Chapter 47: Pick It Up And It’s Mine!

"I picked it up on the road," Jiang Chen said casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

The faces of Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hawkeye twitched in unison. They had fought Loki tooth and nail to secure that scepter, handed it over to S.H.I.E.L.D for safekeeping, and now this guy claimed he just found it lying around? On the street?

Iron Man took a deep breath, trying to stay composed. "Okay… I admit I might've misjudged you before. I'll even apologize. But you seriously want us to believe you picked up Loki's scepter? On the road?"

Black Widow shot Jiang Chen a piercing look. "This isn't something to joke about. That scepter is dangerous and was under S.H.I.E.L.D's strict protection."

Jiang Chen merely raised an eyebrow. "Believe what you want, but that's exactly what happened."

Iron Man, still flustered, opened his mouth to argue, but the absurdity of the situation left him speechless. Jiang Chen's nonchalant attitude was making things worse.

Hawkeye wasn't having it. "It's S.H.I.E.L.D property! Do you know how tightly guarded that thing is? You really expect us to believe it was just lying around?" he snapped, clearly frustrated.

Jiang Chen crossed his arms. "Let me ask you something. Who are you to claim ownership of it? Didn't you all just steal it from Loki yourselves?"

Hawkeye was about to fire back, but before he could, Nick Fury's voice crackled through their communicators. "Hold on. When exactly was this thing officially transferred back to S.H.I.E.L.D? I was under the impression Thor took it back to Asgard."

Black Widow responded quickly, "It was handed off to a few high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D agents, Bruce Rumlow among them. We all thought you knew."

Iron Man looked confused. "So, what happened to the scepter after that?"

Jiang Chen shrugged. "Like I said, I found it. Seems like your 'high-ranking' agents didn't do such a great job. There were a few bodies on the street, looked like a bombing. The scepter was just sitting in a bag next to them."

The trio exchanged stunned glances, realizing that HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D might have played a role in this. Still, Iron Man wasn't ready to give up. He pointed at Jiang Chen and asked, "Alright, fine. But can I at least get one of the antidotes for Extremis? Pepper needs it."

Jiang Chen's lips curled into a smile. "Of course... but it's going to cost you. There are only two doses left, after all."

Iron Man sighed. Of course, there was a catch.

Before they could argue further, Colonel Rhodes appeared. "The leader would like to personally thank you and offer a reward. He's waiting in the car."

Jiang Chen nodded and turned to leave, but not before giving Iron Man a final grin. "I'm sure you can afford it."

Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hawkeye stood in silence as Jiang Chen walked away, heading toward the leader's car. Black Widow shook her head. "We just fought tooth and nail for that scepter, and he picks it up off the street?"

"Sometimes you've got to hand it to the guy," Iron Man said with a sigh, "he's either the luckiest guy on Earth... or the most annoying."

Nick Fury's voice broke the moment. "Get back to base. The scepter might be linked to HYDRA, and we have bigger issues to handle."

As Jiang Chen drove away, the trio stood there, still grappling with the absurdity of the situation.