Chapter 7: It's very ugly

"New York Journal, February 13, 2009."

"The military announced today that Tony Stark, 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, but Tony Stark's whereabouts are unknown. The military said it would not give up the search and rescue operation..."

On the streets of Brooklyn, New York, Paul stood alone at the entrance of an alley. He had taken off his tattered uniform and changed into a hoodie and slacks. After escaping from the research institute hidden inside the abandoned factory building, Paul followed Wade here.

At the moment, he was holding an old newspaper, reading it.

Tony Stark... Future Iron Man, central figure of the Avengers!

Anyone who has watched the Marvel series of movies knows this name. After all, the beginning of the entire Marvel series started with Iron Man. The contents of this old newspaper indicate that more than a month has passed since then.

In other words, the current time period is before the birth of Iron Man. At this point, the Avengers have not yet appeared. Even Captain America will be unearthed years later, not to mention several major events closely related to the Avengers.

So it seems that Earth is relatively safe for now...

At this moment, Paul saw a figure wearing a hood walking towards him.

"Well, have you found your girlfriend?"

"I found her," Wade replied, his eyes looking a bit downcast. "But I didn't dare to see her. Now, I am a complete monster. You didn't see the expressions of those passers-by looking at me. It was even more exaggerated than seeing a zombie. If Vanessa saw me looking like this, I can't guarantee she wouldn't treat me like one and shoot me."

Paul patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, with your regenerative healing factor, one shot won't kill you."

"..."

Wade's emotions were a bit incoherent. 

"Let's not talk about this. Let's take you to meet my friend first," Wade said, walking into the alley. Paul followed silently behind.

Soon, the two stopped in the depths of the alley. Wade walked to an iron gate and knocked hard.

"Weasel, your daddy Wade is back! Open the door!"

Paul glanced at the crooked signboard next to the door.

Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Children.

Seeing such a unique name, Paul knew this was the mercenary bar that Wade frequented.

After a while, the iron door of the bar opened. A man with disheveled hair and glasses stared wide-eyed at Wade in disbelief.

"Wade, it's really you! You crawled out of your grave!?"

…

"So that's how it is," Weasel said, watching the two sit in front of the bar, gulping down the lunch he had just bought. "You cured your cancer and then, with your... friend, ran away from that mutant club and ended up at my place."

"That's right!" Wade said, speaking through a mouthful of food, casually opening an unopened bottle of wine on the bar. Ignoring Weasel's distressed expression, he grabbed the bottle and drank directly from it.

Paul did not share Wade's drinking habits. Instead, he opened the freezer in front of Weasel and took out a bottle of soda.

Ton ton ton...

Weasel's mouth twitched as he watched. These two came here to eat and drink for free!

As Wade's friend, Weasel was used to this. He looked at Wade, who had been wearing a hood, and tried to persuade him. "Wade, Vanessa loves you. During the year you disappeared, she never stopped looking for you. I don't think she will care about your appearance... oh!"

Wade pulled back his hood, revealing his terrifying appearance. "Do you like the way I look now?"

"No," Weasel replied, shaking his head without hesitation.

Wade turned to Paul. "Do you like it?"

Paul thought, isn't this a rhetorical question? However, Wade was his friend, and he didn't want to hurt his self-esteem.

Paul thought for a moment and said, "It's not bad. You look rather... unique."

His words seemed to make Wade feel better. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Wade asked eagerly, "Tell me, what's so unique?"

"Uh, unique... unique..."

Paul looked around but couldn't think of anything special about Wade's appearance. Finally, he bit the bullet and said, "It's very ugly."

Wade: "..."

Weasel: "..."