Showdown

When Aeo and Bruce returned to the United States, they were met not with flowers and applause, but with a wave of uninvited guests.

"Hey, Bruce, how long has it been? Did you miss me? Well, I didn't miss you!" A world-famous superstar, now recognized everywhere, lounged in the Wayne family manor's living room—a ridiculously handsome guy in cool sunglasses.

"Uh, by the way, do you still have that Lamborghini I gave you last time? It suits you—beautiful, gentle, and adorable..." The handsome guy teased the Old Butler wickedly. "Just like Bruce! Wouldn't you agree, esteemed Alfred?"

"Uh..." The Old Butler played dumb at just the right moment. "Whatever you say, young Master Tony. Master, young Master Tony and his... friends are here." He spoke quietly to his master.

Bruce glared at the several uninvited guests in the room and said bluntly, "I don't remember inviting you to Wayne Manor. So, gentlemen, how did you get in?"

Aeo gave the seated Iron Man and Captain America a knowing look. Don't get the wrong idea—he hadn't recognized Captain America because he looked like Chris Evans. He'd recognized him because the guy was carrying that famous shield!

As a symbol of the Federation, the shield wasn't something just anyone could use. So even before the man introduced himself, Aeo knew that this tall young man, who looked nothing like Chris Evans but was still a strikingly handsome Westerner, was this world's Captain America.

That meant Aeo had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen.

Besides...

Aeo's ears twitched. With a knowing look, he "gazed" toward the grounds outside Wayne Manor. "..."

Meanwhile, Iron Man—who also wasn't Robert Downey Jr., but a handsome guy with blue eyes and blond hair, around 180 centimeters tall (taller than Downey)—continued to "tease" Batman. "Don't be so cold, Bruce. We're practically... family friends, aren't we? Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries have always been strategic partners. What's wrong with me dropping by to see a business associate?"

Well, he didn't look like Robert Downey Jr., but his personality was pretty much the same as the Iron Man Downey had played: just as arrogant and talkative...

"Besides..."

He stepped over beside Aeo. "I didn't know the Wayne family had acquired a 'guest'—a dangerous guest, at that."

"Hey, I'm Tony, Tony Stark. I'm sure you've seen me on TV! If you have a TV where you're from..."

"Shut up, Stark!" Bruce shouted, his expression changing dramatically. Captain America frowned and shouted at the same time.

"Until we know what's going on, you're being incredibly rude!"

Another uninvited guest spoke up, too. "That's right. Mr... Aeo Zod? We're not enemies, are we?" Nick Fury, the one-eyed head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tens of thousands of agents, held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Aeo glanced at him and smiled.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. really is S.H.I.E.L.D. I've only been out in the open for a few days, and you've already dug up my name! Should I be impressed by your abilities, or wonder if Bruce was careless?"

As Batman's expression darkened and Iron Man and Captain America tensed, Aeo lightly took Nick Fury's hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aeo Zod!"

"..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—the two men let go as soon as they'd shaken hands.

Aeo smiled faintly. As everyone stared at him in astonishment and tension, he plopped down on the living room sofa.

"Okay, since you've found me and brought Iron Man and Captain America along, I assume you know at least a little about me. Then please, have a seat, ladies and gentlemen. As the saying goes around here, you choose your own enemies..."

Batman's expression changed. His eyes involuntarily flicked toward a corner of the room, discreetly.

"Tell me, why are you looking for me?" Aeo had long expected this day to come.

Tony and Rogers exchanged glances. What was this? Weren't they supposed to be dealing with a dangerous "Superman"? Not only had Batman been hiding him at home, but Aeo himself was acting far too calmly—as if he'd expected this all along.

The unsettling feeling that Aeo had seen right through them made both Iron Man and Captain America deeply uneasy. They exchanged a look. Captain America moved closer to his shield, while Iron Man's gaze drifted toward a case behind the sofa.

Aeo noticed every move the two superheroes made, but didn't call them out. Instead, he watched the king of spies—the world-famous director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in his previous life.

Nick Fury had noticed it, too. The young alien visitor S.H.I.E.L.D. had spent ten years tracking—yes, after receiving that top-secret photograph from the military and gathering all kinds of information from the Joker incident, S.H.I.E.L.D. had finally found the source of the strange signal detected ten years earlier. (I don't know if anyone still remembers, but Nick Fury had sent Melinda to investigate that incident back then.) After several rounds of verification and comparison, everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. had concluded that the boy who had inexplicably appeared in the home of Wayne Enterprises' young CEO was the source of it all.

Aeo's arrival had been far too perfectly timed. The Joker incident broke out, and he showed up at the Wayne family's home. The coincidence was bound to arouse suspicion.

Once they'd confirmed the boy's identity, S.H.I.E.L.D. had immediately gone on high alert. No one knew what this alien, who had been wandering around Earth for ten years, wanted. Was he dangerous? And if he was, how should they deal with him? Burdened by these worries and the fear of the unknown, Nick Fury had decided to strike first.

After urgently contacting Iron Man and Steven Rogers—who had only recently awakened, and was also known as Captain America—Nick Fury had personally led a team to secretly surround Wayne Manor. But when they arrived, they learned that the boy was with one of the other weirdos: Gotham City's darling, a billionaire who could have stayed home but had chosen to become Batman instead. He'd gone to Hong Kong, supposedly to catch some gangsters.

Well, it wasn't just Iron Man, who'd come along because he thought it sounded like fun, who was stunned. Even Captain America, who'd only recently woken up, had twitched his brows. A billionaire and an alien had teamed up to catch crooks! What kind of development was that?

Fortunately, both Bruce and Aeo were highly efficient. The group had returned in less than a day, and that had led to the scene unfolding now.

"So..." Faced with Aeo's direct question, Nick Fury was momentarily taken aback. "You really are an alien?"