operating at an extraordinary scale, expanded outward to cover the entire planet. It was like extending invisible threads of consciousness across every continent, every ocean, every hidden corner of the world.
He could sense everything—every mind, every organization, every secret base hidden beneath the earth or disguised in plain sight.
He quickly located all the Hydra facilities scattered across the globe—their bases in Eastern Europe, their hidden research facilities in South America, their infiltration cells in various governments. But he also found something else that made his expression grow cold—multiple anti-mutant organizations working to harm and oppress people with powers.
Organizations like:
U-Men - A group that kidnaps mutants and surgically removes their mutant abilities to make themselves more powerful.
- The Purifiers - Religious extremists who believed mutants were demons that needed to be purged from the earth
- The Friends of Humanity - A political organization pushing for forced mutant registration and government control
- The Right - A paramilitary organization creating weapons and cyborg soldiers specifically designed to hunt and kill mutants
- Humanity Now! - A public movement advocating for forced sterilization of mutants to "protect humanity's future"
Lin Chen's expression grew cold as he read their minds and saw the atrocities they had committed—children tortured in laboratories, innocent people murdered simply for being born different, families torn apart by hatred and fear.
These organizations had caused immeasurable suffering to innocent people whose only "crime" was being born with abilities.
He made his decision without hesitation. He Control the minds of every leader, every active member, every person who had willingly participated in harming mutants.
"End your life," he commanded mentally, his voice echoing in thousands of minds simultaneously across the planet.
It wasn't mind control to make them puppets—that would have been crueler. Instead, it was a simple, unavoidable compulsion. Their conscious minds remained their own, but their bodies simply... obeyed with no will.
Across the world, leaders of these hate organizations suddenly stopped what they were doing. Their eyes went blank for just a moment. Then, one by one, they ended their own lives through various means—some quick, some slower, but all final.
The organizations collapsed instantly without their leadership and soldiers.
Lin Chen felt no guilt whatsoever. These people had tortured children, murdered innocents, and spread hatred and fear. They had made their choices, and now they faced the consequences.
Next, he searched for imprisoned mutants. His enhanced perception found dozens of secret facilities where mutants were being held captive, experimented on like laboratory animals, or tortured for information about other mutants.
He used his space manipulation to simultaneously unlock every cage, every cell, every restraint holding mutants prisoner across the planet.
Then he sent a telepathic message to each freed prisoner, his mental voice gentle and reassuring:
"You are free now. Your captors are gone. Head northwest to coordinates I'm placing in your mind. You will find safety at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County, New York. Professor Charles Xavier will help you and give you a place to belong. You are not alone anymore."
He gave them detailed mental coordinates, images of the route they should take, and a feeling of hope and encouragement.
But then, his senses detected something highly unusual. In Paris, France, at a psychiatric facility, there was a mind power fluctuation that was extraordinarily strong—even near his current standards. The mental signature was chaotic, fractured, yet incredibly powerful.
Curious and slightly concerned about what could generate such an unusual pattern, Lin Chen opened a portal and stepped through.
---
The facility was cold, sterile, and depressing—white walls, fluorescent lights, and the smell of disinfectant that couldn't quite cover the underlying scent of human desperation.
Lin Chen walked through the halls invisibly, his form hidden by space manipulation that bent light around him.
He followed the mental signature to a secure room on the third floor. Inside, a young man sat in a chair, staring at nothing. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with unkempt dark hair, tired eyes that had seen too much, and a general aura of barely controlled chaos.
Lin Chen made himself visible and entered the room, his telekinesis unlocking the door silently.
The man's eyes focused on him immediately, and he smiled slightly—a smile that seemed to contain multiple expressions at once, as if different people were smiling through the same face.
"They look at you and see an empty room," the man said, his voice oddly layered, as if multiple people were speaking slightly out of sync. "But I can hear the storm coming. You're holding a whole world in a teacup, aren't you? Be careful not to spill it."
Lin Chen activated his system to analyze this unusual and clearly dangerous individual.
[ANALYZING: David Haller]
Name: David Haller
Race: Omega-Level Mutant
Age: 28
Physical Attributes (Base):
- Strength: 458 kg (varies by personality: up to 10,500 tons)
- Physique: 8.69 (varies by personality: up to 4,700)
- Speed: 4.7 m/s (varies by personality: up to 15,700 m/s)
- Mental Power: 4,682.3
Power Scale: Universal+ (potentially higher)
Abilities:
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personalities) - Approximately 200+ distinct personalities, each with unique mutant abilities
- Reality Warping - Can alter local or large-scale reality based on perception and personalities' powers
- Time Manipulation - Can affect past, present, and future timelines
- Space Manipulation - Control over spatial dimensions and distances
- Dimensional Manipulation - Can access and manipulate other dimensions and universes
- Existence Erasure - Can remove objects, people from existence
- Telekinesis - Omega-level psychokinetic abilities
- Telepathy - Omega-level mental abilities, potentially far exceeding his father's
- Pyrokinesis - Fire manipulation through specific personalities
- Cryokinesis - Ice manipulation through specific personalities
- Electrokinesis - Lightning manipulation through specific personalities
- Superhuman Strength - Through specific personalities
- Superhuman Speed - Through specific personalities
- Probability Manipulation - Can alter likelihood of events
- Molecular Manipulation - Control over matter at molecular level
- Size Alteration - Can change size of himself or his equipments
- Pain Manipulation - Can amplify the pain or reduce the pain
- Gravity Manipulation - Can increase or change the direction or reduce the gravity
- Sound Manipulation - Control over sound waves and vibrations
- Creation - Can Create Matter Out of nothing create things
- Energy Absorption and Projection - Can absorb various energy types and redirect them
- Omniscient - Can answer any questions with his knowledge
...
Current Active Personalities: At least 200 distinct personalities detected, each constantly competing for control
Genetic Note: Subject is the biological son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller
Psychological State: Highly unstable. Personalities are in constant conflict. Subject experiences reality differently than baseline humans. Dangerous.
Power Assessment: One of the most powerful mutants on Earth. Potential threat level: Universal. If personalities could unite toward single goal, subject would be nearly unstoppable.
Lin Chen's eyes widened as he processed this information. This was Leigon, Charles Xavier's son? And David's power level was extraordinary—perhaps even dangerous enough to threaten reality itself if he lost control.
Suddenly, David's expression changed dramatically. His eyes flashed from brown to bright yellow, then to deep red. His posture straightened rigidly, becoming more aggressive and predatory. His voice shifted to a harsh, grating tone that was completely different from before.
"SPILL IT!" the new personality shouted, clearly a different entity controlling David's body. "What are you afraid of? You think keeping it all bottled up makes you noble? It just makes you a COWARD! STOP PRETENDING TO BE WEAK!"
The air pressure in the room shifted violently. Objects—the chair, the bed, medical equipment—began vibrating intensely. The lights flickered and sparked. The temperature suddenly spiked upward as the new personality accessed pyrokinetic abilities.
"BURN!" the aggressive personality screamed, and massive flames erupted throughout the room, targeting Lin Chen with intense heat that would have instantly incinerated a normal person.
Lin Chen reacted immediately. He activated his Mirror Dimension at universal scale—a feat that would have been impossible for most beings, but his recent power increases made it almost effortless.
The entire reality around them shifted, warped, and transformed. The psychiatric facility vanished completely, planet of entire solar system merged into a plain surface. They now stood in an infinite space of reflective surfaces and impossible geometry—a dimension completely under Lin Chen's control.
"Interesting," Lin Chen said calmly, his voice echoing strangely in the mirror dimension. "Let's see what you can really do, David Haller."
---
David's body flickered and shifted as different personalities rapidly took control, each bringing different powers to bear against Lin Chen. It was like fighting dozens of different opponents who shared the same body.
A personality with superhuman strength and speed suddenly appeared behind Lin Chen, moving faster than sound, and struck with enough force to level a building.
Lin Chen blocked easily with a spatial barrier, but he carefully analyzed the attack.
[Strength detected: +1,200 tons]
[Speed detected: +150 m/s]
Another personality manifested, this one with reality-warping abilities. The mirror dimension itself began to twist and change as David tried to rewrite the rules of the space Lin Chen had created.
"You think you control this place?" the reality-warper personality laughed. "Reality is what I DECIDE it is!"
Lin Chen countered with his own more powerful mind power, stabilizing the dimension through sheer force of will and power.
[DETECTED: Reality Warping]
A time-manipulating personality took control next. David's form seemed to exist in multiple moments simultaneously, attacking Lin Chen from past, present.
"You cannot hit what exists in all times!" the temporal personality declared.
Lin Chen activated his own time manipulation, matching David's temporal existence and countering the attacks. But then he noticed something—David was trying to travel back in time to attack Lin Chen before he'd become powerful.
Lin Chen immediately used his space-time manipulation to create a temporal lock around his own timeline, preventing any external interference with his past.
"Nice try," Lin Chen said. "But my timeline is protected now."
[DETECTED: Time Travel]
[DETECTED: Temporal Existence]
[Merged with (Absolute Space-Time Manipulation)< Time Manipulation > side]
[Time Manipulation upgraded - Time Being, Can travel time not limited by any universe rules as will and make your memories and power travel to your any time point to fight enemies.]
The battle intensified. David's personalities attacked in rapid succession with every conceivable power:
A personality generating absolute zero cold attempted to freeze Lin Chen at the molecular level.
[DETECTED: Cryokinesis (Absolute Zero level)]
A personality manipulating probability tried to make it "impossible" for Lin Chen to dodge attacks.
[DETECTED: Probability Manipulation (Quantum level)]
A personality with size manipulation suddenly grew to the size of a large continent scale, each step shaking the mirror dimension.
[DETECTED: Size Manipulation (Macro-scale)]
[Can manipulate size from subatomic to planetary scale]
A personality creating dimensional rifts tried to banish Lin Chen to hostile universes.
[DETECTED: Dimensional Universe Field Generation]
[Can create pocket dimensions with altered universal constants - modified gravity, time flow, spatial dimensions, fundamental forces]
A personality manipulating sound created sonic vibrations that could shatter dimensions and planets.
[DETECTED: Sound Manipulation]
[Can manipulate sound across multiple dimensions simultaneously]
Through it all, Lin Chen absorbed each ability as it was used against him, his power growing with each exchange.
[DETECTED: Creation]
...
[DETECTED: Energy Absorption (Universal+)]
[Can now absorb all forms of energy including kinetic, thermal, electromagnetic, nuclear, cosmic, dimensional, temporal, and existence-based energy]
[DETECTED: Energy Redirection (Multiversal)]
[Can store absorbed energy of Universal scale and release it with amplified force on enemies or across multiple universes range]
[Mental Power +2,552.6]
[Mental Power +3,482.1]
[Mental Power +1,200.2]
[New Mental Power: 12,962.3]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Mental Power has reached Low Complex Multiversal Scale]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: All abilities automatically upgraded to Complex Multiversal Scale due to mental power threshold]
The fight raged for what felt like hours, though in reality only minutes passed in the outside world. David's powerful personalities fought with desperate fury, throwing everything they had at Lin Chen.
But despite David's incredible power, Lin Chen was simply too stable. His abilities were more refined, more controlled, and now operated at a higher scale. Where David's personalities fought each other for control and worked against each other, Lin Chen's powers worked in perfect harmony.
Finally, Lin Chen made his decision. He had harvested everything he could from this encounter. And unfortunately, David Haller was simply too unstable, too dangerous to be allowed to continue existing.
With all those personalities at war inside one mind, it was only a matter of time before David lost complete control and destroyed something—or someone—irreplaceable. Perhaps entire universes.
"I'm truly sorry," Lin Chen said genuinely, looking at David with sincere regret. "You deserved better than this. You deserved to be helped, not imprisoned. But you're too dangerous to leave alive, and I don't have the capability to fix your broken mind."
He activated his existence erasure ability—not the violent kind that destroyed things, but the gentle kind that simply... removed them from reality as if they had never been.
David Haller simply ceased to exist, along with all 200+ of his personalities. The Mirror Dimension fell completely silent.
Lin Chen stood alone, breathing heavily—not from physical exhaustion, but from the emotional weight of what he'd just done.
He had killed someone extraordinarily powerful, someone who could have been a hero if things had been different, someone who was a victim of his own uncontrollable power.
But it had been necessary. David in his current state could have accidentally destroyed entire universes during a personality conflict.
[HOST STATUS ]
Name: Lin Chen
Race: Human - Dimensional Lord (Dark Dimension)
Age: 21
Physical Attributes:
- Strength: 13,304 tons (Normal Form) / Incalculable (Cosmic Form)
- Physique: 8,313.8 (Normal) / High Multiversal Scale(Cosmic Form)
- Agility: 856 m/s (normal) / 825,000,000 m/s (with super speed)
- Mental Power: 12,962.3 (Low Complex Multiversal Scale)
Power Scale:
- Normal Form: Complex Multiversal Threat Level
- Cosmic Form: Complex Multiversal+ Threat Level
- Mental Power: Low Complex Multiversal (can simultaneously affect and perceive thousand of universes)
New/Abilities:
- Reality Warping (Complex Multiversal scale)
- Existence Erasure (Complex Multiversal scale)
- Creation (Low Complex Multiversal scale)
- Dimensional Universe Manipulation (Complex Multiversal scale)
- Time Travel (can move through time across multiple universes)
- Probability Manipulation (can affect probability across multiversal scale)
- Size Manipulation (from subatomic to cosmic scale)
- Dimensional Universe Field (can create pocket dimensions with custom physics)
- Sound Manipulation (can manipulate vibrations across dimensions)
- Energy Absorption (universal scale - all energy types)
- Energy Redirection (multiversal scale - can release absorbed energy to attack enemies across universes)
Note: All previous abilities have been automatically upgraded to Complex Multiversal scale due to reaching mental power threshold. Host can now perceive, affect, and travel between thousands of parallel universes simultaneously.
Lin Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself.
He was now one of the most powerful beings in the entire marvel. Few entities could match his current level of power.
But with that power came immense responsibility. He could accidentally destroy universes if he wasn't careful. He needed to remain grounded, remain connected to his humanity.
---