Let's put aside what happened with Rick Jones for now. At this moment, Bruce had already arrived aboard Alpha One with the Ultimate Team.
However, this did not include Captain Marvel and the Silver Surfer. At this time, Captain Marvel had already taken the Silver Surfer back to her home planet, Hala.
Aboard Alpha One, Stark watched as Jessica dragged Gwen, heading away from Bruce.
"Care to tell me what exactly happened between you two?" Stark, acting like a nosy gossip reporter, looked every bit the part.
Bruce merely glanced at Stark before continuing forward, clearly having no intention of chatting.
"Come on, tell me. Let's lighten the mood a little."
Stark had hoped to break the tension by prying a bit into Bruce's business, but it was obvious he had picked the wrong target.
Just then, a hand landed on Stark's shoulder.
That red glove made it instantly clear to Stark who was behind him.
"Now's not the time for jokes," Captain America said, his characteristically stern tone immediately snuffing out Stark's attempt to ease the mood.
"Got it, Cap."
Satisfied with the response, Captain America gave a small nod and headed for the command room. They needed to figure out what connection existed between Galactus and that mysterious purple figure.
"Right now, everyone who has a decent understanding of Galactus is pretty much already here," Nick Fury said as he looked around at the gathered superheroes.
To the outside world, these heroes might seem unbeatable. With them around, no challenge seemed insurmountable.
But only they knew the truth—when faced with certain enemies, even doubling the number of superheroes here might not be enough.
"No, there's one person you didn't bring," Bruce said, disagreeing with Fury.
"Susan knows exactly how to deal with those things," Fury said, knowing full well who Bruce was referring to.
The problem was—who dared to release Reed Richards from prison?
Even Nick Fury himself, or Monica, now Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D., wouldn't dare make that call lightly.
Bruce raised his eyes to look at Fury but said nothing.
Fury took a deep breath. He believed Bruce hadn't gone so far as to actually break Reed Richards out.
But just as he was about to continue the meeting, a figure appeared at the command room door.
"Sorry—looks like I've caused you a bit of trouble by coming here," said Reed Richards, now wearing a brand-new Fantastic Four uniform—only, the "4" on his chest had been replaced with the Greek letter μ.
Reed gave Bruce a smile as he entered.
That smile was calm—too calm. It betrayed no shame or awkwardness whatsoever.
Nor did he care about the glares from the surrounding superheroes—or the fists almost ready to fly at his face.
The Thing had already grabbed Reed by the collar. His massive fist was poised to punch him at any second. While it might not truly harm the rubber-bodied Reed, it would definitely hurt.
"Batman, I think you owe me an explanation!" Before Fury could speak, Monica's voice rang out in the command room.
Everyone knew Batman had always left himself backdoors into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems. Under standard procedures, the only people authorized to access Reed's prison were Susan and Monica.
Even Nick Fury no longer had that kind of authority.
Now, with Reed standing here, it was clear someone had secretly freed him—and based on what Bruce had said earlier, it was obvious who.
"I just did what none of you dared to do. This isn't the time to be afraid of someone—if even a locked-up villain could help us in this crisis, I'd still let him out," Bruce said, looking at Reed. "And right now, Reed Richards is clearly the right person to help us figure out how to face this crisis."
"He won't be of much use here," Fury repeated his stance.
"Susan faced Galactus with Reed back then. She doesn't know much less than he does. Besides, you can't guarantee that Reed won't stir up trouble during this operation," Fury said, now stepping toward Bruce with an imposing air. But compared to Bruce's height, he still had to slightly tilt his head up to meet his gaze.
Bruce didn't seem fazed at all by Fury's aggressive stance. Calmly, he replied, "You said it yourself—Susan doesn't know less than Reed. That means she doesn't know more. If anything's missing, we'll be caught off guard—and that will get us all killed."
His tone was firm and unyielding, offering Fury no way out of the confrontation.
"And I trust that this man won't pursue his own agenda when humanity is at stake. Believe me—when it comes to this crisis, he's no different from us."
Bruce lowered his gaze slightly to meet Fury's single eye.
Seeing the determination in Bruce's expression, Fury finally relented.
"Believe me, if anything goes wrong because of him, I'll throw you in that cell myself." Fury said this even as he was leaving the room. He had no intention of staying in the command center any longer.
There was nothing more for him to do here. But Europe still needed him—and his Howling Commandos—to take care of business.
Before stepping out, Fury pointed at his own eye, then at Bruce—as if to say, I'm watching you.
Meanwhile, as Bruce and Fury had their verbal standoff, Commander Monica approached Stark.
"I need your help designing a new system for S.H.I.E.L.D.—one that the Bat won't be able to hack," Monica said. Her eyes showed her deep wariness of Bruce. She was beyond fed up with living under his constant surveillance.
They were supposed to be the world's most powerful intelligence agency, armed with the most advanced technology. So how had a lone vigilante managed to have them dancing in the palm of his hand?
Stark looked at Bruce, then back at Monica.
"And what if I leave a backdoor in your system too—just so I can take a peek at what kind of secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. is really hiding?" Stark's voice dripped with awkward tension.
The fact that Monica came to ask him to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system meant that she acknowledged Stark's capabilities. But she didn't even question whether Stark might leave a backdoor in the system.
This made Stark seriously wonder—just what exactly had Bruce done at S.H.I.E.L.D. to earn such trust?
Reed, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, smiled and said to Monica, "Don't bother thinking about it. There isn't a system in this world that can keep that bat out. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s can't, Stark's can't, and even mine can't."
"In fact, I doubt even cities can escape that bat's intrusion."
"I think if you say one more word, this fist is going to land on your face," said The Thing through gritted teeth, glaring at Reed.
Reed obediently raised both hands to show he had no ill intentions.
Monica turned to Stark upon hearing Reed's words, clearly looking for confirmation—was what Reed said true?
Stark stroked his chin. At the moment, even he wasn't sure how much of Reed's words were true or exaggerated.
But just the fact that Bruce had made S.H.I.E.L.D. so wary already said a lot.
Still, Stark wasn't confident enough to guarantee anything. All he could do was nod and agree for now—after all, everything would have to wait until the Star-Eater and the purple figure were dealt with.
"We should be focusing on how to deal with the Star-Eater," he said.
At that moment, Captain America spoke up, his voice silencing the previously noisy command center.
Captain America still held considerable authority here, both due to his identity and everything he had accomplished leading the Ultimates.
Though he narrowly lost the last presidential election to that bat, he had long since become the acknowledged leader among those present.
"So, can anyone tell me exactly what this Star-Eater is?"
Captain America had never encountered such energy-consuming creatures before—today's incident in New York was his first time.
Despite all the bizarre things he'd faced since being thawed, nothing had ever made Nick Fury look so seriously concerned.
That alone told Captain America just how dangerous the Star-Eater was.
"I believe you all know that these things are just bugs—and bugs always have a swarm," said a female robot who entered alongside Sam Wilson, the Falcon.
It was the female robot who spoke.
"This is Vision," Sam added, "and also, she's my girlfriend now."
The first part of Sam's introduction earned nods from the room. The second part, however, left many confused—what exactly brought the two of them together?
Sure, Falcon had mechanical gear that let him function as a superhero, but he was still a living human. The woman beside him, from every angle, was clearly a robot.
What was this?
"Looks like the plot of Bicentennial Man has come to life—except with the genders flipped," Stark remarked casually, completely ignoring the surprised looks around him.
As a scientific genius with a wide range of hobbies, movies were naturally one of them. Thanks to his exceptional memory, every film he'd watched was permanently stored in his mind, ready to reference at any time.
Still, no one followed up on Stark's comment. The top priority now was dealing with the threat.
"So what you're saying is, those bugs will arrive on Earth soon?" Captain America asked Vision.
"We've already scanned beyond the solar system. No sign of the Star-Eater swarm. Which means we may have a few days to prepare," Monica explained, displaying data from the scans taken after the creature first appeared.
"No. Those bugs are no longer what they once were," Vision added.
While the Ultimates were dealing with the Star-Eater, Vision had already performed an energy analysis.
Clearly, the changes in the creature did not originate from their own universe.
"We may be facing a Star-Eater from another universe."
Her words plunged the command center into a deep silence.
"So it must've been that previous energy surge that brought the Star-Eater from another universe into ours," Bruce said, recalling how the environment changed at the time—how every hero collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads.
They had claimed to see countless versions of themselves from alternate universes—endless alternate histories.
Now, with Vision suggesting the Star-Eater came from another universe, it followed that the purple figure had likely arrived the same way—riding the energy wave.
And just then, a golden portal opened in the command center. Rick Jones stepped through, no longer timid, but standing tall and confident.
"I will try to destroy that thing out in the cosmos," he declared firmly to the gathered heroes.
Bruce stepped forward and handed him a device resembling a wristwatch.
It was modeled after the dimensional travel bands used by the British Spider-Man and his team—but with a few features removed and one added: a function to record energy data.
"This contains Earth's coordinates. If anything goes wrong, return immediately," Bruce said earnestly, even patting Rick on the shoulder.
Rick nodded in response, silently acknowledging the "bat" before him.
The next second, he turned and stepped back into his portal, vanishing from sight.
"If we had the energy signature, could you locate that universe?" Bruce asked Reed, who was still being held by The Thing.
"No problem," Reed replied.
(End of Chapter)
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