Aeo flew out of the hall and floated in midair, under the shocked and horrified gazes of everyone present.
"Since you've chosen to make yourselves my enemies, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
Boom! Aeo's scorching gaze blasted the armored vehicles and the soldiers carrying RPGs into the air. As his gaze swept across the ground, it carved a deep trench into the earth.
"Take cover! Move!"
"Open fire! Now!"
Unfortunately, the humans' attacks couldn't even hurt a single hair on the boy's head. Whether it was machine-gun fire or bombs, they only went bang, bang, bang against Aeo's body, without doing any damage at all.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Before long, Aeo was covered in bruises and soot, and his clothes were in tatters.
Aeo was furious.
"Enough!" His Heat Vision shot upward, striking an Apache attack helicopter that was about to fire a missile.
"Boom!"
"No!" Batman struggled to his feet and shouted at Aeo in midair, "You promised me you wouldn't kill anyone!"
Aeo froze. His Heat Vision finally went out, and he glanced back at Batman, his eyes cold and bloodshot. "I didn't start this, Bruce."
"But you can still choose a peaceful solution!" Bruce half-shouted, half-pleaded. "This isn't the best way to handle things, Zod. You know that."
"..."
Just then, Iron Man, who'd been knocked away, flew back. The small armor-piercing missiles on his shoulders took aim at Aeo.
"Target acquired. Target acquired."
Hm? Aeo turned around.
Boom! A massive explosion rang out in midair, and a figure came crashing down.
"No!" Bruce cried in alarm.
"I think we should let him cool off first," Iron Man quipped.
Unfortunately, Aeo was completely unharmed by the blast. "You forced me to do this!" he roared.
Meanwhile, Captain Steven Rogers had also climbed to his feet. He snatched up the shield on the ground, flung it at Aeo, then charged at the boy like a cannonball.
With a resounding clang, Aeo knocked the shield away with one hand once again. It struck Iron Man, who hadn't managed to dodge in time, and sent him tumbling.
"I'm fine. I'm fine..."
But no one was paying attention to him anymore. Everyone present was focused on the center of the battlefield. There, the alien boy had grabbed Captain America by the knee as he charged in. With a sweeping kick, he sent Captain America flying a long way.
And that wasn't all. Aeo followed up in an instant, clenched both fists, and slammed Captain America into the ground.
"Crash!"
"So you want a war that badly?" Aeo's eyes blazed with brilliant red light. In a fit of rage, he blasted Captain Rogers, who was trying to get back up, back onto the ground. "I'll give you a war!"
Iron Man tried to come to his aid, but Aeo simply looked up and blasted the power source in his chest. With a bang, Iron Man fell from the sky.
"Stop!" Bruce rushed out of the house. "Enough! Do you really want to go to war with Earth? If not, then stop!"
Aeo fell silent for a moment, and the fury in his eyes subsided a little.
Looking at the battlefield around him—filled with cries of pain and wreckage—and the Old Butler's horrified expression, Aeo's heart softened. After all, he'd grown up in a peaceful era. He lifted his foot off Captain America.
Hm, Captain America's serum-enhanced strength couldn't even withstand a Kryptonian's foot.
"Are you all right?" Bruce hurried over to help him up. Of everyone there, Captain America had taken the worst beating. Just looking at him was enough to make anyone worry about the famous hero. And the boy's Heat Vision had even blasted a crater into the ground.
"Cough." After a long moment, Steven Rogers finally spat out a mouthful of blood.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Natasha Romanoff clambered out of the Apache attack helicopter that had been hit, looking thoroughly battered. Hill struggled to push open the armored vehicle's door, then staggered out.
Some soldiers went to help Iron Man, who'd fallen from the sky. When they lifted his faceplate, they found he'd only taken a slight hit and wasn't seriously hurt.
Under everyone's horrified, apprehensive gazes, Aeo walked up to Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who looked utterly defeated, and taunted him.
"Now, you can show me a little respect, can't you, people of Earth?"
"You!" The Black Cyclops gritted his teeth in anger.
"Sir..." Agent Melinda's worried voice came through the earpiece.
Taking a deep breath, the King of Spies swallowed his anger. "Cough. Stop! All of you, stop!"
"If I don't, what can you do about it? S.H.I.E.L.D..."
"Enough!" The old gentleman supporting Captain America rebuked Aeo. "Stop provoking them. Are you enjoying this?"
Enjoying it? Yes. Rather than a clash between two sides, this confrontation had been Aeo picking a fight with a whole group of people on his own.
The weakened Captain Rogers also managed to push Batman away and stagger to his feet. He glared at Aeo. "We're not afraid of war! This is our Earth!"
But with the wreckage and smoke filling the battlefield, Captain America's words didn't sound very convincing.
The Captain, who'd fought in a war, looked grim as he said, "But we mean you no harm. As long as you can keep yourself under control..."
Aeo was about to scoff when Bruce spoke up.
"Aeo, listen to me. I know you're furious, but you know this isn't the best way to handle things. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D.'s methods were despicable, but we can sit down and talk things through, can't we, Director Nick Fury?"
"...That's right." The forceful head of the agency finally relented. As a spy who operated in the shadows, he could accept a temporary loss or a momentary retreat. "...As long as you really mean it when you say you have no ill will toward our world in any way!"
Besides, the King of Spies had noticed that although the alien seemed furious, he'd still held back. He hadn't directly killed a single S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier—though he couldn't exactly be blamed for the armored vehicles flipping over or the helicopter crashing. Aeo shrugged.
So Nick Fury softened his tone as well. "In that case, we don't object to you staying."
Aeo merely pursed his lips at the Black Cyclops' stubborn insistence on saving face.
"Boring."
But he made no further attempt to start a fight, and so the battle in Gotham City came to an end.
Watching Aeo head irresponsibly toward the wrecked Wayne Manor, Nick Fury froze. But he didn't dare say anything more, and could only start helping the wounded scattered across the ground.
"You'll be all right. Hang on, the doctors will be here soon..."
"Hey, hang in there, brother..."
"Sorry, Old Alfred." Aeo walked up to the kind old butler and apologized. "I..."
Old Alfred fell silent for a moment as he looked at the boy in torn clothes, then glanced up at his master and smiled. "It's all right, my dear boy. Everyone grows from a child into an adult. A moment of anger can't solve every problem... I'm glad you came back, young Master Aeo."
"...Thank you."
Before you continue