New York returned to normal quickly.
So quickly it was as if the city had never taken the mess of the past few days to heart.
At eight in the morning, the time clock at the Bronx construction site beeped as usual.
Alexei stood in front of it, studying it with his head lowered for half a minute before finally extending one finger and carefully pressing down.
Beep.
Success.
The welder beside him breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. You didn't push the time clock into the wall today."
Alexei glanced at him.
"I didn't yesterday, either."
"Yesterday you bumped into the water cooler next to it and made it leak."
"That was poor build quality."
The welder plunked his hard hat onto his head.
"Right. It didn't pass Rhino certification."
Flint walked past from behind them, holding a newly issued timesheet.
"Don't teach him phrases like that... We're going to the site over in Queens this afternoon. Is the scheduling all right?"
The welder looked perfectly innocent.
"The foreman's got it all arranged. Besides, that phrase is perfect for a construction site."
The foreman shouted from the doorway of the prefab office.
"Enough wisecracking. Get to work!"
The noise of machinery soon drowned them out.
Steel beams rose.
A cement truck backed into the site.
An experienced worker held a wooden ruler and directed Flint as he repaired a drainage channel.
New York was as congested and noisy as ever, with people cursing the city government on street corners as usual.
The difference was that two former villains were working at a construction site today.
It still sounded ridiculous.
But New Yorkers had always had a high tolerance for ridiculous things.
A lizard man had blocked the subway before. An extra rhino and a pile of sand at a