Wrath

Bang. An Iron Suit landed on the battlefield.

"What happened, Zod? This..." Stark, who had hurried over after hearing the news, stared in shock at the scene of devastation before him. He could hardly believe his eyes as he looked at the battered young man.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Aeo whipped around. His vicious expression startled Iron Man into taking a step back. "And you're asking why? Can't you see? The enemy attacked me less than an hour after I left your house!"

Aeo tore off his tattered clothes. Under the sun's radiation, the bruises and wounds on his body quickly faded and healed. "Someone must have leaked my whereabouts..."

"Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for them to ambush me on my way back. Tony, do you know? They even brought out F-22s..." A dangerous glint shone in Aeo's eyes.

"I need to know whether the Federation military was involved in this attack! If they were..." The leader was utterly enraged.

"Then you'll pay for it!"

Whoosh! Aeo shot into the sky and flew toward Gotham City at a tremendous speed of over Mach 8.

"Wait!" Stark's expression changed as he chased after him.

Meanwhile, more than ten thousand meters in the air.

Hill, who had yet to return to headquarters, somehow got wind of what had happened. Shocked, she rushed to the Black director in the rest compartment.

"This is bad, sir! According to our informants, X was attacked by a group of unidentified, organized assailants. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle on California State Route 4... They even deployed F-22s!"

Nick Fury sprang to his feet in shock. "What!"

"Who did it? Who gave the order? And why did they deploy F-22s? Was X injured?" The questions came tumbling out of the King of Spies without a moment's hesitation. Nick Fury was clearly every bit as shocked as anyone else.

"Where is he now?" Nick asked at last, his expression unreadable.

"We don't know who was behind it yet. It seems the order to deploy the F-22s came from General Wicks..." Black Widow and Phil Coulson had been sent to deal with other matters, so Hill was the only one beside Nick at the moment. She glanced over the intelligence. "The stated reason was that unidentified individuals had been spotted exchanging fire on California State Route 4! As for Zod..."

A trace of worry showed in Hill's eyes. "He's heading toward Gotham City in a rage..."

"Go to Gotham City at once!" Nick Fury ordered decisively.

"Yes, sir!"

Boom! With a thunderous rush of wind, Aeo landed hard at what appeared to be an abandoned oil refinery. In reality, the secret base he and Bruce had built together lay beneath it.

"Eiffel, open the door!"

Aeo shouted.

The site was on the outskirts of Gotham City, a sparsely populated, barren wasteland where there was little chance of anyone discovering it. Once inside the secret base, Aeo saw that Bruce was already waiting for him.

Bruce started to speak when he entered, but Aeo cut him off, his face dark. "Don't try to talk me out of this, Bruce. Not now!"

Without even looking at him, he spoke directly to the Smart Terminal. "Eiffel, search the Federation military bases. I want to know who deployed the F-22s!"

Bruce's expression darkened as well.

"I don't believe the F-22s would have been deployed without orders from senior Federation military officials!" Aeo glared at Bruce, his fury rising. "I want to know if this is the Federation showing hostility toward me and declaring war. If it is—"

"You'll pay for it, Bruce!"

At last, the Empire's leader had shed his genial mask, revealing the cruelty and ferocity beneath.

After meeting his gaze for a moment, the old man drew a deep breath and composed himself. Then he said slowly, "I know you're angry, but I don't think the Federation necessarily did this!"

"Listen, I'm not making excuses for the government. But if the Federation military really had done this, it wouldn't have stopped at that. They would have deployed far more force and personnel, using every means at their disposal to make you surrender and reveal yourself!"

Meeting Aeo's still-furious gaze, Bruce laid out his reasoning clearly. "Look at the facts. The government hasn't taken control of me, and the base and S.H.I.E.L.D. haven't been discovered or mobilized. Clearly, this was just one operation carried out by an enormous organization that learned you existed. They infiltrated the military, which is how they managed to commandeer a national asset like an F-22! But that doesn't prove the government was involved in a plot against you. You know that if the government really were behind this, news of you would be spreading all over the world by now. They're the biggest weak point— they can't keep a secret..."

Aeo watched the tranquil-looking network and news outlets Eiffel had brought up on the screen, his expression shifting back and forth. After a long pause, he said, "Eiffel, have you found out who ordered the F-22s to be deployed?"

Bruce, who had been watching Aeo's expression closely, felt a wave of relief.

"General Wicks of Lackland Air Force Base gave the order!" A stream of records appeared on the screen. "This morning, he ordered the base to conduct routine flight training. Then, just as you were attacked, the F-22s happened to be flying in nearby airspace. General Wicks used the excuse that unidentified individuals were exchanging fire and ordered the aircraft to fire four Tomahawk missiles at the center of the battlefield—that is, at you..."

"General Wicks Riley, born..."

As he looked over the trove of battle intelligence and detailed files on the people suspected of being involved that Eiffel had dug up, Batman was slightly shaken. He knew how powerful Skynet was, but Eiffel had even uncovered trivial details like General Riley buying a pack of cigarettes at a supermarket.

And that wasn't all. As soon as Eiffel finished pulling up Wicks Riley's file, Aeo ordered, "Eiffel, crack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files with everything you've got! I want to know what they've been hiding!"

Bruce's expression turned grave. "What are you planning to do, Zod?"

"Bruce." Aeo's face was impassive now, and he was no longer in a mood to entertain arguments. "You may be right. The Federation might not have been involved in the plot against me, but there's no denying that someone is targeting me!"

He waved a hand, cutting off Bruce before he could speak, and said furiously, "I've told you before: when someone threatens my interests, I won't hold back! I'm going to find out who leaked my whereabouts!"

Aeo gritted his teeth. "There's definitely a mole inside S.H.I.E.L.D.! If there weren't a problem among them, how could the aircraft have been ready to attack me the moment I left Tony's house? Listen, I agreed to let you and S.H.I.E.L.D. keep an eye on me, but that doesn't mean I have to do whatever you say! When someone comes after me, I'll fight back... Don't stop me, Bruce. I may admire your commitment to fairness and justice, but if you choose war, I'll answer with death and fury!"