Showdown

Back in America, Aeo and Bruce were greeted not with flowers and applause, but a wave of uninvited guests.

"Hey, Bruce, how long's it been? Miss me? Well, I haven't!" A world-famous superstar, now recognized by everyone on the planet, sat in the Wayne family manor's living room—a cool, sunglasses-wearing handsome man.

"Uh, by the way, is that Lamborghini I gave you last time still around? That car suits you—beautiful, gentle, and adorable..." The handsome man joked wickedly with the old butler: "Just like Bruce! Don't you agree, esteemed Master Alfred~"

"Uh..." The old butler played the fool at just the right moment: "Whatever you say, Master Tony. Master, Master Tony and his... friends are here." The butler murmured to his master.

Bruce's face darkened as he looked at the few uninvited guests in the room, and he said bluntly, "I don't recall inviting you to Wayne Manor. If you please, gentlemen, how did you get in?"

Aeo glanced with a faint smile at Iron Man and Captain America sitting there—don't get it wrong, it wasn't because he looked like Chris Evans that Aeo recognized him; it was because the guy was carrying that famous shield!

As a symbol of the federation, that shield wasn't something just anyone could use. So even before he announced himself, Aeo knew that this tall young man, who didn't look like Chris Evans at all but was still a sculpted Western handsome man, was the Captain America of this world.

So Aeo had a pretty good idea of what was coming next.

Besides...

Aeo's ear twitched, and his expression turned wry as he 'looked' toward the outskirts of Wayne Manor. "..."

Over here, Iron Man—this one wasn't Robert Downey Jr. either, but a handsome guy with blue eyes, blond hair, and a height of 180 (taller than Downey)—kept 'teasing' Batman: "Don't be so cold, Bruce. After all, aren't we... family friends? Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries have always been strategic partners. There's nothing wrong with me checking in on a partner, right?"

Well, even if he didn't look like Robert Downey Jr., his personality was pretty close to the Iron Man Downey played—just as arrogant and talkative...

"Besides..."

He stepped up to Aeo, "Since when did the Wayne family have a 'guest' like this... a dangerous guest..."

"Hey, hi, I'm Tony, Tony Stark. I think you've seen me on TV! If you guys have TV over there..."

"Shut up, Stark!" Both Bruce, whose face had changed drastically, and Captain America frowned as they shouted.

"Before we figure things out, this behavior of yours is incredibly rude!"

Another uninvited guest also spoke up: "That's right, this... Aeo Zod? We're not enemies, are we?" The head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tens of thousands of agents, the one-eyed Nick Fury, extended his hand, "Nice 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 for a few days, and you've already dug up my name. Should I say you're impressive, or that Bruce was careless?"

As Batman's expression soured, and Iron Man and Captain America tensed up, Aeo lightly shook Nick Fury's hand.

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

"..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—the handshake ended as soon as it began.

Aeo gave a light laugh. Under everyone's stunned, tense gazes, he casually plopped down onto the sofa in the room.

"Okay, since you've found me and brought Iron Man and Captain America along, you must know something about me by now. So, have a seat, ladies and gentlemen. As they say around here, enemies are a choice..."

Batman's face shifted, and his eyes involuntarily darted to a corner of the room.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?" Aeo, who had long anticipated this day.

Tony and Rogers exchanged glances. What the hell? Wasn't this supposed to be a dangerous 'Superman'? Not only was Batman hiding him at the manor, but he himself was way too calm, like he'd been expecting this all along.

This unsettling feeling of being seen through made both Iron Man and Captain America deeply uneasy. They traded looks, Captain America inching closer to his shield, while Iron Man's eyes flicked subtly toward a box behind the sofa.

Aeo took in every move the two superheroes made, but he didn't call them out. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the King of Spies, the legendary director of S.H.I.E.L.D. from his past life.

Nick Fury had also realized that this alien visitor, whom S.H.I.E.L.D. had been tracking for a decade—yes, after obtaining that top-secret photo from the military and the various data from the Joker incident, S.H.I.E.L.D. had finally pinpointed the source of that mysterious fluctuation detected ten years ago (anyone remember? Nick Fury had sent Melinda to investigate that event back then). After multiple verifications and comparisons within the agency, Nick Fury and his team unanimously concluded that the young man who had inexplicably appeared at the young CEO of Wayne Enterprises' home was the root of it all.

—The timing of Aeo's appearance was just too coincidental. The Joker incident erupts, and he shows up at the Wayne family's place? That was too much of a coincidence, leaving no room for suspicion.

Once they confirmed the young man's identity, S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately went on high alert. After all, no one knew what this alien, who had been wandering Earth for a decade, wanted. Was he dangerous? If so, how should they respond... Carrying these worries and fears of the unknown, Nick Fury decided to strike first.

After urgently contacting Iron Man and the recently awakened Steven Rogers, aka Captain America, he personally led a team to secretly surround Wayne Manor. But when they arrived, they found out that this guy and another freak—the billionaire who chose to be Batman, Gotham's golden boy—had gone to Hong Kong to catch some gangsters.

Well, let's just say even Iron Man, who'd come for the fun of it, and the newly awakened Captain America were both raising eyebrows. A billionaire and an alien, teaming up to catch thieves? What kind of plot was this?

Luckily, both Bruce and Aeo were highly efficient. Within a day, they'd brought the guy back, leading to the scene above.

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