No one slept that night.
The sky has begun to light up, but in the small bedroom, only the white light illuminates everything coldly, and it is impossible to distinguish the time of the outside world through the light.
Hanging upside down from the ceiling, Peter took out a cheeseburger from the brown paper bag Stark handed over.
Several acquaintances sat around the warden's silent body, sharing the hamburger takeaway delivered by the armor. The smell of beef slowly filled the room, and the new warden was standing outside them—I heard that he used to be called Warren Guard.
Peter knew this because there was a faint cry from the next door, as if a little kid was howling hoarsely.
"Shouldn't we go and help?" Peter asked hesitantly, "Anyway, before dawn, we don't know where Mr. Warden is now."—At least when he is not around, we should help maintain order in the prison.
Banner's expression was a bit distressed: "It should be. But in fact, if we appear within the range of the guard tower now, we will be taken away by the guards forcibly. In light cases, we will be fined, and in severe cases, we will be detained—or we may be arrested for trespassing." The sniper feeds a bullet."
Peter: "..."
"What the hell is that place?" The teenager swallowed a mouthful of the burger in awe. But judging from the expressions of the surrounding people, they were not clear either.
"It must have something to do with mutants anyway." Stark crumpled up the paper bag and threw it into a corner.
After a while, I picked it up and threw it into the trash can.
The black-haired young man next to him gently closed his eyes, as if he would wake up at any moment, looked at him slowly with cold eyes, and then looked at the ball of paper he threw on the ground.
It's like the tie he always wears neatly.
Stark seems to have said it many times, or maybe he hasn't said it-Mr. Warden's behavior is sometimes rigid like an old man.
Or a... character from a game.
A person who does not exist at all.
Stark walked over angrily, picked up the paper ball in the trash can and threw it back into the corner.
other people:"… "
Peter shoved the hamburger deep into his mouth, avoiding saying anything he shouldn't.
Stark took a deep breath, forcing his mind to focus on Peter's question—or rather, to turn his attention elsewhere.
"It's a secret prison, that's all I know." His voice sounded a little stiff, "Mr. Warden thinks that even I can't reveal the truth-but obviously the children who were rescued from the Hydra base before A little less, and," he paused and rolled his eyes, "you all saw that Cyclops came back with us just now, and after saying goodbye, he disappeared behind the concrete wall opposite."
Others: "..." It's really not hard to guess who is locked inside.
Some have even begun to reminisce about the past—if not so long ago, they found out that the missing children were being held here, which would have sparked conspiracy theories.
Some are funny, but some are true.
After falling silent in the bedroom, the door was suddenly opened, and the "Warren Warden" stood outside.
"Assistant Banner, you have been assigned a new task." Varen signaled Banner to follow him out.
Banner was a little surprised, but right now he obviously shouldn't resist the arrangement of the new warden, so he immediately reacted and nodded, and followed Varun out of the bedroom.
His mission was somewhat unexpected, but reasonable - after they deduced that the next door was detaining mutant juvenile delinquents, Banner became one of the "optional employees" next door, so he could only help Summer with a dazed face Mr. Si changed the diaper of the mutant child.
To be honest, Banner could hardly tell that the young man with the bird's nest hair angrily ripped off the kid's pants was the X-Men squad leader Cyclops who had just stepped off the plane with a serious face.
Besides, this child looks five or six years old and is still wearing diapers. It seems that he really lacks education.
Minutes later, Banner realizes that things could be more serious than that—what's worse than a cranky, rebellious superpowered teen
It is a superpower whose intellectual development seems to be somewhat unsound.
Banner also had a headache looking at the child in front of him—in addition to changing diapers, who should be responsible for his actions after he became an adult.
He is a superpower.
For some reason, Banner suddenly felt very funny—he remembered that there was also a humanoid self-propelled tank with low intelligence living in his body, and his destructive power would only be stronger than these super-powered children.
He can be responsible for the Hulk, but it's the only one.
He's locked himself in this psychic no-go prison, keeping the Hulk out of sight forever—but the warden told him a few days ago that if he wanted to get out of here and do something else, he'd help.
Banner, of course, pretended not to understand.
But he suddenly understood what Mr. Warden meant—he couldn't keep it locked up forever, just like these juvenile mutants whose behavior didn't conform to social moral standards would grow up one day and go to another world.
No one can be locked up forever.
— but it is possible to come back here for wrongdoing.
Banner sighed and picked up a bag of trash next to him. At least he didn't have much time to think about it now, Cyclops was scrambling to deal with these kids, and he was here to help.
Just as he was walking towards the door with a black garbage bag, Teacher Summers suddenly stopped him: "Dr. Banner."
Banner paused, but didn't look back.
"When I went out just now, I heard some guards say that Mr. Warden... passed away?" The voice behind him was a little puzzled, but quickly changed his tone and became firm.
"But that's impossible! When I left, Mr. Warden was still helping the staff of the funeral home, and even..." Teacher Summers hesitated again, "Even said 'sorry' to me?"
And he also comforted Mr. Warden, saying that the accident at the funeral was the fault of the super criminals, and he also felt sorry for the old warden and Miss Acting Warden.
But Mr. Warden at that time did not look like he was seriously injured, nor did he think that it was a farewell.
"I'm sorry"—is it because he is the only teacher left in the reform center? Was it because he had just promised to take in more mutant juvenile offenders and couldn't keep his promise? Or something else
Mr. Summers could no longer guess the real reason.
Banner turned his back to him, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his mouth again and again, but he didn't know what to say, and finally he could only say helplessly: "Mr. Summers... just get used to it."
It's a pity that Mr. Summers may not have the chance to get used to it.
Banner sighed.
At last it was seven o'clock in the morning, and a new day began in the prison. Prisoners get up and wash, as does the warden's schedule.
Guard Warren has moved from the desk to the front of the sofa chair, with a clipboard in his hand, and the guard uniforms on his body are neatly folded and placed on the sofa, waiting for the cleaning staff to take them away—and replace them with It's a dark green suit.
This is what Stark saw when he walked out.
The new Warren warden stared at the sofa chair behind his desk, as if it would be a struggle to sit down.
When Stark passed by him, he suddenly reached out and pressed Warren Warren into the chair unexpectedly.
Warden Warren didn't have any special reaction, but just sat on the sofa chair with a little daze and solemnity.
Stark shrugged and left the office.
At least they should all play their roles well, shouldn't they? Since the previous Mr. Warden could do it, so can everyone in the future.
After shower time, at eight o'clock, the prisoners began to slowly stream from the dormitory to the mess hall.
And outside the prison also ushered in a new escort van.
Since several prison guards resigned overnight, the speed of escorting prisoners one by one to the prison inspection room here seems to be a bit stagnant.
Stark stood patiently at the door, watching the guards escort the prisoners in light blue prison uniforms out one after another, and send them to the detention cell.
Many people recognized the man standing by and watching them.
Some had faces showing anger, and even pumped their fists and cursed—the consequence was that instead of going to the detention cell, they were transferred directly to the brigade.
For this "culprit" who locked them in, the superpowers certainly didn't have a good face.
If it was a few days ago, maybe Stark would have taunted back and started a spat - after all, he has never conceded defeat in this regard, and few people in this world can argue with Tony Stark gain the upper hand.
The captain is very good at this, he will just throw the shield and end the conversation early.
But Stark was suddenly not angry now.
He has never asked the world to return him anything, but it is inevitable that he occasionally wonders whether he has the same kind.
Until one day a few days ago—or earlier.
Even if the trace left by that person is as light as a feather staining the ground, when the wind blows, no one will care about the wind any more, only remember how white and soft the feathers in the wind are.
Stark stared at the door of the prison examination room.
The young prisoner in a light orange prison uniform was escorted out by the guards, glanced at him, and left again.
"Welcome back," Stark said.
The prisoner turned his face around with a serious expression: "This is my first time in prison."
Stark smiled: "Not necessarily."
prisoner:"?"
They didn't get a chance to talk much, and the prisoner was escorted away by the guards.
Stark didn't stay too long. Before the backs of the prisoners and prison guards disappeared, he turned around and walked quickly to the warden's office.
Banner was already waiting for him in the assistant's room.
Sitting on the sofa in the hall were Peter and Strange. They could talk in the bedroom, too, but it wasn't very nice there—and a new warden was in place, and he didn't seem to want to move the warden's body.
And they all agreed that if Mr. Warden were here, he should expect Warren to be respected in his position.
In a way, it also meant that it was best not to have anyone muttering in the little room behind him.
Banner found two pages from a stack of documents, solemnly picked them out, put them in the folder, and handed them to Stark.
"This is it."
Inside was a prisoner file.
If Stark hadn't insisted on waiting at the entrance of the prison inspection room, he could have found the prisoner's file ten minutes ago—that is, the moment the prison van arrived.
But it's not bad to get acquainted with the target prisoner in advance, and it may be helpful for the follow-up actions.
Banner did not raise objections to Stark's behavior.
Stark opened the prisoner's file and looked at the photo above—unlike Sexton, who was also the second role of the warden before, this prisoner looked almost like the warden himself.
The young man in the photo has a serious expression with a hint of gloomy, with only short stubble in his hair. He looks like a prisoner, but he can vaguely identify a familiar look in his eyebrows and eyes.
Stark frowned and looked at the above, and read: "'Three' Zhang...?" He, who is proficient in eight languages, couldn't help but express his doubts. Compared with the usual perfunctory, the name was even a bit strange, "Why is it half free translation and half transliteration? ?”
Banner: "..."
He could only say "get used to it" silently in his heart.
Stark's hand holding the prisoner's file didn't move for a long time. Strange looked at him and said suddenly: "You know what you should do."
Hearing this, Stark's eyes moved slightly, and he landed on the column of the prisoner's charges, and twitched the corner of his mouth: "Fighting and fighting caused serious injuries...Of course, it's not a big problem."
Strange's brow furrowed even tighter.
Banner is also looking at Stark.
After a while, Stark slammed the folder shut and said bluntly, "I know."
"That's just a prisoner." Strange's voice came from his ear. "Remember, that's not the warden, at least not quite."
"I'm leaving," Stark said.
Banner looked worriedly at the direction he was leaving. After the man's back disappeared at the end of the corridor, he sighed before turning his head, looked at Strange and said, "Tony...he won't put all his eggs in one basket to get this prisoner Take it away?"
Strange didn't answer.
His voice lingered in the hallway as he left.
"If he really wants to do this, no one can stop him."