Iron Man's Concerns

"Hey, guys, you didn't even wait for me," Stark caught up, a crowd of excited media behind him watching the two proud sons of New York and Gotham City come together.

"We're together."

Bruce stopped, impatiently saying to him, "Listen, you dragged us here to watch a farce, we came, the farce is over, what else do you want?"

"Come on," the flamboyant Iron Man said, "This is in front of countless federal media, can't you even crack a smile? You know your Wayne Enterprises is also a star company, right? Smile. Hey, if this photo of us standing together gets out, will our company's stock hit the daily limit again?"

Confident with the cameras rolling, Tony Stark wasn't afraid of Bruce and Aeo giving him the cold shoulder. "This is my friend, Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises, yes, that Bruce..."

With one on each side, Stark tightly embraced Bruce and Aeo. "And this one..."

"Hey, Stark, don't drag me into this," Aeo frowned.

"Okay, okay," Stark shrugged, smugly saying, "This friend of mine is a bit shy, yes, he's still young. How old are you, I wonder?"

"..."

Under Aeo's displeased and confused gaze, Stark brazenly exposed him to the whole world. "Uh, okay, he is a bit shy, but he is indeed a friend of both Mr. Wayne and me!"

After parting the crowd, Aeo looked at Stark irritably, "What exactly do you want? Why did you announce my business to the whole world? You're making it so..."

"Hey, calm down, please calm down," Stark said, "I didn't tell the whole world you're an alien, I just said you and Bruce are my friends..."

"What's the difference?" Aeo said in annoyance. Stark's actions had disrupted his plans. Aeo had always thought he could cooperate with superheroes and organizations like Batman and S.H.I.E.L.D., but he would never become a public 'savior' or 'god' like Superman. This was because he deeply understood human nature. Humans in their current Earth stage could not accept a transcendent being like him. They would only fear his power, envy his existence, and resent why someone else possessed such power...

Even if you saved Earth ten thousand times, the outcome would be no different...

(All superhero movies and comics prove this point)

Therefore, Aeo had decided from the beginning not to be a superhero, as it was a thankless task! Anyway, this wasn't his original world, and Aeo didn't feel that much of a connection to it!

Besides...

Aeo clenched his fist, and immense power surged through his body...

I'm not even from Earth anymore...

"Because of what you did, my identity might be exposed! Even if it's not exposed, countless people will be curious about who the person is that Iron Man and Bruce Wayne consider a friend. This is not good for me, or for you, I think?" Aeo's tone was unfriendly.

"Don't you owe me an explanation? Stark! Why did you do this!" He stared at Stark with chilling eyes.

Unexpectedly, Stark was very calm, or rather, the highly intelligent him always had a reason behind his flamboyant and arrogant facade. "I know you might be angry because I exposed you to the whole world, but you need to understand, although you've gained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s limited disregard and support through your attitude and some actions, you are still a destabilizing factor with astonishing power. Whether it's S.H.I.E.L.D. or other organizations in the future, no one can completely relax knowing you exist..."

"Does that include you and Bruce?" Aeo's gaze was chilling.

Stark faltered for a moment, but then calmly said, "That's right, it includes me and Wayne! Ask him if you don't believe me!"

Bruce, standing beside them, looked displeased but didn't refute.

"See," Stark said earnestly, "So, to alleviate some people's concerns and fears, you need a friendly persona, a mask, to prove that you've truly integrated into this world, that you're one of the vast social animal groups! A Mighty Lion might fear a hunting rifle, but it fears nothing from another lion that dares to challenge it!"

Aeo began to understand, "You mean me? You think my current mindset is a bit dangerous? You're worried I might destroy Earth in a fit of rage..."

Aeo sneered, "You think Earth is too fragile then. You have powerful beings here too..."

"What?" Batman and Iron Man said in unison.

Aeo frowned, realizing he had said too much, and shook his head, "Nothing."

Tony and Bruce looked at him suspiciously, but Aeo didn't want to say more. He looked at Bruce complexly, "You don't have faith in me either?"

Batman's expression was calm, "All power needs balance, otherwise it will be a disaster. This has nothing to do with trust!"

"So you'd accept an alien who is loving and kind more easily, because he'd have attachments and such..." Aeo's expression was neither happy nor sad.

"Exactly!" Stark finally had a 'you finally understand' expression and snapped his fingers. "The reason I want you to step into the spotlight is that if, one day, the public learns of your identity, they'll suddenly discover that aliens can actually be quite cute and handsome, making them much more accepting... And you won't develop a complete rejection of humanity due to the accusations and jealousy from the ignorant masses..."

It had to be said, Stark's words had some merit, and he had keenly observed Aeo's dangerous mindset – a condescending view of humanity, without malice or ill will, but also without concern, in other words, indifference to human life and death.

Stark had noticed this during the last battle in Gotham City. Although Aeo hadn't gone all out, he wasn't like superheroes bound by laws and moral codes. He would act when he needed to – as evidenced by the countless injured soldiers from the S.H.I.E.L.D. battle in Gotham City. While no one died, many were maimed or injured by Aeo's rage, and it wasn't just one or two.

Therefore, Stark had preemptively devised this plan, hoping to use the eyes of the masses to restrain Aeo, wishing him to be friendly to humans, rather than destroying Earth out of annoyance one day.

"..."

Looking at the silent Aeo, Bruce also gave him a complicated glance, then opened the car door and changed the subject, "Let's talk about this when we get home."

"Home...?" Aeo's eyes were lost.