Five Years in the Marvel Universe, a Body of Steel

"Lin! Lin!" a child called from the woods.

Lin Yi lay atop his treehouse and looked down lazily.

There was no need to ask who had come looking for him. For years, only one person had sought him out in these woods: Tony Stark's daughter.

Morgan Stark.

Five years ago, Lin Yi had gone to sleep at home and woken up on a tree branch in the Marvel universe.

Before he could figure out what had happened, a mustached man appeared and sternly told him he was trespassing on Tony Stark's private property and needed to get lost. Only then did Lin Yi realize where he was.

At first, he panicked. Blue Star in the Marvel universe was a chaotic place. Some villain could appear at any moment, carve a path down the street, then pull out some high-tech gadget and electrocute everyone for good measure.

If an ordinary guy like Lin Yi ran into that, he would probably get kicked aside like roadkill before he could flee. Better to stay out of their way.

His neighbor Tony, though, was someone worth sticking close to. Living next door to him felt incredibly safe. So Lin Yi shamelessly pretended he hadn't heard the order to leave and built himself a wooden house in the branches.

But when he finished, he realized he wasn't tired in the slightest!

After some experimentation best left undescribed, he discovered that although he had no system, he could grow stronger simply by soaking up sunlight. That changed everything!

Wasn't that basically Superman's physiology?

I'm Lin Yi, and sunlight makes me stronger!

Stay out of their way? Whose way?

For all that bravado, Lin Yi stayed in the woods for the next five years.

After all, showing off took strength. He wouldn't feel comfortable going out and raising hell until he'd soaked up enough sun to become unbeatable!

So he barely went anywhere during those five years. He just sunbathed atop his treehouse, unlocking "Superman's" abilities little by little.

Without any reliable benchmark, even after five years he could only judge his strength against what he remembered reading about Superman and seeing in the movies.

He was probably somewhat stronger than the movie version of the Man of Steel, and he was still growing stronger.

Come to think of it, the plot should be starting soon...

"Lin, what are you doing? Come down!"

Below the tree, Morgan grew impatient watching Lin Yi lie there like a motionless salted fish.

His thoughts interrupted, Lin Yi pursed his lips, rolled off the treehouse, and landed in a childish superhero pose to Morgan's startled cry.

Well, it was too childish for a kid, but just right for him. He preferred landing straight on his feet, but last time he'd misjudged the force and planted himself in the dirt. After that embarrassment, he didn't dare try it in front of Morgan again.

"How many times have I told you? Call me boss! Boss Lin!" Lin Yi poked Morgan's round cheek and tucked her fluffy, slightly curled chestnut hair behind her ear.

"Yes, boss!" Little Morgan snapped to attention with a grin, looking adorably round.

"Good!" Lin Yi was satisfied. Morgan had been one of his few playmates over the past five years, and she was even cuter in person than on-screen.

"So, what do you want to play today?" Lin Yi waved a generous hand. Since Morgan knew how to address him, he would even agree if she wanted to blow up fish in the lake outside Tony's cabin.

But Morgan had little interest in blowing up fish. She pointed at the blue sky. "Boss! I want to fly today!"

"Huh?" Lin Yi blinked. He almost blurted out, Up there beside the sun?

"You said you'd take me for a ride in the sky when I got a little older!" Morgan looked up at him, her big eyes full of anticipation.

Lin Yi slapped his forehead. She still remembered that.

When Morgan was about three, something had happened that forced him to take her on a high-altitude flight.

She had never forgotten it. Every so often, she pestered him to take her flying again.

But Tony had strictly forbidden it, saying it was too dangerous. She hadn't brought it up in nearly a year. Why now?

"Flying is rule number one on your daddy's forbidden list. How about we play something else?" Lin Yi tried to negotiate.

To be fair, flying wasn't as bad as blowing up fish. But Morgan had never blown up any fish, so it wasn't on the list.

He had lived on Tony's property rent-free for five years. Openly defying his landlord seemed a bit much. He had some shame, after all.

"No! I want to fly!"

Lin Yi curled his lip. "Nooo, I wanna fly~"

"Lin Yi!" Morgan was so indignant she dropped the "boss," her face turning red.

"Last time, Daddy said he'd take me flying for my birthday, but all he did was lift me up and run around!"

Little Morgan pouted as she complained, clearly unimpressed by her daddy's halfhearted attempt.

"I'm five now. I'm a grown-up! Boss, you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

A grown-up at five, huh.

"Just one flight, okay? Daddy's busy tinkering in his little room anyway. He won't find out!"

When Lin Yi said nothing, little Morgan's eyes darted around, and she added, "Boss, you're not scared of my daddy, are you?"

Lin Yi leaned back. What kind of nonsense was that?

He merely had a pinkie-sized measure of "respect" for his landlord! This kid's attempt to goad him was laughably childish. What normal person would fall for it?

"Fine, we'll fly! It's just flying! But if your dad yells at us, you're handling it!" Lin Yi raised his eyebrows and scooped Morgan up.

"Today, your boss is taking you up beside the sun!"

Morgan cried out as Lin Yi rose from the ground and, in the blink of an eye, shot above the dense treetops.

With nothing blocking their view, the green woods and lake spread out below them.

As the ground fell farther away, Morgan showed no fear at all. Her little face flushed with excitement.

Sunlight warmed them both, and the pleasant weather lifted their spirits.

Seeing Morgan's delighted face, Lin Yi couldn't help smiling too. Teasing a kid could be fun sometimes.

Of course, he hadn't agreed to a child's dangerous request without thinking. He had something like Superman's bioelectric aura, which could keep Morgan completely safe in flight. Even several times the speed of sound wouldn't hurt her, let alone a casual flight like this.

But Tony's heart might not survive seeing that, so he decided against it.

"Look, isn't that your house?" Lin Yi pointed to the wooden cabin by the lake. "Doesn't it look tiny from up here?"

Tony used to live in a huge mansion. Lin Yi didn't know why he had moved into the woods after "retiring." Maybe Tony had grown fond of nature with age? Or maybe he wanted to give Morgan a comfortable place to grow up.

People on the forums had guessed Tony was simply exhausted and wanted Morgan to have a good childhood.

With that thought, Lin Yi was about to take Morgan above the clouds and see if she got scared when a familiar voice rang out.

"You up there! Yes, you, Lin! Bring Morgan down immediately, to a safe height where I can see you!"

Tony's furious shout boomed from the speakers outside the cabin.

Little Morgan jolted in Lin Yi's arms. He let out a wicked chuckle.

"Oops. Your dad found us. Didn't you say he was inside tinkering?"

Little Morgan gave a nervous laugh and waved her hand. "It's fine, it's fine. We're already flying. With Mommy around, Daddy won't smack my palm... probably."

Lin Yi was about to tease her some more when he spotted a car approaching along a path through the woods.

Steve, Natasha, Banner, and... huh. What was Ant-Man's name again?