It's All God's Arrangement

Another superhuman was dead. Compared to Steelclaw Man, though, Shuttle's fame was pitiful—on par with a Z-list celebrity, not even worth holding a memorial service for. For a long time, nobody even cared whether he lived or died. And he had only himself to blame. Once he'd gotten hold of a bargain-bin version of Shadowcat's power—the ability to phase through anything—Shuttle hadn't hesitated for a moment. With touching "simplicity," he went straight into theft, the fast-money line of work. Then he got caught, his approval rating hit rock bottom, and he never landed another film or TV role again. For years after that, Shuttle could only shamelessly trail along behind Steelclaw Man, living off the scraps. When Steelclaw Man died, he'd hoped to finally turn his fortunes around—only to have the bad luck to run into Qi Li, and that was the end of him. Afterward, Qi Li took a quick look through the clothes Shuttle had left outside the house and fished out a phone and a wallet. The phone had a passcode lock, so he couldn't open it for the moment. Qi Li didn't mind. He flipped through the wallet instead. A dozen or so bills, two credit cards, a stack of club membership cards, and... a check. Qi Li looked the check over: one thousand dollars. As for who had written it... "Samaritan's Embrace?" Qi Li was surprised. "Since when did 'Rubber Man' get mixed up with a 'male Shadowcat'?" If he remembered correctly, Samaritan's Embrace was a Catholic charity, long funded by Vought, that organized superhuman charity events all over the country every year. It was famous enough that even Qi Li, who paid no attention to religion, remembered it. Of course, the bigger reason it stuck in his memory was Ezekiel, the man who ran Samaritan's Embrace. He was a living Luffy, a regular Mr. Fantastic—every time he gave a speech, his arms stretched out endlessly as he bellowed that superhumans were the children of God and that all homosexuals deserved to die. "Since when does Shuttle have financial dealings with Ezekiel? Don't tell me he's been supplying Ezekiel with little boys?" However you looked at it, those two belonged to completely different circles. That was the only connection Qi Li could come up with. As for Ezekiel being opposed to homosexuality— Sorry. The man was a genuine priest. Qi Li shrugged and was about to deal with the aftermath of Shuttle's death. "Darling." Miranda's sweet call rang out, accompanied by footsteps coming closer and closer. Qi Li turned to look. Miranda was walking over with a model's stride, a white shirt of Steelclaw Man's draped over her, not a single button fastened. Qi Li's first thought was of the gorgeous legs of the leading lady in the opening of Transformers 3. Also a former supermodel, Miranda was in no way inferior. Except... "Ah!!" She screamed, obviously having caught sight of the corpse on the floor. But soon, with no prompting from Qi Li, she covered her own mouth and asked, her voice trembling slightly: "Darling, has a thief gotten into the house?" Qi Li stood up and explained, "A thief, yes—and one of our acquaintances, at that." Miranda had calmed down by then. After all, a real superhero was standing right beside her. She had no reason to be afraid. Hearing this, she broke into a little jog, nestled into his arms, took one quick glance at the naked corpse on the floor, and, without looking a second time, asked: "An acquaintance? Who is he?" "Shuttle." "Shuttle?! Don't tell me he found out about us..." Miranda's emerald eyes widened abruptly, and for a moment she went pale with panic. Qi Li took the chance to gather Miranda's shapely figure into his arms and heaved a long sigh, his voice full of self-reproach: "This is all my fault..." "No! Darling, it's not your fault!" Hearing that, Miranda stopped panicking at once. She quickly rose on tiptoe and sealed Qi Li's mouth with her red lips. Only after a moment did she let go, gazing at him with firm, fervent eyes: "I'm not to blame either. Our meeting was arranged by God!" Qi Li was slightly taken aback. "God's... arrangement?" Miranda kissed him several times in a row. "That's right. At my husband's memorial service, at the most helpless moment of my life, God let me fall in love with you at first sight, darling." Qi Li: "..." Originally, he hadn't felt any sympathy for Steelclaw Man. But now, hearing his wife talk like this— For once, he actually felt a trace of sympathy. "I've done Steelclaw Man wrong. Before his bones were even cold, and I... with you, his wife... Ah!" Miranda was moved. "Darling, don't worry. My husband may have left me, but if he knew that I'm no longer drowning in grief—that I've found new love, and with his best friend, no less—he would surely bless our happiness from the bottom of his heart." No, he would surely jump out of his coffin and kill us both. "Darling, you're so good to me! You even went so far as to kill Shuttle for my sake. I have to repay you properly." Miranda meant what she said. Before Qi Li could say anything, he felt a tug at his robe, and Madam Miranda had already crouched down. Right beside the body of Shuttle, her late husband's friend? It felt... a little novel. Qi Li's hand slowly pressed down on the madam's blond hair. Three days. Guided by Madam Miranda, Qi Li toured the mansion Steelclaw Man had spent most of his life fighting to buy—from the largest rooms down to the smallest, every corner of it. In the meantime, he didn't forget to carry Shuttle's corpse all the way to the Pacific and feed it to the sharks. After that, at Monica's arrangement, Qi Li met Anya Taylor-Joy—also a blond beauty, and younger—and consoled her thoroughly, this rising star of Hollywood's new generation. "Oh! My superhero..." "Out of the way! Your superhero is off to save the world!" With a righteous look on his face, Qi Li pried Anya's long legs apart and quickly got up. Anya toppled backward, her wavy, ear-length blond hair falling across half her face. She wasn't annoyed in the least. Back on set, this had been her favorite thing. Her shoulder strap slipped loose, and she crawled over again, dazed, expertly helping Qi Li into his battle suit. Soon, a deafening sonic boom rang out. Qi Li shot up into the sky. He really was off to save the world. There had been a shooting at a nearby middle school, and it needed a hero to make his entrance. Look! He didn't even bother with his own private affairs. Compared with other superheroes, he was surely fit to be called dutiful. Several minutes later. "It's Bronze! He's come to save us!" "Bronze, can I have your autograph? On my bra—I want to wear it to sleep." "Me too! Me too..." Qi Li quickly took down the two student shooters, spread his hands, and smiled at the crowd of girls of every description surging toward him: "Of course. Who's got a pen..." Qi Li spent his last day in Los Angeles mingling with the people and enjoying their adoration. After that came a new place, and a new beginning.