The Missing Iron Man

Honestly, when something like this happened, William wanted to do the right thing and help.

But he was short on time and had a lot to do. If he didn't deliver this last pizza soon, the customer would probably complain.

With that in mind, William planned to make way for the thief. But the thief barreled straight into him and slammed into his shoulder. William's hand slipped, and the pizza box went flying.

"Oh no!" William cried. He watched the fresh pizza fly out of the box and reached to catch it, but it skimmed past his fingers and landed on the ground.

What made William even more desperate was that after knocking the pizza from his hands, the thief stepped right on it. A black shoeprint appeared on top of the pizza.

The thief had no time to care about the pizza he'd crushed. He shoved William aside and kept running. William stood in front of the pizza and fell silent for a moment. Then a smile appeared on his face, more miserable than a grimace.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho... You're dead!"

Things like this happened all the time in dangerous Brooklyn. Getting your bag snatched on the street was nothing unusual, and even bank robberies were common.

If you went home alone at night, someone might follow you the whole way. This had once been the most crime-ridden area in the United States, regarded as a chaotic, filthy den of vice.

The thief was a repeat offender, skilled at stealing and snatching things. He ducked into an empty alley and eagerly began opening the handbag to see what treasures were inside.

Just then, he heard the rapid pounding of footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a blond young man sprinting toward him. The man was fast—in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.

He'd never seen anyone run that fast. Was this guy an athlete?

Wait... Why did the other man's face look so familiar? Had he just bumped into someone?

As the thief struggled to remember, he glanced down at his feet and saw pizza filling smeared all over the soles of his shoes.

"Stop right there!" the young man roared. The thief froze for a moment, then turned and ran in the opposite direction.

The thief considered himself pretty nimble. Anyone in his line of work had to be good at something.

Running away after getting caught stealing took stamina. He figured he had good endurance and explosive speed, and that it wouldn't take long to leave this annoying guy behind.

But he soon realized he was wrong. The guy behind him stayed right on his heels, like a ghost he couldn't shake!

"Pant, pant..." William gasped. During the chase, Sprint had gone into cooldown again, so he was relying entirely on his own strength to pursue the thief. The old William would've been left behind in no time.

He'd only had one pizza left to deliver to complete the task, and this thief had ruined everything. William was so furious he could barely think straight. If he caught the thief, he'd tear him limb from limb!

The thief was nearly exhausted too. He'd never seen anyone run so well. He had no idea that Soldier: 76's Sprint had helped William catch up at first; now William was barely managing to keep going.

William's pace slowed more and more. The thief looked back and saw that he was about to lose the annoying guy. He grinned smugly and even flipped William the middle finger, as if taunting him. "Tsk, can't keep up anymore?"

The sight nearly drove William mad. At the same time, Sprint finally came off cooldown. Without hesitation, he activated it and charged forward like a violent gust of wind!

"Holy shit!"

The thief couldn't believe his eyes. Hadn't that guy run out of steam? How had he suddenly sped up again? What kind of monster was he? How could he still have that much energy after running for so long?

Terrified, the thief fled, but the man was getting closer and closer.

This time, William gave him no chance to escape. As he caught up from behind, he leaped into the air. Sprint also boosted his jumping ability, and he landed right in front of the thief.

"Heh heh, where do you think you're going?" Dark lines appeared across William's forehead as he cracked his knuckles.

The thief swallowed. In the next moment, a fist appeared before him—a furious fist!

William knocked the thief to the ground and punched him in the face again and again, muttering as he did:

"That's for stealing!"

"That's for ruining my pizza!"

"That's for running so fast!"

Before long, the thief's face was swollen and bruised. William grabbed him by the collar and snarled, "Don't steal again! Otherwise, I'll beat you up every time I see you. Got it?"

The thief nodded like a pecking chicken. He was just an ordinary thug; he'd never encountered a monster like William. He decided he'd never come back to Brooklyn again. This really was a dangerous place!

After driving off the thief, William couldn't find the bag's owner. He picked up the handbag from the ground. Its zipper was halfway open, and what looked like a newspaper was sticking out. He happened to glance at it and saw the words "Billionaire Missing."

Curious, William took out the newspaper. As soon as he read the headline, he froze.

Billionaire Missing! Tony Stark Attacked by Terrorists in Afghanistan!

William paused, then began reading the article carefully:

Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark was attacked by local armed terrorists while traveling to Afghanistan for an arms deal. The armored vehicles escorting him were destroyed, and more than a dozen soldiers were killed in action.

No trace of Tony Stark's body had been found, and his whereabouts remained unknown. No terrorist organization had claimed responsibility for the incident...

"Tony Stark."

William murmured the name. Born into a wealthy family, Tony Stark was the archetypal domineering CEO. Besides being a rich playboy who loved partying, he was also exceptionally intelligent and talented.

He graduated from MIT and was the CEO of Stark Industries. Even at a young age, he controlled assets worth tens of billions and was rich enough to rival a nation.

Of course, you probably knew him better by another name—Iron Man!

After a brush with death, Tony Stark had come up with the idea of saving the world. Using his intelligence, he created a high-tech suit of armor that could make him impervious to bullets and let him fly through the skies and burrow underground.

As Iron Man, he became a protector of the people and fought fierce battles against all kinds of evil forces. He joined the Avengers and worked tirelessly alongside superheroes like Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to protect world peace.

It was just that Tony Stark wasn't Iron Man yet. He was merely a very rich ordinary man. If William remembered correctly, Iron Man hadn't gone missing—he'd been kidnapped by terrorists.

Wait. Iron Man, Tony Stark... That meant he'd traveled to... the Marvel universe??