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A thin layer of ice floated on the surface of the central lake in the park, shining brightly in the sun. On a wooden chair by the lake, a young man and a teenager sat side by side.
"Thanks for not yelling," Captain America, Steve Rogers, said with a wry smile. "Otherwise, I might have been mobbed again."
"I don't like attracting that much attention, either," Leo shrugged. Then, with a hint of curiosity, he asked, "Captain, you're not dead?"
"They just dug me out of the ice a little while ago," Steve said, spreading his hands.
They spoke with a tacit and natural ease, as if there was nothing special about either of them.
"You said you don't like attracting attention," Steve said with a hint of emotion. "In my day, everyone wanted to be the center of attention. Have young people changed so much?"
"Times have changed, Captain," Leo said. "In fact, the attention people get now is far more intense than it was in your time. I don't want it because I prefer a quiet, peaceful life."
Steve's young, handsome face was visibly taken aback.
"Captain, I've always wanted to ask you a question," Leo said. "If you had a choice, would you be an ordinary person, or a superhero?"
"That's a tough one," Steve said, pausing for a moment. "I think… after being a hero, I would have liked to have been an ordinary person. But it's too late for that now." He looked like a young man in his early twenties, but the helplessness and loneliness on his face were that of a centenarian.
Leo understood what he was trying to say. A superhero lived for the world; an ordinary person lived for someone. When the world was still there, but that someone was gone, many things lost their meaning.
"Why do you ask?" Steve asked, looking at him suspiciously.
"No reason. Just a thought," Leo said, shaking his head.
It was the same question he would have to face himself someday. The choice his aunt had mentioned. Extraordinary, or ordinary. The difference of a single thought.
"Leo!"
"Senior!"
He looked back and saw Nami and Kayla. How did they find me?
"Kid," Steve said, clapping him on the shoulder. "As someone who's been there, I want to give you some advice. Cherish the moment. And… take care of yourself."
"Captain, you misunderstand," Leo said, the corner of his mouth twitching. This Captain America was surprisingly old-fashioned.
"See you around, Captain," he said, waving. He grabbed his backpack and walked toward the girls.
"Leo, who were you talking to?" Nami asked, looking at the now-empty chair.
"Just some guy I met," he said casually. "We were just chatting."
"Really," she said, blinking, skeptical but not pressing the issue. Kayla, however, had a thoughtful look on her face.
They continued their tour of the city, and before they knew it, it was dark. The city that never sleeps came alive with a new vigor. For young boys and girls, the night was a time for miracles, especially when traveling. It was the perfect time, and the perfect place.
"What? Only one room left?" Leo asked, frowning at the hotel front desk clerk. After a moment's thought, he slapped his bank card on the counter. "We'll take it!"
"Leo, I don't think that's a good idea," Nami said, her ears turning red. It was too bold, too exciting.
"Senior," Kayla said, wringing her hands, at a loss for words.
"What are you thinking?" he said, scratching his head. "You two will stay here tonight. I'll go find another hotel."
The two beautiful girls were once again dumbfounded. The front desk clerk just stared, his mouth agape, not knowing what to say. Come on, man, be a man!
He got them settled in their room and then headed back out onto the street, his backpack with the little orange cat occasionally peeking out slung over his shoulder. Under the flickering neon lights, he blended into the bustling crowd.
In a dark, damp, rancid alley nearby, a puddle of still water began to squirm. A viscous, black, gelatinous liquid, as if it had a life of its own, crept into a dark corner, lurking, peeking at the pedestrians passing by.
"Are there any suitable hosts?" a hoarse, restless voice whispered. The creature had no limbs, no brain, just a mass of black liquid. It didn't even know where the voice was coming from.
At that moment, the boy with the backpack passed by the alley.
The black liquid creature shot forward, clinging to the walls of the alley, swiftly and silently chasing after him.
A strange feeling, from the inside out, filled his heart.
"What's going on?" Leo's eyes widened. He looked down at his hands in amazement. His body, and the clothes he was wearing, were melting like a snowman in summer. Countless drops of black liquid dripped from him, sticky and viscous.
In an instant, his entire body dissolved into a pool of black liquid, his backpack falling to the ground beside him.
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