On June Fourth, while S.H.I.E.L.D. was still scratching their heads over where Loki had hidden the Tesseract, the Expo Grounds were already buzzing with excitement.
"Peter, thank you." Mary took a drink from Parker's hand.
Today, Peter's rich friend, Harry Osborn, was treating them. He invited Mary and Peter to the Elsa concert. Peter, easily the most average of the three, was in charge of carrying the bags and buying drinks—playing the third wheel quietly. Ever since he had that talk with Liu A'dou, he managed to start a conversation with Mary using the gift from Kaitou Kid. Sadly, he then learned Mary was now dating his friend Harry. What could be more crushing than that?
Peter Parker could only wish them happiness.
"There are so many people." Mary looked around and sighed. It was even livelier than the Kaitou Kid event.
"That's why I had my dad contact the CEO of Stark Industries directly. We got the highest tier VIP tickets," said Harry. "We don't need to wait in line. Follow me."
Peter once again felt bitter toward rich people, especially when he saw the admiration in Mary's eyes. Girls really were easy to impress.
Peter staggered behind them with everyone's stuff and accidentally bumped into an excited boy. "Sorry."
Ben shook his head to say it was fine. But when he saw Peter and the others walking toward the VIP section, he couldn't help feeling envious. Jason still hadn't returned, so Ben snuck out using the car from the garage to come to the concert. He figured it would only be a few hours—there wouldn't be a problem. He held his ticket tightly. He still had to pick up his Elsa doll later and could hardly contain his excitement.
The human world was amazing. He had no idea how they came up with so many fun things. Movies, music—it was all incredible. Ben had long since considered himself a part of Earth, completely immersed in Elsa's songs.
The concert officially started at 1:00 PM and would run until 4:00 PM—a solid three hours. Hardcore fans were already there in the morning, dressed up in handmade cosplay, showing off their props. It was shoulder to shoulder. Ben wore a T-shirt printed with Castle on the Peak. After seven years, he was just like any ordinary teen. His native language wasn't even as fluent as his English anymore. Looking at all the fans around him, Ben felt incredibly lucky.
The audience ranged from 18 to 35 years old, with a 40/60 male-to-female ratio. Those between 20 and 30 made up 70% of the crowd. There were lots of middle and high schoolers too, and even some elementary school kids brought by their parents.
All kinds of people were here. It was Ben's first time seeing so many gathered in one place. He knew Earth had a big population, but this was overwhelming.
A giant display screen was set up near the stage so people at the back could see what was happening. Stark Industries had gone all-out. Money poured into the production, turning the stage into a mini Stark product showcase. Everything onstage was made by Stark Industries, with their logo prominently displayed everywhere.
Still, Liu A'dou had to thank Stark. If he'd tried to do this on his own, there's no way he could've pulled off such a large-scale event in so little time. Forget organizing a concert for 10,000 people—even getting permits from the city for something this size would've taken forever. That's why, since arriving in New York, Liu A'dou had been riding the coattails of others. The networks of Professor X and Stark were worth more than hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Ms. Potts, we really owe Stark Industries this time. Pulling off an event of this scale so smoothly in such a short period—it's truly impressive," Liu A'dou said.
Pepper Potts smiled proudly. "This was nothing for Stark Industries. Honestly, if we had more time, we could've made it even better."
"Already good enough," Liu A'dou said. He had no idea what 'even better' would look like, but right now, he was satisfied.
Elsa wore the purple princess dress from the movie and looked completely calm. For her, this wasn't any different from giving a national speech.
Pepper Potts saw Elsa and instantly adored her. "So cute. Even prettier than in the movie. I guess if you're adorable, anything looks good on you. You really look like a real princess."
Elsa and Pepper already knew each other, and Pepper especially liked her. With that slightly chubby baby face and smooth skin, Elsa was the perfect little sister type. Pepper doted on her like family.
Elsa was young, beautiful, and had a sweet voice. It made sense why Pepper liked her. And besides, Frozen was a favorite across all ages. Pepper even kept a collector's edition Blu-ray and watched it with Tony.
"Elsa, nervous?" Pepper asked with concern.
Elsa shook her head. "Nothing to be nervous about. It's just singing." She'd trained for months just for this moment.
But Liu A'dou cut in. "You've got instruments too. Piano and guitar. You've only been learning those for a few months. Better to stay humble."
Elsa thought, 'You're underestimating me.' "That's nothing I can't handle."
Liu A'dou couldn't help teasing her. "Nothing but Microcosmos ever gives you trouble."
"…" Elsa had no comeback. But Microcosmos? She was determined to master that too.
The audience was already eagerly waiting, but the show hadn't started yet. The big screen played Stark Industries' commercials first, from the tech expo intro to new product showcases—one flashy ad after another. But this was Stark Industries after all. Their ads were seriously cool. Some clips were even exclusive footage Pepper filmed of Tony as Iron Man, including his spacewalk scene. Absolutely thrilling.
People were enjoying the commercials. The VIP section was set up on high platforms around the stage, with leather sofas and air conditioning—completely blocking out the summer heat. Peter, Mary, and Harry were seated there, waiting for the concert to start. To be honest, none of them were Frozen superfans. They'd seen it, but didn't obsess over it.
Harry brought Mary because he knew she wanted to be an actress. He wanted her to experience Elsa's global stardom firsthand. As for why Peter was there? Well, because Harry wasn't the type to ditch his friends just for a girl. Peter was his only close guy friend, so of course he invited him too.
"Stark Industries doesn't disappoint. This place is insane," Peter said.
That didn't sit well with Harry. Osborn Industries might not be as flashy as Stark's, but it was still one of America's big players and had strong military ties. "One day, I'll make Osborn Industries bigger than Stark's."
Peter pulled a face, realizing he'd said the wrong thing. His buddy here was the future heir to Osborn Industries.
"It's not like Stark's success is all that. Just because he's got Iron Man. One day, I'll invent something even better." Harry might still be in high school, but he had big ambitions. Sadly, his talent was limited. The future wouldn't be easy for him. Not everyone could be like Iron Man, building a mini Arc Reactor in a terrorist cave and inventing the Iron Suit on the fly.
Osborn Industries had always dreamed of creating a super soldier like Captain America. But that dream cost the Osborn family two generations. Both Harry and his father suffered for it.
While the crowd waited for the concert to begin, tensions were already flaring up among the assembled superheroes aboard the flying aircraft carrier over New York.