Evening. On a street corner in New York, outside a cake shop.
Max Dillon was draped in several layers of coarse burlap, wrapping his body tightly to prevent anyone from seeing his appearance—a form that looked like neither man nor ghost.
The day the accident occurred at Oscorp was the fifth birthday of Max Dillon's daughter, but the changes in his body had caused him to miss it.
Max wanted to buy a cake to make it up to his daughter, but he had no money, nor did he dare to face her with his current appearance.
Just as pedestrians walked around Max, avoiding him, a father and daughter passed by him and entered the cake shop.
"Daddy, I want that bunny cake~" After carefully choosing for a while, the little girl's soft, sweet voice rang out.
"Alright, Maddy. But if we buy it, you can't waste any."
"I'll listen to Daddy," Maddy said with a grin.
They were, in fact, the father and daughter pair, Ivan and Maddy, who had been separated on the streets and held over Kingpin's head back then.
The night before Kingpin caused chaos in Hell's Kitchen, Daredevil had followed the sounds to find them, knocking out the driver, Walker, who had tried to take the little girl away, and saving Ivan's family.
Later, Kingpin went to prison, and Black Cat sent hundreds of Hell's Kitchen criminals in after him. Public safety in Hell's Kitchen improved significantly, giving Ivan's family a chance to breathe and recover.
Later still, General Ross took over Oscorp. After he was defeated by Batman, some employees left, but some positions desperately needed to be filled.
Ivan was lucky enough to get a job as a grassroots employee at Oscorp. Although he was busy every day, the money he earned was enough to make life better for his family.
Even a birthday cake, which he wouldn't have dared to buy in previous years, could now be purchased for Maddy's birthday without any financial stress.
"Daddy, that person outside has been standing there for a long time. Does he want to buy a cake too?"
While waiting for the cake to be prepared, Maddy tugged quietly on her father Ivan's hem, pointing at Max Dillon standing outside and whispering.
Ivan sized up Max Dillon.
With burlap draped over his body, hunching over so his face couldn't be seen clearly, he looked just like a beggar.
"He must want to celebrate his daughter's birthday too... Daddy, we can buy a smaller cake. That way we'll have enough money to order another one," Maddy whispered.
Ivan hesitated for a moment, then took Maddy's hand and returned to the shop assistant.
"Sorry, I'd like to change the cake to two smaller ones. Is that okay?"
The clerk looked Ivan up and down, confirming that he wasn't there to cause trouble but was making a clear request.
It wasn't difficult to do, so the clerk nodded briskly.
"Two identical ones?"
"Yes, thank you." Ivan quickly bowed slightly to the clerk.
When the cakes were ready, Ivan walked out holding a small cake in one hand, with Maddy by his side, and approached Max Dillon.
"Hey, buddy, looks like you need this."
Max Dillon was used to being ignored; there were so many beggars on the streets of New York that no one paid them much attention.
Hearing Ivan speak to him now, Max stepped back in fear, turning his body away, terrified that his face would scare the little girl who was about the same age as his own daughter.
"S-sorry, I don't have any money."
As a senior electrical engineer at Oscorp, Max Dillon wouldn't normally be unable to afford a piece of cake.
But when the accident happened, the wallet on Max Dillon's body had long since turned into charcoal.
Just a moment ago, he had already decided that once the cake shop closed, he would break the window and steal a finished cake.
But the sudden kindness from Ivan and Maddy left Max somewhat at a loss, and he retreated again and again.
"This is a gift for you." Ivan handed over a cake box. "Today is my daughter's birthday, but we bought an extra one."
"My daughter, she..." Max stammered.
Ivan looked at Max, who was dressed in coarse burlap and looked like a beggar.
"Are you worried your daughter will see you looking like this?"
Ivan was referring to the man's beggar-like appearance, but to Max Dillon's ears, it meant something else entirely.
"The cake is sweet," Ivan said. "My daughter Maddy has been looking forward to it for a long time. It will definitely bring a smile to your daughter's face too. All you have to do is protect her smile."
Max Dillon stood stunned in place, looking at the small cake Ivan had placed on the ground.
He didn't know how much time had passed. The pedestrians on the street became scarce, and streetlights and car headlights lit up one by one. One beam of light happened to shine right on that cake.
Ivan had already taken Maddy home.
Max Dillon crouched down, picked up the cake with both hands, and slowly walked in the direction of his home.
"Poker Face, where are you?"
"Top of the Empire State Building."
Tony Stark ended the call. The inverted triangle Arc Reactor on the chest of the Mark IV armor pumped a steady stream of energy into the suit, turning him into a streak of fire that flew toward the Empire State Building with the help of his thrusters.
A few minutes later, atop the Empire State Building, over four hundred meters in the air, Tony Stark landed in front of Batman with a heavy thud.
"What's your plan?" Tony asked, noticing a massive searchlight beside Batman.
"You go find Max Dillon. Try not to engage him in conflict." Batman opened the computer built into his gauntlet, projecting a map of the Manhattan district. "These are all the locations where he might appear. The red dot is his home."
"What about you?" Tony Stark memorized the marked points on the map, then asked.
"I'll make Morbius and Harry come to find me," Batman said in a deep voice.
Tony Stark raised an eyebrow.
"Sounds like you've already found a way to make them show themselves."
"Harry Osborn appeared at Oscorp Tower an hour ago, but he has since vanished without a trace." Batman nodded slightly. "I have a way to make him and Morbius come to me together."
"What method?" Tony Stark was curious.
As soon as his voice fell, the Batwing swept past the two of them, rushing into the clouds.
The new Batwing was recognizable as Batman's vehicle at a single glance just by its shape. Although Tony Stark was startled by the thing suddenly popping up, he didn't go so far as to attack it immediately.
He stood there curiously, wanting to see exactly what method this "Poker Face" Batman was going to use.
Shoo! Shoo!
Within the clouds, a series of silver iodide flares were dropped by the Batwing, promoting the supercooled water droplets in the clouds to freeze into ice crystals. Through deposition and collision, the ice crystals merged and grew rapidly.
As the ice crystals in the air increased, the cloud layer grew thicker and thicker.
Finally, the moment the sky darkened, rain began to pour down in a torrent, driving pedestrians to run wildly toward their homes. Umbrellas opened one after another, blooming like little flowers.
At the top of the Empire State Building, under Tony Stark's gaze, Batman switched on that massive searchlight.
A highly focused beam of light shot straight into the clouds, projecting a sharp-edged bat symbol.
Beside the searchlight, Batman stood as steady as a statue, his pitch-black cape dancing and snapping in the wind behind him.