Shadow of the Beautiful World

New York, Queens.

It was dusk, and Aunt May was preparing dinner for the family. She had just returned from get off work at a nearby community welfare agency, but she was not terribly tired.

She likes the job she has held on to for years.

Although the income is meager, but because of her younger brother, the Parker family got rid of financial problems very early, and Aunt May will not worry about money problems.

She went to help those in need more because the family has been quite deserted recently.

Uncle Ben, who works in the Onika Consortium, often travels on business, and a group of girls now have their own lives and come back twice a week.

My younger brother is even engaged in some weird jobs that Aunt Mei doesn't understand at all, and doesn't want to understand.

For the most part, it was just Aunt May and Peter at home.

Although Aunt Mei is a woman with a rich spiritual life, rather than wasting time at home, she would rather do something that can help others.

Duh, duh, duh

The sound of chopping vegetables came from the kitchen. Aunt Mei, wearing an apron, swiftly chopped up the vegetables she bought after work. In the pot next to her, two servings of pasta were almost done.

This is her dinner with little Peter.

Speaking of which, Peter said that he has participated in some interest groups at school in recent weeks, so he will not go home immediately after school.

This reason sounds normal, but Aunt May always felt that Peter, who had just passed his 13th birthday, seemed to be hiding something.

Although the little guy hid it well, he would look a little tired every time he came home, and there were some extra trauma medicines and things like that in his room.

This made Aunt Mei have to wonder if something happened to Little Peter recently.

It's very similar to Merlin's performance when he first came to the house.

Aunt Mei, wearing glasses, stirred the chopped vegetables in a large bowl, and added sauce to the vegetable salad.

As she stirred the salad, she said to herself:

Hiding my real job, I don't want my family to worry, so I can only do some things quietly, alas, boys have this kind of problem when they grow up.

Aunt Mei put down the salad, took out the cooked pasta, and put it on a plate.

She frowned and said:

Maybe it's a puberty issue, Frank told me last time he saw Peter getting close to a girl, but he's only 13, isn't he?

The parents who cared about their nephew became more and more wrong, and couldn't help feeling a little upset.

She helped Merlin take Raven, Lorna and Laura. She has a lot of experience in dealing with adolescent children. After thinking about it, Aunt May decided to ask Peter well after he came home tonight.

Little Peter, after all, grew up with a family of metahumans.

It's hard to say whether this kid will be influenced by his family, and he has worshiped those superheroes since he was a child.

But Little Peter is just an ordinary person. If he wants to learn from those superheroes to fight crime, it will definitely make Aunt May very worried.

Merlin and other family members would never agree with Peter's choice of this difficult life path.

After making a decision, Aunt Mei turned her head and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. At 7:16 pm, Peter should be back soon.

Let's prepare dinner first.

She smiled, reached out and took out a red sausage from the refrigerator, planning to cut it open and make another dish.

Aunt May is no longer young.

At this time when the time is about to enter 2011, Mei Lin is over 40 years old, and Aunt Mei, who is more than ten years older than Mei Lin, has already passed the best age for a woman.

Although her figure is not out of shape because of her good living habits, she still finds a little bit of gray in her originally smooth hair when she looks in the mirror occasionally.

There are always small wrinkles in the corners of the eyes that are found inadvertently.

She has entered the twilight years of her life, but Aunt May didn't get too restless, or begged her brother to use magic to make herself young again.

Despite Merlin's hints several times, he could do it easily.

Aunt May didn't intend to do that.

She is a very open minded person, and she has experienced too many things in her life.

She almost lost her husband, she lost Richard and Mary, and for a while she really lost her brother.

She had also been in danger, and that danger had nearly killed her.

She has experienced more threats and despair than ordinary people, but she has survived each time.

She is also luckier than ordinary people. She is always accompanied by her family, her younger brother, her husband, her nephew, and those little sisters and brothers who are not connected by blood.

The Riley family has become a big family, and living in it makes Aunt May feel very happy and comfortable.

Her family members are all superhumans. In this family, only she, Ben, and Peter are real ordinary people. She knows how wonderful the lives of superhumans are, but she also knows the pressure they bear.

Under those seemingly gorgeous and powerful forces, hidden are heavier responsibilities and choices. Ordinary people would envy them, but Aunt Mei would not.

She had seen much of what her mighty brother had suffered.

Merlin's life is not happier than ordinary people. To be honest, Aunt Mei has almost never seen her younger brother relax for even a moment. His life is full of danger and conspiracy.

That kind of life makes Aunt Mei feel the pain, but at the same time she daunts her.

She thinks it's good to be an ordinary person.

Born in the sound of your own cries, and died in the wailing of your loved ones, you will not be alone in your life, and someone will remember you after death. There will be no regrets, and you will walk to the end of your life so peacefully and steadily.

Merlin has had enough troubles, as an older sister, she shouldn't put more pressure on her younger brother.

ding dong

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Aunt Mei's sudden deep thinking. She put down the knife in her hand and looked up at the wall clock. Well, it must be that little Peter has gone home.

Aunt Mei wiped her hands on the apron, she clattered to the door in her slippers, and glanced out through the peephole of the door.

After the disbandment of the New York Heroes Association, the law and order in Queens was not very good. Although no one would dare to come to Aunt May's house to act wildly, the long-term habit is not so easy to change.

Snapped

Aunt Mei unlocked the door, and she looked at Peter who was standing at the door, carrying a schoolbag and holding a keyboard in his hand.

The 13-year-old boy was short, but he was much more mature than the little boy before. He was wearing a shirt with Batman's head on it, a loose coat, and a headset on one ear.

If you replace the keyboard in your hand with a skateboard, you will look like a trendy young man.

Aren't they at home?

Peter followed Aunt May into the room. He looked left and right. Across the entire floor of the apartment, he could clearly see the large open balcony on the other side through the glass.

That was the place where Ruiwen and the girls occasionally came back to live.

Your sister Ruiwen hasn't come back this week.

As if complaining, Aunt May said to Peter behind her:

Lorna and Laura went out early this morning, and they haven't heard from them yet. They even took Goo Goo away, and even Frank disappeared just now.

Go and wash your hands and get ready for dinner. After dinner, I want to talk to you, Peter, about some of your recent performance.

Peter, who was following Aunt May, raised his head. He looked at Aunt May's back. He put down the keyboard in his hand and moved his fingers. He said:

You are the only one left at home?

yes.

Aunt Mei didn't feel any problem, she joked:

Those heartless little guys have grown up, and it's really...

boom

Before Aunt Mei could finish her words, Peter, who was tall and abrupt behind her, cut Aunt Mei's neck with his palm. Aunt Mei rolled her eyes and fell limply into Peter's arms.

The moment before she was completely unconscious, she saw that Peter's face changed rapidly, like some evil magic, and turned into an indifferent woman in the blink of an eye.

Fu...

Empress Vilank looked at Aunt May who was unconscious in her arms, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

She was actually ready to snatch away Aunt May or Little Peter amidst the siege of several superhumans, but she didn't expect that things would go so smoothly.

The children of the Riley family must have gone to participate in the hunting of the Skrulls. Those little wolf cubs were killing their own compatriots, which caused a flash of hatred in the Queen's eyes.

But she didn't hurt Aunt May.

This is the best hostage she can find so far.

As long as Aunt Mei is in her hands, she is fully confident that she can leave the earth safely, and maybe she can get back the lives of her clansmen who haven't died from the hands of those damned humans.

But just when the Queen was about to take Aunt May to leave, behind her, the sound of a key being inserted into the door lock suddenly sounded, together with Little Peter's shout:

Aunt Mei! Is dinner ready? I'm so hungry. We agreed to eat pasta tonight!

Seeing that little Peter was about to enter the room, a gleam of light flashed in the Queen's eyes.

As far as she knew, the family relationship between Peter Parker and Lord Raven was also very deep. When she was threatened by Raven before, the Queen thought about holding Riley's family hostage, but that plan was stopped by the fake Professor Charles.

At that time, making such a move was tantamount to tearing the skin, and it would bring real disaster to the Skrulls.

But now, it's time for life and death...

One is also grasping, and two are also grasping, so I just don't do one thing and keep doing it!

Take Aunt May and Peter Parker with you!

Aunt May?

Peter, who was carrying a schoolbag, walked into the room with headphones. He threw the schoolbag on the sofa and shouted in the direction of the kitchen:

Why don't you talk?

It's nothing, Peter, go wash your hands, we'll have dinner right away.

Aunt May's gentle voice sounded from the kitchen, but Peter, who was changing shoes, stopped suddenly when he heard the voice.

He had a strange sense of danger in his heart, he raised his head and looked at his arms, the hairs on his arms stood up at this moment.

Danger! dangerous!

Right here in this house!

Peter narrowed his eyes. He leaned against the wall at the edge of the kitchen calmly, silently, and nimbly. He raised his head secretly and looked into the kitchen through the glass.

There was only Aunt Mei who was stirring the pasta. She was wearing an apron and slippers, exactly the same as before, and everything seemed to be fine.

But where does that perception of danger come from?

Little Peter pursed his lips, stood up, and said to Aunt May:

I'm going to change clothes first.

go Go.

Empress Vilank, who was disguised as Aunt May, reached out and brushed her hair, and she replied in Aunt May's voice.

In Peter's room, little Peter didn't change his clothes.

He squatted on the ground and pulled a slightly heavy box out from under his bed. He opened the box, and inside was a black metal suitcase.

It has been under his bed for more than a year. It was put here when Icarus just woke up. This is Peter's secret, and even Aunt May and the other sisters don't know it.

Peter put his fingers on the surface of the black metal box, and after the blue halo swept over his fingers, the suitcase quickly spread out.

Amidst the slight rattling sound of metal expansion, the suitcase quickly turned into a black combat Fortress prototype.

After the robot, which had been dormant for more than a year, was activated, its rectangular head was active. On its head, there was a blue light band, like an eye.

Scan the room! Don't get caught.

Peter said something in a low voice.

The next moment, the thermal imaging scanner of the fortress was turned on, and in the projection at hand, in the fuzzy picture of the heat distribution, Peter could clearly see that there were two radiating heat sources in the kitchen.

One is active, and the other is placed in a cupboard as if asleep.

Snapped

Peter clenched his fists, his heart constricted.

He didn't know anything about the Skrulls, but with the sense of danger surging in his heart, and his clever little mind, he could easily guess that there was a thief in his house!

Peter, are you alright?

Aunt Mei's voice came in through the door, and she shouted:

Come out for dinner soon, what are you doing in the room? I'm coming in.

Nothing, nothing!

Peter jumped up hastily, he held the lock of the door, and said to the fortress standing behind him:

I'll hang around that bad guy, wait for my order, and then run out with Aunt Mei! Go to the mystery room! You know?

Bastion nodded.

The blue light band on its face turned into a dangerous red at this moment, representing that the robot had entered combat mode.

Peter patted his face and tried to calm himself down. He opened the door, grinned, and walked towards the fake Aunt May at the dining table. He sat on the chair and grabbed the knife and fork.

Then Peter saw the messy cut red sausage and the strangely colored pasta in front of him.

He raised his head, sighed, and said to Aunt Mei who came behind him:

You sure don't cook, do you? Look, not only did you put the wrong spaghetti sauce, but you cut the sausage so thick, and the knife is so bad...

The queen's expression changed, and then she heard little Peter's sarcasm.

I don't know what others think of you.

But in my opinion, you fake, you are really bad!