Homecoming Party

"Sir, 15 classic New York pizzas from Grimaldi's have been delivered," JARVIS's voice rang out from the top floor of the Arbitrator Tower. "20 Chicago deep platters of Papa's tomato pie are in the elevator and are expected to arrive in 3 minutes."

"Oh! Pizza! Tony, did you tell them not to add olives?" Dante jumped up from the sofa excitedly when he heard the pizza had arrived.

"Don't worry, Red-Clad Uncle, I had JARVIS make a special note about your special pizza, and," Tony winked playfully at Dante, "I also had a strawberry sundae flown in from New York."

Dante's eyes lit up, and he hugged Tony's head, planting a big kiss on the top of his head. "Tony, from now on, I'm your number one fan!"

Tony laughed heartily, "Then, my 'number one fan,' could you please go and fetch it for me?"

"Ha, no problem, I can't wait." Dante put his arm around Tony's shoulder and handed him a glass of whiskey.

"Great!" Tony snapped his the Snap. "JARVIS, grant this gentleman kitchen access. Dante, you go to the 85th floor and Happy to bring our deep-dish pizza to the kitchen—and remember, don't steal a bite!"

"You're questioning the respect for food that a 'delicious pizza connoisseur' and 'strawberry sundae Terminator's has for it." Dante laughed, gliding out the door with MJ's moonwalk.

"Haha, Chen Tian," Tony looked at Chen Tian, who was drinking cola beside him, "Your uncle is so funny, I like him."

As he spoke, he took Chen Tian's Coke and shoved the whiskey Dante had given him into Chen Tian's hand. "Hey kid, today's a welcome-home party, how can you only drink Coke?"

Chen Tian shrugged. "Isn't it because not everyone has arrived yet?"

As soon as Chen Tian finished speaking, the door slid open again, and a gust of silver wind swept in. Pietro's figure instantly appeared beside Chen Tian, and the wind pressure generated by Quicksilver's high-speed movement fluttered the hem of Chen Tian's clothes.

"Chen Tian!" Pietro's eyes lit up with excitement. He grabbed Chen Tian's shoulder and exclaimed, "You've finally shown up! Where have you been for the past three years?" His words were so rapid they were almost inaudible. "I've searched the whole world for you!"

Before Chen Tian could answer, a crimson light shone through the door again. Wanda, wielding Chaos Magic, charged in, red energy swirling around her.

Without saying a word, she rushed over and gave Chen Tian tight hug, burying her head in his chest.

"You bastard..." Wanda's voice trembled slightly, "You disappeared without a word for so long..."

Tony raised an eyebrow, watching the scene before him thoughtfully.

He remembered clearly that three years ago, the twins Captain America, and Bucky told Chen Tian about his disappearance.

At the time, tensions were running high among the Arbitrators, especially when the four of them stammered and couldn't give a clear account of the specific circumstances of Chen Tian's disappearance. Tony even suspected that they might be hiding something.

"Wow..." Tony took a sip of whiskey, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Looks like I missed some touching reconciliation scene?"

Wanda then realized her lapse in composure and pulled away from Chen Tian, but her hand remained tightly gripping the hem of his clothes. Pietro scratched his silver hair and glanced at Tony somewhat awkwardly.

"Tony, I heard from the Ancient One that your attitude towards Wanda and the others hasn't been very good these past few years." Chen Tian smiled helplessly. "But my disappearance really has nothing to do with them."

Tony raised his hands in surrender, a rare look of genuine apology on his face. He picked up two glasses of amber-colored whiskey from the bar and solemnly handed them to the twins.

"Listen, kids," Tony's voice was unusually hesitant, and he pursed his lips. "I owe you an apology." He looked directly into Wanda's eyes. "My treatment of you over the past three years...was truly excessive."

Wanda took the glass, her expression one of shock. She hadn't expected this usually proud man to back down like this.

Tony shoved another glass of wine into Pietro's hand, casually ruffling his silver hair. "Especially for you, Speed Boy. I remember once during training, I deliberately put you at the slowest simulated speed..."

"Hey! That time you made me fall flat on my face in the training room!" Pietro immediately protested, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

Tony made an exaggerated expression of apology. "It's all my fault, all my fault." He raised his glass. "I, Tony Stark, formally apologize to the Maximoff siblings. I hope you can forgive this stubborn old man."

Chen Tian couldn't help but chuckle as he watched. He knew Tony all too well—this proud genius never bowed his head easily, and the only person who could make him lower himself to apologize was someone he truly cared about.

Wanda gently touched Tony's glass. "We also bear responsibility... we failed to protect Chen Tian back then..."

Before they could say anything more, Chen Tian interrupted, "Stop, let's just talk things out. Also," he snatched the drinks from Wanda and Pietro, "You two aren't of legal drinking age in California right now."

(The two were 6 years old in 1999 and only 20 years old in 2013. The legal drinking age in California is 21. This was just Chen Tian joking; there is no such law in our country.)

Tony paused for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter. "Ha! Our 'Guardian' has spoken!" He turned and shouted at the ceiling, "JARVIS! Turn the music up to the max! What kind of party is this without music?!"

"Yes, sir." Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" was accompanied by a more upbeat electronic sound that filled the hall.

"Perfect!" Tony snapped his the Snap. "Activate party mode!"

In an instant, the smart glass in the entire top-floor lobby automatically dimmed, and colorful neon lights lit up from all around the ceiling.

As the electronic music intro began, the entire space instantly transformed into a mini nightclub dance floor.

Just then, the elevator doors dinged open, and Dante and Happy burst in, pushing two food carts overflowing with pizzas. "Pizzas here—" Dante's shout abruptly stopped, his eyes widening like saucers. "Wow! The party's gone up a notch?"

Without saying a word, he grabbed a pizza box, bit open the lid with his teeth, and slid into the center of the dance floor, holding the pizza box in one hand.

He suddenly turned around dramatically, crossed his legs, and started dancing a retro disco.

"My eyes!" Pietro covered his eyes. "This dance is scarier than Shaquille O'Neal pole dancing!"

(Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille O'Neal, NBA star)

Dante winked at Pietro and danced even more energetically. He twisted his waist while using pizzas as props—sometimes lifting a pizza above his head and spinning it around, sometimes holding the pizza box elegantly like a wine glass, and even improvising an acrobatic move of balancing a pizza box on his head.

Tony laughed so hard he almost fell over, his armor instantly covering his entire body. His visor opened, revealing a smug grin. "JARVIS, how could this dance-off be complete without me? Get me the dance data from 'Grease' from 1978!"

(Dance-off is a more colloquial term for a dance duel; the more formal term is dance battle.)

As the music switched to "You're the One That I Want," Tony perfectly replicated the classic dance moves and engaged in an impromptu dance battle with Dante. Their exaggerated dance moves drew laughter from the crowd.

Chen Tian leaned against the bar, a smile playing on his lips as he watched the farce unfolding in the center of the dance floor. Wanda, beside him, was whispering to 2B, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Jane Foster, who had come with Thor, also joined the conversation.

Pietro joined the two show-offs in their dance battle, but it turned out he was too young and was soon defeated by them, laughing as he left the stage.

Not far away, a loud 'bang' echoed. Turning around, one could see Thor slamming an empty wine barrel onto the ground with a flourish, Utakata still clinging to his beard. "Another barrel, please! The wine of the Midgard truly lives up to its reputation!"

Across from him, Vergil gracefully set down his tenth empty glass.

"Asgardians," Vergil said, clinking glasses with Thor with practiced ease, "Continue."

Thor laughed and put his arm around Vergil's shoulder, "Ha! I love you, a man of few words but ruthless actions!" He raised a glass of wine the size of a washbasin. "Come on, let's toast to our drinking prowess!"

Vergil didn't push Thor away. He simply snorted and downed his drink in one gulp. Yamato paused lightly on the ground, and the corks of more than a dozen bottles flew off simultaneously, automatically filling their glasses with wine.

(What Thor didn't know was that the Sparda Family didn't drink alcohol, and every sip of Vergil's alcohol was poured into an unseen portal.)

Pepper, in her high heels, walked through the revelry, picked up a glass of champagne, and gently clinked it against Chen Tian's Coke glass.

"It's been three years," Pepper said, now displaying the competence of a seasoned Stark Industries CEO, yet with a touch of softness. "You haven't learned anything good, but you've certainly picked up Tony's unreliability."

Chen Tian scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Pepper. I didn't expect it to take this long."

Pepper took a sip of champagne, her gaze sweeping across the center of the dance floor— Tony and Dante were having an impromptu fencing duel with pizza boxes, while Thor and Vergil's drinking contest had escalated to the absurd level of using Mjolnir and Yamato to open bottle caps.

"You know what," she chuckled softly, "For the past three years, Tony has been preparing new games and figurines for your room every week." Her eyes softened. "He said it would prevent you from complaining when you come back that he didn't prepare new toys for you."

Chen Tian looked at the billionaire on the dance floor who was smiling like a big boy, and a warm feeling welled up in his chest.

"He also..." Pepper was about to continue when a strawberry sundae suddenly slammed down at her feet. The two turned their heads at the same time and saw Pietro making an exaggerated "I didn't mean to" expression in slow motion.

"Mr. Maximoff!" Pepper exclaimed, hands on her hips, feigning anger, "Do you know how much these high heels cost?"

Pietro Instant Transmission in front of Pepper and wiped her high heels clean at lightning speed. "Free cleaning service, ma'am!"

Pepper couldn't help but chuckle, reaching out to ruffle Pietro's silver hair. "You're much more sensible than some missing person." She glanced meaningfully at Chen Tian.

Just then, Tony's voice came through the armor's speaker. "Hey! My CEO lady! Don't hoard that long-lost little bastard!" He used a jet propulsion to slide to the three of them, his visor popping open to reveal a face covered in cream. "He's the star of the party!"

Pepper rolled her eyes, but still considerately wiped the cream off Tony's face with a handkerchief. "Your 'right-hand man' has been here a long time, Stark."

Tony grabbed Chen Tian's neck. "Perfect timing to teach him the greatest invention of the 21st century—" He mysteriously pulled a remote control from behind his back, "Anti-gravity dance floor for parties!"

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 barrel of wine slowly spun like a spaceship. Vergil instinctively grabbed Yamato, but when he saw Thor drinking upside down, a rare smile appeared on his lips.

"Tony Stark!" Pepper's exclamation was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. She rubbed her forehead, but couldn't hide the smile in her eyes, "Sooner or later, you and Chen Tian will force me to retire early..."

Looking at this absurd yet heartwarming scene, Chen Tian suddenly felt as if the three-year gap had never existed. He took another remote control from Tony and, with Tony's encouraging gaze, pressed the button—hundreds of holographic strawberry sundaes rained down from the sky, landing in everyone's hands.

"Welcome home, kid," Tony said softly, raising his virtual sundae to clink glasses with him. In the neon light, Chen Tian saw an unmistakable longing flicker in the eyes of this always cynical genius.

"I won't leave again," Chen Tian solemnly promised, his voice so soft that only they could hear it.

Tony paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, ruffling Chen Tian's hair into a mess. "Then hurry up! Vergil and Thor need a referee; their 'who can open more bottles with a weapon' contest is heating up!"

Pepper watched the two figures run towards the table, shaking her head with a smile.

2B, standing beside Pepper, was also smiling happily, because during those years of time travel, Chen Tian seemed like a completely different person, although he still appeared lazy and mischievous on the surface.

However, she knew that her Master had been worried for years that her transmigration would have negative consequences for the newly established Arbitrators.

When establishing the new order and the Adjudicator of the Red Room, they always thought a lot, fearing that one wrong step would lead to a series of wrong steps.

Even today, Chen Tian is back to being with Tony, the two of them playfully bickering like elementary school students. Perhaps this is Chen Tian's most relaxed moment.

Thinking of this, 2B's face showed an expression she had never shown before.

Her lips curled slightly as she whispered, "Master is a big liar. He clearly said he was happiest when he was alone with me at night."

Wanda, who was standing to the side, had her mouth slightly open. She had been watching 2B closely, and when she heard what 2B said, she understood.

When I was little, I always thought 2B and Chen Tian were wrestling in the room. Now that I'm older, I know everything.

Thinking of this, her cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes were fixed on Chen Tian, who was shouting "Drink! Drink! Drink!" to Tony.

The allure in her eyes seemed almost irresistible.

Tonight, a beautiful flower named Wanda will be in full bloom.