The car quickly reached the vicinity of the beach, which was a private beach belonging to a well-known hotel, and Stark had already reserved spots. Those wanting to swim, such as Stark, Peter, Steve, and Bobby, went to the changing room to switch into swim trunks, while those with no interest in getting into the water, like Strange and Shiller, went to the bar, ordered some drinks, and headed over to the lounge chairs.
"You must promise not to tell anyone," Strange said in a hushed voice as he walked unsteadily through the sand alongside Shiller, "This is important, you must promise me."
"I can't give you any assurance, because in the end, it won't be me who breaks that promise," Shiller said, tilting his head to glance at him, "You're not the type to keep your emotions hidden for long, you can't do it."
"Of course, I can," Strange replied, "Don't confuse me with the others like me, my mind is very clear, I know there are priorities..."
"I hope so," Shiller said as he sipped his cold juice, but his face clearly showed an "I'm not holding my breath" expression.
The sky by the seaside turned a deeper shade of blue as it approached midday, with the sun now more scorching, and Shiller nestled under the umbrella, watching the group on the beach shouting and hollering.
It seemed that Steve had suggested a surfing contest, and Stark was never one to be outdone in such challenges. Peter was obviously not entirely comfortable with Stark also clutching a surfboard and following along.
The location was a bay; looking east was a horizon where the sea met the sky, while a little to the west was another beach not private and quite crowded. Because it was close, there were quite a few onlookers from there as well.
Stark, that egomaniac, or more accurately, a narcissist, was the classic center of attention as the gazes of others were the best fuel for him. If one had to describe him with a single word, it would inevitably be "show-off."
He wasn't even lying on his surfboard to warm up or conserve energy. Before the big waves even arrived, he was already standing on it, showing off his recently quite impressive fitness achievements.
But, of course, no matter how hard he worked out, he couldn't match Steve, nor could he beat Peter and Bobby, after all, they both still had youth on their side.
Stark kept comparing the physiques of the men in his mind, clearly a bit dissatisfied with his own. Although he didn't lose out in terms of height, the volume of his muscles was insufficient, and the muscle definition was nowhere near as conspicuous as the others'; from afar, he couldn't match the others' presence.
So he decided to conquer them with his technical moves, Stark had really practiced surfing, and he didn't believe for a second that after a few stylish turns and spins, he wouldn't attract everyone's attention.
But sadly, the weather was not cooperative. Although it was windy today, the bay here just didn't have any big waves, whereas, the bay on the opposite side had wave after wave, tantalizingly inciting screams.
Seeing that the fun was diminishing, Stark naturally wasn't pleased. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the other side; the waves are too small here."
"Better not, Tony," Peter said with some concern, "Surfing in such strong wind is dangerous to begin with, and this isn't a designated surfing area, plus among us, only you don't have superpowers…"
Stark wouldn't stand for such talk, jumping as if someone had stepped on his tail, and without wanting to argue with the ones behind him, he grabbed his surfboard and headed in that direction.
Steve shook his head helplessly and said, "The man's about to become a dad and he's still so childish, I really need to have a good talk with Howard…"
There was no choice but for the others to join in the folly, or rather for Stark, the gentleman, insisting on risking his life alongside them—of course they had to go and keep an eye out; otherwise, it would be troublesome if he got knocked out by the waves.
The beach on this side was too quiet; Shiller and Strange also found it boring just sitting there, so they simply followed behind the others, crossing a street selling water sports equipment to arrive at the beach on the other side.
People immediately recognized them as Iron Man and Captain America, desperately pushing forward for autographs. A group of bikini-clad women not far from the entrance continually whistled at Peter and Bobby, who fled in panic, eliciting lively laughter from several tables of ladies.
Normally, Stark might have been in the mood to interact with his fans, but today he had a chip on his shoulder, insistent on outperforming the others in surfing. Seeing the wind easing and the waves shrinking, he had to seize the last chance, so he made quick work of a few and headed toward the beach.
"I swear I really didn't brush off the fans," Stark said in a backstage interview, holding out his hands and pushing forward as he spoke, "It's really too much for them to say that, after all, I've traveled miles to come here for a vacation, why can't I enjoy a bit of my own life, huh?"
"And after I finished surfing, I dove into the crowd, not only signing autographs for each of them but also taking videos and photos with them, which even delayed my lunch. I didn't complain at all, I really don't understand how they can accuse me of being a diva."
"Besides, Steve didn't pay attention to them, did he? Does Captain America have some kind of immunity? Or is it that his smile is just more deadly than mine?"
"Tony overlooked one thing," Peter said, crossing his hands in front of him as he sat in the backstage interview room, "He's already had a lot of tabloid publicity, or rather, most of the entertainment articles about him aren't exactly positive; lots of people know he has a bad temper, always impatient."
"On the contrary, the reports about me and Steve are always positive; people think I'm just a nerd who sits in the lab doing research, while Steve is seen as a sunny, friendly good guy."
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"So, the audience watching the beach report were surprised to see that I still have such a good figure, and I'm not too shabby at surfing either. Of course, there were a lot of positive comments about me, and Steve didn't do anything too outrageous, staying true to his consistently polite image."
"But Tony was a bit careless with the details. When he saw the fans crowding around, he didn't even take off his sunglasses, and when he rushed forward, he didn't check if the surfboard he was carrying might hit someone. If I hadn't blocked for him, he would have really knocked down a bystander, and he would have been cursed by the whole internet..."
Tony Stark hurriedly came to the shore and was about to hop on the board as soon as a wave receded when Steve quickly called out to him, "Didn't your coach teach you? You have to observe the situation before you switch to a new area, and then warm up again..."
"Old pedant!" Stark said, not caring at all, "Then you go ahead and warm up; I'm going to catch the next wave."
Clearly practiced, Stark had a stable lower body and a piercing gaze; he didn't panic when he saw the big wave coming. Engaging his core, he pushed down hard with his back foot and lunged forward, then relaxed his body, waiting for the wave to lift him up.
A standard half-rotation drew continuous applause from the beach, but unexpectedly, an even louder scream erupted from another part of the shore. Stark turned to look and saw a figure that, riding the side crest of the same wave, had performed a one-and-a-half-turn air rotation, landing with astonishing grace.
Steve was still lying on his board, paddling slowly; he knew Stark wanted to show off and didn't want to stop him. He even signaled Peter with his eyes to stand up later, pulling Bobby to paddle beside him.
But they didn't need to intervene, as someone else stole the spotlight. Steve looked over, and his excellent vision allowed him to immediately recognize a group of acquaintances—it was the young members of the New Warriors Team.
The one who had just executed that difficult maneuver was Robert. Stark obviously recognized him too, but then another big wave came, and with a grit of his teeth and a stomp, Stark yanked hard on the leash at the front of the board to meet the wave head-on.
Peter immediately stood up when he saw things going south, sliding his board to the side and darting under the ten-meter-high sweeping wave, and he scooped up Stark, who had nearly been smacked down by the wave.
On the other hand, Robert was performing even better; first, he executed a reverse snap turn, then glided across the wave's side wall drawing a smooth S-curve, and after emerging from the tail of the wave, he leaped to the peak and performed a big spin, falling with the wave.
Ten-meter-high waves sound daunting, but they are not particularly high in reality; however, the stunning and beautiful maneuvers drew cheers from the coast wave after wave.
Stark had been scowling since he came ashore. When Robert came over to greet him, he brushed off his handshake. Robert was a bit perplexed but had not come over for Stark in the first place; he was there for Steve and Shiller.
Previously, due to an accident in the plan, he thought he had killed Captain America, which had shocked him and caused stress disorder. It had been Shiller taking care of him, and later, to compensate for his guilt, Steve recruited him into the reserves of The Avengers, teaching him various combat skills.
Robert already possessed Speedball's abilities, meaning he could bounce around in the air like a ball, with even greater agility than Captain America. These abilities were naturally suited for sports like surfing that require speed and nimbleness. Stark insisting on competing with him was somewhat misguided.
"I've had enough of these mutants!" Stark said angrily in an interview backstage, "They always steal the limelight everywhere! They have no sense of decency!"
"I must clarify once again, I am not a mutant." In the backstage interview, Robert, who had grown his hair long and looked a bit like a rock star, said, "This ability was gained accidentally, not innate, and I've undergone rigorous training to master surfing skills. He can't disregard my efforts just because of my talent."
"Tony Stark is such a player." Strange, interviewed backstage and scoffing dismissively, imitated in a falsetto voice, "Just because he was born with the Hand of God, does he expect me to show more respect to these freaks?"
The word "freaks" was muted out.
Shiller didn't know why they were arguing again, seeing that the wind was about to die down and they weren't hurrying to surf. Were they just posing with their surfboards?
Stubborn, Stark of course wanted another try, and most people knew that a wave has a crest and a tail, and as it rolls in, one side dips down and the other curls up later, making it impossible to hold a surfing competition in the open ocean since positions cannot be fixed.
So it was very difficult for so many people to surf at the same time, but Stark was determined to compete. No one had a solution for him until Peter turned to Strange and said, "Doctor, could you use magic to conjure a few similar waves?"
Strange didn't even glance at Stark.
At that moment, Squirrel Girl from the New Warriors Team spoke up, "I could help you guys make some waves, but you'll have to promise me this is the only round; I'm starving."
Shiller knew that Squirrel Girl's abilities were like wish-fulfillment, akin to an invincible cartoon character, so he joined in urging, "With so many tourists here, it's not good for us to occupy the center all the time. Let's finish the competition quickly and go eat."
Stark, Robert, Peter, Steve, and the others all got on their boards.
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