Seeing the bullet shot right in front of him, the Mandarin quickly returned to his chair.
Once seated, the Mandarin spoke, "My name is Trevor, full name Trevor Slattery."
Tony asked, "What exactly are you? Are you a decoy? A double?"
Trevor replied, "You think I'm a double? I'm not."
Hearing this, Tony immediately raised his gun, aiming it at Trevor's head.
In a panic, Trevor shouted, "Don't shoot my face! I'm an actor."
"You have one minute to explain," Tony demanded.
Trevor explained, "I just play this role. 'The Mandarin' doesn't actually exist."
"Then how did you get here, Trevor?"
"Well, I had a drug problem and ended up causing some trouble on the streets."
"And then?"
"Then they recommended me for this role."
"They knew about my drug habit."
Tony asked, "Did they promise to help you quit?"
Trevor held up a finger and said, "They said they'd give me more. They gave me a lot: this villa, cosmetic surgery."
"They gave me many things, even a speedboat."
Tony asked directly, "They? The Ten Rings?"
Trevor shook his head, "No, no, no. The Ten Rings and the Mandarin are made-up constructs."
Hearing this, Tony didn't believe Trevor. He had heard from Charles Doyle about the existence of the Ten Rings, the organization that had once kidnapped him.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Tony fired three shots around Trevor, scaring him into curling up in his chair.
"I want the truth. If you keep lying, the next bullet will be in your leg."
Terrified, Trevor raised his hands and said, "I'm telling the truth!"
Tony chuckled angrily and said, "I've seen the Ten Rings. You're telling me they don't exist? That they're made up?"
Trevor, shocked, said, "What? There really is a Ten Rings? That's fascinating."
At that moment, the window shattered. Tony aimed his gun towards the noise, seeing Parker, Jiraiya, and Kankuro rush in.
Jiraiya immediately hugged Tony and said, "Buddy, I'm relieved to see you're okay."
Kankuro addressed Tony, "Mr. Stark."
Seeing them, Tony smiled and said, "Guys, what are you doing here?"
Jiraiya replied, "We heard you were attacked, so we came to help."
During their conversation, Trevor pressed an emergency button.
However, Kankuro used his puppet, Crow, to pull Trevor back and said, "We've taken out everyone outside. Who are you trying to call?"
Kankuro grabbed Trevor and asked, "Are you the Mandarin?"
Trevor quickly shook his head, "No, I'm Trevor."
Tony picked up Parker, stroked his head, and said, "Thanks for finding me again."
Parker, nestled in Tony's arms, said softly, "You're my backup poop-scooper; you can't go missing."
Tony, feeling helpless, said, "I'm just the backup?"
Clearly, in Parker's eyes, aside from Charles Doyle and Kakashi Hatake, Tony was third in line, despite their good relationship.
Trevor, eyes wide with disbelief, muttered, "Maybe I've taken too many drugs; I'm hallucinating. A talking dog?"
Jiraiya glanced at Trevor, "What's the situation now?"
Tony shared the information he had gathered so far. Kankuro volunteered, "Let me interrogate him; he'll tell us everything he knows."
Tony thought for a moment and said, "Alright, Kankuro, it's up to you."
Kankuro took out a truth serum produced in the magical world and said, "This is a truth serum. One drop and you'll answer every question truthfully, even how many times you wet the bed as a child."
Seeing the serum, Tony nodded thoughtfully.
Trevor, though skeptical about the magical world, knew a bit about government produced truth serums.
With the serum ingested, Trevor revealed everything he knew.
In his understanding, the Ten Rings and the Mandarin were nonexistent. He was hired by Killian to take the blame for a series of accidental explosions.
The videos were all staged, like movie productions with props and green screens. The supposed deaths in the videos were faked.
The unique terror attacks and the psychological manipulation of a serial killer were all ideas from Killian's think tank.
Hearing Trevor's words, Tony asked uncertainly, "But Charles Doyle told me the Ten Rings is a thousand-year-old organization. They kidnapped me; how can they not exist?"
Jiraiya suggested, "Maybe they found the name somewhere and just borrowed it."
Tony asked, "Who else has Killian captured, and what's his goal?"
Trevor replied, "He captured the Iron Patriot. His goal likely involves the Vice President."
Tony, surprised, asked, "Rhodey? Where is he?"
Trevor said, "I don't know, but it has something to do with a big ship near the coast."
"Where exactly?" Tony pressed.
Trevor provided Tony with the location.
After questioning, Kankuro asked, "What should we do with him?"
Tony said, "Tie him up. We'll hand him over to the police after dealing with Killian."
At that moment, Tony's watch alarm went off, signaling his armor's recharge time.
Jiraiya looked at Tony's children's watch and teased, "Didn't expect your taste to be so unique. Did Pepper Potts give this to you as a token of love?"
Tony, breaking free from Jiraiya's hold, said, "No, it was a gift from a kid. It's a limited edition."
Jiraiya smacked his lips, sensing there was a story behind it.
"My Mark 42 should be ready," Tony said, making a gesture to summon his armor. But after a minute, nothing happened.
Tony, feeling awkward, said, "It's a bit far; it might take some time to get here."
Kankuro asked, "Mr. Stark, is the armor you mentioned the one charging in a warehouse near Rose Hill?"
Tony asked, "You've been there?"
Kankuro nodded, "We have."
Parker then said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back."
Jiraiya smiled and said, "Thanks for your help, Parker. We can handle the rest."
Tony gave Parker one last pat and said, "Goodbye, Parker."
"Bang!"
In the next moment, Parker vanished, returning to the Summoning World.
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