Chapter 8 Battle Clothes

"Am I an alien?"

After hearing Jonathan Kent's story, Clark couldn't help but feel the plot sounded strangely familiar.

"Then where did you put my spaceship?"

Upon learning he was an alien, Clark couldn't resist the urge to see his spaceship. After all, he'd lived nearly fifty years across two lifetimes and had never seen an alien spacecraft.

"You think this is a movie? It's not." Jonathan Kent shook his head and spread his hands.

"No spaceship? How could that be? How else would I have come to Earth? I couldn't have just popped out of nowhere—if I did, then maybe I'm not even an alien!"

Clark felt that being an alien without a spaceship just didn't match his supposed identity.

"Who said you came here in a spaceship?"

"Didn't I?"

"No, actually… you came on a rock."

"A rock?"

Clark was confused. Could someone cross the universe sitting on a rock?

"Yes. Mary and I had been married for just over twenty years. Not long after, she got pregnant. But sadly, the baby was premature, and despite our efforts, we couldn't save it."

"We were devastated, so I decided to take Mary out for a drive to clear our minds. Then, on the way, a meteor fell from the sky. We went over to take a look, and guess what we found?"

Jonathan paused for a moment. But without waiting for Clark's response, he continued.

"It was you! To us, two grieving parents, you were like an angel that had fallen from the heavens."

"So Mary and I brought you home and announced that our baby had survived."

"That's why your name not only honors my idol but also represents my hope."

"And this bracelet… it was the only thing that came with you in that meteor."

Clark held the bracelet, fell silent for a moment, and then said,"So by your logic, my powers aren't like Superman's—they're more like… Sun Wukong's?"

"Heh… when you think about it, it kind of makes sense."

Clark recalled that Sun Wukong also had powers like invulnerability, flight, and eyes known as "Fiery Golden Eyes"—which might as well be heat vision. So being on fire himself wouldn't be a problem either.

As he thought, Clark slipped the black bracelet onto his wrist.

The moment he did, the bracelet suddenly turned into liquid and covered his entire body.

"What is this?!"

Before the Kents could react, the black liquid transformed into a deep blue bodysuit.

Unlike leather or fabric, this suit was composed of tiny metallic scales, each no bigger than a baby's fingertip. On the chest was a large diamond-shaped emblem with a bold "S" in the center. Draped over the shoulders was a flowing cape.

This suit looked exactly like the one from Man of Steel.

"Alright, I guess I really am Superman. Oh, right—Dad, was the meteor that brought me here green?"

Seeing this sudden transformation into a full-blown Superman suit, Clark was confused. After all, this was the Marvel universe—how could he be getting gear from DC? Was the superpower a bonus from transmigration? And now the system was handing him free clothing too? How… considerate.

"Wait a minute. What did you just call me?"

When Jonathan heard Clark call him "Dad," he could hardly believe his ears.

"You still see me as your father?"

"Aren't you?"

"Yes, yes…"

Jonathan suddenly remembered Clark's earlier question.

"You're asking if the meteor was Kryptonite? I remember it being a normal black rock."

"But I can't say for sure. It's been so many years."

"Back then, we didn't think you'd grow up to be Superman, so Mary and I didn't pay much attention to the rock casing that surrounded you."

"Besides, Kryptonite is a fictional thing from the movies. It probably doesn't exist in real life."

Jonathan closed his eyes, trying to recall, but he really couldn't say if the meteor was Kryptonite. After all, it didn't emit any green glow like in the cartoons.

"Hmm. I hope you're right."

The next morning, as Clark lay on a lounge chair outside his flower shop, basking in the sun, an Audi Q7 suddenly pulled up in front of his house. Tony Stark stepped out of the car.

"For you."

Tony tossed the car keys to Clark.

"I didn't know what kind of car you liked, so I bought the same one you drove yesterday. If you don't like it, just go to the dealership and trade it for something else."

"But you really don't look like Superman, Clark."

Lying on the chair, Clark caught the keys without even sitting up. He accepted Tony's gift—after all, the man was a rich dog-owner, and it was technically his own car that got wrecked last night, courtesy of Tony. So Clark had no reason to refuse.

He didn't respond to Tony's jab, and instead asked,"How do you have time to be here? Don't you have a press conference today?"

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?"

Clark knew that today was going to be a turning point in Tony's life—the moment he openly admitted to being Iron Man, becoming the first superhero in comics and real life to reveal his identity to the public.

"Get ready? Why would I need to? Someone already wrote a speech for me."

"But I've got a question for you. Why aren't you working for the Daily Planet? Why open a flower shop?"

"A flower shop doesn't make much money. I mean, come on—how about this: you work for the press, I give you exclusive rights to my story, boom—you're famous overnight. Deal?"

Tony glanced around the shop, then brushed off some flower petals from his clothes in disgust.

"Not a big deal. The shop's just fine for me, thanks."

Clark wasn't interested in Tony's games. He knew Tony was a little toxic.

"Alright, if that's how it is, I guess I'll just talk about it at the press conference later."

Tony shrugged and walked toward the door.

"Right."

Just as he reached the exit, Tony suddenly stopped, turned, and said:

"I might need some flowers to decorate the venue for my press conference. You know, Pepper will talk to you about the details later."

"Alright."

Back at home, Tony turned on the TV and saw Rhodey reporting on last night's events. He picked up a newspaper from the table.

"Iron Man, huh? Not bad. The armor's made of titanium alloy, but I like the name."

Just then, Agent Coulson walked in and handed Tony a few documents.

"Here's your official cover story. You were on your yacht, spending the night at an island party. Over 50 guests were in attendance—perfect alibi."

Tony chuckled, then glanced at Pepper and said,"Or maybe it was just you and me."

"As long as it makes you happy, go read your lines."

Coulson just smiled at Tony's snark and didn't respond.

"Why isn't there any mention of Obadiah Stane?"

Tony flipped through the pages and found nothing referencing Obadiah.

"He's on vacation. You know, small private planes—accidents happen."

"But people think Iron Man is just a bodyguard. Isn't that a bit… hard to accept?"

Seeing "Iron Man" listed as a bodyguard in the documents annoyed Tony. He believed Iron Man was a hero—because he was Iron Man.

"Sir, this isn't our first rodeo. Stick to the official narrative and this'll blow over soon. Get ready, you're going on stage shortly."

Coulson left the room.

"Oh, right—Pepper, go find that Superman guy and order some flowers. I think we could use a little decoration for the venue."

"Okay."

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