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New York CityTop Floor, Stark Tower
Tony Stark swirled the amber liquid in his glass, watching it glint under the lights.
He narrowed his eyes, sizing up the young man in front of him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Let me guess," Tony drawled, dragging out his words."You escaped from some top-secret lab? Or are you SHIELD's newest consultant?"
Jiro didn't react—just calmly met his gaze.
"I want 15% of Stark Industries.
Tony let out a sharp laugh. "Get a load of this, JARVIS. A guy with tech way more advanced than ours, and he's fixated on my company shares. Adorable."
"I don't need money," Jiro replied flatly."What I want is access—resources, networks, and a legal identity. In return, I can promise you this—You'll never be in danger again. Not for the rest of your life."
Tony set his glass down and spread his arms wide in mock amazement."Wow. Touching offer. Unfortunately, I'm Tony Stark. I don't need anyone's protection."
Jiro sighed softly."Then I guess... I'll just have to show you."
Suddenly, Tony's smart watch flashed red.
"Warning: abnormal energy spike detected!"
A second later, Jiro's eyes lit up with a blazing golden glow.
Zzzap—BOOM!!!
Twin beams of searing heat shot from his eyes, piercing straight through Stark Tower's bulletproof glass, and hit an abandoned factory in the distance with pinpoint accuracy.
KRA-KOOM!!
A massive explosion rocked the industrial zone as the building went up in flames.
Tony shot to his feet, pupils shrinking."JARVIS! Energy reading, now!"
"Sir, the beams just reached 5500 degrees Celsius—the temperature of the sun's surface."
Tony's breath caught for a moment. But he quickly forced himself to stay calm.
"Neat trick. What was that? A laser weapon? Some kind of energy projection tech?"
Jiro didn't answer. Instead, he slowly rose into the air, hovering effortlessly. His black suit fluttered lightly—even though there was no wind.
Tony's expression finally changed.
"Anti-grav tech...?"
Jiro gave a faint smile.
"Nope. Just pure power."
Before Tony could react, Jiro appeared in front of him in a blur and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Wait—what the hell are you doing—?!"
BOOM!!!
A sonic boom shattered the air as the two of them shot straight up, moving faster than human eyes could follow.
0.5 seconds later...
The sudden change in pressure nearly burst Tony's eardrums. Gasping for air, he looked around—and froze.
They were in low Earth orbit.
Beneath them, the Earth slowly spun, a massive blue planet hanging in the darkness of space.
"Wait—I'm gonna die—" Tony's face went pale.
Jiro glanced at him and waved a hand. A golden energy field instantly wrapped around Tony, protecting him.
Tony Stark—genius, billionaire, playboy, Iron Man—was now just standing there, wide-eyed like a kid, staring at the impossible.
"This... this can't be real..." he muttered.
Jiro's calm voice echoed beside him:
"Still think I'm bluffing?"
Tony turned his head slowly to look at the man who'd just casually dragged him beyond Earth's atmosphere.He didn't even bother questioning how they could talk in space anymore.
"Who the hell are you...?"
Jiro's suit billowed in the vacuum, even though there was no air. Behind him, the sunlight formed a radiant halo.
"Didn't you already figure it out?"
Tony swallowed hard and barely managed to say the word.
"...Superman?"
Jiro shrugged.
"Bingo. But no prize."
Back at Stark Tower, Tony collapsed onto the couch, his fingers trembling slightly.
As a top-tier scientist, he knew exactly what this meant.
Breaking through the atmosphere… surviving re-entry temperatures… These were things human technology still hadn't mastered.
"You're seriously Superman?" Tony's voice was dry and hoarse.
Jiro's eyes turned deep and unreadable. "Pretty much. You can call me Superman."
"Like in the comics? Kryptonian? Yellow sun gives you powers?" Tony instinctively slipped into analysis mode.
Jiro smiled faintly. "Close enough. Though my story's a lot more complicated than that."
Then Tony suddenly caught onto something. "Wait, why'd you ask for Stark Industries shares in the deal? With your powers, you could just—"
"Because I don't want to rule the world, Tony," Jiro cut him off.
"I need a legal identity. A platform to operate from. And you? You're the perfect choice."
"15% of the company—in exchange, you'll never have to worry about being kidnapped, assassinated, or threatened ever again."
Tony stayed silent for a long time. Eventually, he looked up. The arrogance in his eyes was gone, replaced by something far more complicated.
"Deal."
For the next half hour, Tony turned into a curious student, firing off question after question.
Jiro patiently answered some, skillfully dodged others.
"You can hear everything on Earth? See through walls?" Tony suddenly thought of something and gave him a weird look.
"So that means you can…"
"Relax. I'm not into spying on people's private lives," Jiro said with a helpless smile.
Tony walked over to the bar, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one gulp. The alcohol helped steady his nerves a bit.
"15%…" he muttered, "the board's gonna lose their minds."
"You can say I'm a rep for some offshore fund," Jiro suggested. "Or just say it's a personal decision."
Tony suddenly flashed his trademark sly grin. "How about this—you help me solve a little problem first, to prove you're serious?"
Jiro had seen this coming, but he wasn't planning to get his hands dirty himself. "The reactor in your chest—it's poisoning you."
Tony instinctively touched the arc reactor in his chest. "Yeah. I've tried everything on the periodic table."
"The model from your father's Expo," Jiro said softly. "The answer's there."
Tony's head shot up, eyes wide with shock. "How the hell do you know about that…"
"Trust me. Check the model." Jiro stood up. "Same time tomorrow—I'll be back. We'll talk about the shares then."
Before Tony could respond, Jiro had already vanished into the night sky, leaving only the curtains gently swaying in the breeze.
Tony stood there for a long while, then suddenly spoke into the empty room, "JARVIS, pull up everything from the 1974 Stark Expo."
"Already done, sir," the AI replied. "Shall I contact Miss Potts?"
Tony shook his head, a rare spark of excitement lighting up his face. "No. Just prep the car—I'm heading to the warehouse."
While Tony sped off toward the warehouse, S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ was already on high alert.
Nick Fury stared at the satellite feed, eyes locked on the figure that had broken through the atmosphere. His one good eye gleamed dangerously.
"Find him," Fury told Black Widow on the other end of the screen. "Before anyone else does."
Meanwhile, in a dark conference room somewhere, Alexander Pierce was watching the exact same footage.
"Put the Winter Soldier program on hold," he ordered over the phone. "We need to reassess this guy's threat level."
High in the night sky, Jiro floated above the clouds, his super-hearing picking up every conversation on Earth that had to do with him.
He knew he'd stirred the waters. But that was exactly what he wanted.
"The game's on," he whispered, his figure melting into the brilliant starlight.
Flying farther… toward the sun.
"....."