Pitch-black shadows blanketed Earth's night sky.
In a world almost devoid of light, there was no sign of life.
The Avengers floated in the air atop a gigantic magic carpet unfurled by Banner.
Tony gazed out at the silent darkness and could not help shivering.
"Damn it, what happened here? There isn't a single light in the city. The sky is cloudless, but there aren't any stars or moonlight either."
The only light in the entire world
seemed to come from Tony's armor.
Two small floodlights popped out from his shoulders, their circular beams piercing the darkness and shining upon nearby New York.
But even beneath the intense light,
every building remained pitch-black, as though a black cloth had been draped over the entire city.
"Guys, we may be in real trouble."
At that moment, Hawkeye said as he pressed his tactical glasses.
"There are no biological heat signatures in this city. Everyone is dead."
"Thanks a lot."
More than a dozen small flying probes launched from Tony's armor and shot into the city.
The footage fed back by their cameras showed not only no people, but not even a single corpse.
"Hawkeye, I'm afraid you're being too optimistic. The people here weren't all killed. They all disappeared."
Hawkeye narrowed his eyes. "Disappeared? This reminds me of the Alien-invaded universes in the database."
"Gentlemen, the actual situation may be worse."
On the magic carpet, sisters Natasha and Yelena crouched halfway down as they searched through information on the Time Tablet, then suddenly spoke up.
"I can say for certain that none of you carefully read the files JARVIS uploaded before coming here."
Natasha turned the tablet around for everyone to see. "The intelligence JARVIS sent stated—"
"Robert Reynolds, also known as Bob, was a superhero called Sentry in some worlds."