Chapter 2 : TVA Arrives

Russell was stunned.

"Tony Stark is dead... who will snap their fingers in Avengers 4?"

Then he thought, "Maybe Hulk could do it with his one arm... but no, that wouldn't make sense." Within a second, he realized that if Iron Man was dead now, there'd be no battle on Titan—and without that, there'd be no Avengers 4.

The Marvel world was already dangerous and chaotic, and an ordinary person like him might not even survive until then.

Especially right now.

Out of the corner of his eye, Russell noticed Killian, who had just spat magma onto Stark, wasn't dead yet. Killian's gaze shifted back toward him, his throat twitching as he readied another attack. Having killed his hated enemy, Killian's next target was the "heaven-sent interference"—Russell himself.

Killian, clearly furious, glared at him with a twisted grin, muttering under his breath as his broken chest compressed and healed.

At that moment, Russell felt a cold, deathly chill seize his soul. It felt like he was staring at the grim reaper himself. He heard a faint mechanical sound within him but had no time to question it. In a final surge of fear, he forced his body to roll to the side.

He was too young to die!

Swoosh!

A ball of molten magma missed him by mere centimeters, singeing a few strands of his hair before disappearing into the night sky.

He lay on the cold metal frame, breathing heavily. He'd barely dodged it. If he hadn't managed to resist the fear and move, that magma would have penetrated his skull, ending him just like Iron Man.

The fear turned to anger, and he grabbed a piece of sharp steel, ready to fight. But when he turned, he saw Killian lying motionless—his fiery glow gone, eyes darkened, his body charred.

Russell stood in shock, then slowly sat down, catching his breath. After a moment, he managed a wry smile.

"Welcome to Marvel," he thought. "Not even ten minutes in, and I get a warning shot like this."

He remembered that in Iron Man 3, Pepper didn't die. She'd be resurrected soon. But now, with Tony dead, how would he explain his presence? Pepper was sharp and resourceful, not someone he could easily fool. If she got suspicious, she might send him straight to Nick Fury.

Russell sighed. Sometimes, the best option was to run. But before he could move, an orange light flashed in the night. A rectangular portal opened, and soldiers in black power suits with orange TVA emblems stepped out, wielding short black batons.

Russell's face dropped. He recognized the gear immediately.

The Time Variance Authority.

The TVA—the group that maintains the "sacred timeline" and tolerates no branching paths. Russell had barely arrived and already caused enough of a ripple to draw their attention.

He'd accidentally killed Killian, which had somehow resulted in Iron Man's death, creating a new timeline branch. It was no surprise the TVA was here. As he registered the hurried footsteps behind him, he turned to find that the steel bridge was surrounded on all sides by TVA soldiers pouring out of portals.

And as if that weren't enough, four more portals appeared in the air, sending down more troops. Russell's mouth twitched.

"Isn't this a bit overkill? Even Loki didn't get this much firepower."

Then, a low voice sounded from the portal ahead. A man in a red retro suit, in his forties, with silver hair slicked back and gold-rimmed glasses, stepped out. He scrutinized Russell before speaking.

"An ordinary person?" he muttered, surprised. "Why does he have a high-order identity?"

The man, Tesseract, the TVA's senior director, shook his head. "You've altered the sacred timeline. I'm placing you under arrest. Take him away."

The soldiers surged forward, and Russell, knowing resistance was futile, surrendered and let them put a time collar around his neck. Fighting would be pointless—he wasn't Loki, after all. It was better to go through their process and buy some time to think.

The place they'd take him, the Void, was filled with monsters and criminals from various timelines. Surviving there would be far more dangerous than any Marvel storyline he knew.

A TVA guard scanned him and reported, "Supervisor, he's completely ordinary—no energy signatures of any kind."

Tesseract looked puzzled but waved it off, leading his troops back through the portal.

As they began to retreat, leaving a few to sever this timeline with time grenades, Russell silently resigned himself to his fate and headed toward the portal.

But just as he was about to step through, he heard a mechanical voice in his mind.

It wasn't an illusion!

[System startup successful.]

[Reason for Host's death detected...]

[Looting entry... complete.]

[Ding!]

[Desperate Virus (Green)], [Curse of Knowledge (Purple)], [Mechanical Furnace (Blue-Purple)]—detected as incompatible. Mutating...