Chapter 220: Rainy Night Illumination
Evening, New York street corner. Outside a cake shop.
Max Dillon stood wrapped in layers of burlap, body completely concealed, preventing anyone from seeing his monstrous appearance.
The day Oscorp Tower experienced catastrophe had been Max's five-year-old daughter's birthday. But his transformation had caused him to miss it.
Max wanted to buy his daughter a cake belatedly. But he had no money. And couldn't bear showing her his current appearance.
As pedestrians gave Max wide berth, a father and daughter passed him, entering the cake shop.
"Daddy, I want that bunny cake!" After careful selection, the little girl's soft voice emerged.
"All right, Maddie. Buy it and don't waste it."
"I'll listen to Daddy." Maddie giggled.
They were Ivan and Maddie—the father-daughter pair who'd once gotten separated downtown, with Maddie held overhead by Kingpin.
Before Kingpin's Hell's Kitchen rampage, Daredevil had tracked them down by sound, knocked out the driver Walker attempting to abduct Maddie, and saved Ivan's family.
After Kingpin's imprisonment, Black Cat had delivered hundreds more Hell's Kitchen criminals to custody. The neighborhood's safety had improved significantly, giving Ivan's family breathing room.
Later, when General Ross took control of Oscorp then was defeated by Batman, some employees departed but numerous positions urgently required staffing.
Ivan had fortunately joined Oscorp as entry-level personnel. Despite long hours, his income significantly improved the family's standard of living.
Even birthday cakes—previously unaffordable luxuries—could now be purchased without financial stress for Maddie's celebration.
"Daddy, that man's been standing there a long time. Does he want a cake too?"
While waiting for cake preparation, Maddie tugged her father Ivan's sleeve, quietly indicating Max.
Ivan studied Max carefully.
Burlap draped over his body, hunched posture concealing his face. Resembled a beggar.
"He must want to celebrate his daughter's birthday too... Daddy, we could buy a smaller cake. Then we'd have money for another one." Maddie spoke softly.
Ivan hesitated, then led Maddie back to the shop employee:
"Excuse me. Could we change to two small cakes instead?"
The employee examined Ivan, confirming he wasn't causing trouble but making a genuine request.
That presented no difficulty. The employee nodded efficiently:
"Two identical ones?"
"Yes, thank you." Ivan bowed slightly with gratitude.
Once the cakes were ready, Ivan carried one small cake in each hand, approaching Max with Maddie:
"Hey, friend. Looks like you need this."
Max had grown accustomed to being ignored. New York's streets contained countless homeless individuals. Nobody paid them much attention.
Hearing Ivan's greeting, Max recoiled fearfully, turning away to prevent his face from frightening the little girl approximately his own daughter's age:
"Sorry, I don't have money."
As a senior electronic engineer at Oscorp, Max could certainly afford a single cake.
But during the incident, Max's wallet had been incinerated to charcoal.
He'd already decided to break into the cake shop after closing and steal a finished cake.
But Ivan and Maddie's unexpected kindness left Max completely disoriented. He retreated continuously.
"This is for you." Ivan extended one cake box. "Today's my daughter's birthday. We bought an extra."
"My daughter..." Max stammered.
Ivan regarded the burlap-wrapped, beggar-dressed Max:
"You're worried about your daughter seeing you like this?"
Ivan meant Max's vagrant appearance. But Max interpreted the words differently.
"Cake's sweet," Ivan continued. "My daughter Maddie anticipated this forever. It'll definitely bring your daughter smiles. Your job is protecting those smiles."
Max stood frozen, staring at the small cake Ivan had placed on the ground.
Time passed. Pedestrians thinned. Streetlights and headlights illuminated progressively. One light beam fell directly on the cake.
Ivan had already taken Maddie home.
Max crouched, lifting the cake, then walked slowly toward home.
"Poker face, where are you?"
"Empire State Building. Top."
Tony disconnected, the Mark IV's inverted triangle reactor continuously feeding energy into the armor. Repulsors engaged, transforming him into light streaking toward the Empire State Building.
Minutes later, atop the fourteen-hundred-foot structure, Tony landed with a metallic thud before Batman.
"What's your plan?" Tony asked. He noticed an enormous searchlight beside Batman.
"You'll locate Max Dillon. Avoid conflict when possible." Batman opened his armor's integrated computer, projecting a Manhattan district map. "These are all probable locations. The red marker indicates his home."
"And you?" Tony memorized the marked positions.
"I'll make Morbius and Harry come to me." Batman's voice was low.
Tony raised an eyebrow:
"Sounds like you've already determined how to draw them out."
"Harry Osborn appeared at Oscorp Tower an hour ago. Now he's disappeared." Batman nodded slightly. "I have methods to bring both him and Morbius here."
"What methods?" Tony was genuinely curious.
Before he finished speaking, the Batwing swept past them both, ascending into the clouds.
The new Batwing's appearance alone immediately identified it as Batman's vehicle. Though startled by its sudden emergence, Tony didn't attack.
He simply stood watching, curious what the poker face would do.
WHOOSH!!!
Within the cloud layer, the Batwing released continuous silver iodide flares. They promoted supercooled water droplet crystallization into ice particles. Ice crystals rapidly grew through sublimation and collision aggregation.
As atmospheric ice crystals multiplied, cloud layers thickened.
Finally, as darkness descended completely, torrential rain began falling. Pedestrians fled toward home. Umbrellas bloomed open like flowers.
Atop the Empire State Building, Batman activated the massive searchlight under Tony's observation.
The highly focused beam pierced the clouds, projecting a sharp-edged bat symbol.
Beside the searchlight, Batman stood motionless as a statue. His pitch-black cape danced and snapped in the wind.