He Actually Convinced Me

Wu Yanzu had enjoyed enough of all this. He took Jessica Jones's hand, and with her stiff cooperation,

walked off the stage and returned to the reserved VIP seats.

The theatre lights slowly dimmed.

Before the last trace of light vanished, Wu Yanzu turned to Jessica and whispered in her ear,

"Not bad, Queen. Also, tonight... you look beautiful."

"..."

Jessica Jones shuddered all over. She felt like her ears were about to catch fire.

She abruptly shook off his hand.

"...Shut up, you blond bastard," she muttered.

But for some reason, she did not immediately get up and leave as she usually did.

She simply sat there stiffly, her heart pounding like a drum.

The massive screen lit up.

A huge flaming title slammed into everyone's view:

"Homelander: Origins"

The cinema lights went dark.

Inside the main screening hall of the TCL Huaxia Grand Theatre, only soft breathing could be heard.

"Fuck."

Sitting beside Wu Yanzu, Jessica Jones cursed under her breath.

That white "Queen" uniform was practically strangling her, and now she was stuck here watching this blond bastard's biographical movie.

"How the hell did my life get to this point?" she muttered.

"Shh." Azu turned toward her, leaned closer, and made a quiet gesture. "Watch properly, darling. This is art."

"Art my ass." Jessica rolled her eyes, grabbed a huge handful of popcorn, and chewed it furiously.

Not far away, Tony Stark sat with one leg crossed over the other, looking thoroughly cynical. "All right, Popsicle," he whispered to Steve beside him. "Ready to be baptized by the 'American spirit'? Ten bucks says there'll be a slow-motion flag shot within the first five minutes."

Steve Rogers ignored him.

He merely sat up straighter, his expression solemn.

He was not fond of this kind of Hollywood exaggeration, but he wanted to believe... to believe that the young man who had said, "I only did the right thing," on the White House lawn was a genuine hero.

In an inconspicuous corner at the back of the theatre, a small, thin figure trembled with excitement.

He had secretly slipped out of Queens and spent three months' worth of saved allowance on this damned scalper ticket just to see him once.

"Whoa..."

The giant screen lit up.

"Presented by Starr Group"

"A Vought Studios Production"

The movie began.

Hampton. An extravagantly luxurious yacht party.

Anthony Starr wore flashy swim trunks and held a martini, surrounded by a circle of bikini models.

He was frivolous, wealthy, and empty inside.

"Ha." Tony Stark snorted. "Whoa, that's some good acting! He plays me so realistically!"

Then the storm came... Anthony was battered by enormous waves.

Then, darkness.

The scene shifted to a gloomy laboratory.

Anthony was tied to a metal bed, his body covered in tubes.

The villains from the organization Chaos were delivering a long-winded speech.

"Fucking hell..." Tony was already getting impatient. "Can't these villains come up with a different line for once?"

When a syringe filled with compound pierced Anthony's neck, Wu Yanzu's Oscar-level performance shook everyone's retinas through the IMAX screen.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins spread from his neck all the way to his forehead, and he struggled madly, his handsome face twisted by unbearable pain and unwillingness!

"Aaaaaaaaaah—!!!!"

The inhuman howl pierced through the Dolby Audio and struck straight at their hearts.

"..." Steve Rogers unconsciously clenched his fists. The scene of receiving the serum during World War II flashed through his mind.

Only Tony Stark shifted which leg he had crossed over the other. "Good acting, seriously. It'd be a disgrace to the Academy if this guy didn't win an Oscar."

The movie continued.

Anthony died in torment, then was reborn in Chaos.

He feigned surrender, and then... struck back.

When he broke free for the first time and fired Heat Vision from his eyes for the first time, burning the villain who had tortured him into charcoal...

"Fuck!" The bucket of popcorn slipped from Jessica Jones's hands.

She remembered... Kilgrave.

She remembered that night, those two beams of Heat Vision, just as merciless and just as precise.

Homelander destroyed Chaos's base. Wearing a battle-damaged version of his uniform, he hovered above the blazing ruins.

He saved every hostage tortured by the experiments.

The leader of Chaos had half his body burned black. He lay sprawled on the ground and hurled one final curse at Homelander:

"You saved them... Hahaha... You saved these ants!"

"You think they'll thank you?! They'll only fear you! They'll treat you like a monster!"

"You have the power of a god! Why would you... why would you stand with these insects?!"

The veteran actor's performance was flawless.

The camera cut to Wu Yanzu.

There was no anger on that smoke-blackened face, only a kind of... almost divine compassion.

He slowly descended and walked up to the villain.

He crouched down and stared straight into those hate-filled eyes.

His voice spread through the theatre's surround sound, reaching every corner with such clarity that it seemed to whisper directly into their ears.

"You ask why?"

He slowly rose to his feet, his back to the camera, the Stars and Stripes Cape seeming to burn in the firelight.

He raised his head toward the sky, as though he could see through the screen and into every viewer's soul.

"I don't know either... I don't know why I was given this power. I only know that I have to use it to do the right thing."

"Because..."

He turned around. In the close-up, his blue eyes held an unbreakable conviction.

"With great power comes great responsibility!!"

"..."

"..." Steve Rogers suddenly sat bolt upright.

That line struck his heart hard.

He looked at Tony beside him and found that Tony had, unusually, put away his mocking expression.

"With great power comes great responsibility..." Steve repeated softly. As he watched the figure on the screen, the last trace of doubt in his heart... completely vanished.

Tony Stark fell silent.

He said nothing.

He merely... remembered the cave in Afghanistan.

He remembered the man who had protected him with his life, Yinsen.

"Don't waste your life."

"Shit." Tony cursed quietly, picked up the cola beside him, and drained it in one gulp.

That damned... blond bastard...

He actually convinced me?