Fate Severed

Sokovia's night sky was dyed blood-red by artillery fire. Django Maximoff ran wildly through the streets with six-year-old Pietro in his arms, his wife Maria close behind, clutching the equally young Wanda tightly to her chest. Pietro's little face was deathly pale, while Wanda's hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat.

"We're almost home," Django said, his voice broken by ragged breaths. A shell exploded nearby, and the shockwave nearly knocked Maria off her feet.

"Mom!" Wanda suddenly screamed, red light unconsciously glowing from her tiny hands. But the next second, her mother pressed them back against her chest.

"Don't look, sweetheart, don't look..." Maria's voice trembled violently with fear as she staggered after her husband.

They burst through the tottering front door. Django immediately turned and braced the door with his full weight. "Pietro, take your sister and hide under the table!" The boy grabbed his sister's wrist, and the two small figures crawled into the cramped space beneath the oak dining table.

Maria desperately shoved the sofa against the door while Django dragged over a heavy bookcase. Outside came the thunderous rumble of armored vehicle treads crushing the road, mixed with soldiers' shouts and the wails of the wounded.

"It's the anti-government forces," Django said, his fingernails digging into the door. "They're clearing out the civilian district..."

Suddenly, Wanda crawled out from beneath the table and pointed straight out the window. "Daddy, that flying iron barrel..."

Django followed his daughter's finger, and his face instantly turned ashen—an STARK INDUSTRIES missile was screaming toward them through the night sky, trailing flames behind it.

"No!!!"

At that critical moment, Django's scream was torn apart by a roar like a heavy motorcycle engine ripping across the night sky.

A figure flashed into the air, blocking the missile's path. Black clothes snapped in the night wind. Facing the missile hurtling toward him at incredible speed, Chen Tian still had the leisure to glance back at the terrified Maximoff family through the window.

"Don't be afraid," he softly told Wanda behind the glass, his right hand already gripping the greatsword burning with crimson flames on his back—Red Queen.

The fires of Sokovia illuminated the intricate mechanical patterns on the blade.

"EX—charge complete!"

With a thunderous shout, Red Queen carved a perfect fan-shaped arc of flame through the air. The blade's built-in combustion mechanism erupted with searing fire, turning the greatsword into a crimson meteor.

"Boom—!"

The missile was split perfectly in two, and the fireball of the explosion silhouetted Chen Tian's sword-wielding figure like a war god descending upon the world.

"Master! There's another one!" 2B's warning came through the communicator.

Not far away, Dante leaped onto an armored vehicle with a rocket launcher on his shoulder and blasted an anti-government infantry fighting vehicle onto its side. "Nephew, the left side is yours!" he laughed, resting Rebellion on his shoulder.

At some point, Deadpool had climbed onto the Maximoffs' windowsill, hanging upside down with the back of his masked head facing forward. "Whoa! That's cooler than the switch axe in Monster Hunter!" He noticed the red light around Wanda's hands. "Wait... this little lady can do magic?"

"Get out!" Django grabbed the fireplace tongs and swung them at the freak. Deadpool nimbly flipped aside, but knocked over the bookcase Maria had just used to barricade the door.

Outside, the second missile had already broken through the clouds. Madara's Sharingan snapped open. "My lord, do you need me?"

Chen Tian sheathed Red Queen on his back and drew Blue Rose with his left hand. The barrel of the customized revolver spun at high speed, producing a mechanical buzzing sound.

"No need. I'm not who I used to be." He pulled the trigger repeatedly, and Blue Rose's six magic bullets howled through the air.

The bullets struck the missile's warhead with perfect accuracy, exploding in the sky like a fiery firework.

At that critical moment, 2B's Virtuous Contract suddenly crossed in front of Chen Tian. "Master, abnormal energy reaction detected!"

Wanda had somehow risen from beneath the dining table. Scarlet Chaos Magic wrapped around her tiny body like a living thing. The little girl's eyes had turned completely blood-red as she stared directly at the missile.

"I don't want... Mommy and Daddy to die..." With her childish cry, a distant armored vehicle twisted and warped strangely before crashing to the ground with a clang, reduced to scrap metal.

Deadpool clapped dramatically. "Bravo! These effects have a bigger budget than the Marvel crew!" He suddenly turned toward an invisible wall. "Right, audience? This should go in Doctor Strange 2's post-credit scene!"

No one noticed that Chen Tian's magic power was also giving off a faint blue glow—Nero's power and Wanda's Chaos Magic had formed a strange resonance.

"My lord!" Madara suddenly turned alertly. "More armored units are approaching!"

The roar of the armored forces tore through Sokovia's night sky. Their treads crushed the street's paving stones, and their gun barrels gleamed with the cold light of death.

Soldiers' shouts intertwined with the roar of engines, like hell's funeral bells tolling.

Chen Tian looked down at Wanda. Tears still streaked the little girl's cheeks, and distant flames burned in the reflection of her red eyes. He slowly crouched down with a faint smile and gently brushed away her tears with his fingertips.

"Your mother and father won't die."

His voice was soft, yet it gave Wanda an unusually warm strength.

"Because I'm here."

A sudden night wind rose, making the hem of Chen Tian's clothes billow through the smoke. He straightened, and Red Queen thundered out from behind his back, its blade spewing blazing blue-violet demonic flames.

2B silently took her place at his side. Virtuous Contract's edge drew a cold arc through the air. Her silver hair danced in the heat, her eyes locked onto every enemy, and her killing intent was as cold as ice.

The next second—

The air was torn apart by a force beyond reason.

Vergil appeared. Yamato had yet to leave its sheath, but the sharp killing intent alone made rubble within ten meters rise into the air. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes beneath silver hair as cold as blades.

Chen Tian stepped forward, and the instant he passed by Vergil—

Clang—!

The instant Yamato left its sheath, the blade light poured down like moonlight, slicing the nearest armored vehicle cleanly in half. The cut was smooth as a mirror, and it did not even have time to explode. Vergil sheathed his sword, his steps as elegant as a grim reaper attending a banquet, and silently followed Chen Tian.

Behind Chen Tian, the metallic scrape of Rebellion tore through the night. Dante had somehow fallen in behind him as well, the greatsword lazily resting on his shoulder, his chin slightly raised.

Feeling the presence of the three behind him, Chen Tian's lips curled into an amused smile. "Ready, players?"

Data flickered through 2B's pupils as she held Virtuous Contract in reverse. Vergil's hand rested on Yamato's hilt, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes beneath his silver hair. Dante lazily rolled his neck, Rebellion twitching eagerly atop his shoulder.

"Game start," Chen Tian said softly, with a teasing note of anticipation in his voice.

The armored force commander finally realized—they were not facing humans at all.

"Fire!!!"

The gun barrels turned. Dozens of machine guns erupted at once, bullets pouring down like a torrential storm—

The next second, the world was ripped apart by three completely different powers.

Vergil vanished.

In his place was a blue afterimage streaking across the battlefield. Wherever it passed, armored vehicle cannons, treads, and armor plates were sliced apart by invisible blades, collapsing in neat fragments.

2B moved.

Her figure became a silver bolt of lightning, and Virtuous Contract wove a web of death through the air. Soldiers' heads flew, turrets were precisely dismantled, and fragments of flesh and steel blossomed in the sky.

Dante laughed and slammed Rebellion into the ground.

Boom—!!!

The terrifying shockwave overturned an entire row of tanks, their treads snapping apart inch by inch. He flipped into the air and swept his blade sideways, sending dozens of soldiers flying like bowling pins into distant ruins.

And Chen Tian—

He stood where he was, slowly raising Red Queen toward the storm of bullets screaming at him.

His hand violently twisted the hilt. Red Queen let out a thunderous roar, and the mechanical patterns along the blade lit up section by section. The accumulated energy warped the surrounding air.

"EX—"

His voice was like thunder.

"—Burst!!!"

The instant the blade came down, flames swept across the battlefield like an enraged dragon. Blue-violet demonic fire devoured every cannon blast, every piece of steel, every shred of flesh. Explosions soared into the sky, completely setting Sokovia's night ablaze.

Wanda stood at the doorway, clutching the corner of her mother's clothes tightly in her little hand. In her red eyes was reflected the back of the man standing in the sea of fire with his sword—

Like a god, like a demon, like one who rewrote fate, his figure was slowly being etched into her tiny heart.

Pietro poked his head out from behind her, his eyes wide.

"Mom..." he asked quietly, his voice trembling with shock, "Are they gods?"

Maria did not answer. She only held both children tightly as tears silently slid down her face.

At the center of the battlefield, Chen Tian slung Red Queen back over his shoulder. The demonic flames gradually died out, and as the smoke dispersed, his figure appeared especially clear beneath the first light of dawn.

He turned back toward the Maximoff family, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"No, Pietro."

The morning wind scattered his voice, yet made every word carve itself into their bones.

"We're just here to tell this world—"

"Fate can be severed."

Before the smoke had even fully cleared, Deadpool suddenly poked his head out from behind a burning tank wreck. The white eye patches on his mask widened exaggeratedly. "Cut! Cut! Director, this scene has to be reshot with an IMAX camera!"

He scrambled up to Chen Tian, suddenly dropped to one knee, and struck the pose of a crazed fan. "My god, that sword-sheathing shot is enough for me to stare at for ten years! If you add some slow motion..."

Then he suddenly turned toward a nonexistent camera and gestured through the air like he was planning storyboards. "Listen up, audience! We need a 360-degree orbiting shot here, with The Avengers BGM, then throw in some cherry blossoms for the freeze-frame..." Before he could finish, 2B smacked him into a wall with her scabbard.

"Master, 2B can no longer stand this guy whose mouth never stops." 2B's pupils flickered, and her fingers tightened around the scabbard.

Vergil stared coldly at Deadpool embedded in the wall and took a deep breath. "I'm going to make him shut up forever."

Dante was using Rebellion as a selfie stick. Hearing that, he whistled. "Hey, bro, at least wait until he fixes my IG filter..." Then he looked around as if he had suddenly noticed something. "Wait, where's that deadpan Uchiha guy?"

As if in response, the roar of Planetary Devastation came from afar. Madara stood atop a clock tower a hundred meters away, his half-formed Susanoo chakra sword lifting the last tank into the air. Catching sight of Dante with his Sharingan, he snorted. "Childish."

Deadpool pried himself out of the wall, his mask suddenly displaying a shocked meme face. "Holy shit! So Madara has been secretly farming KDA!"

He somehow pulled out a scoreboard. "Current MVP is Vergil with nine kills and zero deaths. Dante loses points for showing off, while Boss Chen gets away with it because he's the money man..."

Veins bulged on Chen Tian's forehead, and Red Queen's engine suddenly roared. Deadpool instantly ducked behind Wanda. "Kid, use your magic! You're a future super witch!" Then he noticed the little girl was staring blankly at his mask.

"This red... is really pretty," Wanda said absentmindedly, a faint glow of Chaos Magic forming at her fingertips. Deadpool's mask instantly turned into a tearful expression. "OMG! I've been officially approved!" He turned and frantically shook hands with the invisible wall. "Kevin Feige, did you see that? This is a Multiverse crossover!"

Madara used Body Flicker to appear before them, his Sharingan narrowing dangerously. "Keep making noise, and I'll seal you away with them."

Deadpool immediately mimed zipping his mouth shut, but secretly mouthed to Wanda, "Remember, kid, if you ever see a creepy old guy with a gem in his forehead, run—"

Chen Tian finally snapped his fingers in irritation. 2B's Virtuous Contract, Vergil's Yamato, and Dante's Rebellion were simultaneously pressed against Deadpool's neck.

"Now," Chen Tian said with a benevolent smile as Red Queen's hydraulic pipes hissed under pressure, "do you want to be sliced apart by Dimension Slash, blown into scraps by an EX charge, or..." Blue Rose's cylinder clicked as it spun. "Want to see what six magic bullets can do to your head?"

Deadpool's mask turned into the classic awkward expression. He suddenly pointed at the sky. "Look! Nick Fury's space battleship!"

In the instant everyone was distracted, Deadpool violently spun the time-travel watch on his wrist. The hands on Cable's time-travel device spun wildly, and his figure began flickering and warping.

Only a lonely red glove remained in the air, with "See you in the next movie~ ❤" written on it in marker. Pietro curiously picked it up, but Wanda suddenly snatched it from him and threw it into the fire. The glove slowly burned.

The flames consumed the glove Deadpool had left behind, and ashes drifted away in the morning wind. Pietro looked up at Wanda as she burned it and muttered quietly, "I wanted to keep it as a souvenir..."

Just then—

Rumble—!!!

A deafening engine roar came from the sky. Several Red Room aircraft cut through the clouds, the red stars on their wings gleaming beneath the rising sun.

The hatch opened, and a burly figure leaned halfway out. Red Guardian Alexei waved boldly and shouted:

"Comrades! We're here!"

His voice echoed like thunder across Sokovia's ruins. Behind him stood Red Room agents ready for battle, their guns and equipment glinting coldly in the morning light.

Chen Tian raised his head slightly, narrowing his eyes at the aircraft, the corners of his lips lifting faintly.

Just then—

A small, soft hand quietly slipped into his palm.

Chen Tian froze and looked down.

Wanda stood beside him, her brown hair drifting gently in the wind. Her eyes still held a faint red glow, but now a radiant smile spread across her lips, like the warmest beam of dawn.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Chen Tian was silent for a second. Then he slowly tightened his hold on that little hand, his smile deepening.

"You're welcome, little one."

Pietro's eyes widened as he looked at Wanda, then at Chen Tian, before he could not help interrupting.

"Hey! What about me? I want to shake hands too!"

Chen Tian glanced at him and gave a quiet laugh, reaching out to ruffle his silver hair.

"Fine, you count too."

Maria and Django stood not far away. Watching the scene, their taut nerves finally eased slightly. Maria's eyes reddened as she said softly:

"They... really changed our fate."

Django held his wife's shoulder tightly, his expression complicated as he looked toward Chen Tian and the others.

"Maybe... this world still has hope."

The Red Room aircraft slowly descended, and the hatch opened fully. Alexei strode out, followed by a squad of elite Red Room agents. He looked around at the devastated battlefield, then at Chen Tian's group standing amid the ruins, and grinned.

"Looks like we missed a good show?"

Dante rested Rebellion on his shoulder and lazily whistled.

"Don't worry, brother. Next time, we'll let you lead the charge."

Vergil glanced at the Red Room agents before leaning against a wall.

2B stood beside Chen Tian, smiling as she watched him hold the hands of the two little ones.

Madara stood atop a distant high-rise, his Sharingan turning slightly as he muttered to himself:

"Hmph... late reinforcements."

But he did not leave. He merely watched it all in silence.

Chen Tian released Wanda's hand and stepped forward. His gaze swept over the Red Room personnel before finally settling on Alexei.

"Since you're here, don't stand around," he said calmly, pointing toward the distant ruins of the city.

"The war in Sokovia isn't over yet. There are still many civilians who need to be evacuated."

Alexei grinned and slammed his fist heavily into his palm.

"Then let's get to work, comrades!"

Morning light pierced the smoke, gilding the ruins with a blood-red edge of gold.

At this moment, fate was completely rewritten.

Dante sat cross-legged atop an exposed steel beam. A lollipop he had dug out from some ruin rolled between his teeth, while Rebellion was casually planted beside him.

Vergil leaned against a broken wall. Yamato stood upright before him, both hands folded over its hilt. His silver hair draped over his closed eyes, while every piece of rubble within three meters floated in defiance of gravity, telling everyone that he was not asleep.

Madara stood high atop half a water tower behind the others, arms crossed as the Gunbai floating behind him slowly spun. When drops of fresh blood fell from its ribs, they burned into sparks in midair.

2B stood with her hands folded before her, quietly watching Chen Tian. The smile on her lips overflowed, and there was nothing in her eyes but her Master.

Chen Tian stood sideways toward the slowly rising sun, one hand shading his forehead as he narrowed his eyes against the light.

He stood at the boundary between light and shadow, while Wanda and Pietro were tightly held in their parents' arms, watching it all.