CH-8

"New York Journal, February 13, 2009."

"The military announced today that Tony Stark, the chairman of Stark Industries in New York, was attacked by terrorists yesterday afternoon after demonstrating the newly developed Jericho missile in Kunair Province, Afghanistan. All 13 American soldiers who accompanied him died. Tony Stark's whereabouts are currently unknown, and the military is committed to finding and rescuing him."

On the streets of Brooklyn, New York, Lu Chuang stood alone at the entrance of an alley, having changed into more comfortable clothes after escaping from a hidden research facility. He was reading an old newspaper and reflecting on the mention of Tony Stark.

Tony Stark, the future Iron Man and a key member of the Avengers! If you've watched the Marvel movies, you'd know this name well. The newspaper was dated over a month ago, which meant that Lu Chuang was in a period before Iron Man's existence, let alone the Avengers or even Captain America.

It seemed like the world was relatively peaceful at this moment.

As Lu Chuang pondered, he spotted a hooded figure approaching him.

"Well, did you find your girlfriend?" he asked.

"I did," Wade replied, his eyes downcast.

"But I couldn't bring myself to see her at all. I'm a complete monster now. You should've seen the way people looked at me on the street; it was worse than if they'd seen a zombie. If Vanessa saw me like this, she might think I'm a zombie and shoot me."

Lu Chuang reassured him, "Don't worry, you've got a Regenerative Healing Factor now. One shot won't kill you."

Wade's emotions were all over the place, and he couldn't believe someone like Lu Chuang was comforting him.

"Let's not dwell on that. Let's go meet my friend first," Wade suggested.

They entered an alley, and Wade knocked on an iron gate.

"Weasel, it's your daddy Wade! Open up!" Wade shouted.

Lu Chuang noticed a crooked sign next to the door: "Sister Margaret's Lost Children's School." It was an unconventional name, and he realized it was a bar where mercenaries frequented.

The iron door of the bar eventually opened, revealing a disheveled man with glasses who stared in disbelief at Wade.

"Wade, is that you? You've risen from the dead!?"

"So that's the story," Weasel said, looking at the two sitting at the bar, devouring the lunch he had just brought. He continued, "You cured your cancer, escaped from that Mutant club with your... 'bed friends,' and ended up here at my place."

"That's right!" Wade mumbled with a mouthful of food, casually opening an unopened bottle of wine on the bar, and started drinking straight from the bottle, disregarding Weasel's dismayed expression.

Lu Chuang wasn't a fan of alcohol, so he grabbed a bottle of water from the freezer. Weasel couldn't believe they were freeloaders.

As Wade's friend, Weasel was used to this sort of behavior. He looked at Wade, who had been hiding under a hood and tried to reassure him, "Wade, Vanessa loves you. During the year you were gone, she never stopped looking for you. I don't think she'll care about your appearance... Oh!"

Wade removed his hood, revealing his horrifying appearance.

"Do you like my ghostly look now?" he asked.

Weasel shook his head without hesitation. "Not at all."

Wade turned to Lu Chuang, seeking another opinion. "And you, do you like it?"

Lu Chuang thought it was quite a loaded question but didn't want to hurt Wade's feelings. He chose his words carefully, "It's unique, in a way."

Wade, hopeful for a compliment, asked eagerly, "Tell me, what's unique about it?"

Lu Chuang struggled for a response. He looked around but couldn't come up with anything particularly special about Wade's appearance. So, he went with, "It's...distinctive."

Wade, still hopeful, pressed for more, "Distinctive in what way?"

Lu Chuang finally gave in, "Well, it's certainly not ordinary. It's, uh, very unique."

Wade was left perplexed by the vague description, and Weasel had no words either.