New York Park.
A transparent layer of thin ice floated on the surface of the Central Lake, shimmering in the sunlight.
On a wooden bench by the lake, a young white man and a teenager sat side by side.
Captain America Steve Rogers turned his head to look at Vincent, teasingly saying, "Thank you for not shouting just now, otherwise we might have been surrounded and watched again."
"That's not what I want to see either. I also don't like attracting too much attention," Vincent shrugged, then asked curiously, "Captain, you're not dead after all?"
"Just dug out of the ice in the Arctic Ocean not long ago," Steve spread his hands.
Perhaps neither Steve nor Vincent felt the other was special, so they naturally and tacitly started chatting.
"You just said you don't like attracting too much attention," Steve said with emotion, "In my era, everyone wished others would focus their attention on them. Has this generation of young people changed?"
"Times have changed, Captain."
Vincent really wanted to retort to that statement, but in the end, he changed it to: "In fact, the intensity with which people seek attention now is definitely more exaggerated than in your era."
"I don't want to attract attention. It's just because I prefer a peaceful and quiet daily life."
Hearing Vincent's words, Steve's young and handsome face clearly froze for a moment.
"Captain, I personally really want to ask you a question," Vincent asked curiously, "If you were given another chance, would you want to be an ordinary person or a superhero?"
"This..."
Steve paused, seemingly stumped by Vincent's question.
A moment later, Steve softly said, "I think, after being a hero, I'd like to be an ordinary person. Unfortunately, it's too late now."
He looked like a young man in his early twenties, but now, the helplessness and desolation on his face resembled that of a centenarian.
However, calling him a 'centenarian' seemed to be nothing wrong.
Vincent vaguely understood what Steve wanted to express.
As a superhero, it is mostly for the world; as an ordinary person, it must be for a certain person.
And when the world is still there, but that person is gone, then many things lose their meaning of existence.
"Why do you think of such questions?" Steve looked at Vincent with confusion.
"Nothing, just thought of it suddenly," Vincent shook his head.
This question will also be the biggest problem he needs to face in his future life.
The choice his aunt mentioned also came from here.
Extraordinary, ordinary person.
A single thought's difference... "Vincent!" "Senior!"
Two calls suddenly came from behind. Vincent turned his head and saw that it was Gwen and Kara.
How did they find him?
"Kid," Steve suddenly patted Vincent's shoulder and said meaningfully, "As someone who's been there, I want to remind you to cherish the present. Also, take care of your body."
"Captain, you've misunderstood."
Vincent's mouth twitched, thinking how Captain America could be so improper.
"Captain, hope to see you again," He waved his hand, got up from the chair, and walked towards Gwen and them with his backpack.
Steve gave an OK gesture.
"Vincent, who were you talking to just now?" Gwen looked curiously at the chair in the distance.
Vincent also looked back; at this moment, Captain America was no longer on the wooden bench by the lake.
Vincent casually said, "Met on the road, just chatted a few words."
"Is that so?" Gwen blinked, half-believing, but didn't press further.
Kara next to her showed a thoughtful expression...
The group of Vincent, who continued shopping and having fun, realized it was already dark when they came to their senses.
After nightfall, New York, the city that never sleeps, radiated even more abundant vitality.
For young men and women in the prime of youth and budding romance, the night is the best time to create miracles.
Especially when traveling, there's a good excuse to temporarily stay overnight in another place.
This is the perfect time and place!
New York, Queens, inside a local hotel.
"What? Only one room left?" Vincent, who had inquired at the front desk, frowned. He thought for a moment, then resolutely pulled out his bank card and slapped it on the table: "Then just get one!"
"Vincent, isn't this a bit much?" Behind him, Gwen's ears were completely red; this was a bit too stimulating and bold for her.
"Senior," Kara also wrung her hands a little awkwardly, looking like she wanted to say something but held back.
"What are you thinking?" Vincent scratched his head and arranged, "Tonight, you two will stay here. I'll go to a nearby street and find another hotel to rest."
An unthought-of path and outcome, the two beautiful girls were once again dumbfounded.
The hotel receptionist saw this scene, mouth agape, not knowing what to say.
Please, be a person!
...After settling his childhood friend Gwen and junior Kara's accommodation, Vincent couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He carried his backpack, from which the Little Orange Cat's head occasionally poked out, and walked along the street outside the hotel entrance, looking for a place to stay.
Under the night sky, neon lights flickered.
Traffic flowed like water on the bustling street.
Vincent merged into the crowd and walked. Meanwhile, in a corner of the same street.
In a dark, damp, and putrid alley without lighting, a puddle of unknown still water on the ground suddenly twitched on its own. The viscous black gelatinous liquid, now seemingly alive, stealthily and quietly moved to a dark corner of the wall, as if lurking and peeking at pedestrians passing by on the street outside.
"Is there a suitable human physique to parasitize?"
"I can't hold on much longer..."
The unknown creature's hoarse whispers were restless and anxious. It had no actual limbs or brain, just a mass of black liquid, and it was unclear where its words came from.
Just then, the teenager with the backpack passed by on the street outside the alley.
The black liquid creature suddenly moved violently, chasing after Vincent furiously and swiftly along the alley wall.
Puff!
Vincent, walking in the street, stumbled. He looked back in surprise, only feeling a light push on his back.
However, there was no one behind him.
"A delusion?" Vincent murmured to himself. He didn't notice that inside the backpack he was carrying, a pair of cat eyes were suddenly staring intently at a certain part of Vincent's body.
Very soon.
Vincent found a second hotel not far from where Gwen and their hotel was. The hotel entrance had a revolving door design. Vincent stepped forward and pushed the revolving door, but just as he entered one of the internal spaces of the revolving door, his body suddenly trembled violently.
A strange sensation, from the inside out, filled his heart.
"What's going on?" Vincent opened his eyes wide, bewildered. He looked at his hands in astonishment, only to see his body and the clothes he was wearing rapidly melting like a snowman in summer! Countless black liquids fell to the ground, then viscously connected to the main body with strands.
Rumble!
In an instant, Vincent completely melted into a puddle of black liquid, and the backpack he was carrying fell to the ground with him!