The Miracle Kingdom Theme Park under the night sky was as quiet as a cemetery.
The group drove to the square in front of the Joker's Funhouse Mirror Maze. Coulson was already waiting there, reporting with a serious expression: 'Our people have gone in to investigate, bringing all the portable equipment we could carry. The results show everything here is normal.'
Tony had already donned his mark armor. Without a word, he walked straight toward the gaping Clown's Mouth. He walked in easily, circled around inside the dark entrance, then came back out completely unscathed.
'See? It's probably just meant to scare people,' he said, spreading his hands. 'Lin, take a look.'
Lin Huai thought for a moment, then took out the Pendant and performed a simple divination.
The Crystal Pendant began to rotate slowly and steadily in a clockwise direction.
'Tony, the divination tells me it's very safe,' Lin Huai said while seriously loading Spiritual Bullets into his pistol.
'Understood,' Tony said with a serious face. 'Jarvis, mark out the Escape Routes in this theme park. We might need them.'
As soon as Lin Huai, now prepared, stepped into the shadow of the Clown's Mouth, the entire World seemed to let out a silent sound of shattering glass.
An invisible wave suddenly spread out! Coulson and his two subordinates only felt the air temperature drop several degrees in an instant. The communicator he wore transmitted the terrified scream of a technician:
'Officer! All the readings from our equipment suddenly vanished! We... we've lost contact with that building!'
Tony's face changed drastically. He rushed over, only to seemingly crash into a transparent wall and be thrown back.
'What's going on?' In his eyes, Lin Huai appeared to be swallowed by an invisible wall, disappearing into the Darkness.
Inside the maze, Lin Huai turned around and found he couldn't get out. The originally empty dark entrance now had a translucent barrier formed by countless intertwined gray figures. He activated his Spirit Vision and saw clearly that those figures were mechanically repeating the comical actions of bowing, doffing hats, and smiling.
Lin Huai raised his hand, a faint light glowing at his fingertips as a Rune Talisman with a soothing effect flickered in his palm. But nothing happened.
He then drew the pistol from his waist.
'Bang!'
The gunshot was loud. A spiritual bullet passed through the barrier without much hindrance, sparking off the wall on the other side.
'Lin, are you okay? How do we get in?' Tony's voice was laced with suppressed anger.
Lin Huai's gaze swept over the spirits still continuously performing the clown's opening greeting gestures. After thinking, he looked at the various trash and debris left by tourists on the ground, finally picking up a funny red Clown Nose and putting it on his face. When he looked back at the barrier, the gray figures were already bowing to him, and the barrier had no effect on him.
He walked out easily, standing before Tony and Coulson, pointing at his nose, then at the entrance, without saying a word.
Coulson and his subordinates looked at each other. Though they thought it was absurd, professional Agents are professional Agents. They quickly accepted this surreal rule, each picking up similar funny props from the ground and putting them on.
Only Tony didn't move. Taking off his armor and wearing a Clown Nose in such a ghostly place? This was even more humiliating than being surrounded by ten Terrorists.
'Jarvis,' he ordered through gritted teeth, 'use electromagnetic field reverse interference.'
'Sir, the data model cannot be constructed. Moreover, I must remind you that the surface coating of the armor is undergoing unknown molecular structural changes.'
Tony looked down and saw that his smooth Iron Man Suit surface had inexplicably gained several twisted, paint-like marks. The gold-red coating was changing toward a circus clown's direction.
The armor was contaminated.
'This place has been activated for a specific reason. We need to resolve it quickly, or the contamination will worsen.'
Finally, Tony squeezed out a few words through his teeth.
'Jarvis... retract the faceplate. FUCK.'
'Mode confirmed, sir?'
'...Confirmed! I'll compromise with just one red nose at most!'
As soon as the command was given, Tony's high-tech faceplate retracted. He picked up a red nose from the ground, pressed it onto his nose with a sense of humiliation, then twitched the corner of his mouth, forming a simple and ridiculous expression ': o )'.
Seizing the opportunity, Tony rushed in, immediately trying to pull off the red nose, but it wouldn't come off.
'FUCK, just you wait.'
The S.H.I.E.L.D. people didn't have as many psychological hang-ups. One put a Clown Mask on his face, two others attached noses, and they followed in.
The group finally all passed through the barrier and entered the Funhouse Mirror Maze. It was a long corridor with various distorted mirrors on both sides, stretching, flattening, and twisting their reflections into pretzels.
'Actor's Entrance?' Lin Huai noticed the sign on the wall by the path, then looked at the group's attire.
'It seems our identities have been determined,' he said before taking the lead and walking forward.
The group entered a new passageway. The only difference here was an 'Interview' sign hanging in the most prominent spot.
But soon, they noticed the mirrors didn't just contain their own reflections. Behind those distorted shadows, faces emerged one by one, their eyes all hollow.
An indescribable emptiness and sorrow, rising from the soul, flooded everyone like icy seawater.
Then, an intense physiological reaction erupted.
'Ha... haha... ha...'
Coulson's two subordinates were the first to succumb. They clutched their stomachs, uncontrollably bursting into dry, forced laughter, tears even forming at the corners of their eyes. Coulson gritted his teeth but didn't last long either. His laughter sounded suppressed and painful.
Tony's reaction was the most violent.
'Ha... hahahaha!'
His body convulsed violently, his throat emitting a tearing, maniacal laugh. He knelt on one knee, his steel arm propping him up, the armor creaking as if about to fall apart.
'Warning! Sir, your heart rate is spiking! Cortisol levels are rising sharply!' Jarvis's voice was full of anxiety, almost changing tone.
Stark hadn't let go of his pride. He was engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the emotional contamination from countless people's sorrow.
'Ha... Jarvis... analyze...' he managed to squeeze out the command between fits of laughter.
Lin Huai was faring better, but his face had turned pale. He didn't resist the sorrow head-on; he quickly understood and burst into loud laughter.
He suddenly realized that after the massive emotional flood washed over him, most of it actually bypassed him, this Beyonder. It even just brushed against Coulson and the others, then, like sharks smelling blood, surged madly toward Tony, who was desperately resisting.
'Tony, stop resisting!' Lin Huai's face changed as he rushed over and shouted, 'Laugh it out! Our identity here is clowns. We need to learn to laugh. Unqualified clowns can't perform on stage!'
In the mirrors, those hollow child reflections seemed to come alive. Their mouths, following Tony's maniacal laughter, also twisted into strange and sorrowful arcs.