On another Halloween.
The streets of New York were full of people dressed in strange clothes.
Some were wearing Spider-Man tights, and some were carrying plastic props hammers, pretending to be Thor.
Some used LED lights and made their own DIY Iron Man battle suits. Some dyed their hair green, presumably ... a guest appearance by the Hulk?
But most of them were still wearing dark red cloaks.
Whether it was a child or an adult.
From a distance, it surprisingly converged into a sea of people shimmering with dots of red.
In near-Earth orbit, S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters was hovering in outer space, like the Eye of Horus looking down on Earth.
Today, Iron Man -- Tony Stark was on duty.
He made some mistakes that almost led to the destruction of the Avengers group.
Finally, his father stood up and wiped his ass and took care of the strong artificial intelligence, 'Ultron', that his son and Hank Pym had come up with.
"Humph, that was just a mistake."
Tony had his legs up on the table at the satellite headquarters called Skynet. As early as 5 years ago, S.H.I.E.L.D moved from the Potomac River to outer space.
It was his father, Howard Stark, who was in charge of this project.
"Mr Stark, Ultron has caused over hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage worldwide and brought about resentment and accusations from various countries against the Avengers ..."
J.A.R.V.I.S said in its British accent.
"You should be considerate of your boss sometimes."
Tony slammed his drained glass of coke into the robotic arm that he was operating and helplessly said, "It's Halloween, and I had already thought of a brilliant party theme!"
"I would get those Victoria Secret models and Playboy cover girls to dress up as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Princess's stepmother."
J.A.R.V.I.S, who was built into the computer system of the satellite headquarters, was silent for a moment, then said, "Mr Stark, I'll have to remind you that if you're going to play the role of King, then the story between you and Snow White is, to some extent, terrible. It would be despised by the world."
Tony rolled his eyes. J.A.R.V.I.S. was a bit too serious, as old-fashioned as Captain America.
He just wanted to liven up the atmosphere and say some playful remarks.
Although, there was only one person in the satellite headquarters tonight...
With a plus one, at most.
The Avengers had gone home for the holidays.
Barton had a wife and children. Scott, the second-generation Ant-Man, had a cute daughter. And Banner, the nerd, had a beautiful girlfriend.
Even Thor, the muscle-filled God of Thunder, had found a companion -- a female astronomer named Jane Foster.
"After all this while, I'm the only one alone!"
Tony munched on a somewhat cold Big Mac burger, feeling angry. He was the one who spent money like water, had cool cars, and could date any girl he wanted...
However, during the holidays, everyone else was partying and enjoying family time, while he was left alone at the satellite headquarters.
"Di di di di!"
The sound of an urgent alarm woke Tony up.
He suddenly sat up straight and raised his hand to pull up a projected map.
"Let me see ... It's California! What's happening?"
Tony rubbed his hands. On this lonely Halloween night, it wouldn't be a bad thing if a couple of unsuspecting guys helped him pass the time.
S.H.I.E.L.D. launched 'Project Insight' a long time ago, which greatly reduced the number of crimes involving super-powered people around the world.
Coupled with the popularity of superhero culture, all kinds of self-appointed heroes and mutants were springing up, competing to appear and become vigilantes.
Of course, to carry out justice, they must come to S.H.I.E.L.D. in person and register.
Then, the individual's ability and the city they lived in would be considered to distribute their areas.
His father, Howard, learned a new word from one of his friends that sums up the job quite graphically.
Watchmen!
In short, to borrow a phrase from Time magazine -- "It's the era of the superhumans!"
Every day, new masked vigilantes appeared, and new super-villains were born.
"Locate the position! Jarvis, we've got work to do!"
Tony pressed the Arc reactor on his chest, and the Mark 50 nano-armour instantly covered his whole body.
It was the most radical change and innovation he had ever made to the iron battle suit his father had developed.
And, of course, his most satisfying work to date.
Standing up on the circular passage of the phase teleportation, Tony shouted out in a very chunibyo way --
"Avengers, roll out!"
In the next moment, Iron Man disappeared and was directly dropped somewhere in California.
Like the Eye of Horus, Skynet's satellite headquarters silently overlooked the blue planet below.
A new era had arrived.
Older people, who were once active on stage, were gradually retreating to the background.
...
...
"I mean, isn't it weird to be a superhero and then go and dress up in odd costumes and play other characters?"
Luke, dressed in a handmade tailored suit and with his hair slicked back, chuckled lightly.
He stood in the hall where friends from yesteryear had come for the costume party.
Steve wrapped his entire arm in tinfoil and dressed up as the Winter Soldier.
Bucky, on the other hand, was holding up the genuine vibranium shield and donning the Stars and Stripes uniform as Captain America.
They live up to their reputation as a couple of besties, even cosplaying as each other.
Emma was dressed as a Disney princess, and Peggy was wearing a red dress and cloak, which was obviously Little Red Riding Hood.
Malena dyed her hair blonde and paired it with high heels and a white backless dress, a perfect Marilyn Monroe.
On top of that, there was Natasha's version of Cleopatra, and not to mention Nick Fury getting creative with a bullet wound to the head, claiming to play a gangster from some Quentin Tarantino movie.
These familiar faces aside, the hall was also filled with Namor; Black Queen -- Selene; Professor Charles and Magneto, the mutant youth leaders; Selene, the vampire queen, and so on ...
They were either the people who ruled the Seven Seas, the top brass of the Magic Congress, representatives of the mutant camp, or those in control of the Underworld ... They weren't just gathered together to participate in a party.
Rather, it was because of someone who had been missing from the scene for decades.
"You're dressed so normally. What are you playing as?"
Howard Stark, who turned himself into a Star Wars Jedi, leaned in and asked.
He and a few others were the only ones in the room who dared to speak to Superman in such a relaxed tone.
"James Bond, I'm one glass of martini short. Please get it for me."
Luke slightly chuckled and ordered Howard.
"So, let me count, one, two, three … six, seven! Boy, how many bond girls do you need?"
Howard smoothly took a glass of martini with olives from the waiter's tray.
"That's a difficult question for me to answer."
The corners of Luke's mouth hooked up. Only Howard could talk about such topics with him.
That guy Steve was too honest, and his eyes were only on Bucky. He would never talk about such things.
"I forgot, there are three universes now. Earth-1 has Peggy and the gang, who's on Earth-2? That hellish Limbo Queen called Magik? And what about Earth -3? It can't be that pyjama-wearing spider kid's aunt, can it? That would be so exciting!"
Despite being married, Howard still talked about women with a great deal of gusto.
This was probably due to the fact that a leopard couldn't change its spots.
"You really have a perverted mind. I'm not a stallion in heat!"
Luke felt speechless and explained, "And, how good are you yourself? Running off to Earth-3 to spoil your granddaughter every day?"
"At this age, if you really want to be a grandfather, then tell Tony to hurry up and have one!"
Howard was depressed. He remained in a middle-aged state through the Infinity Formula...
But mentally, he was already an old man.
"Don't even mention it. That little bastard only knows how to hook up with female stars and sleep with models everywhere. He's nothing like me!"
Howard was a bit exasperated. He would have liked his son to get married quickly and get a grandson or granddaughter for him to spoil them.
"Weren't you like that when you were young? The pursuit of beauty runs in the Stark family."
Luke teased.
After he returned to Earth, he slowly handed over the work in S.H.I.E.L.D to Nick Fury, freeing Peggy too.
The so-called 'long vacation' was the 'reward' paid by the five creation gods of the universe, along with the three singular universes becoming his personal multiverse.
For a long time, Luke had been shuttling back and forth between different worlds.
Once in a while, he would go to Kamar Taj to continue Stephen Strange's training, pushing him further into the path of the one-punch mystic master.
Once in a while, he would go to the movie universe and have some hot pot with chubby Thor and Rocket Raccoon.
All in all, life was beautiful and peaceful.
Now, Luke entertained the friends and subordinates at the party while chatting with his old friends.
As the night drew to a close, Nick Fury was debriefing his former boss when he heard a 'beep' from his communicator.
He picked it up and found that it was a message from Iron Man.
"What happened, Stark?"
With an apologetic face, Fury went to the balcony and contacted Tony with his communicator.
According to Iron Man's cocky and brash character, he couldn't have contacted him for no reason.
"I found a strange guy in California! He's fast!"
Iron Man's voice sounded from the communicator, urgent and shocked, "It's gone supersonic ... God, he's going faster ... I can't catch him! I've lost him!"
"Fast? Then you should get Charles Xavier and tell him to send Quicksilver after him!"
Nick Fury was a little bemused by the fact that it wasn't like S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have any super-powered people with extreme speed.
"Well, I'm afraid it's not that easy... I'll pull Quicksilver in."
The communicator's channel was soon joined by one more person.
"Mr Stark, that guy's speed … it may be a bit frustrating to say so, but I really can't catch up with him!"
Quicksilver, whose real name was 'Pietro Maximoff', spoke in dismay.
"Get J.A.R.V.I.S to track him by satellite! What does the guy look like?"
Nick-Fury's face sank. 'A speedster that even Quicksilver couldn't keep up with?'
Apparently, this was a new emerging superpower.
"I didn't see it clearly. He ran too fast, like a yellow bolt of lightning!"
Amidst the rustling murmur came Quicksilver's reply.
"Wait! He's slowing down like he's running out of steam!"