It's been three weeks since the exaggerated Battle of New York, leaving many lasting repercussions.
The most immediate effect is that the American public now demands much higher levels of security.
And right at this time, a series of bombings occurred. Strangely, no explosives could be found.
A terrorist leader calling himself "The Mandarin" claimed responsibility for these attacks.
The entire country was on high alert.
After much deliberation, the overwhelmed White House, led by President Ellis, unveiled their response—The Iron Patriot.
When the women around Atreus saw this, Black Canary scoffed, "How is this different from War Machine?"
White Canary chimed in, "It's probably just War Machine repainted in Captain America's red, white, and blue."
Atreus shrugged, "Maybe they upgraded the software a bit. But the firepower on the surface doesn't look much different from the original."
War Machine was born from Iron Man's design and systems. This was Tony's reluctant decision after the congressional hearing: either give up part of his technology, or be branded a traitor.
That's the downside of being a tech geek without political backing.
After the U.S. government got their hands on Iron Man's tech and the failure of Hammer Industries' drones, they fully committed to advancing the manned mech project.
But...
"Politicians always manage to rule out the right answer first, don't they?"
No doubt, Tony's tech is the best in the world when it comes to humanoid mechs. While Batman is strong, his expertise differs from Tony's.
Congress, however, refused to trust Tony. Last time, they gave Hammer the War Machine mech program, and now they've handed it over to a company called AIM.
As a time traveler, Atreus knew all too well that AIM was just a front for Hydra.
The White House's moves were like jumping from one dumpster to another.
Watching this from his VIP seat, Atreus couldn't help but applaud such brilliance. Only witnessing this firsthand gave him a sense of intellectual superiority.
Feeling a bit thirsty, Atreus casually pressed a button on his remote. In the corner of the room, Helen, flustered, rushed to prepare a drink at the bar.
Unfortunately, Catwoman walked in at that exact moment and saw the brightly lit picture at the bar, reminiscent of a McDonald's menu.
It showed a smiling Thor, holding his hammer.
Selina, curious, asked Helen, "What does that image mean?"
"That means... the master wants a latte," Helen replied in broken English. In fact, Atreus had shared the "English" system with her, but her heavy Greek accent still lingered.
Catwoman's eye twitched before pointing to the next picture of the Hulk holding a warhammer.
"And that?"
"That's a matcha latte."
"…"
Catwoman, now trembling, pointed to the third image—a freshly thawed Captain America.
"And this?"
"Iced Americano."
Catwoman almost fainted on the spot. Her hand shook violently as she pointed to the final image of a shirtless Captain America, his chest muscles bigger than her head.
"And this?"
"Americano with milk," Helen answered seriously.
Catwoman nearly passed out.
These ridiculous images couldn't have been Helen's doing. There was only one culprit...
Yep, the culprit just waved at Catwoman.
Catwoman facepalmed. What have I gotten myself into?!
Just then, Black Canary's phone buzzed. She opened her tablet a few seconds later and reported, "Boss, a guy named Aldrich Killian wants to see you. Says he's from AIM."
Atreus : ????
The next afternoon, Atreus met this seemingly charming guy at Wayne Tower.
"Hello, I'm Aldrich Killian."
"Hello, I'm Atreus Wayne."
After exchanging some meaningless pleasantries and settling on the couch, Atreus casually leaned his left hand on the armrest, crossing his legs.
"What brings you to me, Mr. Killian?" Atreus asked coolly, maintaining basic politeness.
"I was wondering if a renowned Wall Street investor like yourself might be interested in investing in AIM's biotech?" Killian replied, pulling out three small spheres that looked like marbles.
Atreus waved him off immediately. "Who told you I'm interested in real industries? Sorry, but at heart, I'm just a speculator."
Atreus wasn't being modest.
Killian looked taken aback. "But… I have a friend who mentioned you bought a department that used to belong to Oscorp..."
Atreus lied with a straight face, "I accidentally hooked up with Gwen Stacy back then, only to find out her dad's the NYPD captain. I had no choice but to pay a breakup fee."
"A ten million dollar breakup fee?"
"Too much?" Atreus said nonchalantly, the epitome of wealth.
Killian was left speechless. "Uh, no, I just..."
Atreus raised his right hand. "The Wayne Group is family business, nothing I can do about it. The problem with real industries is they're too slow to make money. My biggest interest is in finance. If you've got some good news, I wouldn't mind teaming up to short some poor company. But if that's all you had to offer... you can leave now."
Atreus 's response was straight out of the "Wall Street Wolf" playbook, perfectly in character.
In the public eye, Atreus was the ultimate Wall Street vampire, frequently shorting and taking down one major company after another, amassing vast wealth.
Killian seemed at a loss for words, hesitating before finally lowering his noble head. "I didn't fully understand your direction. Apologies for the interruption."
"No worries. Now we're just friends. If the chance arises, let's make a fortune together." Atreus nodded to his assistant. "Miss Lance, please show him out."
As they parted, both men's eyes turned cold.
Back inside, Black Canary whispered, "Boss, he's got killing intent."
"Of course I know. But it doesn't matter—his target is Tony."
Atreus chuckled to himself.
Back in the day, Killian had been a passionate young man, thinking his invention would impress Tony Stark. He approached Tony, hoping for an investment.
And what happened?
Tony, ever the playboy, was too busy chasing after the beautiful scientist Maya Hansen. He casually promised to meet Killian but left him waiting on a freezing rooftop all night.
This is Killian's revenge.
Not only does he want to target Tony, but he's also aiming to destroy everything Tony cares about—his girlfriend, his career, and even his best friend.
And this time... Atreus was just caught in the crossfire.