It was getting dark, the lights were coming on, and a more bustling nightlife was coming to bustling New York.
Eric did not disturb Skye, who was still studying hard, and went out into the street alone..
It had been seven years since Eric had adopted Skye, and in seven years, Skye had really changed a lot. From that stubborn little girl with low self-esteem and a little bit of autism, she has grown up to be a cheerful, confident girl who loves to learn.
The two of them still stick to the ten-sentence-a-day task they agreed to, and it's fair to say that Erik takes the brunt of the credit for Skye's change.
"And I wonder which university Skye will choose." Yes, under the influence of his genius father and several genius aunts and uncles, fifteen-year-old Skye has successfully graduated from high school and is choosing her future direction.
A wave of pride filled Eric's chest and made him feel more comfortable. Whichever university Skye chose, Eric would support it, he would not interfere with his daughter's plans for the future, he would only be there to help her out when she needed it.
"Whew ..." looking at the hustle and bustle of New York at night, Eric suddenly felt out of place here.
He knew that this was an after-effect of his increased strength; before, when he was just an omega-level mutant, he was still able to think of himself as a powerful human, just a little distant from ordinary people.
As his strength continued to climb, this sense of alienation grew stronger and stronger, and he had been making a relentless effort to try and integrate himself into the crowd, terrified that he might one day lose his humanity.
This time the feeling was even more pronounced, and looking around at the bustling crowd, Eric was unable to produce even a hint of emotional turmoil.
"This state is not right! I need to adjust my mindset!" Eric patted himself on the cheek and turned away, adjusting his mindset, he had his own way of doing that. He was Skye's refuge, and how was Skye not his panacea?
"Come on, let's go home to our daughter!"
...
"Mr. Eric, it was a pleasure to meet you!"
Howard Stark was waiting outside Eric's house early the next morning, making Barton, who had come to answer the door, look at him the wrong way and think he had come to ask Eric for a job.
"Mr. Howard, this is not the first time I've seen you!" Eric, in his apron and chef's hat, was in the very rare position of making breakfast for Skye.
It was a simple omelette and toast stream, but Skye was looking forward to it, much to her displeasure at Howard who had interrupted her breakfast time.
"Mr Howard, would you like to join us?" Eric patted his daughter's shoulder secretly, signalling not to be disagreeable with him.
"No thanks, I've eaten with Steve and I'll wait for you in the living room." Howard naturally saw Skye's displeasure and withdrew from the dining room quite self-consciously.
"Huh!" Eric looked at Skye who was pretending to be triumphant, smiled helplessly and continued to make his breakfast.
...
"Mr. Eric, I'll spare you the useless polite words, please tell me clearly what you came to this universe for?" After breakfast, Eric had just entered the living room when Howard stared at him for questioning.
Eric's gaze faltered, "You've been to the moon?"
"Obviously!" Howard spread his hands and gave Erik an "I know all about it" look.
"Well, in that case, then our communication will be much better!" Eric poured Howard a glass of wine, but took out a can of Coke for himself.
"I'd like to hear more about it!" Howard raised his glass in a gesture of listening ears.
"My universe was destroyed by a powerful being and I should have been the only one to escape, I didn't know exactly which universe I would reach before I crossed over, I just wanted to stay alive."
"Alive? But you, being alive, have brought an infinite crisis to our universe!" Howard stood up agitated and pointed at his nose, "I was supposed to die at the hands of the Winter Soldier on December 16, 1991!
Steve was supposed to be dug up in 2011!
Hulk was supposed to be born in 2003!
Tony was supposed to be Iron Man in 2008!
But now, that's all changed! All because of you, our future, has gone off the rails!"
"The future is unpredictable, with every observation, a new parallel universe is created, and with my arrival, a new parallel universe is born ..."
Eric tried to convince Howard, but Howard cut him off straight away, "I know more about parallel universes than you do! But that doesn't make up for the damage you've done to this universe."
"Damage? No! It's saving! I'm saving the world! Howard, you've only seen the future that Steve has told you about, but an even better future awaits us, and if things remain as they were before, the only thing that will happen to us is destruction!"
"A more filmable future? How is it filmable? That's just your word!"
The two men were getting more and more agitated, Howard's neck was even red with anger.
Eric was no better, breathing heavily, his eyes glazed over and he wanted to punch Howard in the face. He settled down, took a deep breath and gave both of them an EMP.
"What's this? An electromagnetic pulse? An EMP to affect the brain's hormone production? Very nice idea." Howard seemed to have some sort of device on him that actually detected Eric's little skill.
"I can understand how Tony feels now, you're so unfit to be a father!" Eric shook his head and took a large gulp of coke, "Howard, you should trust me."
"Give me a reason!" Howard looked straight at Eric, his eyes still sharp as knives even after he had regained his composure.
"We are a shield that protects humanity in the known and the unknown!" Eric suddenly uttered the words, causing Howard's expression to freeze.
"How do you know that phrase?"
"In my universe, I was once part of the Shield."
Howard fell silent, an answer he hadn't expected, his superbrain running fast, analysing every possibility of this, and in the end, he chose to go ahead with his original plan.
"I don't trust you!" Howard raised his head and stared at Eric, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "Unless you can prove it to me!"
"Prove what?"
"Prove that you will protect this world and protect humanity!"
Eric raised an eyebrow, "How is that going to be proven?"
Howard smiled at once, "It's simple, do something for me, and if you succeed, the Brotherhood of the Shield will accept you! But if it fails, we will obliterate you and get this world back on track, you know we can do that!"
"After all this talk, that's what you're after, isn't it? Trying to get me to take a share of the pledge?"
.....